Overview
- Russian air defenses reported downing 66 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven headed toward Moscow, with interceptions across Samara, Voronezh and Saratov regions.
- A strike in central Kharkiv killed a three-year-old child and wounded about 30 people, while Russian authorities said 27 died in occupied Kherson's Jorli in an attack they blame on Ukraine.
- Ukraine said it targets only military objectives and described the Jorli strike as hitting occupiers subject to curfew restrictions, countering Moscow's claim of civilian targeting.
- The Kremlin presented the U.S. with purported proof of a '91-drone' attack on a Putin residence, a claim denied by Kyiv and viewed skeptically by the CIA, as Ukrainian intelligence warns of a potential false-flag incident around January 7.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed replacing presidential chief of staff Andri Yermak with military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, citing a need to refocus the office on security, diplomacy and defense strategy.