Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 01-06-2025

Ukraine has secured a preliminary agreement with Russia to establish systematic prisoner exchanges in 2025, prioritizing the return of seriously ill and wounded soldiers.

Ukraine has reached a preliminary agreement with Russia to establish systematic prisoner exchanges starting this year, according to officials in Kyiv.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, shared the news on Monday on Telegram while emphasizing that the priority will be to return seriously ill and wounded soldiers.

Trudeau’s political fortunes plunged to new depths following the surprise resignation in December of his former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, saying he will leave office as soon as the ruling Liberal party chooses a new leader. 

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister,” Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, told reporters in Ottawa following a protracted political crisis that saw top Liberal allies urge him to quit. 

Ukrainian military media had reported on the rot in the 155th Mechanized Brigade for more than two months. Some reporters violated wartime censorship rules and risked jail to force an army reaction.

In the Ukrainian military’s first-ever public admission that something actually might be wrong with a very high-profile unit, army commander Oleksandr Syrsky on Sunday – very much in passing – conceded there had been shortfalls in training and equipment for Ukraine’s only combat brigade armed and equipped by France.

Syrsky’s (seemingly grudging) admission that the first major formation to train up outside Ukraine, the heavily publicized 155th Mechanized Brigade “Anna Kyivska,” needed perhaps a bit more support on the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) front, came in the wake of nearly two months of Ukrainian military reports that the brigade was sent to war without first person view (FPV) drones or sufficient trained pilots, and that unit soldiers were taking to the internet to beg for donations to buy attack drones the army hadn’t supplied them.

Ukraine’s Security Service prevented the attack on Ukrainian military personnel by Russian agents who intended to use a teenager as an unwitting suicide bomber in the Kyiv region.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) published a report on Monday telling how its counterintelligence (CI) department had prevented a terrorist bomb attack on a military unit in the Kyiv region on an unspecified day in December. The conspiracy was being carried out by four Ukrainians acting on behalf of Russia – they were all arrested.

The chilling aspect of the plot seems to be that having persuaded a 16-year-old youth from the Kirovohrad region to deliver the improvised explosive device (IED), it was intended to detonate the bomb remotely as he placed the device turning him into an unsuspecting suicide bomber.

The French president also asserted that Europe will have to offer security guarantees to Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Ukraine Monday to have “realistic” expectations on territory as its fight against the Russian invasion heads into a fourth year, saying he saw no “quick and easy solution” to the conflict.

Outlining France’s foreign policy for the coming year, Macron also took aim at Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of social media platform X and close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, accusing him of supporting “a new international reactionary movement.”

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• On 20 December 2024, the Russian Central Bank (CBR) decided to hold interest rates at 21 per cent, marking a shift from its recent approach to tackling inflation. At its last meeting in October 2024, the CBR hiked interest rates from 19 per cent to 21 per cent, the highest rate since the beginning of the war in 2022. Criticism of high interest rates is growing amongst Russian businesses; however inflationary pressures are also likely intensifying, in part due to the recent depreciation of the ruble.
• In November 2024, the ruble depreciated to its lowest rate against the US dollar since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (114 per US dollar). The drop in the ruble’s value was almost certainly driven by the announcement of sanctions on Gazprombank, followed by the publication of economic statistics indicating continued overheating of the Russian economy. In response, the CB announced it would cease the purchase of foreign currencies until 2025.
• However, the ruble remained above 100 to the US dollar until 20December 2024, leading to wide market expectations of another interest rate hike. The CBR’s decision to hold interest rates at the current level will likely add to the imbalances in the economy due to the inflationary effects of the depreciation, labour shortages and high government spending.

Moscow claimed control over the Kurakhove logistics hub in the Donetsk region, but Kyiv’s Armed Forces denied the loss while engaging in a renewed counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

Russian authorities announced that they had fully taken control of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) deny loss of the town, reporting ongoing battles in the city and 27 repelled attacks.

On Monday, Jan. 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian army allegedly established control “over this important logistics hub,” which “significantly complicated the rear and technical support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine group in the Donetsk sector.”

The Ukrainian Wings were commended for journeying through unimaginable adversity to participate in Wick Fest, demonstrating the spirit of hockey and the spirit of Ukrainian youth.

The Ukrainian Wings, a select girls’ hockey team made up of 17 players aged 11 to 13 from Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Bohuslava, Odesa, Lutsk and Kremenchuk competed at Wick Fest in Calgary, Alberta from Nov. 22-Dec. 1, 2024.

