It is day 314 of the war in Ukraine. Follow the latest news about the war and all its aftermath in this live blog.
Kiev: 500 Russian soldiers dead
2pm | About 500 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in a Ukrainian attack in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine on New Year’s Eve. This was reported by the Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday.
The artillery attack was carried out near the village of Chulakivka, according to a Ukrainian report. Ukrainian troops have targeted Russian soldiers and military equipment. The figures have not been verified by Russia or anywhere else. Both warring sides regularly report high casualties on the enemy side.
Russian units were also hit in an attack on Fedorivka village on New Year’s Day, according to the report. It is not yet clear how many casualties fell. Both places are located in the Russian-occupied Kherson region.
News of the attack in Kherson comes a day after Russian soldiers were reported killed on New Year’s Eve in a Ukrainian rocket attack on a temporary Russian military base in Makijivka, a town in Donetsk. According to Kiev, around 400 Russian soldiers were killed and 300 injured in this attack. The Russian Defense Ministry itself speaks of 63 dead.
Russian nationalists are not happy with the army leadership
11am | Following the Ukrainian missile attack on a temporary Russian military base in Ukraine, dissatisfaction with the army leadership arose among pro-Russian nationalists. “They know that the Russian military makes one mistake after another and this was very serious,” says BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg.
“EU summit in Kiev”
06:00 | Ukraine and the European Union will meet in Kiev on February 3 to discuss financial and military support, President Volodimir Zelensky’s office said in a statement. The Ukrainian head of state discussed the details of the summit in a telephone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Leaders discussed the supply of “adequate” weapons and a new €18 billion financial aid program to Ukraine during the talks, with Zelensky insisting that the first tranche be sent this month, the statement said.
Banksy’s thief faces 12 years in prison
05:00 | The prosecutor’s office in Kiev has initiated proceedings against the man who wanted to steal a mural from Banksy. In early December, he and seven others carved an image of a woman in a bathrobe with a gas mask and a fire extinguisher in her hand from the wall of a damaged building in the Kiev suburb of Hostomel. The group was caught in the act.
Only the “main perpetrator” will be prosecuted for theft under martial law and face up to 12 years in prison, authorities said. “He was aware of the value of the work and intended to sell the graffiti and dispose of the money received at his discretion,” the OM said on Monday. “To that end, he enlisted the help of men who were unaware of his intentions and assured them that he had all the necessary permits to dismantle the mural.”
Residents saw the theft and called the police. The picture has been confiscated and the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture is deciding what to do with it. Banksy, whose identity is still unknown, confirmed in mid-November that he had been painting murals in various places in Ukraine. She covers seven works in Kiev, Irpin and Borodianka, among others. Now they are monitored.
Dozens of torture camps in liberated Kharkov
04:00 | Since the liberation of the area around the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv from Russian occupation, police say they have discovered 25 torture camps there. Civilians, among others, were detained and tortured in these places by Russian troops in inhumane conditions, the regional police chief reported on Facebook on Monday. Some prisoners were reported to have received electric shocks and others had their fingers broken.
The area around Kharkov has been occupied for months by Russian troops, who withdrew in early September after a Ukrainian offensive. Since then, according to the police chief, the bodies of 920 civilians have been discovered, including 25 children. They would have been killed by Russian soldiers.
Ukrainian authorities say the Russians have also committed war crimes in other occupied territories. After the withdrawal of Russian units from Bocha, a town near Kiev, four hundred bodies were found. Most of them were civilians. The investigation into their deaths is still ongoing.
Zelensky: Drone strikes designed to exhaust us
03:00 | Russia plans a long campaign of Iranian drone strikes to “consume” Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said. “We have information that Russia is planning a long-term attack using Shahed drones,” Zelensky said in a video address.
“The attacks are likely designed to deplete our people, our air defenses and our energy. Ukraine must act and do everything for the terrorists to fail, just as all their other plans have failed,” the president continued.
In the night between Sunday and Monday, Ukraine said it had repelled another Russian drone strike. The flak would have fired all drones in the air and avoided casualties. It was the third night in a row that Russia carried out a large-scale drone strike on Ukraine.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
