Ukraine war latest: Russia used 'updated tactics' during latest mass missile, drone strike, Zelensky says
This is Chris York reporting from Kyiv on day 1,427 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top story:
Russia used "updated tactics" during its latest overnight aerial assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Jan. 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, adding Kyiv would be informing allies including the U.S. about the development.
The overnight strike targeted substations serving nuclear power plants, and triggered widespread outages of electricity, water, and heating, including in Kyiv.
"The Air Force Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on the use of our air defense systems to shoot down Russian missiles and the initial findings regarding the enemy's updated tactics," Zelensky said.
"I instructed the military to immediately contact our partners – first and foremost the United States – and to inform them in detail about the change in Russia's strike tactics and the specific targeting of energy infrastructure," he added.
Zelensky did not elaborate on what the "updated tactics" were. Among the 33 missiles launched by Russia during the attack was a rarely used hypersonic Zircon anti-ship missile.
Technically, it is a cruise missile powered by what is called a scramjet, giving the missile the necessary hypersonic push.
In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed it would be "a hypersonic missile able to accelerate to about Mach 9," meaning the missile would travel nine times the speed of sound, and have a range of "over one thousand kilometers," boldly declaring it "invincible."
But due to its limited use, little is known for certain about its capabilities.
Chornobyl plant restores external power after temporary outage caused by Russian attack, Energy Ministry says
Last updated 7:02 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine's Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant has restored external power supply after a temporary outage caused by Russia's latest mass attack on energy infrastructure, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said on Jan. 20.
The ministry said that despite overnight missile and drone strikes targeting key energy hubs supplying the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, all facilities at the plant — including the New Safe Confinement and spent nuclear fuel storage sites — are now receiving power from Ukraine's unified energy system and are operating as required.
"Radiation levels at the site and across the exclusion zone remain within permitted limits," the ministry added.
Earlier on Jan. 20, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Russia's latest mass attack against Ukraine temporarily impacted several Ukrainian electrical substations "vital for nuclear safety," including the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
"The (Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant) lost all off-site power and power lines to other (nuclear power plants) were also impacted. The IAEA is actively following developments in order to assess impact on nuclear safety," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said, without mentioning Russia.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry warned that Russian attacks risking power outages at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant constitute a serious violation of nuclear safety principles and pose a threat beyond Ukraine's borders.
'We aim to kill 50,000 Russians a month,' Ukraine's new defense minister says
Last updated 5:32 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine aims to "kill 50,000 Russians per month," the country's new defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said during a meeting with the media.
Laying out his plan in his new role, Fedorov said he had two priorities, the first of which is "management."
"Management must be built around those capable of achieving defined goals. If people don’t demonstrate measurable results, they can’t remain in the system," said.
"The second strategic objective is to kill 50,000 Russians per month," he said.
"Last month, 35,000 were killed; all these losses are verified on video. If we reach 50,000, we will see what happens to the enemy. They view people as a resource, and shortages are already evident."
Moscow and Kyiv rarely officially report their own losses. Ukraine estimates that Russia's overall casualties during the full-scale war have surpassed 1,200,000.
Zelensky reiterates call to create joint European army with at least 3 million personnel amid growing Russian threat
Last updated 5:30 p.m. Kyiv time.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan. 20 reiterated his call for the creation of a joint European armed force of at least 3 million personnel.
"Russia plans to have an army of 2 to 2.5 million personnel by 2030. So a European army, while each country keeps its own sovereign forces, must be able to respond. It should be no smaller than 3 million," Zelensky told journalists.
Zelensky's statement comes nearly a year after he first called on European partners to create a new armed force at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, 2025, amid uncertainty over further U.S. support if Russian aggression escalates.
European leaders have taken no steps toward implementing the initiative in nearly a year, according to Zelensky.
"Maybe now, with all the new challenges, European leaders will take it more seriously," the president added.
Zelensky said the newly created army would not aim to compete with the U.S. and would not require dissolving NATO.
Zelensky added that Ukraine could become a cornerstone of such a force due to its combat experience, as well as its military technology and logistics expertise.
Ukraine denies capture of Rybne village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Last updated 3:57 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine on Jan. 20 denied reports of the Russian capture of the village of Rybne, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The Ukrainian open-source mapping project DeepState reported earlier in the day that the village was occupied by Moscow's forces, which also made advances near Solodke, Rodynske, and Pokrovsk.
But Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Southern Operational Command, told the Kyiv Independent the report was "premature."
"The enemy tried to enter the village, but the main thing is whether he will gain a foothold there," he said.
Voloshyn acknowledged Ukrainian forces were having "very difficult" logistical issues, adding "there is no clear front line" in the "gray zone."
"We keep it under fire control. We have not lost it yet. There are rivers, meadows, they cannot occupy it either. We did this to block the enemy and save the lives of the military personnel," he added.
Ukraine now has more air defenses, but Russia has even more missiles for future attacks, Zelensky says
Last updated 3:47 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine now has more air defense systems, but Russia has many times more missiles for future attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Jan. 20.
The Jan. 20 Russian attack cost Ukraine about 80 million euro ($88 million) in missiles for its air defense systems, according to Zelensky.
"(Ukraine) needs more missiles, more air defenses," Zelensky said, adding that aside from U.S.-produced Patriot PAC-3 missiles used against Russian ballistic missiles — whose numbers have increased significantly — "nothing else works."
Zelensky said Russia continues to receive components for missile production from private manufacturers and allied countries. The president also stressed the need to reduce Russia's production capacity, adding that "this is not happening yet."
Russia has also increased its use of Shahed-type drones in attacks on Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine has expanded its number of interceptors and mobile fire groups, according to the president.
"We are finding tools and will eventually overcome (the threat from) Shahed-type drones," Zelensky said. "Without this, there is no way to survive."
"But when it comes to ballistic missiles, the key is still in the hands of the U.S.," he said, highlighting the importance of the functioning of the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) and support from partners in Europe and the U.S.
Ukraine's SBU captures Russian soldier suspected of executing 9 Ukrainian POWs in 2024
Last updated 1:50 a.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has captured a Russian soldier who allegedly shot and killed nine Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Kursk Oblast in October 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Jan. 19.
The announcement comes over a year after Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation into reports that Russian troops shot nine Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners in Kursk Oblast on Oct. 10, 2024.
A suspect in the shooting has now been detained, according to Zelensky, who was briefed on the arrest by SBU First Deputy Chief Oleksandr Poklad.
"We will find every Russian murderer," the president said. "Every single one will be held accountable."
The battlefield monitoring group DeepState reported the killing of the Ukrainian soldiers on Oct. 13, 2024, citing sources from Ukraine's First Tank Brigade. The execution occurred in Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces launched a shock incursion in August 2024.
At least 4 killed, 35 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past day
At least four people were killed and 35 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities said on Jan. 20.
Russia launched 18 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, as well as 339 drones, including about 250 Shahed-type drones, against Ukraine overnight, primarily targeting Kyiv, the Air Force said on Jan. 20.
Ukrainian air defense downed 27 missiles and 315 drones, according to the report. A Zircon anti-ship missile, known to travel considerably quicker than most cruise missiles, was named as among the weapons used by Russia.
The attack killed and injured civilians across two Ukrainian regions, targeted substations serving nuclear power plants, and triggered widespread outages of electricity, water, and heating, local authorities said.
A death was reported in Kyiv's surrounding region overnight. Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said a 50-year-old man was killed northwest of the capital. One person was injured in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Air raid sirens and reports of missile and drone attacks continued throughout the day in Kyiv.
Two women, aged 67 and 76, were also injured in the overnight attack in the central-eastern city of Dnipro, the regional military administration reported on Jan. 20.
Elsewhere over the past day, in Kherson Oblast, Russian attacks injured four people over the past day, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, five people were injured in a Russian attack against the city of Nikopol, Govenor Oleksandr Hanzha said.
A 57-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman also suffered injuries in a drone strike in the Vasylkivka community. At the same time, a 44-year-old man was hospitalized in moderate condition following an attack on the Petropavlivka community, the governor added.
In Donetsk Oblast, Russian strikes killed two people and injured four others over the past day, according to regional Governor Vadym Filashkin.
In Kharkiv Oblast, one person was killed and 13 others injured in Russian attacks, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russian attacks injured three people over the past day, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,228,570 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Russia has lost around 1,228,570 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Jan. 20.
The number includes 1,130 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,579 tanks, 23,928 armored fighting vehicles, 75,067 vehicles and fuel tanks, 36,393 artillery systems, 1,618 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,279 air defense systems, 434 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 111,140 drones, 28 ships and boats, and two submarines.
