Month: January 2025

Ukrainian defenders destroyed a nest of Russian drone operators. It happened in the south of Ukraine, according to the Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine.

The footage shows the work of soldiers of the 128th Brigade of Territorial Defense. However, it is not specified in which direction the operation was carried out.

Ukrainian defenders first discovered the launch site of Russian Krylo drones. After that, the soldiers adjusted their fire and then finally destroyed the nest of Russian drone operators.

Losses of Russian troops

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that as of January 2, 2025, Russian losses amounted to more than 792,000 soldiers. On the last day alone, Ukrainian soldiers eliminated 1,370 occupants.

According to the Ministry of Defense, Russia’s losses at the front last year were record-breaking. Moscow lost more than 430,000 Russian occupants, which is the strength of almost 36 motorized rifle divisions.

At the same time, the largest Russian losses in manpower were recorded in December 2024. The previous anti-record was in November 2024.

In addition, last year, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed and damaged 3,689 Russian tanks, which is roughly 119 tank battalions.

On January 2, a strike was launched against the Russian troops in the Kursk region. Russian troops suffered significant losses, according to Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation.

“There was a successful strike. Russia’s 810th brigade suffered significant losses as a result,” he wrote.

According to local Telegram channels, the village of Ivanivske in Rylsk district came under fire. It is not yet known whether there were any casualties during the shelling.

The administration of the Rylsk district reported that the head of the district, Andrey Belousov, went to Ivanivske, and refused to comment on the situation by phone.

In addition to the house of culture, according to the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinstein, a boarding school, a post office, a shopping center, and a residential building were damaged – windows were smashed and shrapnel damaged the walls.

Russia’s 810th brigade

Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade is based in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, Crimea. Russian occupants of this unit are participating in the war in Ukraine in the Kursk direction.

Back in June 2024, the guerrillas received documents from the Russian occupiers of the 126th and 810th Brigades of Crimea. They also learned that the Russian marines of the 810th in Crimea paid their commanders not to go to war in the Kursk region.

In turn, the Russian command is trying to conceal the data on losses.

Ukrainian Armed Forces strike at Russia’s 810th Brigade

It is important to note that the 810th Brigade was attacked by the Ukrainian Defense Forces in November 2023. The Armed Forces of Ukraine called this strike revenge for the 128th Brigade, which was attacked by the invaders in early November of the same year.

At that time, the 128th Brigade, which was stationed in a frontline village in Zaporizhzhia region, was gathered for an award ceremony on the Day of Missile and Artillery Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine has not simply stopped the transit of Russian gas. In doing so, Russia has been deprived of one of its last levers of influence over Europe, according to Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sybiha.

“Ukraine has cut off more than just Russian gas transit. We have cut off some of Putin’s last remaining leverage over Europe and his use of energy as a weapon,” the Foreign Minister stated.

Sybiha is convinced that Europe and the world will be safer without Russian gas, oil, and other dependencies, as well as without Russia itself.

End of Russian gas transit

On January 1, 2025, Ukraine officially ceased the transit of Russian gas to Europe and Moldova. This marked the end of the five-year transit contract between Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom, signed on December 30, 2019.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine if the transit of Russian gas were to be halted. Ukraine called on the European Commission to respond to Fico’s threats.

After the cessation of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine to Moldova, heating and hot water were cut off in the unrecognized Transnistria region.

More details about the end of Russian gas transit and the challenges for Europe and Moldova can be found in RBC-Ukraine’s report.

The training period for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters was reduced by almost 3 months. This, in turn, allowed for operational superiority in the air, according to Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Serhii Melnyk.

As Melnyk explained, the NATO DEEP program focused on training pilots of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

“The process of obtaining private pilot certificates for cadets has been optimized, which allows us to reduce the training time for F-16 pilots by almost 3 months. This provides an important operational advantage in the air,” he said.

F-16 pilot training

On May 19, 2023, then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte announced that the United States was ready to approve training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters.

The next day, on May 20, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Washington was ready to agree to the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine, provided that they were not used to strike at Russian territory. After that, a number of countries began to join the training of Ukrainian pilots.

In August 2024, it was officially announced that F-16 fighters had arrived in Ukraine. The first aircraft were delivered by the Netherlands and Denmark. In particular, it became known that Belgium will deliver 30 fighters by the end of 2028.

Yesterday, on January 1, the British Embassy in Ukraine said that 200 Ukrainian aviators had undergone basic training for F-16 fighter jets in the UK.

Ukraine will assist in stabilizing the situation in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Ukrainian grain will be supplied to the Syrian people, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced.

The head of state held a meeting regarding Syria. He listened to reports from Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sybiha, and Minister of Agrarian Policy, Vitalii Koval, about their visit to Syria. They discussed the results of negotiations in Damascus and security and economic prospects.

“Ukraine will make every effort to stabilize Syria. We will establish the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ program to cooperate with the Syrian administration, and all partners are ready to support this,” the president said.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine will communicate with European countries and the United States to ensure maximum support for Syria.

“More stability in the Middle East means more peace and trade for all partners,” he emphasized.

Later in his address, the president noted that Syria could become a partner of Ukraine this year.

“We are preparing to restore diplomatic relations with Syria and interaction within international organizations. I want to thank our intelligence services for providing the security foundation for these contacts. As a result of the visit, we will also increase trade with Lebanon. Our agricultural exports to Lebanon amount to $400 million, and we are preparing to at least double this figure,” Zelenskyy said.

Fall of Assad’s Regime

Recall that at the beginning of December 2024, Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria was overthrown. Power shifted to rebel forces led by the Islamist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Assad and his family fled to Russia. Recently, several of Assad’s relatives were arrested at Beirut airport.

Following Assad’s fall, Ukraine announced it was considering restoring diplomatic relations with Syria. Ukraine sent 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha visited Syria at the end of December. Ukraine became one of the first countries to make a high-level visit to Syria. More details on this can be found in RBC-Ukraine’s report.