Overview
- Analysts at ISW report no open-source evidence of a Ukrainian strike on Putin’s Valdai residence and note conflicting Russian tallies, while Kyiv labels the story an information operation.
- Ukrenergo reports major outages in Chernihiv with partial losses in Kharkiv and Sumy after fresh attacks, and Odesa’s ports were hit twice, sparking an oil-tank fire and damaging a Panama‑flagged grain ship.
- DTEK Odesa’s chief says fully restoring damaged substations will take about 1–2 years due to severe damage and long transformer manufacturing lead times.
- Ukraine’s General Staff records 63 engagements by 16:00 with the heaviest fighting around Pokrovsk; forces report thwarting Russian attempts to cross the Siverskyi Donets near Dronivka and using drones to control approaches to Pokrovsk.
- Poland’s Prime Minister says the U.S. has declared readiness to include a possible troop presence in post‑peace security guarantees, as Zelensky schedules follow‑up talks on January 3 and 6–7 and the military accelerates drone‑interceptor and radar deployments.