Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 23:44 The Russian Army launched two strikes on Kharkov, first with S-300 missiles, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. There is information about damage to civilian non-residential infrastructure in the central part of the city; according to preliminary data, no people were injured.
23:37 The White House will not be able to find funds for Ukraine from alternative sources if Congress does not agree on a request for new assistance to Kiev, said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications of the White House National Security Council. According to him, the arms package transferred in December without a decision from legislators could be the last.
22:59 The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that he discussed military support for Ukraine with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, they agreed on the need to strengthen it, including with long-range missiles.
22:28 On January 2, Russia for the first time used an Iskander-M missile to strike Kharkov, which flies at a speed of 7,500 meters per second along a ballistic trajectory, said the head of the Kharkov OVA Oleg Sinegubov.
21:56 The US State Department denies that it is seeking Ukraine to abandon its goal of complete victory in the war. As stated by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, publications that the United States is pushing Ukraine to change its strategy and abandon the goal of complete victory in the war with Russia are incorrect.
21:00 The Russian army continues intensive offensive operations in the Kupyansky and Bakhmutsky directions. In particular, the invaders are trying to advance on the city of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk region. It is obvious that Russia’s main goal is to capture this settlement, then Konstantinovka and then reach the borders of the Donetsk region. About how realistic such a scenario is, see the material Russian Offensive on Chasov Yar .
20:33 The French Foreign Ministry, commenting on the shelling of Belgorod on December 30, stated that Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is acting in self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. “Russia can put an end to this conflict and human tragedy - to do this, it must withdraw all its troops from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine,” the French ministry emphasized.
20:26 The IAEA said that agency experts were recently for the first time prohibited from inspecting some reactor halls of the Zaporozhye NPP. So, over the past two weeks they have not entered the reactor halls of blocks 1, 2 and 6. The team will continue to request this access, said General Director Rafael Grossi. In addition, there are restrictions on access to some other parts of the Zaporizhia NPP. Experts are also still awaiting access to the roofs of the reactors, which was planned for December 19, but never took place “for security reasons.”
20:00 Zelensky said in an evening video message that there was a long pause in the prisoner exchanges, “but there was no pause in the negotiations” on the exchanges: “We are using every opportunity, trying all mediation options. At every international meeting that can be of help, "We are raising the issue of returning our prisoners. And we will continue to work to return all of our prisoners."
19:48 There will be no collapse in the energy system, even if Russia takes advantage of the cooling period and inflicts new massive attacks on energy facilities, said Vladimir Kudrytsky, Chairman of the Board of Ukrenergo. “We have already gone through this about 20 times. This, of course, will create additional problems for us. But I am sure that this will be a question of the duration of possible interruptions in power supply due to damage to any objects, but there will be no collapse in the energy system,” he assured He.
19:32 The Ukraine-NATO Council will hold an emergency meeting in response to massive Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kuleba said. One of the key topics will be strengthening Ukraine's air defense.
Also, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that he does not believe that the possible election of Trump as US President could negatively affect support for Ukraine. "Who sold the first American weapons to Ukraine? President Trump - Javelin. Who started the program of free transfer to Ukraine of the first naval vessels, Island and Mark-6 type boats? Trump. Who fought with Nord Stream 2 and imposed sanctions on the well-known, but already the forgotten ship Fortuna, which laid this pipeline? It was Trump... Therefore, Trump is a person with whom you can work, you just need to be able to work with him. There are a lot of “ifs,” but Ukraine should not be afraid of anything," he emphasized Kuleba.
18:51 In the Dneprovsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, two X-59 guided aircraft missiles were destroyed, the Air Command of Skhid reported.
18:19 The largest exchange of prisoners of war during the full-scale invasion took place: 230 Ukrainians were released , the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported. Among them are representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - 130 (including TrO - 14, Navy - 14), the National Guard - 55, the State Border Guard Service - 38, the National Police - one, as well as six civilians who were illegally deprived of their liberty.
Among those who were returned, 182 people had official prisoner of war status, another 48 military personnel were considered missing and had “search” status. The majority of those released are men (225), five are women. There are 213 privates and sergeants, 11 are officers. The headquarters expressed special gratitude to the UAE for its active participation in the implementation of this exchange.
In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that “as a result of a complex negotiation process” 248 Russian military personnel were returned from the territory of Ukraine.
18:00 Putin's United Russia party has acquired its own private army - the so-called Espanola PMC. The formation itself is not a new structure - it was created during the full-scale invasion and was part of the so-called Vostok battalion as a volunteer unit of Russian football hooligans. However, some members of the group have a large trail of war crimes in Ukraine since 2014. Read more in the article Counterweight to Azov .
17:26 The NATO procurement agency, on behalf of a coalition of several European countries, signed a contract for the production of 1000 Patriot missiles in Europe - for this purpose, production capacity will be expanded in Germany. Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain are participating in the program. “Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and growing threats around the world, this is an urgent need,” said Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.
17:02 Ridiculing the Ukrainian language of a migrant from Skadovsk, Kherson region - this number was published in the New Year's Evening Quarter program and aroused the real anger of Ukrainians. Kvartal and 1+1 media have already apologized for the number and promise to remove it from YouTube. For more details, see the article The Quarter angered the Ukrainians .
15:54 Kiev did not ask Turkey to allow minesweepers transferred to Ukraine by Britain into the Black Sea, said Navy spokesman Dmitry Pletenchuk. He recalled that Turkey does not allow Russian ships to pass, because the country conscientiously observes the Montreux Convention, so there is no “harm”. Pletenchuk also said that the process of complete demining of the Black and Azov Seas after the end of active hostilities will last up to five years, and clearing the main sea routes will take 3-5 months.