The team received assistance and support from the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health, Ukrainian Society of Calgary, Lois Mitchell, Sandy Edmonstone and the Calgary Canucks.

The transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe came to an end at the start of the new year after Kyiv refused to negotiate an extension of contracts with Moscow.

The transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe came to an end at the start of the new year after Kyiv refused to negotiate an extension of contracts with Moscow. The network of pipelines running between EU members is making up for the loss of Russian gas supplies in these states, but Transnistria, which has broken away from Moldova, is experiencing major problems, with thousands of households and industrial facilities left without gas and also electricity at times.

Long overdue

EU countries receiving Russian gas supplies flew in the face of the bloc’s support for Ukraine, The Independent (UK) stresses:

Ukrainian forces intensified operations in Kursk, making tactical gains and employing advanced tactics, while Russia struggles to adapt. Blinken says important for potential future negotiations.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) mounted a second offensive in the Kursk region on Sunday, Jan. 5, targeting at least three areas of the salient making tactical advances, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) report.

The Russian defense ministry confirmed that Ukrainian forces had launched a counterattack in Kursk, stating, “At about 9:00 am Moscow time (06:00 UTC), the enemy launched a counterattack to halt the advance of Russian troops in the Kursk direction.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier acknowledged the Russian tanker spill as an “ecological disaster.”

More than 30 dolphins – including the endangered Azov species – have died around the Kerch Strait following an oil spill from two Russian tankers, environmentalists said on Sunday.

Russia’s Volgoneft-212 and the Volgoneft-239 were hit by a storm on Dec. 15 in the Kerch Strait linking Russian-occupied Crimea to the southern Russian Krasnodar region, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from occupied Sevastopol.

Following these incidents, both airlines announced that the affected aircraft had been grounded for technical inspections and further assessment.

Two Russian commercial flights were forced to return to their departure airports shortly after takeoff due to engine failures, The Moscow Times reported, citing Aviatorschina Telegram channel.

The first incident occurred on Friday, Jan. 3, with a Ural Airlines Airbus A321neo on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to Yekaterinburg. At an altitude of 4,500 meters, the aircraft’s left engine failed. The crew quickly informed air traffic controllers of the issue and decided to return to the departure airport.

Zelensky has said that Europe, not just the US, must have a voice in forming a peace plan to end the war with Russia owing to Ukraine being a member of the European family.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Europe, not just the U.S., must have a voice in forming a peace plan to end the war with Russia owing to Ukraine being a member of the European family.

The Ukrainian president made the remarks in an extensive interview with the American podcaster Lex Fridman, released on Sunday. 

The withdrawal from Syria’s Tartus port might signal a full withdrawal of Russian forces in Syria following the fall of the Moscow-backed Assad regime in December.

Russia has reportedly withdrawn all submarines from its Tartus naval base in Syria – Russia’s only port in the Mediterranean Sea.

Moscow has maintained a permanent military presence at the Tartus naval base alongside the Khmeimim Air Base further north in Syria since 2017 under an agreement with the ousted Assad regime.

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

China appears to be taking a page out of Russia’s playbook with nationals from Ukraine and other former Soviet republics by signing growing numbers of visiting Taiwanese people up for local resident or even identity cards, the Financial Times reported. The drive to incorporate them into its society is setting off alarm bells in Taipei. Taiwan government officials said that Beijing had become “focused” on getting visiting Taiwanese to apply for Chinese resident cards, bank accounts and local mobile phone numbers — known as the “three documents” — with many then being given the local identity cards which are reserved for citizens. “We are concerned that when more and more Taiwanese have Chinese citizenship, it will compromise our jurisdiction,” said a senior China policy official in Taipei. “If a Taiwanese with a Chinese ID was involved in an incident here, China could say they need to take care of the issue because the person is their citizen and intervene in our domestic affairs.” The push is seen as particularly concerning as China is steadily expanding a multi-faceted pressure campaign against Taiwan. Beijing claims the island as part of its territory and threatens to take it by force if Taipei resists unification indefinitely. Similar tactics of giving local status to citizens from neighbouring countries has long been part of Russia’s playbook. Moscow issued passports to eastern Ukrainians who moved to Russia after it helped to orchestrate conflict in the region in 2014. Russia also gave citizenship to residents of two breakaway regions of Georgia and then cited the need to protect them as a pretext for a brief 2008 war. Taiwanese officials said China’s push to give more Taiwanese local papers had not reached that level yet, but it posed a risk of the same nature. - FT

