Key developments on Jan. 24:
- 'More than 50 explosions’ — Massive drone strike targets Russian refinery, plants
- Russian army failing to outflank Pokrovsk, Ukraine's military says
- Media investigation identifies over 90,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
- 'Utter bulls***' — Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to abandon NATO membership promise
- Zelensky is 'no angel' — Trump criticizes Ukraine's president for 'wanting to fight' at war's onset
- Putin claims Russia ready for Ukraine peace talks, questions legitimacy under Zelensky's decree
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOS) struck the Ryazan Oil Refinery and the Ryazan Thermal Power Plant in an overnight drone strike on Jan. 24, an SBU source told the Kyiv Independent.
The attack was later confirmed by the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
The news comes as Russia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting 121 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 37 in Bryansk Oblast, 20 in Ryazan Oblast, and 17 in the Kursk and Saratov oblasts each.
The refinery, one of Russia’s largest, has the capacity of 17 million metric tons of oil per year. At least three oil depots and a workshop were set ablaze, according to the source.
The statement confirms earlier reports in Russian Telegram channels that the Ryazan Oil Refinery caught fire after a drone attack.
"SBU and SOS drones also targeted an oil pumping station at the Ryazan Thermal Power Plant," the source said, without revealing details on possible consequences. Local residents reported more than 50 explosions, according to the source.
Ryazan lies roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Ukraine’s border.
Drones also attacked the Kremniy EL microelectronics plant in Russia's Bryansk and other facilities in the city, the independent Telegram news channel Astra reported, citing Russian Emergencies Ministry sources.
It is not immediately clear whether the plant, which produces components for the Russian military, suffered significant damage in the attack. The drone strike also damaged windows and the facade of a building of the Investigative Committee, and the Institute of Management and Business caught fire, according to Astra.
Andrii Kovalenko, the counter-disinformation chief at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, also reported on the attack against the Kremniy plant.
The facility has suspended operations after sustaining hits, Kovalenko claimed, saying that the plant produces microelectronics for Russian air defenses, Iskander missiles, electronic warfare equipment, and drones.
This is the third time the plant was hit during the full-scale war, Kovalenko said. The city of Bryansk lies around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Russia’s border with Ukraine.
The General Staff also confirmed the attack against the Kremniy plant, without revealing details on possible damage.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims.
Recent weeks saw Ukraine again intensify long-range strikes against military and industrial facilities in Russia’s rear in an effort to undermine Moscow’s ability to wage war.
Alisa Yurchenko
Russian army failing to outflank Pokrovsk, Ukraine's military says
The Russian army is, for now, failing to outflank Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast in an attempt to cut off the town's logistics routes, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces, Viktor Trehubov, said on Jan. 24 on national television.
The area near Pokrovsk, a crucial logistics hub for Ukrainian forces, has been the focus of fierce fighting for months as Russia intensifies its offensive in Donetsk Oblast.
Russian forces are trying to bypass Pokrovsk from the north and south, but so far without success, according to the spokesperson.
"So far, these attempts have been more or less effectively repelled. They have begun to attack the town more actively with long-range, different types of missiles and FPV (first-person-view) drones," Trehubov said.
"Unfortunately, they are hitting the town, but their plan to surround it is still very far from realization," he added.
Trehubov stressed that the Pokrovsk sector of the front line is the primary vector of Russia's offensive.
"This is the main point of concentration of their efforts, and it has been for a long time. There is the largest number of clashes there," he said.
Russian troops are continuing to push on the Lyman, Siversk, Kramatorsk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove axes, according to Ukraine's General Staff. Pokrovsk and Kurakhove remain the focal points of the Russian eastern offensive, now in its fifth month.
Ukraine previously blew up the No. 3 mine's shaft in the village of Pishchane near Pokrovsk to prevent Russia from deploying its troops closer to the front-line town, according to The New York Times (NYT)
Earlier this month, Metinvest announced it had suspended operations at the Pokrovsk coking coal mine due to worsening security conditions and power outages.
Kateryna Denisova
Media investigation identifies over 90,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
The BBC and the independent outlet Mediazona have identified the names of 90,019 Russian soldiers who died during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the BBC reported on Jan. 24.
Since the media outlets' last update in mid-January, the names of 1,964 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties.
Some 23% of all those killed were military personnel who signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry after February 2022.
According to the investigation, 17% of the identified soldiers were professional contractors, 17% were convicts who left for the war from prisons, and 12% were conscripts.
The media revealed that nine generals and 500 soldiers with the rank of lieutenant colonel and higher were among the killed.
As of Jan. 24, the highest casualty rates were among the residents of Bashkortostan, Russia’s republic near the Ural Mountains and the homeland of the Bashkir people. Russia’s non-Slavic ethnic groups have been overrepresented in its casualty figures in the war with Ukraine.
The authorities and media in this region reported a total of 3,932 deaths during the full-scale war, the investigation read.
Russia's real losses are likely higher, as the media analysis is estimated to cover 45% to 65% of the actual death toll, the BBC reported. According to the journalists’ estimates, the actual losses could range from 138,500 to 200,000 people killed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 8 that about 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during the full-scale invasion. The last time Moscow officially announced the number of soldiers killed was in September 2022, putting the number at 5,937.
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Jan. 19 that Russian forces suffered their heaviest losses last year since the start of the full-scale war, with total military losses reaching 434,000 soldiers killed and injured in 2024.
This represents around half of the 800,000 killed and injured Russian soldiers since the start of the full-scale war, according to Ukraine’s military.
'Utter bulls***' — Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to abandon NATO membership promise
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry dismissed Russia's demand to cancel NATO's 2008 promise of eventual membership for Ukraine, calling it "utter bul***it" in a Jan. 24 statement.
