Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces suffer ‘second day of record casualties’ as Kursk fight intensifies
Ukraine’s military claims Russia suffered nearly 2,000 casualties in past 24 hours as fighting rages on
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia has suffered record losses for a second consecutive day, Ukraine has claimed, as Vladimir Putin’s forces seek to advance in Donbas and repel Kyiv’s incursion into Kursk.
Just 24 hours after Ukraine claimed Russia had suffered a record 1,770 losses, Kyiv’s military claimed this grim total had been surpassed by 1,950 casualties on Monday – which would mark Russia’s worst single day since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The totals given by Ukraine’s military do not specify between troops killed, wounded or captured. Ukraine now claims to have inflicted a total of 712,610 casualties upon Russia – which is broadly in line with estimates given by Ukraine’s Western allies. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv provide statistics on their own losses.
Russia appears to be stepping up its efforts to claw back territory in Kursk, after Ukraine’s daring cross-border raid in August. With reports of North Korean troops also being deployed to the Russian region, war monitors said on Monday that both Kyiv and Moscow appeared to have made recent gains in the region.
Russia and China must counter any US attempt at containment, Shoigu says
Russia and China must counter any attempt by the United States to contain their countries, the head of Moscow’s powerful security council has said during a visit to Beijing.
With US president-elect Donald Trump threatening steep tariffs on China and other nations, Sergei Shoigu – formerly Russia’s defence minister – told China’s foreign minister Wang Yi that the strong relations between Moscow and Beijing were a stabilising influence on the world.
“I see the most important task as countering the policy of ‘dual containment’ of Russia and China pursued by the United States and its satellites,” Mr Shoigu was quoted as saying by Russian state news agencies.
Ukraine claims to shoot down 46 out of 110 drones fired by Russia in overnight attacks
Ukraine claims to have shot down 46 out of 110 drones fired in overnight attacks by Russia.
The Ukrainian air force said 60 Russian drones were lost in Ukrainian air space and two other left Ukraine’s airspace in the direction of Belarus.
Russian forces also used three missiles during the overnight attack, the air force added.
Finland’s capital to take over Helsinki Arena from Russian owners
The city of Helsinki will initiate a forced takeover of the Finnish capital’s biggest sports and events arena from its sanctions-hit Russian owners, officials have said.
The Helsinki Arena, a major concert venue and ice hockey arena, has been closed since 2022 after sanctions were imposed on Russian investors following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Helsinki said last year that Russian-Finnish businessmen Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg – who control the company that owns the arena – would face expropriation unless they voluntarily sold the property.
The city board said on Monday that moving forward with the expropriation was necessary to stop the building from deteriorating and to prevent damage to Finland’s reputation from not being able to cater for large international events.
The process could potentially take years to complete and will require a permit from the government and compensation to the owners, the city added. Helsinki authorities estimated in 2023 that up to €400m of income per year was being lost for hotels, restaurants and other businesses as a result of the arena going unused.
Moldova summons Russian ambassador over drones coming down in its territory
Moldova’s foreign ministry has summoned Russia’s ambassador over two Russian drones which came down in Moldovan territory on Sunday.
Russia regularly sends waves of strike drones to hit targets in Ukraine, and these craft have in the past occasionally strayed into Moldovan territory.
Ukrainian drone triggers fire at oil storage depot in Russia’s Belgorod region
A Ukrainian drone attack triggered a fire in Russia’s southern Belgorod region and firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, the regional governor has said.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said one of the tanks at the depot had caught fire in the Starkooskolsky District near the Ukrainian border. Ten fire crews were dispatched to the site and put out the blaze.
The road to Ukraine’s Kurakhove is known as ‘the road of death’ – residents refuse to leave
Ukraine’s Kurakhove is surrounded on three sides, with Russian forces just under two miles from the devastated city centre.
Yet between 700 and 1,000 local residents remain, most of them living in the basements of apartment buildings, without running water, heating or electricity. The only place to charge phones is in the basement of the building now housing the city administration.
The exact number of people is impossible to determine because, since mid-October, no humanitarian volunteers have come to Kurakhove.
Under attack from artillery, multiple rocket launchers, aerial bombs and drones, Kurakhove has become the new Bakhmut, as Russia continues its drive westward to capture all of the Donbas region. On Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky called the situation in Kurakhove, as well as the key city of Pokrovsk, “the most challenging”.
Anton Shtuka and Evgeniy Maloletka report:
As Russian forces surround Kurakhove, residents refuse to leave the front-line city
The road to Kurakhove, which is lined with burned-out civilian vehicles, is nicknamed the ‘road of death’
Russian warship carrying hypersonic missiles conducting drills in English Channel, state media says
A Russian Navy warship equipped with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles has conducted drills in the English Channel and is carrying out tasks in the Atlantic Ocean, Russian news agencies have reported.
The crew of the Admiral Golovko frigate, equipped with Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles, conducted counter-terrorism drills, repelling air and sea drone attacks of a mock enemy, Russian state agencies reported.
“The Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Golovko has completed its passage through the English Channel and is currently continuing to carry out missions in the designated areas of the Atlantic Ocean,” RIA state news agency reported, citing the Northern Fleet’s press service.
It is the first long-distance voyage of the multipurpose frigate since it was accepted into the Russian Navy in December 2023, the Tass state news agency reported. The ship left its main base in Russia’s north 10 days ago.
Just before going into service, then defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the warship would be equipped with Zircon missiles. The sea-based hypersonic missiles have a range of 560 miles, and can travel at several times the speed of sound, making it difficult to defend against them.
On orders from President Vladimir Putin in 2023, Russia started mass supplies of Zircon missiles as part of the country’s efforts to boost its nuclear forces, and the missile now forms the centrepiece of Russia’s hypersonic arsenal, alongside the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle.
Russia says it downs 13 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russian air defence systems destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry has claimed.
All of the drones were downed over regions bordering Ukraine, the defence ministry said.
It comes days after both countries accused each other of launching the largest overnight drone attacks of the war so far, with Kyiv attacking Moscow and Russia reportedly firing 145 drones at Ukraine.
UK will not have air supremacy over enemies in future wars, RAF chief warns
The UK will not enjoy supremacy in the air in future warfare but will have to fight against an “ever improving enemy” for control, the head of the Royal Air Force has warned, as he claimed that the UK faces the most difficult strategic environment in decades.
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defence think tank, for the annual Lord Trenchard Memorial Lecture, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton praised the strength of the RAF but added that they had spent the past 25 years preparing for a now outdated form of warfare.
“Throughout my career, we have enjoyed air supremacy, never mind air superiority, at least above 10,000 feet,” he said. “That is not going to be the case in the future. It seems clear to me that we are going to have to fight for control of the air.
“We have spent the last 25 years or more optimising ourselves for the types of conflict we saw in the Balkans, the Middle East or Afghanistan. We as a service responded well and adapted our systems and capabilities for those wars.
“But this is not the threat we face today. We need to become match fit for the new, bigger and more important game.”
Our foreign affairs reporter Tom Watling reports:
UK will not have air supremacy over enemies in future wars, RAF chief warns
Chief of the Air Staff Sir Richard Knighton says the UK faces the most significant sets of hostile states in decades
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