Tuesday, January 28
Russia’s war against Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers of the 43rd Brigade work with a Soviet-era Pion self-propelled howitzer in the direction of Chasiv Yar on Jan. 27, 2025. (Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russia claims to capture Velyka Novosilka, Ukraine admits partial retreat but says battles ongoing. Ukraine’s 110th Mechanized Brigade acknowledged a withdrawal from parts of the village to avoid encirclement but claimed that fighting is ongoing elsewhere in Velyka Novosilka.
North Korean troops seem to temporarily withdraw from one section of front in Kursk Oblast, military says. North Korean forces are taking respite from hostilities, presumably to treat the wounded, wait for reinforcements, and work on mistakes made during the fighting in this sector of the front, according to Sky News.
Russia intensifies attacks near Pokrovsk, seeks to encircle Ukrainian forces. Russian forces have intensified their assaults near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, deploying small groups in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian troops, Victor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, said on Jan. 27.
Military intelligence denies its head gave Ukraine until summer to launch talks or endanger country’s existence. Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) denied on Jan. 27 that its head, Kyrylo Budanov, gave an assessment that predicted “serious consequences” for the existence of Ukraine unless negotiations began by the summer.
Weapons for Ukrainian forces may be blocked due to legal conflict, Defense Procurement Agency’s head says. “Contracting and supplies may be blocked because we are in a legal conflict,” Maryna Bezrukova, Defense Procurement Agency head, said.
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Russia introduces history textbook that redefines war against Ukraine as justified defense. The three-volume textbook, targeted at schoolchildren, claims Russia was “forced” to invade Ukraine in 2022, citing long-standing grievances such as NATO’s eastward expansion and the 2014 ousting of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, which the textbook characterizes as a Western-backed coup.
Moscow approves conscription reforms to target draft evaders, streamline recruitment. Under the new legislation, draft board decisions for individuals deemed fit for service will remain valid for one year. This allows military commissions to send individuals to the army in subsequent drafts without requiring additional medical examinations or decisions.
Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery suspends operations after drone strike, Reuters reports. “The railway loading equipment has been damaged. There have been no railways loadings, they stopped oil processing,” an industry source said.
‘A farce’ — Foreign Ministry condemns sham election in Belarus. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko turned the country’s presidential election into “a one-man political show,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 27.
’If half the people go home tomorrow, Putin will kill us all’ — Zelensky defends mobilization. “If tomorrow, for example, half of the army just goes home, then we should have surrendered on the first day. That’s the way it is. Because if half the people go home tomorrow, Putin will kill us all.”
Read our exclusives
Trump suspends aid to Ukraine, vital NGOs ‘don’t know if they’ll survive’
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze foreign development assistance for 90 days has thrown Ukrainian organizations into turmoil, in some cases threatening their very existence and leaving the people they support in limbo.
Photo: Melina Mara-Pool/Getty Images
Trump needs to ‘understand where the threat is,’ UK lawmaker says
Trump should not “force Ukraine into a bad deal,” U.K. lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith told the Kyiv Independent. “It’s not Ukraine that’s a threat. The threat is Russia and China, Iran, North Korea, all these states are together.”
Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine war latest: North Korean forces reportedly pull back from one front-line sector following heavy casualties
North Korean soldiers appear to have temporarily withdrawn from one of the axes of the front in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, a Special Operations Forces (SOF) spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 27.
Photo: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
After Lukashenko’s latest sham election win, exiled Belarusians reflect on lessons learned from 2020’s lost revolution
“Anyone following the situation knows it’s a sham election, and for us, Lukashenko has been wholly illegitimate since 2020,” Hanna Komar, a Belarusian author in exile, told the Kyiv Independent.
Photo: Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Human cost of war
Updated: Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 4, injure 7 over previous day. The attacks targeted Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
5 injured as Russia shells industrial area in Nikopol. Five men aged 30-39 were injured as a result of a Russian artillery attack against Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in the morning of Jan. 27, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.
General Staff: Russia has lost 831,620 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,430 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
International response
EU foreign ministers agree to extend Russia sanctions after Hungary’s delays. “This will continue to deprive Moscow of revenues to finance its war. Russia needs to pay for the damage they are causing,” EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
Hungary receives ‘requested guarantees’ from EU on energy transit, Hungarian FM says. Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a statement that his country has “received the requested guarantees” regarding energy security.
EU to continue talks with Ukraine on gas supplies to Europe, including Hungary, Slovakia, Reuters reports. “The (European) Commission is ready to continue discussions with Ukraine on the supply to Europe through the gas pipeline system in Ukraine,” the statement said.
Trump ‘helped’ persuade Hungary to unblock EU Russia sanctions, Polish FM claims. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski believes Trump’s recent threats of sanctions against Moscow played a role in Hungary’s decision to withdraw its veto.
EU screening of Ukraine’s legislation to continue until fall of 2025. If Ukraine fulfills all the requirements, the Commission expects the launch of cluster negotiations, starting with Cluster I, “Fundamentals,” “as soon as possible” in 2025.
Kremlin backs Lukashenko’s ‘victory’ in Belarus election, dismisses Western criticism. “The elections in Belarus were transparent and absolutely legitimate. Moscow does not take into account the expected criticism of the elections in Belarus in the West,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media.
EU suspends visa privileges for Georgian officials over democratic backsliding. “Fundamental rights and democratic values are core principles of EU integration. Officials that represent a country which trample down these values should not benefit from easier access to the EU,” said Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s interior minister.
In other news
Zelensky arrives in Poland for Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration. President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Poland for a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp, Zelensky’s spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, told Ukrinform on Jan. 27.
Swedish Coast Guard detains vessel suspected of sabotage in Baltic Sea. According to information obtained by AP from a ship-tracker software, the Malta-flagged Vezhen departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga several days earlier and was navigating near the site of damage.
Lithuania, Estonia pledge 5% defense spending following Trump’s call, FT reports. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys reportedly described the shift as part of a “new era.” Vilnius committed to spending between 5% and 6% of its GDP on defense annually until at least 2030. Estonia followed suit, pledging to raise defense spending from 3.7% of GDP to 5%.
EU agrees to ease sanctions on Syria after Assad’s fall, chief diplomat says. “While we aim to move fast, the lifting of sanctions can be reversed if wrong steps are taken,” Kaja Kallas posted on X, adding that the EU plans to scale up humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in Syria.
Zelensky’s party’s parliamentary leader attended Trump’s inauguration, media reports. David Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of President Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, was among the few foreign dignitaries that attended U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration last week, the Independent reported on Jan. 26.
Mural depicting top presidential aide Yermak appears in Kyiv, is painted over soon after. A mural depicting Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak was covered with white paint within a day after a picture of it emerged online, the Glavcom media outlet reported on Jan. 27.
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