Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 01-02-2025

Transnistria, a tiny breakaway state in Moldova that borders Ukraine, relies on Russian gas for heating and power.

The breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria is suffering a “severe” energy crisis, with almost all factories now idle after Russia halted gas supplies to the region, a separatist official said Thursday.

Russia’s Gazprom cut off gas on Wednesday over a financial dispute with the Moldovan government in Chisinau, the same day a major gas transit agreement between Moscow and Kyiv to ship gas across Ukraine came to an end.

The agricultural organizations are protesting a host of issues, from a free trade agreement with Mercosur countries to imports of Ukrainian farm goods.

Polish agricultural organizations are set to hold a demonstration in Warsaw on Friday, Jan. 3, protesting against several issues that they see as against their economic interests.

According to Farmer.pl, the Polish protesters plan to picket the European Commission’s office in Warsaw and the National Opera House, where the official opening ceremony of Poland’s EU presidency is set to take place Friday.

Will the democratic allies allow today’s Hitler to destroy Ukraine and its ancient capital?

Putin has now turned his attention to bombing the very center of Kyiv, particularly its historic and political district. It reminds me of a desperate and vengeful Hitler’s notorious orders in 1944 to destroy Paris when the Allies forced Nazi German forces to retreat from the French capital.

“Is Paris burning?”, the irate pathological Fuhrer demanded over the phone from his military commander in Paris. Fortunately, the German general in charge refused to follow orders and to destroy the wonderful city.

A company created by young Ukrainian aviation enthusiasts has turned parts of the Russian S-70 “Okhotnik-B” UCAV shot down in October into souvenir key chains.

Ukrainian company Fuselage Creations has made a business of converting fragments of downed Russian military aircraft into souvenirs which are used to raise funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

Their latest offering is limited edition key chains made from parts of the Russian Sukhoi S-70 “Okhotnik-B” (Hunter-B) classified unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV/drone) that was brought down by its accompanying Su-57 (NATO: Felon) fighter escort when it failed during an operational test flight on Oct. 5.

The Cook Islands-flagged Eagle S is suspected of having damaged the EstLink2 power cable linking Finland and Estonia on Dec. 25.

Finnish authorities plan to inspect the Eagle S tanker that is suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” and playing a role in the sabotage of a Baltic undersea cable, the country’s transport agency said Thursday.

Sanna Sonninen, director of the agency, said the inspection planned for later Thursday was in addition to an inquiry already underway by Finnish police.

Partisans report on reinforced military posts in Yevpatoria and panic among Russians due to the rise in protests and the leak of information damaging key military objectives.

The Ukrainian partisan movement “Atesh” reported reinforced military posts at all entrances to Yevpatoria, a city in western Russian-occupied Crimea, where, in addition to Russian military personnel, representatives of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) and other law enforcement agencies have appeared.

“This is part of an operation to search for underground movement members,” the partisans report.

European commentators discuss the challenges Europe faces.

Ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, lack of progress in the fight against climate change, uncertainty over the new US presidency: Europe will also face major challenges in 2025. So how to proceed?

Independence requires hard work

Europe must pick up the pace, Belgium’s Le Soir demands:

The Kursk Offensive has added 700 more enemy prisoners to Ukraine’s exchange fund too, Ukraine’s Commander in Chief said.

Russian losses in Russia’s Kursk region – where Ukraine invaded in a surprise counter-incursion in August – have now hit 38,000, Ukraine’s Commander in Chief, Oleksandr Syrsky stated.

The announcement came in a Telegram post on Wednesday, Jan. 1, in which Syrsky is seen awarding Ukrainian soldiers involved in an operation that, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, caused Russia to divert at least 40,000 troops from other fronts.

ICC Spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah explains what this entails

On Jan. 1, 2025, Ukraine became the 125th state to join the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and, starting that date, will have the same rights as other member states, meaning it will be a full member of the ICC, including the ability to participate in elections, propose amendments, and more.

As reported by a Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague, a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was installed among the flags of the member states at the court’s building.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

A U.S. Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police. The FBI said it was investigating the attack early Wednesday as a terrorist act and did not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle, along with other devices elsewhere in the city’s famed French Quarter. President Joe Biden said Wednesday evening that the FBI found videos that the driver had posted to social media hours before the attack in which he said he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressed a desire to kill. The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre mayhem of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. In addition to the dead, dozens of people were hurt. There were also deadly explosions in Honolulu and outside a Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump. Biden said the FBI was looking into whether the Las Vegas explosion was connected to the New Orleans attack but had “nothing to report” as of Wednesday evening. - AP

At least 10 people, including two children, were killed by a gunman who launched a shooting in southern Montenegro, police said. Authorities launched a manhunt for the suspect, and when he was surrounded, he “shot himself in the head”, police chief Lazar Scepanovic told reporters. “An attempt was made to transport him to a clinical centre but he succumbed to his injuries in the meantime,” Scepanovic said. The shooter had killed at least 10 people, two of whom were minors, Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said earlier, adding that he had also “killed members of his own family”. According to police, the children were aged 10 and 13 - France 24

Much hope is being placed on Poland’s turn at the helm of the EU

Poland is taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, with its presidency set to be officially inaugurated on Jan. 3.

The transition has been widely welcomed given Hungary’s controversial six-month tenure at the helm.

Russia continues its indiscriminate bombing all across Ukraine.

A Russian bomb attack on Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region has killed one person, local authorities said Thursday.

Moscow’s forces are trying to seize full control of the frontline region, which it claimed to have annexed in 2022, months after invading.

The autocratic leader issued a directive requiring the government and the country’s largest bank, Sperbank, to work with China.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered his government and the country’s largest bank, Sberbank, to deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence development with China.

This directive was published on the Kremlin’s website on Wednesday, Jan. 1, just three weeks after Russia’s announcement that it would work with BRICS partners and other nations to boost AI technology.

Two renowned think tanks calculate the price for the EU and the US of not supporting Ukraine.

Last month, on Dec. 11, Mark Rutte sounded the alarm in his first speech  as NATO-chief. Russia, he warned, is preparing for a protracted confrontation with Ukraine and NATO, in order to establish a new autocratic world order in cooperation with China, North Korea and Iran.

“It is time to shift to a wartime mindset. And turbo-charge our defense production and defense spending… If we don’t spend more together now to prevent war, we will pay a much, much, much higher price later to fight it. Not billions, but trillions of euros.”

Three children were killed and 62 injured by Russian attacks, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported.

Russia’s 318 missile, drone, and aerial bomb strikes on Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, killed 94 and injured 1,100, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Telegram Wednesday, Jan. 1.

“These explosions would wake us up in the middle of the night, destroy our homes, and take our lives. Ninety-four people died, including three children, and 1,108 were injured, including 62 children,” the mayor’s post reads.