Bob Homans January 4
20230104
Ukraine – 1/4 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
January 4, 2023
News From the Battlefield
According to both “Reporting From Ukraine” and the Latest Denys, Ukraine continues to target Russian troop concentrations, most recently in the south along the Left Bank of the Dnieper River. My “back of the envelope” running total, based on information from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, is at least 1,500 dead from 4 attacks during the past week, 3 of them in the south and not including wounded and deserters. Some locations have been revealed to Ukraine from intercepts of calls on private cell phones by Russian troops billeted in the facilities that have been attacked by Ukraine.
In addition, the latest Denys reports on a rather amusing, for those with a sick sense of humor, meeting between Yevgeniy Prigozhin and Russian prisoners who now make up a significant portion of the Wagner Group. He tells them that loss of a leg isn’t enough to get out of service, nor is loss of two legs, which would require the welding of at least one leg onto the person’s torso. Denys also provides a tour of a Russian Tu 160 strategic bomber.
Russian Partisans – If true, this video of a meeting between an English documentary director and Russian Partisans would explain the increased volume of “accidents” throughout Russia, especially since the start of Russia’s lates invasion. Although the interview took place in a forest, it appears that car headlights can be seen in the background.
Ukrainians have been operating inside Russia for over 8 years, but as I understand it, they are primarily engaged not in sabotage, but in undermining Central Government authority in the regions of the Russian Federation occupied by ethnic minorities, such as draft resistance and pushing back against efforts by the Central Government to suppress local languages and customs. Belarusian partisans have been conducting sabotage since before the start of Russia’s latest invasion, including hitting rail infrastructure to delay movements of Russian troops and equipment.
“How Sumy’s Residents Kept Russian Forces Out of Their City”/Guardian. Sumy is a city in northeastern Ukraine, very close to the Russian border. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is from Sumy. The stories of how individual Ukrainians helped defend Sumy are inspiring.
I visited Sumy in 2006. It is a nice city, with a downtown outdoor park where we had dinner. I was on loan to the International Finance Corp. (IFC). We went to Sumy to meet with local business groups about the benefits of equipment leasing. I was on loan to IFC, because no one in the IFC Office in Kyiv had any leasing experience. I credit IFC for giving me the opportunity to visit several parts of Ukraine that I might not have otherwise gone to, including Chernihiv, Cherkassy, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, as well as Sumy.
Sumy is yet another example of how ordinary, lightly armed Ukrainians defeated Russian forces. Ever since Russia abandoned their campaign to take Kyiv, Sumy has experienced almost daily bombardment, from bases inside Russia.
The roads between Sumy and the main highway going from Kyiv east toward Poltava are narrow and contain many sharp curves. I cannot imagine Russian tank columns negotiating these roads. When they must slow down to negotiate a curve, it was likely that Ukrainians would’ve hit them with NLAWs and Javelins. This seems another example of poor Russian planning, and almost no understanding of the terrain. Even if Russia tries to attack Ukraine from the northeast, with the objective of taking Kyiv, they may be better prepared, but the the terrain and the roads will be the same.
This year it is my goal to go back to Ukraine to continue the work in commercial finance that I started, in Sumy and elsewhere.
1/4 Sitrep
Russian Invasion of Ukraine 12:00 noon January 3 to 12:00 noon January 4, 2022 (continues below)
Abbreviations:
RMA = Regional Military Administration SBU = Security Service of Ukraine
RASHISTS = russian Facists/all russian invaders
INTERNATIONAL
January 4
11:54: In Poland, a Russian and a Belarusian will be tried for espionage. Both were detained in April 2022, a spokeswoman for the Warsaw District Attorney's Office said.
· According to the investigation, the espionage activities of the accused were focused on military units located in the northeastern part of Poland.
11:14: The price of gas in Europe fell below $ 750 per thousand cubic meters, according to the ICE exchange.
· The price reached this level for the first time since February 18, 2022.
09:18 TableMedia: Germany's command of NATO's High Readiness Group may be extended.
· This decision could be taken as the next Ally, the United Kingdom, in rotation, will be able to lead the High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) much later than planned, namely in a few months.
08:00 Associated Press: China is threatening the U.S., Canada, and some European countries with action in response to "unacceptable" anti-COVID rules.
07:59 Reuters: Germany has a whole network of Russian-linked individuals who promote Kremlin narratives and seek to change Berlin's course to support Ukraine.
