The Russian factory in Yelets, which produces batteries for missiles and other military uses, is still on fire. Yelets is roughly halfway between Moscow and Kharkiv and almost 300 km from the Ukrainian border.
This is the fourth time Ukraine has hit this plant. The last time was in July.
Thirty six cars of a freight train derailed in Russia’s Far East.
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36 freight wagons derailed on the Gudachi-Gonzha section in Russia’s Amur region, damaging railway infrastructure and suspending all movement on the line. No injuries or environmental risks were reported. Passenger train delays are expected. An investigation has started.
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) January 5, 2026 at 6:16 AM
The drones will find you.
The second part of this video, which is from a drone camera, was posted yesterday. But this video includes Russian footage.
It turns out that the Russian narrator in this video had bigger things to worry about than his legs.
An update from Russia’s foray in the Sumy Region:
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Russia's advance into Sumy Oblast "did not work out," so troops are mining Hrabovske to hold the border village as a forward post, Ukrainian military says.
About 100 Russian soldiers dug in there in December - and abducted 52 civilians, including children.
euromaidanpress.com/2026/01/04/r...
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— Euromaidan Press (@euromaidanpress.bsky.social) January 4, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Russia keeps trying to use gas pipelines as infiltration routes.
The pipeline tactic also has a huge cost for Moscow's forces — Russian independent media outlet Astra in July published a video of a soldier describing the chaos inside a pipe in Russia's Kursk Oblast where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in 2024.
The man, later identified as Igor Garus from St. Petersburg, claimed that "dozens of soldiers suffocated, committed suicide, or died in panic and delirium."
"People were going crazy there. One shot himself. One… pointed a machine gun at himself. The second one smashed his head in," Garus says in the video.
Russia attacked an American-owned sunflower oil company in Dnipro, spilling 300 tons of oil into the streets.
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Russian forces struck the American-owned Oleina oil plant in Dnipro, causing a massive spill with streets flooded in sunflower oil. The facility is owned by U.S. company Bunge. Mayor Borys Filatov shared footage of the strike.
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) January 5, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Russia killed a patient in a hospital in Kyiv.
Do you suppose that Trump realizes he is calling Putin a liar?
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⚡️'We don't believe that happened' — Trump dismisses Putin’s claim of Ukrainian attack on his residence.
Russia had publicly accused Ukraine of launching 91 drones toward a residence used by Putin — a claim Putin personally conveyed to Trump during the phone call.
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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) January 4, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Moscow is now the safe haven for scummy autocrats around the world. They could designate a whole neighborhood as the Dictator District. Save some room for Orban, Fico and several African military juntas.
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It is obvious that ever since of the fall of Assad and Russia's failed war in Ukraine that despots around the globe better have a plan B, when the heat at home is too high. Apparently, this is also the case with the mullahs in Iran.
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— (((Tendar))) (@tendar.bsky.social) January 5, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Funniest thing I have read all in a long time.
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1/ Russian special forces veterans say that the US operation in Venezuela was no big deal and they could easily have done the same with their own superior capabilities. However, they haven't attempted to kidnap Zelenskyy because of their respect for international law. ⬇️
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— ChrisO_wiki (@chriso-wiki.bsky.social) January 5, 2026 at 2:19 AM
Demidkin says that the Alpha Group is far superior to the US Delta Force, which reportedly carried out the capture of Maduro:
7/ "Our guys are better in every way. In the number of operations, the number of rescued citizens and hostages. They act in seconds, freeing planes, houses, and apartments. And our spirit is probably stronger. After all, we fought and continue to fight not for money, but for people in need."
….
9/ Both veterans say that the Alpha Group could easily capture President Zelenskyy if ordered to, but Russia hasn't done this for political reasons. Senin says:"First of all, it's politics. If they'd given the order to carry out such work, it would have been done long ago."
10/ "Just about four months ago, our veteran guys captured about three FBI and CIA agents. No one even managed to resist."Demidkin is similarly confident: "We could simply kidnap Zelenskyy, but we're complying with international law. So, we're not taking that action yet."
Russia feeds another 990 soldiers into the meat grinder and loses eight more tanks.
Adios, Colonel.
The car in which the brigade commander and three of his guards were traveling collided with a UAZ, in which soldiers of the 88th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade were located. As a result of the accident, Selimov and three servicemen of the 136th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade died on the spot. Two servicemen of the 88th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, who were in the UAZ, are in a serious condition, and doctors are fighting for their lives.