More than 60 million Americans across more than 30 states are in the grips of a huge winter storm that could bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade. A polar vortex has brought frigid weather down from the Arctic to the central US, with extreme weather conditions accompanying it. Thousands of flights are delayed or cancelled, many roads cut and schools shut as a result of the storm. Blizzards are expected to bring whiteout conditions to Kansas and Missouri, where a state of emergency has been declared. A state of emergency has also been declared in the states of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas and parts of New Jersey. Washington DC is set to host the certification of the presidential election results tomorrow. Officials have sworn it will go ahead regardless of the anticipated inclement weather. - BBC

Blinken said that the outgoing administration of President Biden, which has given Kyiv billions of dollars in assistance, wants to ensure that “Ukraine has the strongest possible hand to play”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukraine’s position in Russia’s Kursk was critical to any future negotiations, as Moscow said Kyiv launched a counterattack in the border region.

Blinken said that the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, which has given Kyiv billions of dollars in security assistance since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, wants to ensure that “Ukraine has the strongest possible hand to play”.

The German government to take legal action over claims of Scholz’s alleged Moscow visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The German government plans to pursue legal action against Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter, following his claims that Chancellor Olaf Scholz intends to visit Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit dismissed the allegation, calling it false.

On Saturday, Jan. 4, Kiesewetter posted on social media platform X, stating, “There are growing indications that Chancellor Scholz will travel to Moscow or meet with Putin before Feb. 23,” the date of Germany’s parliamentary elections.

Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has taught me some Ukrainian words I never expected to use throughout my years in Ukraine.

I have to confess – despite having lived in Ukraine since 2018, my Ukrainian vocabulary remained extremely limited.

Before 2022, my daily exchange was limited to a mix of Russian (that I learned in Belarus) and English, coupled with some basic phrases in Ukrainian that formed a strange form of “Surzhyk,” a term in Ukraine that refers to a mixed language or sociolect, often blending elements of Ukrainian and Russian – and in my case, English.

In a three-hour discussion with US podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelensky said the Republican president-elect will be vital to guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed optimism in an interview published Sunday that “strong” incoming US president Donald Trump will be able to force Russia into peace talks and end the war in Ukraine.

In a three-hour discussion with US podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelensky said the Republican president-elect will be vital to guaranteeing Ukraine’s security, opening the way for a negotiated settlement also backed by European nations.

While internal taxes financed Ukraine’s defense needs, the top five sources that covered Ukraine’s budget deficit in 2024 were the EU, domestic bonds, the US, the IMF and Japan.

Ukraine’s state budget external financing reached $41 billion in 2024 as the country secured international aid from 11 donors and borrowed internally, according to the Ministry of Finance statistics in the press release. 

The total amount of budget spending, both external sources and internal revenues from taxes of other sources inside Ukraine, reached $57.5 billion in 2024, according to the infographics on the ministry’s website.  

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian forces resumed offensive operations in at least three areas within the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast and made tactical advances on January 5.
• Russian forces also advanced southeast of Sudzha and counterattacked against intensified Ukrainian attacks southeast of Korenevo and north of Sudzha on January 5.
• Russian sources expressed concern about the Russian military’s ability to react to Ukraine’s ongoing combined arms efforts to integrate electronic warfare (EW) and long-range strike capabilities with ground operations.
• Russian forces recently advanced east of Pokrovsk amid renewed offensive operations in the area likely aimed at supporting the envelopment of Pokrovsk from the northeast.
• The recent intensification in the Russian 41st CAA’s area of responsibility east of Pokrovsk indicates that the Russian military command is still considering the envelopment of Pokrovsk as one of their key operational objectives in this area.
• Russian forces may also be exploiting comparatively weaker Ukrainian defensive positions further east and south of Pokrovsk as part of an ongoing effort to seize any territory, regardless of such territory’s relative tactical insignificance.
• Elements of the Russian 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade (51st CAA, formerly 1st Donetsk People’s Republic Army Corps) are reportedly split between the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions — Russia’s two most prioritized sectors of the frontline.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Borova, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Kurakhove.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Kursk salient and regained lost positions near Chasiv Yar.