Friday the 13th – Russia attacks all of Ukraine

“Danger! City of Kiev! Stay in shelters. “Enemy combat drone approaching from the north”, citizens of the metropolis were warned. According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, parts of a drone fell in a neighborhood close to the center without causing a fire or injuring people hit.

During the night, after a break of several days, Russia again attacked Ukraine with a large number of combat drones. The first air raid siren sounded in the capital Kiev on Thursday evening after four days of calm. The Ukrainian Air Force reported on its Telegram channel about groups of enemy combat drones over almost all areas in the center, north and east of the country.

In addition to Kiev, cities in the west were also attacked
Explosions were reported in Sumy, Kharkov and Vynnytsia in the west. There was initially no exact information about the damage. In addition to the drones, the Russian army also used guided glide bombs dropped from aircraft, according to the military. Russia has stepped up attacks with Iranian-made combat drones in recent weeks, sometimes deploying more than 100 aircraft per night. Conversely, according to military information from Moscow, Russia has shot down numerous Ukrainian drones over the border areas of Belgorod and Rostov.

Situation for Pokrovsk dramatic
Meanwhile, the situation of Ukrainian defenders on the front lines in eastern Ukraine continues to deteriorate. Russian troops have advanced within 1.5 kilometers of the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, according to a prominent military blogger. Members of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are already in the city, Ukrainian-born pro-Russian blogger Yuri Podoljaka wrote on Friday. The information could not initially be independently verified. The Ukrainian military recently said that Russian forces had destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the city. Other civilians who had previously stayed there were taken to safety in Pokrovsk.

Pokrovsk is a transportation hub and an important logistics center for the Ukrainian army. The fall of the city, which was home to 60,000 people before the war, would be one of the worst setbacks for Kiev in months. The capture would allow Russian forces to significantly disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the Eastern Front and further advance their offensive. In the Russian media, Pokrovsk is often referred to as the “Gateway to Donetsk”.

There is a threat of encirclement near Kurachowe
According to Ukrainian military observers, an undisclosed number of soldiers are also at risk of being encircled south of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region. They had occupied positions there for a long time on both sides of the Sukhi Jaly River, but the Russian advance towards the city of Uspenivka cut off their withdrawal route. “It is difficult to understand what sense there is in maintaining the ‘sack of Uspenivka’ when the enemy continues to gradually capture Kurakhove,” the military blog DeepState said.

The General Staff did not comment in detail on the situation in this sector of the front, only reporting heavy fighting around Kurachowe.

Selenskyj in Fast-Frontstadt Saporischschja
Two days after a Russian missile attack that killed 11 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the city of Zaporizhia, which was also increasingly affected by the war. He visited the damaged clinic where a rocket hit on Tuesday and commemorated the victims. He also visited a newly built underground school for 1,000 children.

“There is a lot to do in Zaporizhia: the security situation, the protection of the air,” Zelensky said in a video message. In the southern city, which had 700,000 inhabitants before the Russian war of aggression, the president discussed the situation on the approaching front with the army. If Ukrainian troops have to evacuate the last towns in the eastern Donetsk region, only 130 kilometers of open steppe land will remain to Zaporizhia on the Dnipro.

Yermak: Ukraine too weak for negotiations with Moscow
Regarding the ongoing international discussion about ways out of the war, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said that the country is currently not strong enough to negotiate with Moscow. “Today we are not there yet. We have no weapons, we lack status,” he said on Ukrainian television. “We are talking about an invitation to NATO and clear guarantees that would ensure that (Kremlin chief Vladimir) Putin does not return in two or three years.”

In Berlin, foreign ministers of several European countries pledged Ukraine’s steadfast support and commitment to viable security guarantees if ceasefire negotiations were to take place after Donald Trump took office as US president in January. It is unclear what the guarantees could look like. There are currently no concrete plans for a European peacekeeping force. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in Warsaw on Wednesday. Macron called for solidarity with the US.

The outgoing US administration under President Joe Biden is providing Ukraine with additional weapons to help defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression. The aid package has a value of 500 million dollars (about 477 million euros), the US State Department announced. It includes anti-drone systems, ammunition for the Himars-type rocket launcher system and armored vehicles. Just a few days ago, the US government announced a package worth approximately $988 million (about €935 million).

Under Democrat Biden, the US is Ukraine’s largest arms supplier and most politically important supporter. But the change of power in Washington is looming on January 20 – and the course on Ukraine is likely to change significantly under Trump. There are concerns in Kiev that Republicans could drastically reduce U.S. military aid. That’s why the Biden administration has set itself the goal of quickly and effectively using all the funds Congress has already approved in the coming weeks.