Breaking News & Live Updates on 01-26-2024

A common theme was the accusation that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government was neglecting the country's own population in favour of helping Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Germany has uncovered a major "pro-Russian disinformation campaign" using thousands of fake accounts on X to try and stir anger at Berlin's support for Ukraine, a media report said on Friday.

The revelations come amid growing concern about the impact increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns could have on elections.

Ukraine has raised the possibility of a “deliberate provocation,” claiming that several high-ranking Russian officials were prohibited by FSB to board the aircraft at the last minute.

Ukraine’s ruling party leader, David Arakhamia, said he asked the Ukrainian president to disclose the casualties as people think it surpassed the 100,000 mark when it’s “much smaller” in reality.

David Arakhamia, leader of the ruling Servant of the People party, said Ukraine’s casualties in the ongoing Russian invasion are “much smaller” than the 100,000 mark many believed Ukraine to have surpassed.

“When you go out and ask people about losses, I’ve never heard less than 100,000. [But] our losses are much lower,” said Arakhamia during a panel discussion, as reported by LB.UA.

The FSB said on Friday it had arrested two men in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on treason charges – crimes that carry up to 20 years in prison.

Moscow's FSB security service said on Friday it had arrested two Russian citizens for passing information about the country's military to Ukraine.

Russia has arrested several of its own citizens it says have worked with Ukraine or funded the Ukrainian army since Moscow launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.

Fighters from Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) destroyed Russian observation posts and eliminated five Russian soldiers during vicious fighting in the south of the country.

Fighters from the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO) posted a video on Telegram showing them engaging and destroying Russian observation posts and eliminating five Russian soldiers in the southern sector of the front line.

According to the post, operators from the 73rd Maritime Center of the SSO were conducting special reconnaissance in the southern direction when they encountered manned Russian observation posts.

The latest repatriation of bodies appears unrelated to the downing of a transport plane which crashed in a fireball in Russia's western Belgorod region on Wednesday.

Ukraine said Friday that Russia had returned the bodies of 77 soldiers, days after the downing of a Russian military plane threw doubt on the future of such exchanges.

Moscow and Kyiv traded fresh accusations over the crash of the transporter that Russia says was shot down near the rivals' border, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Arakhamia believes lawmakers and civil servants should train part-time for military service alongside other citizens. He also said Ukrainians deserve a better explanation of how mobilization works.

The head of the president’s Servant of the People party in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, has proposed that Ukrainian lawmakers and civil servants undergo military training, as reported by the media outlet LB.UA.

Arakhamia suggests that deputies and officials should participate in military training on a part-time basis, alongside other Ukrainians.

South Africa accused Israel of "genocidal" acts that were intended to cause the "destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."

The UN top court on Friday said Israel must prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and facilitate "urgently needed" humanitarian aid into the besieged territory, handing down rulings in a case that has drawn global attention.

The court urged Israel to refrain from any possible genocidal acts as it presses its military operation in the Gaza Strip, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.

The United States must declare that its goal is for Ukraine to win and, at long last, must make it the main US policy. And the corollary is that Russia must be defeated.

After two years of a very bloody war instigated by Russia in Ukraine, the United States as the only superpower and the main arms supplier to Ukraine needs to reassess its actions.

Ukraine has successfully stopped Russia’s invasion, but it has failed to liberate the people under Russian occupation. The West could have done so much more. It is time to ask what it did wrong, and what it should do instead. The United States needs to spell out a clear strategy on Ukraine and Russia.

The Kremlin switched tactics from trying to outflank the city with armored, fast-moving tank assaults, to infiltrating infantry. In one place they used a sewage tunnel.

Russian troops have scored new but probably limited ground gains against Ukrainian fortifications guarding the battleground city Avdiivka, and although the Kremlin may be shifting gears and assault directions, heavy pressure on the Kyiv-held salient will likely continue for weeks or months, recent official and independent news reports said.

Ukrainian citizens from Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories and fighting voluntarily or at gunpoint on the Russian side, have been at the forefront of recent assaults against Avdiivka’s southern suburbs, some reports said.

"The world stands at a critical juncture, as WEF president Borge Brende aptly put it, where leaders must unite and devise solutions to common challenges."

As I reflect on WEF 2024, it's clear to me that energy is the cornerstone of our modern civilizations. The war in Ukraine has acutely underscored the fragility and interconnectedness of the global energy landscape, emphasizing the urgent need for collaborative efforts to fortify energy resilience and diversification.

