In his January 1 address, Zelenskyy detailed a January 3 gathering of national security advisors from 15 countries, EU, and NATO reps—the first such peace-focused event in Ukraine—with Europeans in person and the U.S. joining online. On January 5, chiefs of general staff will finalize operational details for air, land, and sea security guarantees, which he said are politically almost ready. The week ends January 6 with a leaders' summit of European heads of state and the Coalition of the Willing, about 30-35 nations committed to Ukraine's support. These steps come alongside talks in Ankara and U.S. contacts, aiming to build confidence for peace as the war nears its fourth year.
On the night of Jan 1, Russia launched 205 drones, mostly Shaheds, at Ukraine from multiple directions. Air defense shot down or jammed 176 of them across the north, south, and east. At least 24 drones hit 15 locations.
In 2025, Russia launched over 60,000 guided aerial bombs, about 2,400 missiles of various types, and over 100,000 drones over Ukraine. Air alerts warnings were sounded at least 19,033 times, — United24.
How Russia attacked Ukraine on New Year's Eve: a map of the flight of enemy targets. Main directions: Lutsk, Volyn, Odesa, Konotop, Zatoka. The main target is energy infrastructure.
From the data analysis, three main suspects emerged: the HAV Dolphin, the HAV Snapper, and the Lauga. Although these ships sailed under flags of convenience (such as Antigua & Barbuda), their connections to Russia were undeniable.
The correlation between the ships’ movements and drone incidents was statistically significant and unlikely to be coincidental. The team documented 19 specific instances in which the ships' locations matched observations of hostile drones.
- The HAV Dolphin: In early May 2025, this ship spent ten days in the Kiel Bight. During that period, drones were detected on three separate days above German defense sites, just 25 kilometers away. The data revealed that the ship had recently spent nearly a month at the Pregol shipyard in Kaliningrad, a facility closely linked to the Russian military.
- The HAV Snapper: On May 16, this sister ship anchored off the coast of Schiermonnikoog. Just two hours later, a swarm of seven drones was observed above another Russian ship, the Lauga, which was sailing under police escort nearby.
- Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that Russian forces downed five Ukrainian drones en route to the city on Thursday evening, according to the Reuters news agency.
- Ukrainian officials say Russian drones attacked apartment buildings and critical infrastructure in the city of Odesa in an overnight attack on Wednesday, injuring six people.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised the military to call up reserve soldiers to protect critical infrastructure in an official decree this week. The order also calls for the government to determine a list of “critically important facilities” to be protected.
- The Moscow Times reported the order follows recent changes to Russian law in November that allow reservists to be called up in peacetime.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while he wanted the war to end, he would never sign a “weak” peace agreement that would “only fuel the war”, in a televised address on New Year’s Eve.
- The Ukrainian leader said that a peace agreement was “90 percent ready” but that a critical 10 percent remains undecided. “That 10 percent contains everything; it is the 10 percent that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe and how people will live,” he said.
- Putin said he believes Moscow will win the war, nearly four years since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, in his televised New Year’s Eve address. He called on Russians to “support our heroes” during the speech.
- Russian Major-General Alexander Romanenkov described an alleged Ukrainian drone assault over the weekend on one of Putin’s residences as a “terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” in a Telegram post.
- Romanenkov said the low-flying drones had passed through Bryansk, Smolensk and Tver en route to the residence in Russia’s Novgorod region.
- Russian forces shot down 91 drones while en route between Sunday and Monday using various “anti-aircraft missile systems, mobile fire teams, and electronic warfare systems”, Romanenkov said.
- The Ministry of Defence also shared a photo of an alleged Ukrainian drone shot down during the attack on Telegram.
- The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the CIA does not believe the attempted attack on Putin’s residence occurred, citing an unnamed United States official. Ukrainian drones were in the region, the official said, but they were striking military targets far from the home.
- US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said on X that he had productive talks with Zelenskyy and officials from the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Wednesday. The talks also included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
- “We focused on how to move the discussions forward in a practical way on behalf of [Trump’s] peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” Witkoff said.
- Zelenskyy thanked Romania and Croatia on X for joining the Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative – which helps Ukraine buy US-made weapons – and announced their first contributions.
- Romania this week said it was committing $58m to PURL, while Croatia said it would commit $17.6m.
- Zelenskyy said 24 countries have joined PURL since it was launched in August, and together contributed $4.3bn – including nearly $1.5bn in December.
Kupiansk
