Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 21:50 Russia has activated the mechanisms of forced mobilization in the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, reports the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. In particular, the occupiers focused special attention on farmers: they sent a written request to farms in a number of settlements to immediately register with the military to all men of military age. In case of failure to comply with the directive, agricultural enterprises or individual farmers will be punished with fines in the amount of 400 thousand rubles (about $4,500).
19:31 Zelensky said that he had a conversation with Polish President Andrzej Duda, one of the key topics was interaction in the field of security with an emphasis on the key needs of the Defense Forces. The President also spoke with Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, spoke about the need to strengthen the Ukrainian air defense system, discussed bilateral security cooperation, as well as the coordination of European defense assistance.
19:26 From the Ukrainian bridgehead on the left bank of the Kherson region to Crimea there are only about 60 kilometers, the peninsula remains the direction of a potential attack in Ukraine. About the prospects of the Ukrainian army in this direction, see the article 60 km to Crimea .
18:39 Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, together with Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny and Chief of the General Staff Sergei Shaptala, visited the positions of the Defense Forces in the Kupyansk area, the Ministry of Defense reported. The Commander of the Ground Forces, Alexander Syrsky, introduced the situation around Kupyansk and assured that the Russians had no success in this direction.
17:55 Monthly Ukrainian exports through Romania increased from 2 million tons to 3 million tons, and the target is 4 million tons, Zelensky said following a telephone conversation with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. The parties also discussed bilateral cooperation, including the training program for Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, and agreed to begin work on bilateral security guarantees based on the G7 Vilnius Declaration.
17:52 Russian troops fired at one of the settlements of the Belozersk community of the Kherson region, two people were wounded, the prosecutor’s office reported.
17:43 The defense forces control the situation in the Kupyansk direction, so there are no “alarm bells” for the residents of Kharkov, said the speaker of the Ground Forces, Vladimir Fityo: “Foreign media reports about the attack on Kharkov, the enemy’s intentions... We ourselves understand that this is Kharkov, Poltava, Kiev, all of Ukraine. But so far there are no alarm bells for Kharkov residents."
“The enemy is trying to find a weakness in the defense. And the emphasis is shifting. For example, from Bakhmut it can shift to Kupyansk, from Kupyansk to Bakhmut. All directions are important for the enemy,” Fityo added.
16:54 In Ukraine today, about 200 companies are engaged in the production of drones, said the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Mikhail Fedorov. According to him, the production of a million drones per year is “a fairly realistic figure,” and if we are talking about FPV, then even more such UAVs can be produced. “The existing capabilities of companies are already enough to satisfy this figure. The market has accelerated much faster than there is money to buy UAVs. Therefore, we need to increase funding and open markets. Competition can generate innovation,” the minister added.
16:20 Zelensky said that he held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, at which the commanders of the main directions and operations were present in person. Together with them, the General Staff, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Strategic Industry and the Ministry of Digital Development, we examined in every detail the topic of providing the front with shells and drones, systematized current and future contracts, assistance from partners, our own production, in particular, the opening of new lines. We also analyzed the latest Russian strikes and the effectiveness of the Air Force, and agreed on next steps to strengthen the protection of cities, communities, businesses and critical infrastructure.
16:11 The city authorities of the Italian Modena canceled permission to hold a scandalous Russian exhibition about the “rapid restoration” of occupied Mariupol, Foreign Ministry speaker Oleg Nikolenko said.
15:52 With the beginning of the winter holidays, Russia began massive shelling of Ukrainian cities with missiles, which it had been accumulating since the fall. Western publications fear that without the help of its allies, Kyiv may run out of ammunition for air defense systems. Read more in the article Missile terror: what Ukraine should prepare for .
15:44 Bloomberg writes, citing sources, that the United States and allies secretly met with Ukraine about its Peace Formula. The December 16 meeting in Saudi Arabia included representatives from Ukraine, its G7 allies and a small group of countries from the Global South. A number of countries from the latter group that attended previous major sessions, in particular China, Brazil and the UAE, did not participate this time. The secrecy of the meeting was partly aimed at making participating countries feel more comfortable joining, the agency notes. Countries in the Global South have pushed for potential engagement with Russia, but have found little support.