This realization came about as it was clear that Russia uses energy as a weapon, making the pursuit of energy independence and security not just an economic prerogative but a matter of national security.

The UK Friends of Ukraine group has launched a petition that called on the UK government to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, which could be the first G7 nation to do so.

UK Friends of Ukraine, a British non-profit organization, has started a petition to call on the British government to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and be the first G7 nation to do so.

The group was founded following the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and its aim is to foster support for Ukraine from the UK during and after the war.

The recruiting plan is to create a sort of foreign legion inside a foreign legion, so that Belarusians can take the fight to Russia in Ukraine before liberating their home from Moscow’s grip.

In one foreign regiment that’s been fighting the Russian army in Ukraine for two years and counting, hundreds of soldiers have no homeland to go back to.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine’s force of volunteer Belarusians, formally known as the Kastus Kalinoŭski Regiment, is manned overwhelmingly by men and women born in and citizens of Ukraine’s northern neighbor.

As Ukraine’s war against Russia becomes a stagnant war of attrition, Kyiv is increasingly exploring alternative strategies to fight that serve to its strengths and further weakens its enemy.

Ukrainian drones struck a major oil refinery in southern Russia early on Jan. 25, sparking a blaze that highlighted an emerging new front in the war that Vladimir Putin unleashed almost two years ago. This was the latest in a series of recent attacks on Russian energy infrastructure as Ukraine seeks to bring the war home to Russia by targeting the country’s vital but vulnerable oil and gas industry.

Since the start of 2024, Ukraine has launched a number of drone strikes on energy facilities across Russia. These have included the first successful attacks on targets close to St. Petersburg, almost a thousand kilometers away from the Ukrainian border. Officials at the Russian Novatek energy company confirmed on Jan. 20 that they had been forced to temporarily suspend some operations at the huge Ust-Luga fuel export terminal on the Gulf of Finland due to a fire started by Ukrainian drones.

A source familiar with the talks said negotiators were trying to “revive” the effort by altering the legislation to bolster its appeal to Senate conservatives.

Bipartisan US Senate talks on a border security deal that some have set as a condition for further Ukraine aid have hit a critical point, lawmakers said on Thursday (25 January), though the chamber’s top Democrat said the negotiators would continue to push forward.

A small group of senators has spent months trying to iron out an agreement to address the flow of migrants across the US-Mexico border. But the effort has recently encountered growing opposition among Republicans aligned with Donald Trump, the frontrunner for their party’s presidential nomination.

Overnight, more civilians were injured in further Russian missile attacks on the city.

The death toll from Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv has risen to 11, officials said on Friday.

In one of the largest waves of aerial bombardments in weeks, more than 100 people were injured and at least 18 killed after Russian missiles struck across Ukraine -- including the capital Kyiv and northeastern Kharkiv -- early Monday.

Initially Ukrzaliznytsia will create a test unit which, once the concept is proven, will be expanded across the whole rail network.

Ukraine’s railways operator is to form a drone division comprised of war veterans to monitor the state of its rail network, the company has announced.

The plan to use drones was outlined on the Ukrzaliznytsia 's official Facebook page.

Russia has been launching Shahed kamikaze drones from the sea in an attempt to mute the engine sound as they approach coastline residential areas during recent attacks, the Ukrainian military has said

Russia has been deploying Shahed kamikaze drones from the sea in recent attacks, where waves coupled with the adverse weather conditions, help mask the engine sound as the drones approached their targets.

The drones fly low over the water surface then ascend drastically over the coast and head directly for residential areas, said Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Operation Command, on national television.

Evan Gershkovich is being held at Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison.

A Moscow court on Friday extended until March 30 the detention of Evan Gershkovich, an American Wall Street Journal reporter held in Moscow on espionage charges which he denies.

“The period of detention of Evan Gershkovich ... is extended by two months ... till March 30,” the court said on Telegram.

“America First” Republicans are playing into Putin’s hands and giving the Kremlin time to rebuild its forces and attack Ukraine later with even greater atrocities – and may risk American troops soon.

The failure of the US Congress to pass a Ukraine aid package is a reckless strategy seemingly aimed at forcing fantasy peace negotiations with Russia. Where is the moral righteous from Congress, and when will they realize that arming Ukraine is the only realistic pathway to peace?

