Kyiv says it struck Russia’s oil facilities – DW – 01/01/2026

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised troops fighting on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, calling them the “greatest strength and pride” of the country, state media reported on Thursday.

In a New Year’s message, Kim praised his troops fighting abroad as forging an “invincible alliance” with Russia, according to KCNA.

“As the whole country is enveloped in a festive atmosphere of greeting the new year, I all the more miss you, who are fighting bravely on the battlefields in the alien land even at this moment,” he said.

“Be brave. Behind you are Pyongyang and Moscow.”

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies say Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with South Korea estimating that at least 600 have been killed and thousands wounded.

Analysts say North Korea is receiving financial aid, military technology and energy and food supplies in return.

Kim also hinted at further overseas deployments this year, while attending New Year celebrations in Pyongyang.

Russian air defense intercepted three drones targeting the Russian capital, Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a serious of Telegram posts.

Sobyanin said that emergency services had rushed to sites where drone fragments had landed.

The posts did not report any casualties or damage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was “truly doing everything for peace” in his New Year address, while warning against a peace deal with unfavorable conditions.

“The peace agreement is 90 percent ready. Ten percent remains. And that is far more than just numbers,” he said, reiterating comments he made after a recent meeting with US President Donald Trump.

“Those are the ten percent that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe,” he said.

“I would give anything in the world if, in this address, I could say that peace will also come in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, I cannot say that yet.”

He stressed that Ukraine wanted peace, but not “at any cost.”

“We want an end ‍to the war but not ​the ​end of Ukraine,” he said, adding that Kyiv would not “surrender.”

He warned against “weak agreements” that would only “fuel the war.”

“My signature will ⁠be placed ​on a strong agreement,” he said.

Russia has called for considerable concessions from Ukraine as a precondition to any peace deal, including withdrawing its troops from the eastern Donbas region.

Negotiations are set to continue into 2026, with previous rounds of talks seemingly not bringing any clear breakthroughs toward a deal.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that President Donald Trump’s advisers held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and national security advisers from the UK, France, and Germany to discuss the next steps in ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We ‌focused on how to move the ‌discussions ⁠forward in a practical way on behalf of @POTUS’ peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and  developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end ​the ​war and ensure it does not restart,” Witkoff wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Rustem Umerov, the top Ukrainian negotiator, said that Kyiv had coordinated positions with the United States and its European allies during telephone talks with security advisers.

“We coordinated positions and planned further meetings with European and ‍American partners in January,” Umerov wrote on X. “We will continue working on solutions that are expected to deliver tangible results in the new year.”

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced that national security advisers from Kyiv’s Coalition of the Willing backers would convene in Ukraine on Saturday, followed by a gathering of country leaders in France on January 6.

The coalition, led by Britain and France, includes more than 30 nations, though it was not immediately clear which ones would participate in the meetings.

During his New Year’s Eve speech, French President Emmanuel Macron said that European leaders meeting in Paris on January 6 will make firm commitments to protect Ukraine after a peace deal with Russia is brokered.

The US is expected to host a meeting with Ukraine and EU leaders early in the year, while a coalition of Kyiv’s allies will gather in Paris. But with no sign of the fighting slowing down, is peace anywhere near?

Ukraine’s domestic security service, the SBU, reported that Ukrainian long-range drones struck the Temp oil depot in the Russian city of Rybinsk, located approximately 270 kilometers north of Moscow.

The SBU described the facility as a key logistics hub for fuel and said that the attack sparked a large fire.

Rybinsk is about 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military announced that it had attacked an oil refinery and an oil terminal in the southern Russian port city of Tuapse and an oil terminal on the Taman Peninsula in Russia’s Krasnodar region.

Russia showed what it called evidence to support its claim that Ukraine launched a coordinated attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s Defense Ministry released footage of Major-General Alexander Romanenkov detailing what he called a thwarted Ukrainian drone attack on a Putin residence in Novgorod.

He listed the locations, exact times and flight routes of individual drones on the night of December 28-29.

Romanenkov said 91 drones were launched from Sumy and Chernihiv, causing no damage or injuries. 

The video showed fragments of a downed Chaklun-V drone with what is said to be an unexploded 6-kg charge. The ministry did not explain how it knew the target.