15:39 The video showed a Russian attack on a hospital in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region:
15:07 Sweden will contribute about $5 million to the NATO fund to help Ukraine, the government reported. The money will be used to purchase defense equipment, fuel, medicines, mine clearance equipment, etc.
15:00 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that four “Ukrainian drones” were allegedly destroyed over the Kursk region, two over the Oryol region. The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, claims that one of the drones was shot down over the Kurchatovsky district, where the nuclear power plant is located.
14:34 As a result of a drone attack on fuel and energy facilities in the Oryol region, three people were injured, said Governor Andrei Klychkov.
14:29 They decided to evacuate children from the Belgorod region due to increased shelling, “because the parents’ worries are quite great,” said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. The children will be resettled in camps in a number of other regions of the Russian Federation.
14:26 The Russians fired at the village. Slobozhanskoe, Dergachiv community, Kharkov region, the prosecutor’s office reported. Village council buildings and residential buildings were damaged. Power engineers who were carrying out repair work came under fire; they were not injured. Previously, the attack was carried out by an aerial bomb.
14:13 In Kiev, the number of victims of the missile attack on December 29 increased to 33, the KGVA reported. During the dismantling of destroyed building structures in a warehouse in the Shevchenko district, signs of another death were discovered. These data were confirmed by a reconciliation with the National Police.
14:10 Russian public pages write that a kamikaze drone tried to attack the Orelnefteprodukt oil depot on Seminarskaya Street in Orel. The UAV hit a fuel tank, but no subsequent fire occurred. Preliminarily, there were no casualties. The second drone attacked Orelenergo on Vysokovoltnaya Street - a fire started on the spot, the fire was localized.
13:48 At least 41 Russian soldiers from Crimea are in Ukrainian captivity - most of them are probably citizens of Ukraine, the representative office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea reported. The department also noted that at least 632 Russian army soldiers were buried in Crimea, 475 of whom were probably citizens of Ukraine. At the same time, the number of burials may be greater, since a significant part occurs without lighting.
13:19 Ukrainian hackers from Blackjack hacked the Moscow Internet provider M9com and demolished its servers, Ukrainian media report citing sources. Hackers deleted 20 terabytes of data - the company's official website, branch websites, mail server, cyber protection services, etc. Some Moscow residents were left without Internet and television. They also made publicly available more than 10 GB of data from the company's mail servers and client databases. Hackers, who are associated with the SBU on social networks, called this revenge for the attack on Kyivstar and assured that this was just a “warm-up.”
12:22 The German defense company Flensburger Fahrzeugbau is building a military equipment maintenance center in Western Ukraine, said Bundestag deputy Markus Faber. We are talking, in particular, about Leopard 1A5 tanks, WiSENT 1 MC engineering and mine countermeasures equipment, Pionierpanzer 2A1 Dachs and IRIS-T SLS launchers.
12:14 Over the next four years, Estonia will continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 0.25% of its GDP, said Prime Minister Kaia Kallas. “If each country contributes 0.25%, this is what Ukraine needs to win this war,” she added. Kallas recalled that since 2022, Estonia has provided military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of about 500 million euros. In addition, in subsequent years, Estonia will allocate 14 million euros per year to help rebuild Ukraine.
12:09 Hungary proposed that the EU Council lift its veto on the €50 billion aid package for Ukraine, provided that the funding is reviewed annually, Politico writes, citing three European diplomats. The publication notes that this will give Orban the opportunity to block funding for Ukraine annually or receive concessions from Brussels for refusing a veto.
According to the Budapest proposal, the EU will provide Ukraine with 12.5 billion euros annually in the form of grants and loans, which will amount to the 50 billion proposed by the European Commission over four years. Some European diplomats are skeptical about such a proposal, since it will not provide predictability for Ukraine.
12:00 Over the past three days, in the Tavria direction, the Ukrainian military has captured almost 30 Russians, said the commander of the Tavria group of troops, Alexander Tarnavsky.
11:53 Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said that he held the second meeting of working group No. 9, working on the implementation of the ninth point of the Ukrainian peace formula “Preventing the escalation of war and repetition of aggression.” Compared to the founding meeting of the working group, the number of its participants has more than doubled. 42 countries, as well as the European Union and representatives of expert circles in a number of states, joined the working group.
