Key developments on Jan. 1:
- Russian drone attack kills 2, injures 6, damages central bank building in Kyiv
- Russia has lost over 38,000 troops in Kursk Oblast, Syrskyi says
- Ukraine has brought back 1,358 people from Russian captivity in 2024
- Zelensky says Trump 'willing, capable of achieving peace and ending Putin's aggression'
Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv on the morning of Jan. 1, killing two people, the Kyiv city military administration said on Telegram, citing its head Tymur Tkachenko.
At least six people were injured in the attack, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. The Prosecutor General's Office said on Telegram that the injured included two pregnant women.
The National Bank of Ukraine said that one of its buildings in Kyiv's Pechersk District had been damaged by falling debris. The central bank's main building is located near the President's Office on Bankova Street.
"All the NBU's (National Bank of Ukraine) operating systems and services are fully operational and unaffected," the Central Bank said in a statement posted on Facebook, adding that windows on the upper floors were damaged.
Russia launched 111 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed ones, against Ukraine overnight on Jan. 1, Ukraine's Air Force reported on its Telegram channel.
Ukraine's air defense shot down 63 drones over 10 oblasts, while another 46 drones did not reach their targets, the Air Force said.
"Even on New Year's Eve, Russia was only concerned with hurting Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement posted on his Telegram channel on Jan. 1. "My condolences to the families and friends (of the victims)."
He also thanked the army, doctors, and emergency services for their work.
Russia has not slowed down its attacks on Ukraine over the holiday period.
On Dec. 25, Russia conducted a large-scale Christmas attack, firing 78 missiles and 106 drones against multiple cities.
Kateryna Hodunova
Russia has lost over 38,000 troops in Kursk Oblast, Syrskyi says
The Russian army has lost over 38,000 troops and more than 1,000 pieces of equipment since the beginning of Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Jan. 1.
Syrskyi's statement comes after his visit to Russia's Kursk Oblast to reward the Ukrainian military serving in the area.
Over 700 servicemen from the Russian military were captured during the Ukrainian incursion, the general added.
"We will continue to destroy the invaders. It doesn't matter whether they have Russian or North Korean passports. The battle continues," Syrskyi said.
Ukraine began its surprise incursion into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, capturing about 1,300 square kilometers of territory, according to Kyiv. Ukrainian forces have lost control of about half of the initially captured territory as intense fighting continues in the region. Kyiv hopes to use the occupied Russian territory as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with Russia.
Russia has also stationed approximately 12,000 North Korean soldiers in the region since August to assist in ousting Ukrainian forces.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 23 that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured since their deployment in Kursk Oblast.
Their casualties have been linked to their lack of knowledge of the terrain and modern drone warfare, according to South Korean MP Lee Sung-kwon.
Ben Fletcher
Ukraine has brought back 1,358 people from Russian captivity in 2024
In 2024, more Ukrainians were freed from Russian captivity than in the previous year, according to data published by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs).
Over the past year, Ukraine conducted 11 prisoner exchanges and secured the return of 1,358 people, 356 more than in 2023. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 3,956 prisoners have been released from Russian captivity.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the numbers in his New Year video address published late on Dec. 31.
"I'm giving not estimates but precise numbers because each one represents a person, our person, a very important person," he said. "And with each return – we bring life back to Ukraine."
On Dec. 30, Ukraine successfully secured the release of 189 captives from Russian detention, including military personnel and two civilians.
The coordination headquarters said it was one of the largest exchanges since the start of the full-scale war. Among those freed were defenders of Azovstal, Mariupol, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Snake Island, and other key Ukrainian strongholds.
Among the released were 87 Armed Forces members, 43 National Guard members, 33 border guards, 24 sailors, and fighters from the Azov Regiment.
Stanislav Aseyev
Zelensky says Trump 'willing, capable of achieving peace and ending Putin's aggression'
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his New Year video address late on Dec. 31 that no one would give peace to his country as a gift, but he believed the U.S. would stand together with Ukraine as it fights to stop Russia's full-scale invasion.
In a 20-minute address, Zelensky thanked the U.S. for providing a wide array of critical military equipment, including 39 multiple-launch rocket systems, 301 Howitzer artillery weapons, and over 300 million units of ammunition.
Zelensky added that he has "no doubt that the new American president is willing and capable of achieving peace and ending Putin's aggression."
"(President-elect Donald Trump) understands that the first is impossible without the second. Because this is not a street fight where you have to calm down both sides. This is the full-scale aggression of a mad state against a civilized one," Zelensky said. "And I believe that we, together with the U.S., are capable of exerting that force."
Zelensky also recalled conversations with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden, and "everyone who supports us in the U.S."
The Biden administration has provided the most substantial military support to Ukraine among Western nations since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
As of December 2024, the U.S. had committed over $60 billion in military aid and $26 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine, dwarfing the contributions of other major donors such as Germany ($11.4 billion) and the U.K. ($10.1 billion).
