The current situation on Monday, January 20 is as follows:
Conflict
- Russia has initiated criminal investigations into the alleged “cannibalistic massacre” of at least seven civilians in the western Russian village of Russkoe Porechnoye, currently under Ukraine’s occupation since last August. Russian soldiers discovered bodies inside a residential building basement.
- The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army, Oleksandr Syrskii, has expressed concerns about a lack of mechanised brigades. He also mentioned that military mobilisation capacity is not adequate to meet the military’s requirements, leading to the deployment of personnel with different expertise to fill the gaps.
- The Ukrainian General Staff has accused Russian forces of using prohibited chemical ammunition 434 times in Ukraine during December 2024, bringing the total documented cases to 5,389 since February 2023.
- The Ukrainian Air Force successfully intercepted 43 out of 61 Russian drone attacks in an overnight operation targeting nine regions across Ukraine. Fortunately, no major damage or casualties were reported.
- The Vozdvyzhenka village in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine has been reportedly captured by Russian forces, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence as reported by Interfax news agency.
- The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has stated that Russian forces have made advances in the Russian region of Kursk, as well as in the Ukrainian regions of Kupyansk, Lyman, Chasiv Yar, Torestsk, Kurakhove, and Velyka Novosilka. However, Ukrainian forces managed to retake lost positions in Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, as per the ISW report.
- The ISW also mentioned that Russian volunteer military units are actively recruiting women to join the war effort and bolster the Russian Army’s manpower.
Military Assistance
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has once again appealed for strong support from Ukraine’s allies and has requested additional United States-made Patriot air defence systems. This plea follows a week of over 1,000 Russian air violations.
