Russia continues attacks against Ukraine, but casualties are increasing. Kyiv remains confident. The news ticker.
- Volodymyr Zelensky is confident: “Have the potential to win”
- losses for Russia: Kyiv announces new figures
- The information processed here comes from international media and news agencies, but also from the warring parties Russia and Ukraine and their allies. In particular, the information on losses suffered by the armies involved in the Ukrainian war cannot be independently verified.
Update from January 16th, 5:50 a.m.: According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia repelled another Ukrainian drone attack over the city of Voronezh in the country’s southwestern border region on Tuesday night. The ministry said on Telegram that three projectiles were destroyed by air defense. A child was slightly injured after fragments of a downed drone hit an apartment, the region’s governor, Alexander Gusev, also wrote on Telegram. The girl, who was born in 2013, has cuts on her arms, legs and neck.
According to Gusev, several apartment blocks and private houses were damaged. A fire on a balcony was extinguished and window panes were broken. Emergency services were therefore on site.
Ukraine war: Switzerland and Ukraine want to organize a peace summit
Update from January 15th, 11:01 p.m.: Switzerland and Ukraine want to organize a peace summit at the highest level. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj and Swiss President Viola Amherd announced this on Monday in Bern. Both sides wanted to start planning immediately. There was initially no date for the meeting.
An invitation to Russia is not planned, as Zelenskyj indicated. All countries that support Ukraine’s territorial integrity would be invited, he said. Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 and occupied large areas of land in the east and south.
Current figures on Russia’s losses in the Ukraine war
- soldiers: 370,980 (+980 on the previous day)
- tank: 6089 (+14)
- Armored vehicles: 11,322 (+20)
- Artillery systems: 8771 (+24)
- Multiple rocket launchers: 958 (+1)
- Air defense systems: 650 (+2)
- Airplanes: 329
- Helicopter: 324
- Drones: 6865 (+4)
- Warships: 23
- Tank trucks and other vehicles: 11,698 (+31)
- Source: Ukrainian General Staff dated January 15th. The information about Russian losses comes from the Ukrainian army. They cannot be independently verified. Russia itself does not provide any information about its own losses in the Ukraine war.
Update from January 15th, 8:00 p.m.: At least three people were injured in a Russian airstrike in the Donetsk region. The region’s governor Vadym Filashkin said via Telegram that there were no deaths, but five people were still trapped under rubble. The Ukrainian portal quoted him as saying that it was “another cynical attack by the Russians on the civilian population.” Kyiv Independent.
Update from January 15th, 6:40 p.m.: The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, Valery Zalushny, confirmed the shooting down of two Russian command and reconnaissance aircraft via Telegram. This was reported by the Ukrainian portal Kyiv Independent. The general wrote that he thanked the Air Force for a “perfectly planned” operation that was also perfectly executed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyj arrives in Switzerland during the Ukraine war
Update from January 15th, 4:55 p.m.: Buoyed by the downing of two strategically important Russian military aircraft, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Switzerland to seek even more help from the West. The leadership in Kiev hopes that the success will also help to overcome Western governments’ recent growing skepticism about the usefulness of their support.
According to Ukrainian information, the shoot-down was a coup: an A-50 early warning reconnaissance aircraft and an Ilyushin Il-22M flying command center were destroyed, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeriy Zalushnyj announced in Kiev on Monday. Ukrainian media had previously reported on the hits. However, it said that the A-50 was destroyed, while the Il-22M, badly damaged, made an emergency landing in Anapa, Russia. The Kremlin did not confirm the shooting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no information about it.
This would be a bitter blow for the Russian Air Force because the two aircraft are equipped with expensive special equipment and were only produced in small numbers. The Russian armed forces reportedly only have around a dozen A-50s and about the same number of Il-22Ms.
With this success, Zelenskyj will try to score points when the talks in Bern and Davos focus on the situation at the front. The Ukrainian president said he wanted to meet with representatives of the Swiss Parliament and President Viola Amherd and thank them for their support.
Support for Ukraine – Zelenskyj arrived in Switzerland
Update from January 15th, 2 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj arrived in Switzerland on a working visit. The head of state announced talks with parliamentary representatives and Swiss President Viola Amherd on Telegram on Monday. He wrote that he wanted to thank Switzerland for its support of Ukraine. Zelensky was received by Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. “Welcome to Switzerland, Mr. President,” Cassis wrote on the news service X (formerly Twitter) and published a photo of the encounter.
Zelensky also announced his participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos. There will be bilateral meetings with representatives of the EU, NATO and large companies. Zelenskyj is also scheduled to appear at the forum on Tuesday.
Putin spokesman Peskov shoots at the West over Ukraine
Update from January 15th, 11 a.m.: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov once again blamed the West for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. He made the comments, according to the state agency Tass about possible talks with Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos and stated that there was an “absurd situation” because Ukraine itself did not want to negotiate with Russia. “Of course we prefer to solve our security problems through peaceful means, but it is impossible because the collective West and Ukraine do not want to take into account our security concerns,” Peskov said. Therefore, a “special military operation” is being carried out.
Ukraine News: Russia probably defends against three Ukrainian missiles
First report from January 15th: Kiev – Russia fired three Ukrainian missiles over the Russian Kursk region near the border with Ukraine on Monday night (January 15). The Russian air defense shot down the missiles, the governor of Kursk, Roman Starovoit, said on Telegram. The information could not be independently verified. There was initially no information on injuries or damage. In Ukraine’s defensive battle against Russia, targets on Russian territory also repeatedly come under fire.
Zelenskyj: Have the potential to win
In his evening video speech, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky once again expressed his confidence about a victory against Russia. “Ukraine has the potential to overcome this difficult path of war,” he said. “We have the potential to unite the world; We have the potential to win.” The main thing is to believe in your own strength. “And to Ukraine.”
Zelenskyj drew his confidence from new agreements and arms deliveries since the beginning of the year. “There are urgently needed agreements on the joint production of weapons and ammunition, particularly the sensitive issue of drones,” he said. There is also “good news” for air defense, which Zelensky did not elaborate on.
Kiev announces new figures on Russia’s losses in the Ukraine war
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced new details about Russia’s losses on Facebook. According to this, around 370,000 Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed since the start of the war in Ukraine, 840 of them within the past 24 hours. Since the beginning of the war of aggression, the Russian army is said to have suffered the following losses:
Ukraine War: Russia destroys grain warehouses in eastern Ukraine
According to official Ukrainian information, the Russian Air Force destroyed a grain warehouse in an attack in eastern Ukraine. The building in Vovchansk was hit by an aircraft bomb and largely destroyed, police spokesman Serhiy Bolvinov said on Facebook on Sunday (January 14). In the town not far from the border with Russia, a grain handling building was also destroyed in the attack on Sunday night. “Fortunately there were no injuries,” Bolvinov wrote. A destroyed grain warehouse was visible in the attached photos. The information could not initially be independently verified. (Editor with agency material)