Summary: Russian forces made a few marginal advances in the Donetsk sector.
Sloboda Front – Initiative Russia – Current Target: Recapture Kupyansk
Russian forces did not make any confirmed advances in the sector, but Russian sources claim that Russian forces advanced near Synkivka and Lake Lyman (6 miles NE of Kupyansk), Petropavlivka (5 miles W of Kupyansk), and Ivanivka (13 miles SE of Kupyansk). None of these claims have been confirmed.
Siversky Donets Front – Initiative Russia – Current Targets: Zherebets River, Siversk, Chasiv Yar
Zherebets River – Russian forces did not make any confirmed advances in the sector, but Russian sources claim that Russian forces advanced towards Terny, Yampolivka, and Torske (12 miles W of Kreminna); and near the Serebrianska forest area (9.5 miles SW of Kreminna). None of these claims have been confirmed.
Chasiv Yar (Around Bakhmut) – Although positional battles were fought, neither side made any confirmed or claimed advances in the region.
Donetsk Front – Initiative Russia – Current Targets: Avdiivka, Pervomaiske, Novomykhailivka, and to advance from occupied Marinka.
Avdiivka – Although positional battles were fought, neither side made any confirmed nor claimed advances in the region.
Around Marinka – Russian forces made confirmed marginal advances west of Marinka towards Heorhiivka (3 miles NW of Marinka).
Novomykhailivka – Russian forces made some advances in the southern outskirts of Novomykhailivka. Russian forces are placing mines making it difficult for Ukrainian forces to retake lost territory, but also making it difficult for Russian forces to advance forward. But since Russia does not care for the lives of its troops, they are still being forced to move forward and become casualties of their own mines.
Zaporizhia Front – Initiative Russia – Target: Recapture Robotyne
Although positional battles were fought, neither side made any confirmed nor claimed advances in the sector.
Left Bank Front – Initiative Russia – Current Target: Recapture Krynky
Although positional battles were fought, neither side made any confirmed nor claimed advances in the region.
Ukraine successfully conducted a precision strike on a half-built Russian railway bridge in occupied Hranitne, Donetsk Oblast (29 miles NE of occupied Mariupol).
A 16-year-old boy from Dagestan has been arrested for the destruction of the SU-34 Russian fighter-bomber that was set on fire deep within Russian territory in Chelyabinsk. Ukrainian intelligence services had taken credit for the operation.
Russia launched 28 drones and three missiles at civilian targets throughout Ukraine. Ukrainian air defense systems intercepted 21 of the drones. The missile struck an apartment building in Rivne killing 12 people including five children. Power was knocked out in Donetsk Oblast resulting in 18 miners being trapped in a mine. Russian drones are becoming harder to intercept as they are now being employed with machine vision and automatic target acquisition technology. Russia also launched two missile strikes against Kharkiv late last night, but fortunately there were no casualties reported.
16 Ukrainian civilians were killed and at least 5 wounded in Russian attacks throughout the day (injuries from the Rivne attack are not yet known). In addition 12 civilian deaths from the Rivne attack:
- Russian attacks on the village of Nechvolodivka, Kharkiv Oblast (near Kupyansk) resulted in the death of a civilian and the injury of another.
- Russian attacks on the village of Senkove, Kharkiv Oblast (near Kupyansk) resulted in the injury of a teenage boy.
- Two attacks on homes in Kherson resulted in the deaths of three elderly civilians and the wounding of three others.
Tribute to Maksym Kryvtsov (33) – Maksym was born in 1990 in Ukraine. Kryvtsov participated in the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 which brought the end of the reign of Ukrainian dictator Viktor Yanukovych. Russia invaded Ukraine soon after taking Crimea and half of the Donbass. Kryvtsov joined the Ukraine army as a volunteer to defend the homeland which brought the Russian advances quickly to a stop. In the subsequent years he dedicated his life to serving the veterans of that war. When Russian invaded a second time in February 2022, Kryvtsov returned to the frontlines to defend his country. While there he published a book of poems entitled “Poems From The Loophole”. He died fighting for Ukraine on January 7, 2024. His mother wrote: “my dearest son will sprout violets” recalling lines from his son’s poetry.
Several high-ranking US congressmen of the Republican Party have put together a document entitled “Proposed Plan For Victory In Ukraine” calling on their party to continue US military support of Ukraine. The paper claims that a Ukrainian victory is possible under three conditions – providing critical weapons at a much faster pace; tightening sanctions on the Putin regime; and transferring frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. The paper also deals with concerns of corruption by releasing the data of 30 audits which have shown no instances of significant diversion, theft, or misuse of US military or humanitarian aid. But Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is refusing to discuss Ukrainian military aid until the problems at the southern border are resolved. So, the Republican party leadership is holding the lives of innocent Ukrainians hostage unless they get their way on the border.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made a surprise visit to Ukraine to show Japan’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s struggle against Russia. She pledged $37 million towards the development of a better drone detection system to counteract the recent advancement in Russian drone technology.
Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Colonel Yuriy Ihnat refuted the media reports yesterday that claimed Denmark was postponing the delivery of the first six F-16 fighter jets by six months. He urged Ukrainians to only trust official sources and not the foreign media.
Unidentified surveillance drones have been spotted over German military bases where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained. Germany is concerned that they are part of an espionage operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited family members of five deceased Russian servicemen to his residence to celebrate Orthodox Christmas. Putin likely did this to ingratiate himself with the many families of deceased soldiers who now make up a sizable voting bloc. He needs to gain their support to show an overwhelming support of his presidential win and show the Russian population is largely in support of the war in Ukraine. These invitees were probably chosen carefully to minimize the risk of any embarrassing questions that might be asked by them. Those invited have strong connections to the Russian government and military. One widow is the head of the Committee of Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland in Balashikha and works for the mayor of Balashikha; another widow is the head of the Tambov branch of the Kremlin-created Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation; and another family are the survivors of the rector of the church at the headquarters of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces who lost his life as one of the “paratroopers” priests. These are the same family members who have attended other events like this in the past.
The Russian government has employed Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill to persuade Russian men who fled the draft to return to Russia by offering them full pardons from the church, which would be reciprocated by the government.
Source Material
- Institute for the Study of War – understandingwar.org
- The Kyiv Post – kyivpost.com
- The Kyiv Independent – kyivindependent.com