Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 01-11-2025

A Ukrainian F-16 pilot saved countless lives during a Dec. 13 missile assault, pushing his jet to the limit by using its gun to down two targets after running low on missiles.

An unnamed heroic Ukrainian F-16 pilot risked his life and his airframe to save an untold number of innocent civilians on Dec. 13 during an unprecedented aerial assault with Kinzhal ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, overflying fuel warnings and forced to use the jet’s gun to shoot down the last two targets.

He is a genuine hero—he did his best with the tools he was given. An F-16 with a complement of 2xAIM-120s, 2xAIM-9s, and 511 rounds of 20mm in the internal six-barreled M60 Vulcan Gatling gun-type cannon.

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

An unprecedented four-day fire siege that damaged or destroyed 9,000 structures and killed at least 10 people shows signs of finally easing Friday as winds lessened and firefighters began to contain the infernos. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said crews were in their best position yet — though still with a long way to go. The Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained as of Friday morning, according to fire officials - LA Times

• As the threat of more fires loomed over the Los Angeles area, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said on Friday that he was ordering an independent review to determine why firefighters ran out of water early on, calling the situation “deeply troubling.” At least 11 people have now been killed, and President Biden said there were “still a lot of people who are unaccounted for.”

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According to Zelensky, the capture was challenging, as Russians and DPRK troops often kill their wounded to hide evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the war against Ukraine.

[Updated at 17.45]: The Airborne Assault Troops have released a video showing a second captured DPRK soldier receiving medical care after his capture.

According to the report, the North Korean soldier was taken prisoner during combat operations in the Kursk region by paratroopers from the 95th Separate Airborne Assault Polissya Brigade. He was captured during his first combat mission, which occurred during an assault on positions held by units of the Polissya Brigade.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

Map of the latest defense intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine: 10 January 2025, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

Russia launched over 70 drones at Ukraine, damaging farm buildings, institutions, homes, and vehicles across seven regions, Ukrainian authorities reported.

Several Russian regions came under a massive drone assault early Saturday morning, Jan. 11, with explosions and air defense activity reported. A fire also broke out in Novorossiysk, according to Russian Telegram channels.

The Mash Telegram channel reported that residents in Voronezh, Kursk, Saratov, and Lipetsk regions witnessed the drone attacks. Authorities in Anapa (Krasnodar Krai) also confirmed drone activity in the area.

Ukrainian world champion freediver Kateryna Sadurska, who holds seven world records, represents Ukraine, sharing her story of resilience amidst war in an exclusive Kyiv Post interview.

Ukrainian Kateryna Sadurska has set seven world records in freediving and has been crowned world champion six times. She is the first woman in the world to reach a depth of 84 meters in the “constant weight without fins” discipline, which stands as an absolute world record.

Slovaks continue protests against the pro-Russian stance of Prime Minister Fico.

Protesters gathered in Bratislava and other Slovak cities on Friday to rally against the government’s drive to seek closer ties with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.

Slovak nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico is one of the Kremlin’s few allies within the European Union who has drawn Bratislava closer to Moscow since returning to power in 2023.

Warsaw and Kyiv welcome a ‘breakthrough’ over the contentious issue of exhumations of victims of WWII massacres.

Poland’s prime minister has announced a “breakthrough” concerning the first exhumations of Polish victims of World War II-era ethnic cleansing in what is now western Ukraine.

Donald Tusk posted on the X platform on Friday that there had been a breakthrough decision, without specifying details. The issue concerns the 1943–44 killing by Ukrainian nationalists of tens of thousands of Polish civilians, an event that has divided the two countries ever since.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• On 05 January 2025 in Russia’s Kursk oblast, Ukraine launched a limited armoured counter-attack against Russian forces. The attack came as Ukraine continues to defend its salient of territory in Kursk against persistent attacks by Russian and North Korean forces. Despite high casualties, Russia has only been able to make minor advances against Ukrainian-held territory in recent weeks.
• In eastern Ukraine, Russia continued to focus attacks in central Donetsk oblast. Russian forces have largely seized the town of Kurakhove. Russia began assaults into the town in mid-November 2024. South of Pokrovsk, Russian forces have advanced westward, seizing several villages and occupying positions 4km from the south of the city. Central Donetsk oblast continues to be the most volatile area of the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

Supplying gas to more European countries will be possible in the coming years, Azerbaijani President says.

Azerbaijan plans to increase gas production at the Absheron field from 1.5 billion to 5 billion cubic meters annually and to extract the first so-called deep gas from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field in 2025, President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview televised earlier this week.

Four European countries purchased Azerbaijani gas in 2022, but this year there are 12, Aliyev said. 

In an exclusive interview with Kyiv Post, Kateryna Sadurska, the Ukrainian freediver who set a record at 84 meters, shared her incredible journey.

Biden also told reporters there was a “real chance Ukraine can prevail” if it continues to get Western support.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with US counterpart Joe Biden on Friday and thanked him for his “unwavering support”, less than two weeks before the Democrat leaves office.

Biden has raced to provide as much aid to Kyiv as possible ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, amid fears the Republican will slash support for the US ally once in power.

According to the report, as the armored personnel carrier chased enemy troops, a gunner-operator climbed out of the vehicle hatch and opened fire on them with small arms weapons.

Ukrainian paratroopers, that ran out of ammunition during combat in Russia’s Kursk region, resorted to using their armored personnel carrier (APC) to chase down and crush Russian soldiers, according to a report from Ukraine’s airborne assault forces shared on Telegram.

“If a paratrooper runs out of ammunition, he crushes the enemy with his armor,” read the caption accompanying a video of the incident.

The US Treasury Department designed over 180 ships and Russian oil majors Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, fulfilling “the G7 commitment to reduce Russian revenues from energy.”

The United States and Britain on Friday announced sanctions against Russia’s energy sector, including oil giant Gazprom Neft, just days before outgoing President Joe Biden leaves office.

The US Treasury Department said it was designating more than 180 ships as well as Russian oil majors Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, fulfilling “the G7 commitment to reduce Russian revenues from energy.”

The German authorities have undertaken rescue measures after a Panama-flagged oil tanker began to drift in the Baltic Sea near Germany’s Rügen island.

The German news site Bild citing the country’s Central Maritime Emergencies Command (Havariekommando) said on Friday afternoon that the 248-meter (814-feet) long Panama registered tanker “Eventin” was adrift in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Rügen off the coast of Germany.

The 18-year-old tanker is said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to circumvent sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine and designed to prevent Moscow benefitting from oil exports.

The EU has allocated the first tranche of lending backed by frozen Russian assets, marking a historical first step in Russia paying for its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine received €3 billion ($3.09 billion) from the EU in the form of a loan financed by the proceeds of $210 billion of frozen sovereign Russian assets.

This first tranche of the G7’s Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loan initiative is designed to make Russia pay for launching its full-scale war in the country, using assets immobilized after the February 2022 invasion began.