Summary: Freezing weather has lowered the intensity of fighting as drones are unable to fly. Except for a marginal Russian advance towards Siversk, both armies were bunkered down for the day exchanging artillery fire.
Human Cost Of The War
An 80-year-old woman was hospitalized after Russian artillery destroyed her home in Kherson. She is suffering from a contusion and craniocerebral injuries.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, 840 Russian soldiers were killed or injured during fighting along the frontlines today. The number of Ukrainian casualties was not reported, but it normally is around half of Russian losses.
Hundreds of Ukrainians gathered in freezing weather in central Kyiv to give their last respects to poet Maksym Kryvtsov who was killed in action defending Ukraine.
Situation On The Ground
The Russian military situation has greatly improved and the advantages that Ukraine once had are no longer present. The Russian military had been so strung out over the frontlines, and troops were extremely tired from not being allowed to rotate in and out for rest, that Ukraine was able to inflict high numbers of casualties on Russian troops. And Ukrainian troops were almost matched with the number of artillery and mortars along the frontline. With the US stopping its support of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces do not have enough firepower to hold Russian forces back. And Russia has been very successful in mobilizing more troops, they now have 462,000 troops in Ukraine, which is the entire land component of the Russian military. This allows them now to rotate troops to give them adequate rest and rebuild their divisions. Unless something drastically changes, 2024 could be the year that Ukraine is conquered.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev, the former President of Russia, claimed that if Ukraine continues to fire missiles against targets in Russian territory, Russia reserves the right to retaliate with nuclear weapons.
Sloboda Front – Initiative Russia – Current Target: Recapture Kupyansk
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed advances in the sector. Russian sources reported that Ukrainian forces made a successful counterattack near Orlyanka (14.5 miles W of Kupyansk) and liberated 0.65 square miles of territory, but this has not been confirmed.
Siversky Donets Front – Initiative Russia – Current Targets: Zherebets River, Siversk, Chasiv Yar
Siversk – Russian forces marginally advanced along the rail line north of Vesele (9 miles S of Siversk) towards Siversk.
Chasiv Yar (Around Bakhmut) – Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances.
Donetsk Front – Initiative Russia – Current Targets: Avdiivka, Pervomaiske, Novomykhailivka, and to advance from occupied Marinka
Avdiivka – Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances.
Novomykhailivka – Russian sources claim that Russian forces made a flanking move towards the south of Novomykhailivka and advanced, but this has not been confirmed.
Zaporizhia Front – Initiative Russia – Target: Recapture Robotyne
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed advances in the sector. Russian sources claim that Russian forces advanced near Robotyne, but this is not confirmed.
Left Bank Front – Initiative Russia – Current Target: Recapture Krynky
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances in the sector. The intensity of fighting has been decreasing as the weather freezes.
Ukraine News
The mobilization bill submitted by the government and Defense Ministry was rejected by the legislature and returned for revisions. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported that the bill has been revised and will be resubmitted soon.
The Defense Ministry reported that a new design for bulletproof vests made specially for women has been tested and approved.
Two men were arrested in Vovchansk (34 miles NE of Kharkiv), a border town, for turning a factory into a torture chamber during the Russian occupation of the town in 2022. The torture chamber was used against civilians to determine who was supportive of Ukraine. They both face 12 years in prison if convicted.
Subway fast-food chain has been added to the “international sponsors of war” list by the Ukrainian government because they have refused to shut down their chain of restaurants in Russia. All those who support Ukraine are asked to stop giving Subway their business and to let them know why.
An employee of a military recruitment center in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa Oblast was charged with accepting bribes to assist draft dodgers. He earned at least $7000 in providing two men false reports of unfitness and removing another man from the military register list.
A Ukrainian court has seized the property of businessman Ihor Hrynkevych who is charged with corruption in not fulfilling 23 military contracts he won in which he never fulfilled costing the Ukraine military $31.6 million. He was then arrested for attempting to bribe an official to have his property returned.
Ukraine Ally Support
President Zelensky continues his visit to the Baltic States by meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and Estonian President Alar Karis. Latvia pledged to provide a military aid package that will include howitzers, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, rockets, grenades, all-terrain vehicles, helicopters, drones, and other equipment. Estonia also pledged a $1.32 billion military aid package. Ukraine and Estonia also signed an agreement to support the development and production of drones and electronic warfare systems.
Latvia has nationalized the “Moscow House” in Riga which was owned by the Russian government and used to promote Russian culture in Latvia. Russia responded to the transfer of ownership as “hostility” that will result in “serious consequences”. Russia also threatened Latvia by stating Russia has the right to defend its people who live in Latvia responding to a new law that requires Russian-speaking residence to pass a Latvian language exam to maintain their residency in Latvia. These were the same reasons Russia stated gave them the right to invade Ukraine.
European Commission Defense Industry Spokesperson Johanna Bernsel clarified that the EU will be able to produce a million shells per year by spring 2024, but that the delivery of the shells to Ukraine will depend on the members states.
NATO allies Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria signed an agreement to demine the lane of the Black Sea used by international shipping to transport grain from Ukraine.
The International Finance Corporation, a division of the World Bank, have raised $1 billion of the $2 billion they announced they would provide Ukraine for reconstruction.
Finland announced they will extend their closure of Russian border crossings another month to prevent Russia from disrupting their country with hundreds of migrants Russia has been shipping to the border to flood into Finland.
The US has added Russian businessman Vladimir Mikheychik, who owns an air travel service, to the sanction list for his role in transporting ballistic missiles from North Korea to Russia.
Russian Ally Support
At least one of the missiles that struck a hotel in Kharkiv on Wednesday evening injuring 13 civilians was produced in North Korea. So, we can now say that North Korea is supplying Russia with ballistic missiles.
Source Material
- Institute for the Study of War – understandingwar.org
- The Kyiv Post – kyivpost.com
- The Kyiv Independent – kyivindependent.com