At least five people were killed in a series of Russian and Ukrainian attacks on Friday, including a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Chernigiv. The attack killed one person and heavily damaged a residential area, with several homes affected and multiple people injured, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus. Search and rescue efforts were still ongoing as loud explosions echoed across the city, located 75 kilometers north of Kyiv.
Additional Russian bombardments resulted in the death of a truck driver near Kyiv and a pensioner in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Meanwhile, four individuals were injured when the town of Sloviansk, located near the frontline in Donetsk, was shelled.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that in the first three days of 2025, Russia had launched 300 attack drones and nearly 20 missiles at Ukrainian targets. Most of these aerial threats were reportedly intercepted or downed.
In retaliation, Ukrainian strikes on Russian border areas led to two reported deaths. One individual was killed in a mortar attack in Bryansk, while another died in a drone strike while walking in the Kursk region, near the frontlines.
The ongoing aerial campaigns by both nations appear to be part of a strategic effort to gain leverage ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later in January. The U.S. has committed to further security assistance for Ukraine, with White House spokesperson John Kirby announcing additional military aid packages in the coming days. Last week, Washington announced a $5.9 billion military and budget support package for Ukraine, with a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting scheduled for January 9 in Germany.
Amid the conflict, Russia’s Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg temporarily halted flight operations for over two hours on Saturday due to potential threats of Ukrainian drone strikes. Russian forces reportedly downed two drones near Luga Bay in the Gulf of Finland.
Separately, the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria faced rolling blackouts following a halt in Russian gas supplies. The crisis has left parts of the region, including the largest city Tiraspol, without heating and hot water. The halt occurred after Moscow cut gas supplies to Moldova over financial disputes.
In Crimea, oil spills from two damaged Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, were detected off the coast of Sevastopol. The tankers, damaged during a storm in the Kerch Strait, released approximately 2,400 tonnes of mazut fuel oil into the sea, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to label the incident an “ecological disaster.”