New offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region: Ukrainian forces advance by 2.7 km on the first day. Air combat on January 6: Ukrainian air defense shoots down 2 Kh-59 missiles and nearly 80 drones. Zelenskyi on the order of negotiations to end the war: first with Trump.
New offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region: Ukrainian forces advance by 2.7 km on the first day
On January 5, information emerged about the start of a new offensive by Ukrainian forces in certain areas of the Kursk region. Later, this fact was indirectly confirmed by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, and directly confirmed by Andriy Kovalenko, director of the Center for Combating Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.
According to analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian forces have effectively resumed offensive actions in Russia’s Kursk region on at least three axes, achieving tactical advances.
Ukrainian forces are said to have advanced approximately 2.7 km under fighting on the first day of this new offensive in the Kursk region, territory of the Russian aggressor.
This information was reported by the OSINT analyst known by the pseudonym “Def Mon”.
In its publication, Def Mon referred to geotagged images published by Russian propagandists from the RIA Novosti agency. In the video they released, it was claimed that the Russian army was “repelling ZSU attacks in the Kursk region”.
A map published in the January 5 ISW report also shows that Ukrainian forces advanced into the southern part of Berdyna and reached the road connecting that area to Novosotnytske.
January 6 air combat: Ukrainian air defense shot down 2 Kh-59 missiles and almost 80 drones over Ukraine
On the night of January 6, Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with two Kh-59 guided missiles and 128 Shahed strike drones as well as other simulator drones of different types. Ukrainian air defense shot down 2 missiles and 79 drones.
The Air Force Command reported that the missiles were launched from the south, while the Shahed drones and simulator drones came from the directions of Bryansk, Millerovo, Orel, Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk.
At 9:00 it was confirmed that 2 Kh-59 guided missiles and 79 Shahed strike drones as well as other types of drones were shot down in the regions of Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy , Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Vinnytsia. No direct impact has been reported.
49 enemy simulator drones were lost by location (without negative consequences).
The fall of downed enemy drones caused damage to buildings of enterprises, institutions and private houses in Chernihiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Poltava and Kyiv regions. No deaths or injuries have been reported at this time.
Zelensky on the order of negotiations to end the war: first with Trump, then with Putin
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the first negotiations to end the war will be held with US President-elect Donald Trump after his inauguration, and then with the leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, if the US leader offers to “strong security guarantees for Ukraine”.
During an interview with American podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelensky said: “I think on January 25 or another day we sit down with Trump first. With him we agree on how we can stop the war and Putin.”
The president also stressed the importance of giving Europe a voice, “because Europe is watching us and Trump.”
He noticed that all European leaders constantly ask him for information about his discussions or meetings with Trump.
Zelensky insisted: if the American leader offers strong security guarantees for Ukraine, then talks with the Russians could follow. “And that’s how it should be done, and not just sitting in threes directly,” he said.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president expressed the assumption that Trump could find himself in a complicated political situation if he achieves a ceasefire without providing Ukraine with adequate security guarantees.
According to him, this could be reminiscent of the situation in which he himself found himself in 2019.
“Don’t count on Putin’s will. Force him to do what is necessary to end the war – that is important,” concluded the Ukrainian president.
It is worth noting that during the election campaign, Trump repeatedly boasted of his good relations with the Kremlin leader. He also repeatedly promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected.