07:55 Reuters: President Joe Biden is likely to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on January 13 in Washington.
· It is noted that they will discuss possible formats for countering the DPRK and the war in Ukraine.
00:41 US State Department spokesman: The United States and Israel are discussing how to prevent Iran from supplying drones to Russia.
· "We have undoubtedly discussed with our Israeli partners the threat posed by Iranian UAV technologies, as well as their spread around the world, including Russia."
January 3
23:02 World media about Ukraine January 3.
· American journalists of the New York Times emphasized the statement of a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force that Ukrainian air defense shot down all the drones that Russia launched during the New Year. This indicates the country's increased ability to resist Moscow's attempts to disable its energy infrastructure.
· British journalists of The Guardian wrote a large report on how Sumy residents defended their city from Russian troops.
· Polish journalists Gazeta Wyborcza wrote an article about how in Poland some groups speculate on the topic "Volyn miscellaneous", which took place during the Second World War and greatly disarmed Ukrainians and Poles.
21:01: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised Ukraine new supplies of military equipment.
· "Work is underway to transfer additional military equipment to Ukraine in the coming weeks and months to ensure its victory on the battlefield," the prime minister's office said in a statement.
23:59 Swedish Prime Minister: Ukraine's victory is of existential importance for the whole world.
· Szwede Prime Minister Ulf Christersson made this statement at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
20:51: Turkish President Recep Erdogan announces a planned conversation with Ukrainian and Russian leaders on the same day.
· Erdogan's spokesman said he planned to talk by phone with Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin on January 4.
19:37 Ministry of Economy of Ukraine: Today, during a meeting in the capital of Brazil, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko discussed the formula of peace proposed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
16:25 Bloomberg: Germany is ready to use frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine if the Allies do the same and legal issues are resolved.
15:04 Neue Zürcher Zeitung: The U.S. and other Western countries are putting pressure on Switzerland over frozen Russian assets that could be used to rebuild Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
· Switzerland has blocked Russian financial assets worth about 7.5 billion francs plus 15 properties.
14:35 Politico: The EU does not agree with Ukraine's calls to punish European pharmaceutical companies that still work in Russia with sanctions.
· The medicine is the only product that the EU has exempted from sanctions against the Russian Federation for humanitarian reasons, the publication writes.
NATIONAL
January 4
11:24: Journalist Wataru Sekita of Japan's Assahi Simbun reported being wounded in the leg in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv on December 31.
· "The hotel where I stayed was attacked by Russia and I was injured in my right leg. My leg still hurts, but I'm fine," Sekita wrote.
11:34: Russia has on combat duty in the Black Sea three warships, in the Sea of Azov - two ships, according to the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
10:00 Prime Minister: All employed Ukrainians from 2023 will have their pension savings accounts.
· It is expected that the funds will be transferred to accounts from three sources: from employers, from the state on a parity basis with the employer and from citizens who will make voluntary contributions.
09:50 Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense: The Russians do not use hypersonic Dagger missiles during the shelling of Ukraine due to the small number of such projectiles and problems with carrier aircraft - the MiG-31.
· Skibitsky also believes that if the Russians exhaust the stock of "Daggers", which they are now using for demonstration, then they will have nothing to frighten the world.
09:10 The New York Times: Ukraine has to use expensive rockets on cheap Iranian drones missiles, that are about 7 times more expensive.
· As Russia increasingly launches Shahed-136 at night, the Armed Forces are forced to use other systems (for example, NASAMS) instead of cheap small arms.
· The production of Iranian mopeds costs about 20 thousand dollars, while the cost of launching one of the surface-to-air missiles is from 140 thousand dollars for the S-300 to 500 thousand dollars and above for NASAMS.
08:25 Institute for the Study of War: sending ill-trained Russian soldiers to the front line makes them cannon fodder.
· Systemic failures in the formation of Russian troops continue to adversely affect the level of personnel training and harm Russia's operational capabilities in Ukraine, experts from the American Institute for the Study of War write in the next summary.
· The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, tried to justify the failures of the Russian army in Bakhmut, but only confirmed that the Russian forces had reached their maximum in trying to seize the city.
· According to analysts, in an interview with Russian propagandists on December 31, Prigozhin said that the offensive operation was very exhausting, because every house there is a "fortress".
