Thursday, January 9

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Firefighters extinguish flames in a building damaged by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia on Jan. 8, 2025. Russia attacked the city with KAB aerial bombs, killing 13 people and injuring 63. (Ukraine’s State Emergency Service / Telegram)

Zelensky addresses Trump’s comments on NATO, stresses security guarantees. The Ukrainian president argued that the absence of NATO membership and concrete security guarantees contributed to Russia’s decision to launch the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot supplying fuel to Engels-2 airbase, military confirms. The operation, carried out jointly by Ukraine’s military intelligence, the Unmanned Systems Forces, and other units, targeted the Kristal Plant used to supply fuel to the nearby Engels-2 airbase, the military said.

French-trained brigade had ‘systematic shortcomings,’ Ukraine’s top general reports to Zelensky. General Mykhailo Drapatyi, Ukraine’s Ground Forces chief, reported to President Volodymyr Zelensky on the causes of the problems facing the French-trained 155th “Anne of Kyiv” Brigade and presented solutions, Drapatyi said on Jan. 7.

Ukraine strikes Russian command post in Donetsk Oblast, military reports. The military said that Russia has seized the facility to coordinate attacks against Ukrainian forces and civilians, especially in Kurakhove. Russia announced a full capture of Kurakhove earlier this week.

Biden’s final $500 million Ukraine military aid to be announced on Jan. 9, VOA reports. Despite previous commitments to exhaust the remaining PDA funds, approximately $3.8 billion will remain unused, according to the Pentagon, leaving the funds at the disposal of the incoming administration.

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Trump wants to end war in 100 days, incoming peace envoy tells Fox News. “People need to understand, he’s not trying to give something to Putin or to the Russians, he’s actually trying to save Ukraine and save their sovereignty,” Trump’s peace envoy Keith Kellogg said on Jan. 8.

Russia doesn’t have as many advantages as it seems, US defense secretary says. “There’s a thought that Russia has the ultimate hand here and it has every advantage,” outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Bloomberg News. “It has some advantages, but it doesn’t completely dominate this equation here.”

Poroshenko’s party urges ban on Russian oil transit via Ukraine. Ex-President Petro Poroshenko and members of his European Solidarity opposition party submitted a bill on Jan. 7 banning the transit of Russian oil and gas through Ukraine’s territory during martial law.

Ukraine to help Moldova amid worsening energy crisis. “An important task now is to help Moldova overcome its energy challenges and prevent Moscow from stirring up social tensions. … We are ready to help,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 8.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot, command post

Ukrainian forces attacked a Russian oil depot in Engels, Saratov Oblast, overnight on Jan. 8, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said after reports of drone attacks.

Photo: Astra/Telegram

Despite Trump’s claims, Russia didn’t invade Ukraine because of NATO

Trump’s statements were far from reality, with Biden never officially supporting Ukraine’s NATO aspiration and the White House being the main obstacle to Kyiv receiving a formal invite to the alliance.

Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

As Russian losses in Ukraine mount, Putin faces ‘devastating’ demographic timebomb

Russian losses in Ukraine are helping fuel a demographic timebomb that could see the country’s population reduced by half by the end of the century.

Photo: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Garry Kasparov: ‘You never hear Russian opposition actually say Ukraine must win’

Supporting Ukraine militarily and making sure it wins is a moral imperative, says Russian chess grandmaster and political activist Garry Kasparov

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian airstrike on Zaporizhzhia industrial site kills 13, injures 133. The attack killed 13 people and injured 133, including a child, according to State Emergency Service. Search and rescue operations have now been completed.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 2, injure 13 over previous day. Russia launched 64 Shahed-type attack drones and various dummy drones against Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported. Air defenses shot down 41 drones over nine different oblasts, while 22 dummy drones were lost in the airspace, three flew to Russia, and one to Belarus, according to the statement.

General Staff: Russia has lost 801,670 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,660 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Garry Kasparov on modern Russian empire

International response

US lawmakers submit resolution labeling Russia’s war in Ukraine genocide. The draft resolution was submitted by a bipartisan group of legislators, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said in a Facebook post.

Pentagon official coordinating Ukraine aid resigns ahead of Trump inauguration. Laura Cooper, senior Pentagon official leading the Russia and Ukraine office, stepped down as Donald Trump’s inauguration looms, Politico reported on Jan. 6, citing one former and three current officials.

Trump calls on NATO to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Jan. 7 that NATO should raise its defense spending benchmark from 2% of GDP to 5%, echoing his earlier calls for Europe to spend more on its security.

Hungary’s FM condemns Ukraine’s bill to suspend Russian energy transit, says his country will block Kyiv’s EU accession. Ukraine had already decided not to renew its gas transit deal with Russia beyond Dec. 31, 2024, but continues to allow Russian oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline under a contract valid until the end of 2029.

Polish consulate in St. Petersburg closes after over 50 years. Poland closed its consulate building in St. Petersburg after 53 years. The decision follows Warsaw’s order to close a Russian consulate in the Polish city of Poznan last year after accusing Moscow of sabotage plots.

Next Ramstein meeting may be its last, Polish defense minister says. The Jan. 9 meeting will focus on strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities through 2027, including air force, armor, artillery, drone, de-mining, missile defense, and maritime security needs, according to a Pentagon statement on Jan. 7.

Finland to host NATO Baltic summit, address Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ sabotage threats. The meeting, co-organized by Finland and Estonia, will focus on enhancing NATO’s presence in the Baltic Sea and responding to risks posed by Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a group of tankers allegedly used for sanction evasion and espionage.

NATO reportedly sending ships to guard cables under Baltic Sea. A fleet of up to 10 NATO vessels will guard the infrastructure under the Baltic Sea until April, the Finnish broadcaster YLE reported on Jan. 7 after several cables were cut in suspected sabotage.

In other news

Hackers claim to have breached Russia’s real estate database, Moscow denies. A hacker group named Silent Crow has claimed to have hacked and obtained data from Russia’s official cadastre and cartography agency, the independent Russian news outlet Agentstvo reported on Jan. 7.

Venezuela detains 3 Ukrainians, accuses them of ‘terror’ plot. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro announced the detention of three Ukrainians days before his inauguration, calling them “mercenaries” and accusing them of plotting a terrorist attack, Spanish news agency EFE reported on Jan. 8.

Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev calls Armenia ’fascist state, threat to region.’ Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Jan. 7 called Armenia effectively a “fascist state,” adding that Baku might have no other choice but to “destroy” its neighbor’s so-called “fascist ideology.”

Photos of jailed Belarusian opposition leader appear after almost 2 years of no news. Photos and a video of Viktar Babaryka were published by blogger Raman Pratasevich on Jan. 8 after the jailed Belarusian opposition leader was held incommunicado since February 2023.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Boldizsár Győri, Oleksiy Sorokin, Tymur Zadorozhnyy, Abbey Fenbert, and Olena Goncharova.

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