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A fire erupted in the city of Kazan in Russia's Tatarstan republic overnight on Jan. 20 amid a Ukrainian drone attack on the city, Russian Telegram channels reported.
Russian forces suffered their heaviest losses last year since the start of the full-scale war, with total military losses reaching 434,000 soldiers, including approximately 150,000 killed in combat during 2024, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Jan. 19 interview with the Ukrainian news outlet TSN.
"For several months now, the artillery ammunition expenditure rates in the Russian army have practically halved. If previously the figure reached up to 40,000 rounds per day, it is now significantly lower," Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi said on Jan. 19.
"Every front is important, and you served on the most challenging ones. You are our heroes, and we are deeply grateful to each of you," the president said.
"We have the capacities and capabilities to create, and we are working on creating, our own domestic air defense complex," Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Jan. 19.
Recent inspections of the 156th Brigade revealed "a number of significant shortcomings," the military said. Solutions include replacing the brigade's leadership, appointing a commander with practical combat and command experience, and transferring combat-tested officers and sergeants into the unit.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico accused opposition leader Michal Simecka of "kissing Zelensky's ring" during his recent visit to Kyiv and said the pro-Western MP wanted to stage a coup d'etat in Bratislava.
Syria's new administration has banned all Russian, Iranian, and Israeli goods from entering the country in a new decree issued by the country's Minister of Finance on Jan. 17.
Amid a series of incidents that have damaged critical cables in the Baltic Sea, intelligence services in the U.S. and Europe are increasingly convinced that accidents led to the incidents, according to a new report by the Washington Post on Jan. 19.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that a united NATO, bolstered by strong U.S. leadership, is essential to counter Putin's ambitions and safeguard Ukraine's sovereignty, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Russia criticized a newly announced 100-year partnership agreement between Ukraine and the U.K., rejecting any cooperation between the two nations in the Azov Sea.
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed interest in visiting China shortly after assuming office, potentially within his first 100 days, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
A Russian missile strike on Kyiv early on Jan. 18 damaged Ukraine's oldest McDonald’s, located near the Lukianivska metro station in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district. Open since 1997, this is the first McDonald's restaurant in the country.
"We're the largest NATO partner in Europe. We'll obviously have a role to play," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Jan. 18 when asked about the possibility of sending troops to monitor a ceasefire in Ukraine.