A snapshot of recent news from sources around the world on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Source: U.S. NavyPolitical Developments
Ahead of leaving office this month, the Biden administration will roll out a final round of sanctions targeting the Russian economy, officials told Reuters on Thursday. Details of the latest sanctions measures have not yet been made public, but Reuters’ sources indicated that at least some will impact Russia’s oil trade, hitting several companies, tankers, and traders.
Moscow claims a Russian journalist was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russian-occupied territory.
An advisor for President-elect Trump was expected to travel to Kyiv, but the trip was cancelled and will be rescheduled.
As NATO countries consider options for increasing support to Ukraine — including a possible deployment of troops — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week, “I believe that such deployment of partners’ contingents is one of the best instruments” to “force Russia to peace.”
Military Assistance to Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the last time under the Biden administration for a meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where President Zelenskyy was expected to ask for additional air defense systems. President Biden’s term ends in two weeks, raising questions about continued U.S. support as Donald Trump enters the White House to begin his second term. Biden was planning to meet one last time with Zelenskyy in Rome on Friday, but the trip was cancelled so Biden could focus on responding to wildfires in California.
Other nations that have provided military aid to Ukraine will use the Ramstein meeting to develop a road map for continued support to Kyiv, aiming to define Ukraine’s requirements through 2027. Slovakia, however, may reduce aid to Ukrainian refugees or cut electricity supplies to Ukraine after Kyiv stopped the flow of Russian gas through the country.
On Thursday, the U.S. announced a $500 million security assistance package for Ukraine, potentially reflecting the Biden administration’s final aid deal. The package, valued at $500 million, covers the donation of weapons directly from U.S. inventories, including AIM-7, RIM-7, and AIM-9M air defense missiles; air-to-ground munitions; F-16 support equipment; armored bridging systems; secure communications equipment; small arms and ammunition; and other spare parts and ancillary equipment.
Germany will begin delivering RCH-155 self-propelled howitzers to the Ukrainian military this year, starting with a batch of six systems. Berlin has in total pledged to provide 54 of the 155mm howitzers to Ukraine. Separately, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger announced this week that the German company had recently delivered the first KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicle to the Ukrainian Army. Ukraine and Rheinmetall announced a contract on January 5 for the purchase of 180,000 35mm Gepard anti-aircraft rounds, to be delivered starting in 2026.
In addition, the German government said it will provide Ukraine with three additional IRIS-T SLM and SLS air defence systems, along with 13 more Gepard mobile air defense systems.
The company Ukrainian Armor LLC is expected to receive a license from holding company Czechoslovak Group to produce various artillery rounds, including 155mm and 105mm shells, as well as 120mm tank munitions. Reports indicate that Ukrainian Armor LLC will have an annual productive capacity of about 100,000 155mm shells to start, but hopes to ramp this up to 300,000 in 2026.
30,000 drones will be sent to Ukraine after GBP45 million worth of contracts were placed by the international Drone Capability Coalition, co-led by the U.K. and Latvia as the U.K. steps up leadership supporting Ukraine in 2025. The Drone Capability Coalition supports Ukraine with uncrewed surveillance and attack capabilities. Funding for the new 30,000 drones comes from U.K., Denmark, Netherlands, Latvia and Sweden.
Battlefield Updates
Russian forces have reportedly taken the town of Kurakhove in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, located south of Pokrovsk. Ukraine has not acknowledge the town’s capture.
Ukraine launched a new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region. Taking additional Russian territory would give Kyiv additional bargaining power if and when negotiations to end the war take place. Zelenskyy claimed that around 38,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the Kursk region since August.
Ukraine says it’s using uncrewed surface vessels to launch small first-person-view drone attacks against Russian targets, including air defense systems. Ukraine’s efforts targeting Russian military infrastructure in Crimea have forced the Russian Navy to cease repair work on the occupied peninsula, according to Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk. He said, “The main facilities for the Russians are still in Crimea. But we’ve demonstrated in practice that using repair bases for their Black Sea fleet is no longer possible. To repair their ships, they first need to bring them there. And now, no one will be doing that.”
Ukraine is installing new armor kits on Western air defense systems to provide additional protection against drone attacks.
The latest batch of modernized T-72B3M and T-90M main battle tanks have been delivered to the Russian Army, vehicle conglomerate Uralvagonzavod said this week. The CEO of the company, Alexander Potapov, said in a statement, “A tank from early 2022 and a tank from late 2024 are, one might say, two different combat vehicles. For example, if we talk about the protection system, it did not anticipate many of the challenges that we faced literally from the first days of the Special Military Operation. The corresponding modifications were immediately adopted, the designers worked day and night, and the plant workers promptly made changes to the products that were already being assembled in the workshop.”
Russia is now confirmed to be utilizing 170mm M-1989 ‘Koksan’ self-propelled howitzers, delivered from Pyongyang, on the frontlines in Ukraine. The system had previously been spotted in transit in Russia, but this week has been seen in combat footage from the front.
According to Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk, Russian forces have ceased repairing their military ships in Crimea due to the constant threat of Ukrainian strikes.
The Ukrainian military hit a Russian military arms depot in the Rostov region, Russia. The attack involved the use of the Neptune missile. The operation took place on the night of January 10.
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- Self Defense Exercise: U.S. Navy
