Russia says Ukraine has launched new offensive in Russia's western Kursk region Here, Russian forces have been trying to eliminate Ukrainian forces for the past five months. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian forces were repelling Ukrainian forces, but Russian military bloggers reported heavy fighting and some believed the Russian side was under intense pressure. . The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said 42 combat clashes occurred in the Kursk region on Sunday, 12 of which are ongoing. Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office, posted on Telegram that there was “good news” from Kursk, adding: “Russia is getting what it deserves.” According to the Russian Ministry, at around 6 a.m. Japan time, Ukraine attacked the village of Berdin with two tanks, a demining vehicle and 12 armored fighting vehicles equipped with paratroopers. It was announced that two attacks by Ukraine had been repulsed. Battlefield reports could not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the operation.without elaborating, only stating in a daily report that fighting was ongoing in the Kursk region. President Zelenskiy said on Saturday that “Russian troops were defeated by a North Korean infantry battalion and Russian paratroopers” in two days of fighting near the Kursk village of Makhnovka. Ukraine launched cross-border raids into the Kursk region last August, but Russian forces have since regained only about 40% of the territory lost. Ukraine's new offensive comes as the two countries seek to strengthen their negotiating hand ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House on January 20, with President Zelenskiy taking control of land around Kursk. suggested that it could play a role in a peace agreement.
President Zelensky said Kiev's security to end the Russian war will only be effective if provided by the USand said he hopes to meet President Trump soon after taking office. He said Ukrainians were looking to President Trump to force Russia to end the war, and that Russia would escalate in Europe if Washington left the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance. In an interview with American podcaster Rex Fridman published on Sunday, the Ukrainian president also renewed his call for Ukraine to join NATO.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported Sunday that a loud explosion was heard near Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.Coinciding with reports of a drone attack on a nuclear training center, the head of the nuclear watchdog said. Rafael Mariano Grossi said he had not yet seen any effects, adding that there had been no casualties or damage to equipment, according to reports.
One person was killed and another injured in Russian shelling of the city of Nikopol in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region. This was announced by local officials on Sunday. Downstream on the Dnipro River, Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson, the capital of the Kherson region, injuring at least six people. Overnight through Sunday, the Russian government sent 103 drones into Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, and the Ukrainian air force said 61 drones were destroyed and 42 were lost, likely due to electronic jamming. Announced. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 61 Ukrainian-made drones were shot down in western Russia. No casualties were reported, but Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar said residential buildings and cars were damaged by debris from the falling drone.
As authorities scramble to contain the incident, the Dolphin Conservation Center says dozens of marine mammals have been found dead since a Russian oil tanker spill in the Black Sea last month.. The spill began on December 15, when two aging Russian tankers were caught in a storm off the coast of the Kerch Strait, which connects Crimea and southern Russia. Officials estimate that one ship sank and the other ran aground, spilling about 2,400 tons of heavy oil into surrounding waters. Russia's Delfa Center, which rescues and rehabilitates dolphins, said on Sunday that it had recorded 61 deaths of cetaceans (a type of aquatic mammal such as whales, dolphins and porpoises) since the incident.
