According to Yurii Sobolevskyi, deputy head of Kherson Oblast Council, Russian forces have expressed wanting to hold the sham “referendum” in Kherson Oblast at the same time as in Donetsk Oblast past Sept. 11. Sobolevskyi said this is an indication that Russian forces lack local public support.
"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country," Donald Trump said on Truth Social.
"We held consultations with Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, and I count on lawmakers' support," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 3.
"A busy working day lies ahead: security and economic issues, work on framework documents, coordination of further steps with partners," National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said.
Russia launched 95 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said.
The bodies of a 3-year-old boy and a woman, likely his mother, were found in the rubble of an apartment building following Russian strikes. Search and rescue operations are still active at 3 a.m. local time, according to governor Syniehubov.
The number includes 750 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day, the General Staff said.
The news comes a few hours after Zelensky announced he would appoint Kyrylo Budanov, head of the military intelligence, to take charge of the President’s Office.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko will soon give the president a list of possible candidates to replace Serhii Deineko as head of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service.
HUR has published video footage of Kapustin's staged "death," which the agency used to collect a $500,000 bounty. The video shows a drone strike on a minibus shortly after Kapustin is seen entering the vehicle.
Along the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, the front line has remained largely static, but fighting continues every day. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko embedded with Ukraine’s forces in Kherson Oblast, following FPV drone and night bomber teams tasked with defending river islands.
The poll also revealed that 69% of Ukrainians support a peace plan that would freeze the war with security guarantees, as long as Ukraine is not forced to officially recognize Russian-occupied territories as part of Russia, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology said.
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service warned on Jan. 2 that Russia may be preparing a provocation as part of its efforts to disrupt the U.S.-mediated peace talks.
