A drone attack in Kyiv killed two people and injured at least six others, and also damaged the main building of the National Bank of Ukraine.[1]
Ukrainian commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed that Russia has lost some 38,000 soldiers in Kursk, while 700 others were captured and over 1,000 pieces of equipment destroyed.[2]
A drone attack caused a two-hour suspension of operations at Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg.[11] The drones attacked the seaport at Ust-Luga damaging a window. Four drones were downed over Leningrad Oblast with "electronic warfare and firearms" according to the local governor.[12]
Alexander Martemyanov, a Russian freelance reporter, was killed by a Ukrainian drone while returning from reporting in Horlivka, Donetsk Oblast. Four other media workers were also injured according to RIA Novosti.[13][14]
Russian forces claimed to have captured the town of Vodyane Druhe, east of Pokrovsk.[16]
5 January
Ukrainian forces launched a renewed offensive "in several directions" in Kursk Oblast. Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces repulsed attacks in two of these directions. The Russian Defense ministry said that at 09:00 Moscow Time, Ukrainian forces started attacking from their bases in Sudzha towards the villages of Berdin and Bolshoye Soldatskoye consisting of two tanks, one counter-obstacle vehicle, and 12 armoured fighting vehicles.[17][18] Later Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces captured the towns of Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Martynovka, and Mikhaylovka.[19]
Geo-located footage showed that Russian forces likely captured the towns of Svyrydonivka and Tymofiivka near Pokrovsk and the town of Petropavlivka near Stari Terny.[20]
Zelenskyy claimed 3,800 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded out of the original 12,000 sent to fight Ukrainian forces.[24]
6 January
One person was killed in a Russian drone strike on a bus in Kherson.[25]
Russian forces claimed to have taken Kurakhove.[26][27] Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces took the village of Russkoye Porechnoye in Kursk Oblast.[28]
Ukraine claimed to have destroyed or damaged two Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile systems and one OSA anti-aircraft vehicle using sea-launched aerial drones in occupied Kherson Oblast.[29]
The SBU said it had discovered a Russian plot to bomb a military installation in Kyiv Oblast by hiring a 16-year old boy to deliver explosives, leading to the arrest of four suspects.[30]