· The Institute for the Study of War suggests that Prigozhin has now launched an information campaign to blame the Russian Defense Ministry or the Russian industrial base for the failures and absolve himself of responsibility for his inability to capture Bakhmut.
00:23 Wall Street Journal: Ukraine has created a troop control network that the U.S. has been working on for decades.
· Ukraine has created an improvised intelligence network to coordinate combat units on the battlefield — it turned out to be cheaper than its American counterpart, on the creation of which the Pentagon spent decades and billions of dollars, the publication writes.
07:08 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
· The enemy, during the past day, inflicted 7 missile, 18 air strikes and carried out more than 85 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems.
· Including civilian infrastructure of the cities of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Zaporozhye and Kherson. There are civilian casualties.
· The Russians are focusing their efforts on conducting offensive operations in Bakhmut and are trying to improve the tactical position of the units of their troops in the Kupyansk, Liman and Avdiivka directions.
· In the Novopavlovsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson directions, the enemy is defending itself.
· Over the past day, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repulsed Russian attacks in the areas of the settlements of Stelmakhivka and Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region and Soledar, Krasnaya Gora, Bakhmut, Mayorsk, Marinka, Novomykhailivka, Pobeda and Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk region.
· The defeat of Russian troops on January 2 in the areas of the settlements of Tokmak, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Polohy and Vasilyevka of the Zaporozhye region was confirmed.
· 2 ammunition depots, up to 10 units of military equipment of various types were destroyed, 2 points of deployment of Russian soldiers were defeated, up to 260 servicemen of the RF Armed Forces were liquidated and wounded.
· During the day, the aviation of the Defense Forces inflicted 12 strikes on the areas of concentration of Russians and a strike on the position of the anti-aircraft missile system of the Russian Federation.
· Ukrainian rocket launchers and artillerymen hit 2 control points, 5 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, an ammunition depot and a control point of the Russian UAV.
00:51: Boxer Vasyl Lomachenko was added to the Register of State Advisers.
· The reason for its inclusion in the register is a video of the sermon of the Metropolitan of the UOC-MP, where he says that our state has started a war against God.
January 3
22:15: Volodymyr Zelenskyy: I just spoke with the Prime Minister of Canada - and this is the fourth international conversation today. Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Prime Minister of Britain, Prime Minister of Norway – and here's Justin Trudeau.
9:41 Prime Minister: Ukraine's losses because of the war exceed $700 billion.
· Since June, recovery needs have doubled due to Russian critical infrastructure attacks.
21:21 First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: On New Year's Eve, 102 curfew violators were detained in Ukraine, 60 of them in Kyiv.
· According to Yenin, preventive conversations were held at police stations with all violators.
20:42: An earthquake was recorded in the Zakarpattia region this afternoon, the Main Center for Special Control said.
· According to experts, his strength was 3.8 points on the Richter scale.
20:32 Ministry of Digital Transformation: Ukrainian providers have been given powerful batteries to provide internet services in the event of blackout.
· 172 SBL batteries were received by providers in all regions of the country, thousands of Ukrainians will have Internet within 10-12 hours after power outages.
19:57 Ministry of Economy: The Cabinet of Ministers has changed the rules for holding auctions and temporarily canceled tenders under the Prozorro e-procurement system,
· The reason is that not everyone can participate in them due to the constant shelling of energy infrastructure.
· In addition, according to the resolution, localization for procurement for the needs of the Armed Forces was canceled, that is, pickups, freight transport, ambulances, etc. can now be purchased for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine without considering localization requirements.
19:22 Head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: At the front, the most difficult situation remains in the Soledar-Bakhmut-Mayorsk section in the Donetsk region.
· Valery Zaluzhny announced this in a telephone conversation with General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
· Also, according to him, heavy fighting is being fought at the turn of Svatovo-Kremenn, as well as in the direction of Lysychansk, where the Russian army "is actually trying to move forward behind its corpses, but units of the Defense Forces at the cost of superpowers restrain the enemy offensive."
· "In Donetsk direction, we managed to maintain positions around Avdiivka and continue counter-offensive actions. We reliably hold defensive lines in the Zaporizhia direction and make efforts to protect against enemy shelling of Kherson, primarily civilians and critical infrastructure of the city. The situation on the border with the Republic of Belarus is fully controlled," Zaluzhny said.
18:35: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: During this day, Russia launched 8 air strikes and carried out 18 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems.
