Ukraine-Russia war latest: Three killed in cross-border attacks as 1,700 of Kyiv’s troops desert army
Around 1,700 soldiers of a high-profile unit have reportedly deserted the army before deployment
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Your support makes all the difference.At least three people have been killed on both sides of the Russia-Ukrainian border on Friday, local officials said, as the grinding war nears its third anniversary.
One person was killed in an attack on a residential building in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, which injured five others.
A man was killed while walking down a road in Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine has controlled since a mass incursion in August, the regional governor said.
The governor of Russia's western Bryansk region said one person had been killed in mortar fire on a village near the border.
It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 300 attack drones and nearly 20 missiles on Ukrainian targets in the first three days of 2025. Most of the drones and missiles had been downed or intercepted, Mr Zelensky said.
Meanwhile, around 1,700 soldiers from the 155th Mechanised Brigade have reportedly deserted the army before the unit’s first deployment in eastern Ukraine, the Telegraph reported.
The brigade was part of a high-profile initiative by Mr Zelensky and French president Emmanual Macron, aimed to showcase western support. It has reportedly suffered from equipment shortages and inadequate training.
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Russia shoots down eight US-made ATACMS missiles, defence ministry says
Russian forces shot down eight US-made longer-range ATACMS missiles, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Air defences also shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on Saturday morning, including three over the northern Leningrad region, the ministry added.
The reports have not been independently verified.
Blinken heads to Asia, Europe on last expected trip as top US diplomat
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark on what is expected to be his final overseas trip in office this weekend, traveling to South Korea, Japan and France.
The State Department announced Friday that Blinken would visit Seoul, Tokyo and Paris beginning Sunday. He will return to Washington early Thursday in time to attend funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter, officials said.
In South Korea, which is in the midst of political turmoil following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japan, Blinken intends to highlight the expansion of U.S. cooperation with both nations as part of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
That strategy is primarily intended to blunt Chinese ambitions in the region but also to deter the nuclear threat from North Korea. Political developments in South Korea, however, after Yoon declared martial law and was later impeached, have raised questions about the stability of Washington-Seoul relations.
Read the full report:
Blinken heads to Asia, Europe on last expected trip as top US diplomat
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark on what is expected to be his final overseas trip in office this weekend, traveling to South Korea, Japan and France
2024 was a year of triumphs and setbacks for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Here's how it unfolded
In 2024, President Vladimir Putin further cemented his grip on power and sought to counter Russia’s isolation from the West over the war in Ukraine. But he faced continuing challenges, with a deadly attack by gunmen in Moscow and an incursion by Kyiv‘s troops on his territory.
As Russia’s nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine enters a new, potentially pivotal phase amid a new U.S. administration and its uncertain support for Kyiv, here’s a look back at how the year unfolded for Putin:
2024 was a year of triumphs and setbacks for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Here's how it unfolded
The year 2024 saw President Vladimir Putin further cement his power as he sought to counter Russia's isolation over the war in Ukraine
More than 86,000 oil-contaminated sand cleared after Black Sea oil spill
Russian rescue workers have cleared more than 86,000 metric tons of contaminated sand and earth after an oil spill in the Black Sea last month, emergency ministries said.
Oil leaked from two ageing tankers after they were hit by a storm in mid-December. One of the tankers sank while another ran aground.
More than 10,000 people have been shovelling viscous fuel oil from sandy beaches around Anapa, a popular summer resort, where environmental groups have reported deaths of sealife including dolphins and porpoises.
Around 2,400 metric tons of oil products spilled into the sea, a smaller spill than was initially feared, Russia’s transport ministry said this week.
Russian forces take control of eastern village
Russian forces have taken control of the village of Nadiya in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies cite Moscow’s defence ministry as saying.
The battlefield report has not been independently verified.
Russian forces attacking near Pokrovsk, Ukrainian military says
Russian forces launched attacks near the city of Pokrovsk, a key strategic road and rail hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday.
Capture of Pokrovsk could create serious problems for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front, and may allow Russia to advance its frontline to the west.
"The Pokrovsk direction remains the hottest and there the Russians attacked 34 times (in the past 24 hours) and tried to break through our defences south of Pokrovsk," a spokesman for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces told national television.
Russian forces seek to cut off supply routes to Ukraine’s troops, the military added. They send small groups of soldiers to settlements south of Pokrovsk to block supplies.
“They (Russians) don’t go directly into the city because it means heavy urban fighting. So they first try to bypass the city and interrupt the logistics chains,” Trehubov said.
Zelensky says Trump can be decisive in helping stop Putin
President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Mr Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month.
The Ukrainian president also said a priority was to stabilise the frontline early in the new year. Mr Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia.
“He’s very strong and unpredictable, and I would really like to see President Trump’s unpredictability apply to Russia. I believe he really wants to end the war,” he said. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” he said in a televised interview.
“His qualities are indeed there,” Mr Zelensky said of Mr Trump. “He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this.”
Analysis | From Poland’s ‘iron dome’ to boots on the ground: How Europe is preparing for a Third World War
More than 1,500km (900 miles) from London, frenetic activity is underway in the countryside of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic States: bulldozers and diggers are constructing field defences. Anti-tank ditches, tank traps, and pillboxes are being built and installed. In all these countries, laying minefields – even controversial anti-personnel minefields – is under active consideration.
Poland is spending at least €2.5bn (£2.1bn) on its border defence system, including building a sky shield system akin to Israel’s “Iron Dome” to protect its eastern border from a growing threat from Russia.
In May, during a meeting with European leaders in Warsaw, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk stated: “Creating an iron dome against missiles and drones is necessary ... There is no reason for Europe not to have its missile defence shield,” confirming that work on the project had begun. He added that it requires little imagination to understand that Europe, like Israel, is also in the danger zone.
Francis Tusa writes:
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In 2024 much of Europe was busy preparing for an act of war that would demand a Nato response. Here, defence expert Francis Tusa explains what is being planned for and how Britain is lagging dangerously behind
Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing to resume diplomatic ties with Syria
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he was preparing to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria, less than a month after the overthrow of the Russia-backed government in Damascus.
Zelensky spoke after a visit to Syria by his Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and by Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval who said earlier Ukraine had already sent a shipment of food aid.
“We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organisations,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with Syria in June 2022 after the then government in Damascus said it recognised the “independence” of the Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Since rebels overthrew Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad last month, Ukraine has been moving to build ties with the new Islamist rulers there. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, was a staunch ally of Assad and has given him political asylum.
Moscow has also said it is in contact with the new administration in Damascus, including over the fate of Russian military facilities in Syria.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline as 2025 begins?
By the time February 2025 arrives, marking three years since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the situation on the front line could look very different.
Currently, Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk.
That the Russians haven’t been more successful is a testament, above all else, to the resilience of Ukraine’s troops on the ground, many of whom have been fighting continuously for years. Dysfunction in the Russian military, with Mr Putin as its de facto commander-in-chief, is another.
Tom Watling reports:
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk
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