15:11 The Russians fired four rockets at a residential area in Avdeevka, Donetsk region - one person was killed, one was wounded, the OVA reported.
14:47 The Russians shelled Novotyaginka, Kherson region, one person was killed, said the head of the OVA Alexander Prokudin. Another person died as a result of enemy shelling of the village of Sadovoye.
14:22 In Kiev, as a result of a missile attack on January 2, 54 people were injured and two were killed , the KGVA reported.
13:39 The European Union included in the list of sanctions the Russian group of companies Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Marinichev for helping Russia in the war against Ukraine. Alrosa is the leader in diamond mining in the world. Its main activities are concentrated in Yakutia, the Arkhangelsk region and Africa.
13:18 Norway will send two F-16 fighters to Denmark to contribute to the training of Ukrainian pilots, Defense Minister Bjorn Aril Gramm said. According to him, Norway has already sent ten instructors to Denmark to help train Ukrainian pilots.
13:10 Ukrainian manufacturer of tactical clothing M-TAC reported that the company's production facilities and warehouses in Kiev were damaged or destroyed as a result of yesterday's Russian missile attack. These clothes are worn, in particular, by the military and political leadership of Ukraine, including Zelensky and Zaluzhny.
12:21 British intelligence believes that Russia has at least temporarily changed its approach to striking Ukraine - instead of energy infrastructure, priority is given to attacks on the defense industry.
11:33 Russian public pages write about the murder of 17 Russian military personnel in Mariupol, among whom were two officers. They gathered in a private house to celebrate the holiday, but someone added a large dose of sleeping pills to the alcohol. When the Russian military fell asleep, they were allegedly all killed - strangled or stabbed to death.
11:12 Russian troops fired artillery at the town of Gornyak, Donetsk region, the prosecutor’s office reported. One of the shells hit a private house, wounding a 16-year-old teenager.
10:26 The Russian Army continues intensive offensive operations in the Kupyansky and Bakhmutsky directions and is regrouping in the Limansky direction, said Alexander Syrsky, commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In particular, intense fighting continues in the Bakhmut direction near Bogdanovka, and the enemy is also trying to advance in the direction of the city of Chasov Yar.
In the Kupyansk direction, daily assaults by Russian troops continue near Sinkovka to create a bridgehead and subsequent attack on Kupyansk. In the Liman direction, Russian troops, after suffering losses, are regrouping and preparing for an offensive. Aviation is actively used to carry out strikes with controlled aerial bombs.
On the offensive axes, the Russians have increased the use of equipment with which they are trying to support the infantry. They use assault units formed from former prisoners - Storm Z and Storm V, and continue to transfer reserves from other directions. Ukrainian forces are holding the line and preventing the enemy from moving forward, Syrsky assured.
09:58 The new head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Radoslaw Sikorski, called for the transfer of more long-range missiles to Ukraine in response to Russian missile attacks: “We must respond to the latest attack on Ukraine in a language that Putin understands: by tightening sanctions so that he cannot produce new weapons from smuggled components, and providing Kiev with long-range missiles that will allow it to destroy launch sites and command centers."
09:37 The death toll as a result of a missile attack on Kiev on December 29 has increased to 30 - one person died in hospital. Another 29 people were injured, KGVA reported.
09:19 Governor of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation Roman Starovoyt announced an air attack in the Zheleznogorsk region, a substation was damaged. Due to voltage and water hammer, 17 apartment buildings were left without heating.
08:56 As a result of a rocket attack on the center of Kharkov on January 2, one person was killed, 62 were injured , including six children, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OBA. Currently, 28 people remain in medical institutions, including four children. Two adults are in serious condition. In addition, on the afternoon of January 2, the Russians attacked Volchansk, Chuguevsky district, wounding one person.
08:50 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of January 3:
- personnel - about 361,500 (+680) people,
- tanks - 5990 (+0),
- armored combat vehicles - 11,107 (+7),
- artillery systems - 8546 (+15),
- MLRS - 945 (+0),
- air defense systems - 629 (+3),
- aircraft - 329 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 6748 (+36),
- cruise missiles - 1783 (+73),
- ships/boats - 23 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 11,391 (+26),
- special equipment - 1298 (+14).
08:46 On January 2, the Russians shelled the village of Plavni, Zaporozhye region, with artillery, killing two people, said the head of the OVA, Yuriy Malashko.
08:37 In the Zaporozhye direction, the Defense Forces advanced forward in the Verbovoy area, forcing the enemy to abandon some positions. An enemy attack near Rabotino was also repulsed, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In addition, in the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces improved the tactical position southeast of Novobakhmutovka, and also repelled eight enemy attacks near Novobakhmutovka, Berdychi, Avdeevka and another 16 attacks in the Pervomaiskoye and Nevelskoye areas of the Donetsk region.
In total, 57 military clashes took place at the front over the past 24 hours. In the Kupyansk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled seven attacks near Sinkovka and east of Petropavlovka, Kharkov region; on Bakhmutskoye - six attacks in the Bogdanovka, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka districts of the Donetsk region. In the Kherson direction, the Defense Forces continue to expand the bridgehead, and the enemy carried out nine unsuccessful assault operations.
08:20 Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the Ukrainian military fired at Belgorod twice in the morning and called the situation in the city “tense.” The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that air defense systems allegedly destroyed six Tochka-U TRK missiles and six Vilkha MLRS missiles over the Belgorod region.
00:59 “Governor” of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev said that a missile was allegedly shot down over the sea, no damage to the infrastructure was recorded. Crimean public pages write that during the Ukrainian missile attack, residents of the surrounding villages of Fruktovoye and Verkhnesadovoye saw a bright flash in the area of the Belbek airfield.