Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Between the strong declarations, the progress on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the main news from this Wednesday, January 1, the 1,043rd day of the war.
News of the day
The war never stops. 2025 started like 2024 in kyiv, under Russian bombs. Two people were killed and seven injured on Wednesday in kyiv during strikes by the Russian army, which launched a wave of 111 drones on Ukraine for New Year’s Day, authorities announced.
This Russian attack on the first day of 2025 comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had expressed the day before, in his wishes, the wish that this year be the year of negotiations which will have to “end the war”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened, at the end of December, to strike the center of kyiv in response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on his country. “Even on New Year’s Eve, Russia only cares about harming Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelensky reacted on Telegram.
Today’s statement
« “My dearest wish for all Russians is that the war ends, that peace reigns in our country, that everyone is happy. » »
“Let peace reign…” In Moscow, several residents met in the city center of the Russian capital at the start of the new year told AFP their “hope” that the conflict in Ukraine would end, so that “the stability” returns to their country.
While the conflict in Ukraine has left hundreds of thousands dead or injured, civilians and soldiers alike, the Kremlin has also stifled all voices opposed to the assault by its troops.
The number of the day
0. This is the number of cubic meters of Russian gas that has passed through Ukraine since January 1, 2025. Deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine definitively ceased on Wednesday, after the expiration of a signed contract. between the two parties at the end of 2019 and maintained despite Russia’s invasion of the country.
This stop, which concerns almost a third of total Russian gas deliveries to Europe, worries several Eastern European countries, notably Moldova, particularly vulnerable, and Slovakia which has warned of serious consequences.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed this end to the transit of Russian gas: “When Putin took power in Russia more than twenty-five years ago, the annual volume of gas sent via Ukraine to the Europe amounted to more than 130 billion m3. Today, Russian gas transit is at zero, which is one of Moscow’s biggest defeats,” he wrote on social media.
-Today’s trend
Sports cars, golden jewelry, refined dresses… In Moscow, luxury Western products remain on sale in the many boutiques in the city center, a reality which contrasts with the announcements of departure made in 2022 in retaliation to the Russian assault on Ukraine.
“I don’t see any particular change. Some brands have left, like Chanel, Dior or Hermès, but others have stayed. Brunello Cucinelli, for example,” says Natalia, a 51-year-old dentist, strolling through the prestigious Goum shopping center, a few meters from the Kremlin walls on Red Square.
“I don’t care which brands are gone. They thought they were isolating us? It’s ridiculous,” says Sergei, an elegant 61-year-old retiree, as he leaves a store. On the shelves, he assures that he will find what he bought before February 2022. “The brands that I like are still there. I ordered my costumes from Isaia, I can still do that,” he rejoices.
After the launch of the Russian offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor, several Western brands and luxury groups, such as Chanel, Hermès, LVMH and Kering, announced their intention to leave the Russian market. Question of international image.
But almost three years later, their well-known logos still adorn the shops in the center of Moscow, a bustling megalopolis of some 13 million inhabitants.
In fact, several of these foreign luxury houses have kept their prestigious premises – now closed – a stone’s throw from the Kremlin. Probably in the hope of returning when the conflict is over.
Nothing prevents their products from ending up on the Russian market.
“Their announced departure is pure hypocrisy,” said a French businessman, who continues to sell his luxury products in the Russian capital, on condition of anonymity.
“Even if their stores are officially closed, these brands continue to sell their products to Russians via marketplaces”, that is to say online sales sites, as well as intermediaries such as department stores, notes- he.
The Tsoum application allows, for example, to buy clothes online from Prada, Saint Laurent or Alexander McQueen, which have officially left Russia, at “more competitive prices than in Dubai”, according to an online advertisement.
