Overview
- Russian-installed authorities in occupied Kherson say three Ukrainian drones hit a New Year’s gathering in Khorly, killing 24 people and injuring scores, a claim that Ukraine has not addressed and that cannot be independently verified.
- Ukraine’s military reports heavy Russian losses in a single day and says it destroyed a drone depot in Donetsk and a Tor‑M2 air-defense system, figures that remain unconfirmed by independent sources.
- Both sides report extensive overnight drone operations, with Ukraine citing 205 Russian attack drones and interceptions across multiple regions and claiming strikes on Russian oil infrastructure in areas including Kaluga and southern refineries.
- The CIA has informed President Trump that Ukraine did not attack Vladimir Putin or any of his residences, countering Moscow’s allegation even as Russia says it will share purported evidence with the United States.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky says a peace agreement is about 90 percent drafted as U.S. and European intermediaries coordinate next steps before a Jan. 6 Paris meeting, while debate continues over any future peacekeeping force, including a potential Bundeswehr role described by an SPD lawmaker as a “lecture-hall debate.”