· The enemy, trying to take full control of the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, focuses its efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction
· Russian troops are trying to improve the tactical situation in the Liman and Avdiivka directions, reinforcing the grouping in the Novopavlovsk direction at the expense of units transferred from the Kherson direction.
· General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: During the day, the Aviation of the Defense Forces of Ukraine inflicted 4 strikes on the areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment of the Russian Federation.
· Units of the missile forces and artillery of the Defense Forces of Ukraine for the current day carried out fire damage to 2 control points and 4 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Russian troops.
18:29 espreso-tv:Most likely, the Russians will withdraw troops from Bakhmut, - military analyst Hetman.
· "My friends, who are there now, say that by all indications the Russians do not believe in their capture of Bakhmut. They are still attacking, but this is already happening by inertia. For five months, the enemy fights for this city and is unable to take it. It was necessary to somehow make excuses, so they built the lines of defense, but Prigozhin has something to say, because even Chornobaivka will continue to rest when they cannot take one not very large city for so many months," Oleksiy Hetman said.
17:56 Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority: Russia is slowing down inspections of vessels moving along the "grain corridor,” which is why they have to wait for their turn for an average of a month.
· Now in the Bosphorus, 94 vessels are waiting for inspection: 69 are empty for loading, and 25 are already loaded with agricultural products. In the ports of the Odessa region, 630 thousand tons of agricultural products are loaded on 19 vessels.
17:45: Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the risks of escalation at the front to the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gar Stere.
17:36: The Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution on a new procedure for military registration. Important points :
· Diplomatic agencies will keep military records among Ukrainians who are abroad and "facilitate" their return to Ukraine during mobilization, in wartime and in a special period;
· They will be able to hire or train a military duty officer only after presenting an up-to-date military ID, or registering for military registration;
· It will be possible to submit information about yourself to the military registration and enlistment office through the "Diia", when declaring the place of residence (the procedure and mechanism should be developed by the Ministry of Defense).
· Women doctors or pharmacists who were not registered in the military before the approval of this Procedure may be employed as non-military until the end of 2026;
· The heads of enterprises were obliged to notify employees of the call and bring the order about this to them under their signature;
· All employment centers will submit information on unemployed military servicemen.
17:25: The Security Service together with the Bureau of Economic Crimes exposed a criminal scheme to embezzle funds for the export of Ukrainian grain. Because of this, the state did not receive hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
· "More than 10 high-ranking officials are involved in the organization of the transaction. Among them is the deputy head of one of the departments of the State Customs Service and the leadership of the Odessa customs," the message says.
17:16: The Ukraine-EU summit scheduled for February 3 will take place in Kyiv.
· This was reported by the President's Office after a conversation between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
· "The interlocutors discussed the expected results of the next Ukraine-EU summit, which will be held on February 3 this year in Kyiv, and agreed to intensify the preparatory work," the message says.
16:45: Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed further defense cooperation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
16:10 Air Force spokesman: The enemy most often launches Iranian kamikaze drones in the dark along the Dnieper riverbed, because it is more difficult to detect them there by radar.
15:41 Deputy Minister of Defense: Russia has several offensive scenarios and makes decisions at the last moment, so it will be difficult to warn the citizens of Ukraine in advance about the direction of the main strikes.
· "We always openly say that now in Belarus there is a movement of personnel and equipment. It has been happening since February. They constantly imitate learning there, in fact, we understand that this is a state of readiness," Malyar said.
15:40 Vladislav Seleznev, military expert, and colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the air of Espresso:
· Putin is trying to bargain time and believes that the mobilized will become a weapon of victory.
· That is why experts talk about the prospect of a massive attack by the invaders in three directions - eastern, southern, and northern (Kyiv region). This will not solve Putin's problems. In this war, he has already lost. There is no motivation, no sense in this war for the Russian occupation army.
15:25 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Russia removed from Belarus all stocks of ammunition to artillery systems and multiple launch rocket systems, which were taken in favor of the Russian Armed Forces on the eve of the attack on the Ukraine.
14:09: Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte.
13:04 espreso.tv: Energoatom puts one nuclear power unit on repair, 8 of them will operate in Ukraine.
· From January 3, one of the power units will undergo a scheduled overhaul, which takes place every four years. The repairs are being carried out to ensure no radiation leakage.
12:31 Rivno – Poltava RMA: Fake bomb threats continue.
