The main developments on the 1,059th day since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are as follows.
This is what happened on Saturday, January 19th.
finding
Three people were killed in Kiev overnight, according to a Ukrainian military commander. Explosions could be heard across the Ukrainian capital as air raid sirens sounded and air defense personnel responded to a Russian ballistic missile attack. Ukraine continues its drone attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure, striking depots in the Tula and Kaluga regions south of Moscow overnight. Images purportedly depicting a burning warehouse were shared online as the governor of Kaluga region claimed that several drones had been shot down. The governors of Russia’s Bryansk and Smolensk regions reported that their air defense forces shot down a total of 14 Ukrainian drones, but there were no reports of casualties. Nearly 89,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, an increase of 3,965 since mid-December, according to a joint investigation by BBC Russia and Mediazona. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher, as the number of Russian soldiers killed includes only those immediately identified. Fighting has been reported in the area of Ukraine’s coking coal mine in Udatyne, west of Pokrovsk. The mines are an important resource for the Ukrainian metallurgical industry in Kryvy Riv, which depends on these mines.
war crimes
A pro-Russian Telegram channel posted several videos online showing two Russian soldiers carrying the severed head of a Ukrainian soldier on a pike. Graphic images showed Ukrainian prisoners of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade being abused and their bodies desecrated.
Russian oil and gas
Reuters reported that Russia’s oil product exports will fall by more than 10% in 2024 due to a series of drone attacks on oil infrastructure by Ukraine. According to Reuters, the United States has imposed sanctions on six Russian oil tankers under construction at the Zvezda shipyard, marking the first time sanctions have been imposed on Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the conflict. It will be.
regional diplomacy
Russia and Iran have agreed to strengthen military and intelligence ties in a new Treaty of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Under the agreement, Iran stopped short of committing to full military support to Russia, but agreed to cooperate against common military threats.
France’s defense minister said on social media that French patrol aircraft were being targeted by “Russian intimidation” over the Baltic Sea after Russian surface-to-air defense systems locked onto the plane during a patrol. . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the Slovak opposition leader to Kiev amid a diplomatic spat with Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico, who threatened to cut aid to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz and held a press conference with Polish President Donald Tusk ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust. Starmer stopped by on his way back from a trip to Ukraine, where he signed a security agreement with President Zelenskiy. Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken believes the incoming Trump administration will shatter Biden-era Ukraine policy. Blinken made the remarks in a wide-ranging final interview, saying he hoped Washington’s support for Kiev would “continue,” according to the Associated Press.
