The last days of Biden’s presidency are marked by support for Ukraine. John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said: “We will announce a new military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that Washington began arming Kiev long before the start of the Russian military operation. “We made sure that, long before the Russians…, starting in September 2021 and then again in December, we quietly provided Ukraine with a large number of weapons to ensure that they had everything they needed to defend themselves – things like (anti-aircraft systems) Stinger, (anti-tank missile systems) Javelin,” Blinken said in an interview with the New York Times.
Blinken believes that Kiev is unlikely to be able to “get back” the territories that have already become part of Russia following the referendums. “The question is not a concession. The question is that the front line, from a practical point of view, is unlikely to move much in the near future. Ukraine will always, always claim this territory. The question is whether, with the support of others, it will find a way to get the lost territory back?” Blinken said.
Joe Biden plans to introduce new sanctions against Russia before leaving the White House, targeting tankers carrying oil sold at prices above $60 a barrel, Reuters writes citing two informed sources. The publication claims that Russia is using old ships to transport fuel to “get around the edge”.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga. The situation in Ukraine and Syria was discussed during the conversation. Volodymyr Zelensky said in a television interview that: “President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable” and these qualities can help end the war between Russia and Ukraine.” Meanwhile, in Kiev, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun to cover Western air defense systems with additional protection.
On January 3, an attempt was made to launch a missile attack on the Belgorod region with ATACMS missiles from the territory of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. In response to the attempted attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, retaliatory measures will be taken.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, responded to the words of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington was arming Kiev long before the start of the Russian military operation. “Russia has been talking about this for many years, and about the pumping of weapons into Ukraine by the United States and Great Britain, and about the endless NATO exercises in the Black Sea with violations of Russian borders, and about the dangerous rapprochement of military aircraft of Western countries. with civilian aircraft in our country’s airspace,” she said. “In fact, that is why one of the tasks of the Northern Military District is the demilitarization of Ukraine and ensuring the security of our country,” Zakharova told RIA Novosti.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There are currently no plans for a meeting between Putin and Scholz or Trump.” Source: TASS, commenting on a German MP’s statement about the possibility of such negotiations.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Medvedev also weighed in on the matter, saying: “Zelensky violated the rules of standard political correctness by saying in an interview that he despises the Russian people.” Medvedev reportedly said: “the entire Russian people despise” Zelensky: “And for our people, personal revenge on the current illegitimate leader of Bandera Ukraine should not end after his removal from office.”
According to Russian sources, Moscow will soon be able to eliminate parallel imports. Arthur Leer, vice-president of the Association of Exporters and Importers (AEI), reported this: “Parallel imports to the Russian Federation are still important, but their role and volumes will decrease over time thanks to their own production and that of friendly countries,” he told RIA Novosti.
“Parallel imports are still important, as they still carry many necessary products: electronics, cars, spare parts, and so on,” he said. But over time, Leer said, their functions will change and narrow. “There are two reasons for this: first, the development of Russia’s own industries; second, the increase in the supply of some necessary goods from friendly countries,” Leer concluded.
And now a look at the front line updated at 15:30 on January 07.
Ukrainian Armed Forces have intensified military operations in the Kursk and Belgorod directions – source RVNP. According to the “Center for Combating Disinformation” of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine confirmed the offensive of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region – source Strana.
On the night of January 5, air defense systems repelled an attack in five Russian regions. A total of 61 drones were destroyed during the night, the Ministry of Defense reported: 37 UAVs were shot down over the Rostov region, 20 over Bryansk, two over Voronezh and one each over Belgorod and Oryol.
Ukrainian attack on Kursk repelled. Polish self-propelled guns and other artillery destroyed in Kursk. On January 6, the Russian military announced that they had repelled an attempt by Ukrainian forces to break through in the direction of Kursk: “The main enemy forces were destroyed near Berdin,” the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
According to Turkish sources, several S-300 air defense missile launchers were destroyed near Dnipro and Pavlohrad by the Russian military in a ballistic missile attack from the Iskander complex. Over the past year, 23 S-300 air defense missile launchers, 19 Patriot air defense missile launchers, 8 IRIS-T launchers, 11 Buk, 4 NASAMS, 1 Aspide 2000, 3 HAWK, 1 Supacat, 1 S-125 and 4 Gepard ZSU and 3 ZRPK “Tunguska” were destroyed. In an attempt to bring the air defense system closer to the front line in several regions, it was detected by Russian reconnaissance vehicles and hit by fire. At least 43 radar systems were also destroyed.
The Russian army has been advancing near Kurachove, Novosilka and Torets’k since January 4 – Ukrainian sources. Since December 6, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation claims the capture of Kurachove in Donbass. The Russian department claims that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost 80% of their personnel (more than 12 thousand people) who took part in the fighting near Kurachove and about 3 thousand units of equipment and weapons. We do not have enough data to confirm or deny the news.
In Toretsk, fighting on the streets of Kharkovskaya, Gomelskaya, Mariupolskaya, Dovzhenko, Mirgorodskaya has moved to the western and northern parts of the city, where the remaining units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding the defense. It is expected that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will use a lot of drones to attack the advancing Russian assault groups.
East of Pokrovs’k, units of the Russian Armed Forces are moving towards the road junction north of Vozdvyzhenka, fighting continues in the nearby Yelyzavetivka and Baranovka. Pokrovs’k itself is being deprived of logistics by the Russian Armed Forces from the west: there are attacks in the direction of Kotlyne, Udachne, Novoserhiivka.
On January 5, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to attack the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant with attack drones. Russian air defense shot down all the drones, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. There were no casualties or destruction after the Ukrainian attack attempt, the radiation situation is normal.
Graziella Giangiulio
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