· "This time there was an anonymous report about explosives in the schools, shopping centers, including in the Rivne Regional State Administration," said the head of the OVA Vitaliy Koval.
· Also, educational institutions of Poltava are checked for the presence of explosives. Reports of mining came to the police by e-mail this morning, said Vasyl Zub, a spokesman for the Poltava District Police Department.
12:19 DTEK: Stabilization power outages will begin in Kyiv from 14:00.
· Stabilization schedules of outages are used to avoid accidents in the power system.
12:05 Defense Intelligence Directorate: Russia has no plans to end the war against Ukraine.
· "We are considering the possibility that they can leave the north or east at the same time. Such actions of the enemy are envisaged and our troops are ready for this."
MORDOR (russia)
January 4
11:53: The Russian Defense Ministry said that the number of Russians killed by the strike in Makiivka is 89 people.
08:27: Air defense systems shot down two drones in the Belbek area in the morning, according to the so-called "Sevastopol authorities".
January 3
22:25 Social Networks: In the area of Simferopol in the temporarily occupied Crimea, the sounds of explosions are heard.
21:50 Social Networks: In Russian Rostov, the sounds of explosions were heard.
21:32 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Russian Kursk.
15:21 Social Networks: In the temporarily occupied Crimea, explosions are heard in Dzhankoy. Local social networks report on the work of Russian air defense.
KHARKIV
January 3
23:34 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in the Kharkiv region.
13:59 Kharkiv RMA: This year, fortifications will be built in the Kharkiv region and housing will be rebuilt.
· "On the territory of Kharkiv region there are 315 km of the border with Russia, so we have to increase the defense capability and build fortifications. We will continue to rebuild critical infrastructure. In addition, in the spring we will plan to rebuild residential areas."
LUHANSK
January 3
16:55 Luhansk RMA: The highway Svatove - Kreminna is controlled by fire of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To move between these cities, the Russians are forced to make a circle through Starobilsk.
· Gaidai also said that a queue of trucks of several kilometers was lined up near Luhansk, from where shells and weapons were reloaded into KamAZ to deliver to the front line. Due to the accuracy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russians are trying not to leave ammunition next to the artillery installations.
DONETSK
January 4
08:49 Donetsk RMA: On January 3, Russians killed 1 civilian in the Donetsk region in Kurakhove.
· According to Pavlo Kyrylenko, another 5 people in the region were injured.
January 3
22:36 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Kurakhovo, Donetsk region.
15:10 Mayor: Kramatorsk is under attack from the Russians.
· As a result of the Russian attack, there is a wounded man.
14:51 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region.
13:19 Donetsk RMA: In the morning, the Russian military shelled Kurakhove, Donetsk region: one person was killed and two others were wounded.
· One shell hit a high-rise building. In addition, the water infrastructure was damaged and window panes in buildings near the hit site were knocked out.
12:44 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Sloviansk, Donetsk region.
12:42 Mayor of the city: Consequences of a night missile strike on Kramatorsk.
· 34 private houses and 8 apartment buildings were damaged. A man was also injured.
12:40 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in the temporarily occupied Donetsk. Local social networks report on the work of Russian air defense.
ZAPORIZHIA
January 4
11:05 Mayor of Melitopol: Russians restrict free movement to the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhia region.
· Now, to travel outside the settlements, you will need to receive a pass in the fake commandant's office. At the same time, Russians demand to provide personal data and documents on the ownership of the car.
· In some villages near the temporarily occupied Tokmak, there are already "curfews" - residents cannot go outside until January 8th. In Tokmak itself, such restrictions will apply from the evening of January 6th.
10:43: Secretary of Zaporizhia City Council Anatoliy Kurtev
· "According to preliminary information, as a result of an overnight arrival in one of the districts of the city, 8 multi-storey buildings were damaged. In addition, the kindergarten building was damaged," he added.
09:30 President's Office: The Russians hit a Zaporizhia infrastructure facility using S-300 missiles.
· "1 person was injured. A fire broke out at the site of the impact, two warehouse buildings were destroyed. The blast wave damaged a 5-storey apartment building and cars parked nearby."
January 2
23:33 Zaporizhia RMA: Rashists again attacked the outskirts of Zaporozhye with missiles.
· As a result of arriving at civilian infrastructure, a fire broke out. According to preliminary data, one person was injured. The relevant services are working on site.
22:50 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Zaporizhia.