After the inaugural Global Peace Summit, a thematic international event will be held on the territory of one of the co-sponsor countries of point nine to prevent the escalation of war and the repetition of aggression, where the work of this working group will be used.
11:17 On the evening of January 8, the Russian military fired artillery at the town of Dvurechnaya, Kupyansky district, Kharkov region, two people were wounded, the prosecutor’s office reported. And as a result of enemy shelling of the village of Velikiy Burluk, the cultural center and warehouse premises of the enterprise were damaged.
10:54 According to the BBC Russian Service, the Russian authorities are holding thousands of Ukrainian civilians in colonies and pre-trial detention centers in Russia and in the occupied territory of Ukraine for “opposing a special military operation.” Ukrainians are held without official records of detention, initiation of criminal or administrative cases and without investigations, so they technically “do not exist” in the Russian penitentiary system and do not have access to lawyers.
The BBC emphasizes that the Geneva Convention prohibits the taking of civilians who are not combatants hostage. Currently, there is no mechanism in international law for the release of civilians from captivity, and the Geneva Convention only allows the exchange of prisoners of war for other prisoners of war.
10:22 Air Force Speaker Yuriy Ignat did not confirm the destruction of the Shahed drone with a jet engine in Ukraine: “I can’t confirm. We didn’t find it. Whoever found it, let him confirm, show and tell. We have already discussed this topic, that Iran showed Shahed- 238, black. After this demonstration, the occupiers began to repaint ordinary UAVs black."
He noted that if such drones do appear, it will be a “mini cruise missile” because the warhead cannot be large due to the load of the engine itself.
08:56 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of January 9:
- personnel - about 365,990 (+820) people,
- tanks - 6036 (+5),
- armored combat vehicles - 11,203 (+9),
- artillery systems - 8672 (+6),
- MLRS - 954 (+1),
- air defense systems - 638 (+0),
- aircraft - 329 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 6823 (+1),
- cruise missiles - 1805 (+18),
- ships/boats - 23 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 11,552 (+10),
- special equipment - 1333 (+5).
08:35 In the Khmelnitsky region, the search for the third person killed as a result of yesterday's Russian attack has been completed, the OVA reported. In total, three people were killed and two were injured as a result of the attack in the region.
07:47 Over the past 24 hours, 58 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 13 attacks near Novobakhmutovka, Stepnoy, Avdeevka and another 19 attacks in the Severny, Pervomaisky and Nevelsky areas of the Donetsk region. In the Maryinsky direction, 14 attacks were repelled near Georgievka and Novomikhailovka, Donetsk region.
In the Kupyansk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled three enemy attacks in the Sinkovka area and east of Petropavlovka, Kharkov region; on Bakhmutskoye - four attacks near Bogdanovka and Andreevka, Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - one attack in the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region. The expansion of the bridgehead continues in the Kherson direction; the enemy carried out nine unsuccessful assault operations on the positions of the Defense Forces in one day.
03:55 Zelensky plans to personally take part in the World Economic Forum in Davos, which will take place from January 15 to 19, the Tages-Anzeiger reported. The President is also planning a visit to Bern before his speech in Davos on Monday, January 15. At the same time, sources note that Zelensky’s visit will likely remain unconfirmed until the last moment and will depend on the military situation.
01:56 The Biden administration held a meeting with representatives of 12 leading American defense companies, at which the production of weapons for Ukraine was discussed, writes Reuters. In particular, they discussed mine clearance technologies, drones and systems for combating Russian drones. The White House noted that the United States is thus trying to expand Ukraine’s access to modern American technologies.
00:24 In Ukraine, the first Shahed-238 UAV with a jet engine, which Iran recently introduced, was shot down, said communications and electronic warfare specialist Sergei Flesh Beskrestnov. According to him, the drone managed to fly half of Ukraine before it was shot down. He was flying at a speed of 500 km/h. At the same time, the specialist noted that “there are no “Reich superweapons” on the new martyrs - a regular charge, normal navigation.” However, these drones fly faster and maneuver better, so not all air defense systems can cope with them. “Mobile groups with anti-aircraft guns are useless; they now need to be given MANPADS (Osa, Igla, Stinger),” Beskrestnov noted.
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