The current deadlock over Ukraine aid has reignited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s escalation of terror. Starting on Dec. 29, Putin ordered missile strikes on Ukrainian cities that have killed or wounded 600 civilians. This strategy comes from Hitler’s playbook when he ordered a bombing campaign against British cities in 1940.

South Africa brought the case against Israel because both countries have signed the UN Genocide Convention, drawn up in 1948 as the world vowed “never again” after the Holocaust.

The International Court of Justice will hand down a landmark ruling Friday in South Africa’s case against Israel over alleged genocidal acts in Gaza.

Here are some key questions about a case that has drawn global interest:

Ecuador to scrap old military equipment for US alternative. Could the decommissioned equipment make its way to Ukraine?

A state of emergency in Ecuador may seem like it would have little to do with Ukraine. However, a short announcement about the replacement of the country’s outdated Russian military equipment could have implications for Kyiv.

On Jan. 10, President Daniel Noboa announced that he was planning to swap Ukrainian and Russian “scrap metal” for advanced American military equipment costing $200 million. The deal, due to be formalized by the end of this month, was announced with little fanfare or corresponding detail.

The US National Security Council said Russia was “watching closely” to see whether Washington would continue to deliver support for Ukraine.

The White House urged US senators Thursday to reach a deal linking vital Ukraine aid to border security, after reports that former president Donald Trump, who is seeking reelection, was trying to torpedo an agreement.

US media reported that Trump had been urging Republicans to oppose the deal, partly to deny Democratic President Joe Biden a political win ahead of November’s vote.

As lawmakers and military keep tweaking the draft law on mobilization, President Zelensky expresses doubts about the number of men that will be necessary.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense of has been working on a new draft law on mobilization for two weeks now. Its goal is to muster as many as 500,000 people to the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Both the parliament and public have already criticized the first version of the document.

Although the draft law was supposed to regulate the issue demobilizing those who have been fighting for nearly two years, since the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, many lawmakers and analysts view the proposed law as problematic.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian and Russian authorities opened criminal investigations into the January 24 Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft crash in Belgorod Oblast.
• Russian forces conducted a series of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of January 24 to 25.
• The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) reportedly conducted a successful drone strike on a Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai on the night of January 24 to 25.
• Russian forces are reportedly increasing their use of chemical weapons in Ukraine in continued apparent violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Russia is party.
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Russia’s war in Ukraine is “directed against the very existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state.”
• Russian authorities issued prison sentences in a number of high-profile cases on January 25, including that of imprisoned Russian ultranationalist and former officer Igor Girkin.
• The Kremlin is reportedly no longer offering pardons to convict recruits and is significantly changing the terms of their service, likely in response to the reduction of the pool of convicts suitable for recruitment into Russian force generation efforts.
• A Russian insider source claimed that the Russian military command recently replaced the Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District (SMD) and appointed a new SMD Chief of Staff, although ISW cannot confirm this claim.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Avdiivka amid continued positional engagements along the entire line of contact on January 25.
• Bloomberg reported on January 24 that labor shortages in Russia have increased wages in civilian sectors enough to compete with relatively lucrative military salaries, likely making military service even less appealing to Russian citizens.
• Crimean occupation head Sergei Aksyonov signed a decree on January 25 that introduces a “special regime” for entry and exit between occupied Crimea and occupied Kherson Oblast reportedly in an effort to “localize threats to the security of the population and military and other facilities” in occupied Crimea.

The new reactors are to be constructed using Russian-made equipment from Bulgaria combined with Western technology to bolster energy production affected by the invasion.

Ukraine plans to build four new nuclear reactors at the Khmelnitsky power plant in western Ukraine, in an effort to compensate for energy production hampered by Russia’s full-scale invasion, Reuters reports.

Ukraine’s Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko said that construction of all four units would likely start from the summer.

Trump sabotages Ukraine aid; Germany and UK discuss ways to send Kyiv more cruise missiles; Russians killed 521 children in the war; Huge Kyiv cyberattack on FSB; Forces trade gains around Avdiivka

Overview:

• Trump convinces Republican leaders to kill any deal on aid for Ukraine and US border security
• London will send Storm Shadows to Ukraine if Berlin sends Taurus missiles to UK
• After more teens wounded by Russian strikes this week, child casualties reached 1,734
• Hackers attack Russian satellite image provider and FSB internet service, destroying 2 million GB of data
• AFU regains positions south of Avdiivka, Russians advance north of the city

A Biden win on immigration and aid for Kyiv would be bad news for Trump; Ukraine loses in the end