Zelenskyy makes a change at Ukraine’s Security Service.
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Zelenskyy has appointed Yevhenii Khmara,head of Ukraine's Security Service Alpha special operations unit,as acting head of the SSU
Khmara is the author&organizer of drone attacks on Russia,including #Spiderweb. He’s also known for leading the operation to liberate Zmiinyi Island from Russians
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— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) January 5, 2026 at 7:20 AM
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Ukrainian Security Service chief, Vasyl Maliuk, mastermind of Crimean Bridge strikes and Sea Baby drone program, resigned
Under his leadership, the SBU conducted an unprecedented Spiderweb operation. It hit 41 Russian aircraft on four air bases
euromaidanpress.com/2026/01/05/m...
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— Euromaidan Press (@euromaidanpress.bsky.social) January 5, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Let’s check in on the Russian economy.
It’s hard to imagine that Russia would let this happen, but perhaps they are unable to stop it.
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‼️Russian Railways is nearing a systemic collapse.
High debt and low income are crippling the budget, they are buying less and less locomotives and railcars due to budget issues, and an urgent 200B ruble bailout request was denied.
Expect a cascade of train failures, soon.💥🚂
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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) January 4, 2026 at 2:28 AM
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Even as Russian economic collapse nears, those at the top are still getting richer during the war.
According to Bloomberg, Russia's richest businessmen around Putin got $24B richer in 2025.
That imbalance while the majority are cutting back on food will cause much unrest.
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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) January 3, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Finland says it could take weeks to investigate the Fitburg, the ship accused of damaging undersea cables.
An update on the shadow tanker Qendil, which ran aground off the coast of Turkey.
Yakutsk could be awash in money if Russia wasn’t sucking the wealth out of it and leaving it swimming in sewage instead.
A Russian war blogger dares to rip Putin’s foreign policy strategy over his time in office.
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1/ Vladimir Putin's heavy investment in the regime of Venezuelan former President Nicolás Maduro has been a costly and disastrous failure, according to Russian commentators. They admit that Russia is too weak to stop its allies from being picked off one by one by the West. ⬇️
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— ChrisO_wiki (@chriso-wiki.bsky.social) January 4, 2026 at 1:40 PM
2/ Maxim Kalashnikov is scathing about what the fall of Maduro means for Russian foreign policy, saying that it "marks the collapse of the Russian leadership's long-standing PR-fueled foreign policy."
3/ "For a long time, it resembled a fireworks display: much noise and hype, but no real benefit to the development and industrialisation of the Russian Federation, or to the reunification of the Russian people.
4/ "Let's just dump $20 billion into the "black hole" of raw materials-fueled pseudo-socialism in Venezuela, never to be recouped.Let's bury a comparable amount of resources in Syria, which we absolutely do not need…
5/ …(but then miss the chance for Novorossiya and completely neglect the migration problem in Russia). Let's create naval bases in Syria and Sudan, for which we don't even have a navy. But we'll lose the chance to take Odesa and unite with Transnistria…
6/ "All of this has ended in a predictable fiasco. Now there is no Syria, no Sudan, no Venezuela. Odesa, Kherson, and Mykolaiv are in Banderite [Ukrainian] hands, Transnistria is blockaded and hanging by a thread.
7/ "Russia has been swept out of the Transcaucasus and is being removed from Central Asia. The enormous resources squandered on "foreign policy pyrotechnics" can no longer be recovered. NATO has now been reinforced by Finns and Swedes.
8/ "After all, you can't count your chickens before they hatch. And now, this "autumn for the patriarch" [i.e. Putin] is upon us.
Women are making big advances in the Ukrainian military.
War is so glamorous.
Oh look! It’s Russia’s version of the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile.
Happy birthday.
The show must go on.
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Due to russia’s constant shelling of energy infrastructure, cities across Ukraine have been experiencing rolling blackouts.
Ukrainian bandura player and singer, Kateryna Tkachuk, went ahead with her performance despite the dark. The Ukrainian spirit is unbreakable!
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— UNITED24 (@u24.gov.ua) January 4, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Love during wartime.
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When you long to see someone you love, no distance feels too great. The wives and partners of Ukrainian soldiers remind us of this every single day.
Support Ukrainian defenders, so reunions like this become daily realities, not rare exceptions: u24app.gov.ua?utm_source=b...
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— UNITED24 (@u24.gov.ua) January 4, 2026 at 12:57 PM
