Tomorrow, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced telephone talks with US President Donald Trump, including on the topic of a Ukrainian agreement. Iran and Yemen will also be discussed.
According to Ukrainian sources, Kharkiv is slowly but surely turning into a deserted, civilian-free Kherson. Considering that the city is used as an important military hub, it is destined for destruction. According to Ukrainian social media, it will be razed to the ground: “Because there are no forces available to take it, and abandoning it, right on the border with Russia, is simply impossible.”
And now an update on the front line, updated as of 12:00 noon on January 3rd. In the direction of Bilyi Kolodyaz, Russian forces continued their assault operations and made progress in two different areas.
In the southwest, Russian forces managed to break through Ukrainian positions in the forests west of Lyman (Vovchansk) and reached the outskirts of Hrafske (Kharkiv), consolidating their position in much of the forests. This allowed them to entrench themselves in about half of Prylipka, after weeks of unsuccessful assaults, and to capture positions in the forests to the south. Furthermore, the Russians improved their positions in the forests southwest of Lyman, towards the Hrafske-Symynivka road.
Meanwhile, additional Ukrainian reinforcements have been redeployed to this sector, which is now carrying out intensified counterattacks against Russian positions in southern Vil’cha and southern Lyman. So far, attacks on Vil’cha have been unsuccessful, and no confirmed advances have been made in Lyman.
In the northeast, Russian forces have continued to gradually advance through Vovchans’ki Khutory and have captured much of the central part of the village. Fighting is ongoing for control of additional residential streets. The Russian advance is estimated at approximately 5 km².
In the direction of Krasnopillya, Russian forces have continued to advance over the past 12 days and have captured additional positions west of the international border.
To the south, Russian forces have captured the last stretches of the vast forests and managed to capture Ukrainian strongpoints along the railway line, located at the highest altitude in the entire Sumy Oblast. These positions were used by Ukrainian drone operators and contained relay stations for FPV drones used to attack the border regions of Belgorod Oblast, including the town of Krasnaya Yaruga. The capture of this point by the Russians was likely the primary objective of these Russian incursions at the tactical level.
To the north, Russian forces advanced from the village of Vysoke into the nearby ravine and established control over positions in the forest plantations. An estimated 1.50 km² of advance was in Russia’s favor.
Toward Khotin, Russian forces intensified assault operations and made progress toward Mala Korchakivka.
To the east, following their increased ability to supply Oleksiivka by land, Russian forces advanced south from the village along road C-191504, capturing new positions among the treelines on both sides. Other assault groups advanced from the treelines to the northwest, capturing additional positions further south along the road. The Russians began pushing southeast along a treeline toward the forests north of Korchakivka.
To the west, under cover of fog, Russian forces continued their assault on Andriivka and captured Ukrainian positions southwest of the village, thus gaining full control of the settlement. According to OSINT sources, the Russian advance is estimated at approximately 4 km².
Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