21:59 Mayor of Melitopol: Following some collaborators, Russian doctors are fleeing from the temporarily occupied Melitopol.
· According to the mayor, a large number of imported doctors and medical personnel left the occupied city. 90% of pharmacies do not work, and the remaining ones have almost no range of medicines, and the cost of medicines is too high.
20:56 Espreso: Ukrainian artillery destroyed the occupiers' base in the temporarily occupied Tokmak, Zaporizhia region.
DNIPRO
January 4
07:46 Dnipro RMA: This night, the Russians struck Nikopol with heavy artillery.
· According to him, several residential buildings and several utility buildings, a car, a gas pipeline and a power line have been damaged in the city.
January 3
14:58 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Pre-working air defense.
12:49 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in the Dnipropetrovsk region, air defense is working in advance.
KHERSON
January 4
09:43 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Kherson.
10:19 Kherson RMA: Russian troops shelled the territory of Kherson region 73 times.
· "The Russian army attacked Kherson 11 times – they drove through residential areas of the city. Enemy shells hit the shipyard, gas pipeline, private and apartment buildings," the message says.
· Yanushevich also said that last day 2 people were killed due to Russians, 5 residents of the Kherson region were injured of varying severity.
09:39: The SBU detained a collaborator in Kherson who guarded the administrative buildings of Russians during the occupation of the city.
· The perpetrator is a resident of the regional center, who during the seizure of the city supported the Russian invaders and offered them his help in the war against Ukraine.
01:13 Social Networks: Explosions are heard again in Kherson.
January 3
22:39 Social Networks: The sounds of gunfire are heard in Kherson.
21:41 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in Kherson.
20:23 Social Networks: Explosions are heard in the Kherson region.
17:07 Kherson RMA: In Kherson, 20 trolleybuses were damaged due to today's shelling.
· "KP "Khersonelectrotrans" came under fire. Three trolleybuses were seriously damaged, the rest were knocked out by a blast wave of windows," she said.
14:48 Head of the Ministry of Defense: The Russians blew up the power plant during the retreat from Beryslav, Kherson region.
14:23 SBU press service: SBU detained a former head of a "branch of the Russian railways" in Kherson.
· It facilitated the transportation of military equipment, weapons and ammunition from the territory of the Russian Federation to the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region.
· She also organized the looting of technological equipment of rolling stock of the local enterprise of the Ukrainian railway.
16:35 Kherson City Council: The Russian army today shelled the communal enterprise "Khersonelectrotrans".
· "A serious hit happened on one of the trolleybuses. Also, two units of transport that were standing nearby were damaged by the ricochet. Also, a hit was recorded in the administrative building of the enterprise, there were no casualties," the message says.
13:32 Operational Command South: The Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that they had installed a flag on Velykyi Potemkin Island near Kherson.
· "The installation of the flag is a signal to the enemy that we are working, that our land and this is all — Ukraine, as well as a reminder of the irreversibility of the processes that we have planned. However, it is too early to talk about the liberation of the island," Humenyuk said.
13:09 Kherson RMA: Two people detonated on explosives left by Russians in the Beryslav district of the Kherson region.
· On the way out of Malaya Alexandrovka, a car with civilians came across Russian explosives. As a result of the injuries, two men were killed.
MYKOLAIV
January 2
12:59: The SBU has established the location of another Russian torture chamber during stabilization measures in the liberated areas of the Mykolaiv region.
· In the dungeons, the Russians forcibly held and brutally tortured local residents who refused to cooperate with the enemy.
· They tried to "knock out" the addresses of the stay of Ukrainian patriots, in particular members of the resistance movement. The victims were strangled with plastic bags, beaten with heavy objects and used a stun gun.
ODESA
JANUARY 3
19:02: Another sea mine was discovered and liquidated in the Odessa region, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
KYIV
January 4
10:39: Kyiv is the best city in the world in 2023 according to the international agency Resonance.
· Experts also noted a significant development of the city's infrastructure over the past 10 years — the creation of new parks and squares and the improvement of old ones, the restoration of parking in order, the renewal of rolling stock of municipal transport.
SUMY
January 3
23:06 Sumy RMA: Reported that the Russians shelled the Mid-Buda community today with mortars. There were 4 arrivals of 120mm caliber.
· There was no destruction and casualties.
Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins. Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.
SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://euromaidanpress.com/
https://cutt.ly/Blyskavka