The response comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko criticized NATO's 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration, calling it "catastrophic for European security."
"Aw shucks, North Korea's ally issuing ultimatums to NATO. Utter bul***it," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi in response to Grushko's remarks. "Moscow has no say here."
Instead, the ministry praised NATO's decision at the time and reiterated Kyiv's commitment to joining the alliance.
"European security architecture is built on protection from Russia," Tykhyi said.
Ukraine officially applied to join NATO in September 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion. While NATO members pledged at the 2024 Washington Summit that Ukraine's path to membership is "irreversible," they have yet to extend a formal invitation.
Russian officials, as well as Western intellectuals with a track record of anti-Ukraine narratives have repeatedly cited Ukraine's potential NATO membership as a justification for the invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged opposition from several NATO members, including the U.S., Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia, but expressed hope that U.S. President Donald Trump could sway support for Kyiv's entry.
There is little evidence that the new administration would be more open to Ukraine's NATO membership than former U.S. President Joe Biden.
Trump has previously criticized NATO and blamed Biden for allegedly supporting Ukraine's aspirations and provoking Russia's invasion.
Martin Fornusek
Zelensky is 'no angel' — Trump criticizes Ukraine’s president for 'wanting to fight' at war’s onset
U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky share the blame for the Ukraine-Russia war in an interview segment with Fox News released on Jan. 23.
The U.S. president, who most recently met Zelensky in Paris in December, criticized his Ukrainian counterpart for resisting Russia at the start of the invasion instead of cutting a deal.
"Zelensky... shouldn’t have allowed this to happen either. He’s no angel," Trump said.
"I could have made that deal so easily, and Zelensky decided that 'I want to fight,'" he commented, adding that Ukraine has been fighting against a "much bigger entity."
At the same time, Trump acknowledged Ukraine’s bravery in resisting Russia and said that the Ukrainian president has "had enough" and is ready for peace.
"We started pouring equipment... and they (Ukraine) had the bravery to use the equipment, but in the end, it’s a war that has to be settled," Trump said.
Already during his electoral campaign, Trump implied that his predecessor, former U.S. President Joe Biden, and Zelensky share blame for Russia’s ongoing invasion and pledged to broker a swift peace deal.
Trump has been often critical of the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine and boasted about good relations with Putin, sparking concerns he might broker a deal unfavorable to Kyiv. Recently, the U.S. president has adopted a more critical stance toward Moscow, criticizing Putin for reluctance to cut a deal and threatening with economic repercussions if he fails to do so.
"Putin shouldn’t have done it (launching the full-scale invasion)... and it has to stop," Trump said, claiming that Russia had lost around 850,000 soldiers while Ukraine lost 700,000.
Zelensky put Ukraine’s casualty rates at 43,000 killed and 370,000 wounded as of December, while Moscow does not reveal its losses.
In the interview, Trump reiterated his warnings that if Russia does not agree to negotiate, the U.S. is going to impose "massive tariffs and massive taxes, and... big sanctions," adding he "doesn’t want to do it" because he "loves" Russia.
The U.S. president echoed his earlier claims that the full-scale invasion would have never started if he were in office at the time, blaming the Biden administration for supposedly provoking Putin and allowing him to profit from high energy prices.
Trump also lashed out against the former president for not pressuring European countries to donate more support to Ukraine, falsely claiming that Washington spent "$200 billion more than Europe" in support of Kyiv.
The U.S. Congress has allocated over $170 billion to Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022, which included the provision of over $60 billion worth of military support. The EU and its member countries have made available $145 billion in financial, military, and humanitarian assistance during the full-scale war.
Ukraine recently announced that arrangements for a meeting between Trump and Zelensky are underway, while the U.S. president also said he aims to meet Putin in the coming days to discuss an end to the war.
Moscow welcomed Trump’s proposal for a meeting but voiced skepticism about a possible peace deal, saying it has to first understand what the U.S.’s goals are before entering into any negotiations.
Andrea Januta
Putin claims Russia ready for Ukraine peace talks, questions legitimacy under Zelensky's decree
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Jan. 24 that Russia is ready for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on ending the war in Ukraine.
"Regarding negotiations, we have always said — and I want to emphasize this again — that we are ready for talks on the Ukrainian issue (Russia's full-scale invasion)," Putin said.
Putin claimed that if Trump's 2020 "victory hadn't been stolen," there might not have been a "crisis in Ukraine." He emphasized that Russia has "never refused contact" with the U.S. administration and maintained a "pragmatic and trusting" relationship with Trump.
He moved quickly to point out a decree signed by President Zelensky after Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions, which declared negotiations with Putin "impossible" while leaving the door open to discussions with Russia under different leadership.
"How can negotiations be resumed if they are officially banned?" Putin asked.
Zelensky's 2022 decree followed Russia's annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, actions condemned as illegitimate by the international community.
The move reflected Ukraine's refusal to engage with Moscow while Putin remains in power, underscoring Kyiv's position that peace negotiations must uphold Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Ukraine's Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak dismissed Putin's remarks, accusing him of seeking to sideline Europe in any talks.
"Putin wants to negotiate the fate of Europe — without Europe," Yermak said. He added, "Putin has long needed to return to reality himself, or he will be brought back."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed Putin's comments, saying that dialog with Trump could recover if the U.S. "takes into account Russia's interests."
"If the U.S. under Trump takes Russia's interests into account, the dialog between Moscow and Washington will be gradually restored; if not, everything will remain as it is," he said.
Lavrov expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's team's reported peace proposals on Dec. 29, particularly the idea of freezing hostilities along the current line of contact and transferring the responsibility for countering Russia to Europe.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
