Hello, this is Kateryna Hodunova reporting from Kyiv on day 1,412 of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today’s top story so far:
Russian troops are trying to expand the combat zone near the state border area in Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on Jan. 5 on national television.
The most active fighting is in the Khotyn and Yunakivka communities in Sumy Oblast, as well as the Vovchansk sector of the front line and near the settlements of Dvorichanske and Sotnytskyi Kozachok in Kharkiv Oblast, Demchenko said.
Russian forces are also attempting to widen the combat zone near the Krasnopillia community and the border village of Hrabovske, Sumy Oblast, where fighting has continued for several weeks, Demchenko said.
In these areas, Russian forces are using small assault groups without heavy equipment, he said, adding: “But the enemy cannot achieve results or advance deeper into our country’s territory. And at the same time, it is suffering heavy losses.”
5 Russian missile strikes injure man, cause ‘very significant damage’ to Kharkiv energy infrastructure, mayor says
Last updated 3:45 p.m. Kyiv time.
Russia launched five missile strikes on Kharkiv on Jan. 5, injuring a 58-year-old man and causing “very significant damage” to the city’s energy infrastructure, local authorities said.
The injured man, an employee of a company near the strike site, was hospitalized, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov and the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.
The first strike occurred at 12:45 p.m. local time, followed by four more at intervals of several minutes.
The first two strikes hit an industrial area in the Slobidskyi district, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. The mayor did not specify where the remaining strikes landed.
“The enemy deliberately launched five missile strikes on Kharkiv’s energy infrastructure. The damage is very significant,” Terekhov said.
The mayor added that while it is possible to strengthen the protection of facilities, “no concrete structures can withstand five ballistic missiles.”
3 Russian drones attack humanitarian aid center in Kherson Oblast, killing 1, injuring 2
Last updated 3:04 p.m. Kyiv time.
Russia attacked a facility where local residents were receiving humanitarian aid with three drones, killing a 64-year-old man, and injuring a 79-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man in the Dariivka community in Kherson Oblast, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Jan. 5.
Those injured suffered blast injuries and shrapnel wounds. The victims were taken to the hospital in moderate condition, Prokudin said.
Russian attempt to storm Kupiansk using gas pipeline ‘thwarted,’ 40 soldiers ‘eliminated,’ Ukraine’s 7th Corps says
Last updated 2:34 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps said on Jan. 5 that it had thwarted Russia’s latest attempt to launch an attack on the Kupiansk sector in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast by using the Soyuz (“union” in English) gas pipeline.
Russia attempted to use the pipeline for “a covert exit and further accumulation of forces” in the Kupiansk area, in an operation that involved around 50 people, according to the 7th Corps. It claimed it “eliminated” at least 40 of them.
Footage purportedly shows soldiers from Ukraine’s 77th Separate Airborne Brigade in the Kupiansk sector of the front line, Kharkiv Oblast, where they repelled a Russian attempt to launch an attack by using the Soyuz gas pipeline. (Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps/Facebook)
Russia’s recent pipeline operation had occurred north of Novoplatonivka, a village just five kilometers above the town of Borova, trying to move upward along the Oskil River in the direction of Kupiansk, the 7th Corps said.
While its latest pipeline operation failed to achieve its objectives, Russia continues to deploy its troops in small groups to infiltrate between positions, according to the 7th Corps.
The report comes as Russia tries to push across the front by launching heavy offensive operations on multiple axes, including in the Kupiansk sector, to recapture the city it lost to a 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Ukraine’s Security Service chief resigns under Zelensky pressure, to focus on operations against Russia
Last updated 1:36 p.m. Kyiv time.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Jan. 5 that Vasyl Maliuk will step down as head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) but remain in the agency to focus on asymmetric operations against Russia.
“(Maliuk) knows how to do this best and will continue within the SBU system,” Zelensky said. “Together, we discussed candidates for the new head of the SBU.”
In a statement, Maliuk said he would stay in the service to carry out what he described as world‑class asymmetric operations aimed at inflicting “maximum damage” on Moscow.
Despite leading several of Ukraine’s most consequential operations against Russia, Maliuk’s tenure has been marked by controversy, particularly over his involvement in actions targeting anti-corruption bodies.
His departure follows days of speculation that Zelensky was preparing to dismiss him.
The move is one of several key dismissals and appointments Zelensky has announced in 2026, in a government reshuffle driven in part by Ukraine’s recent corruption scandal.
Most of the officials who were dismissed from their posts were soon reappointed to positions of similar rank.
At least 4 killed, 15 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day
At least four people have been killed and 15 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities said on Jan. 5.
Russia launched nine Iskander-M ballistic missiles and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, as well as 165 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 137 drones.
At least 26 drones made it through, striking 10 locations. The fall of debris was recorded at nine locations.
In Kyiv, Russian forces targeted a private hospital in the Obolonskyi district, killing a patient and injuring four others, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Two victims are in serious condition, Klitschko added.
The Russian attack sparked a fire, forcing the transfer of 16 of the private hospital’s 26 patients to public facilities. Firefighters extinguished the blaze by morning.
In Kyiv Oblast, a Russian attack also killed a man in the village of Kozhukhivka, the local military administration said. Â
In Kherson Oblast, Russian forces targeted 33 settlements, injuring three people over the past day, the local military administration said in its daily report at around 8 a.m. local time.
On the morning of Jan. 5, a Russian drone injured a 64-year-old man in the Beryslav district at 7:20 a.m. Russian forces shelled a hospital in Kherson at 11 a.m., injuring a 36-year-old woman and a 57-year-old medical worker.
In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed and two others were injured in Russian strikes against the city of Kramatorsk, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a Russian drone attacked the regional center of Zaporizhzhia, killing a driver, according to the local military administration. Russian forces also targeted the Polohy district, injuring a 69-year-old woman. Â
In Sumy Oblast, a 54-year-old man suffered injuries in the Putyvl community due to a Russian drone strike, the local military administration said.
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces attacked the village of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, injuring a 67-year-old woman, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Russia has lost around 1,212,520 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Jan. 5.
The number includes 990 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,507 tanks, 23,857 armored fighting vehicles, 72,945 vehicles and fuel tanks, 35,785 artillery systems, 1,592 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,268 air defense systems, 434 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 100,564 drones, 28 ships and boats, and two submarines.