The Russian statement comes after Kyiv accused Russia of fabricating the alleged attack to stall peace talks.

In an interview with Reuters, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi called the footage “laughable” and said Kyiv was “absolutely confident that no such attack took place.”

Western officials also doubt Moscow’s claims and question whether any attack occurred.

President Vladimir Putin says he believes Russia will win the war in Ukraine.

In his televised New Year’s Eve address, aired first in Kamchatka, Putin urged Russians to support troops on the front lines, calling them “heroes.”

He wished a happy New Year to “fighters and commanders.” adding that “millions of people across Russia, trust me, are thinking of you.”

His speech, a tradition since Soviet times, is broadcast nationwide just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones.

You can follow our New Year’s Eve blog here. 

Finnish authorities have inspected a vessel suspected of damaging an undersea cable in the Gulf of Finland, President Alexander Stubb said.

Telecom provider Elisa detected a fault early Wednesday on a telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia. A patrol vessel and helicopter located a ship suspected of causing the damage. Its anchor chain had been lowered near the reported site.

The vessel was ordered to stop and move to a safe anchorage, and Finnish authorities have now taken control.

There have been multiple incidents of undersea cables and pipelines linking Nordic, Baltic, and other European countries being damaged since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Authorities believe these incidents are part of broader Russian attacks in Europe.

The European Union’s top diplomat is rejecting Russian claims that Ukraine targeted President Vladimir Putin’s residence with drones.

On Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the allegations “unfounded” and a “deliberate distraction” from peace efforts.

“Moscow ⁠aims to derail real progress towards ‍peace by Ukraine and ​its ​Western partners,” Kallas wrote on social media platform X.

Russian strikes have wounded six people in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, including three children, local authorities have said.

Odesa’s regional military administration said on Telegram that drones attacked residential, logistical and energy infrastructure.

Regional administration head Oleg Kiper said the assault hit multiple sites across the area.

In a separate post, city military administration head Sergiy Lysak said the wounded included children aged 8 and 14, as well as a 7-month-old baby.

Lysak said a 42-year-old man was also injured and is in serious condition. In an update early Wednesday, he put the total number of wounded at six.

Authorities said parts of Odesa lost heating and water supplies following the attack. 

Ukraine’s leading private energy provider, DTEK, said the strikes had also targeted two ‍of its energy facilities, causing extensive damage.

“The damages are significant. Restoring the ‍equipment to working condition ​will take time,” DTEK said ​in a statement.

European and Canadian officials are stepping up coordination to advance peace efforts in Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

“We are moving the peace process forward. Transparency and honesty are now required from everyone  including Russia,” Merz posted on X.

The meeting, attended by European leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO chief Mark Rutte, followed US President Donald Trump’s talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida.

The leaders held a virtual meeting as Washington pressed Moscow and Kyiv toward a possible settlement.

After the meeting, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said peace was “on the horizon” but far from assured.

Meanwhile, von der Leyen said talks focused on support for Ukraine, security and post-war reconstruction. She added that Ukraine’s eventual accession to the European Union is a “key security guarantee” and a benefit for Europe as a whole.

Four people were injured in a Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the city’s military administration said on Wednesday.

Those injured included two children aged eight and 14 as well as a seven-month-old baby, said Sergiy Lysak, head of the city’s military administration.

“Drones attacked the residential, logistical, and energy infrastructure of our region,” Odesa’s military administration regional head said on the Telegram messaging platform.

The fourth victim, a 42-year-old man, was in “serious condition,” Lysak said.

A power outage hit a town outside Moscow, with Russian media citing power authorities as saying it was because of a technical fault at a regional power facility.

The outage affected over 100,000 residents.

Authorities said they were working to repair the damage.

There was no immediate evidence the outage was linked to Ukraine.

Ukraine has bombarded different parts of Russia with a barrage of drones, Russian authorities said.

Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over the Moscow region, parts of western Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense units destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones in the three-hour period starting at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT).

No immediate reports of damage were available.

In a residential area in the Black Sea port of Tuapse, the regional administration said port infrastructure and a gas pipeline were damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack.

The operational headquarters of the Krasnodar region said the attack damaged the port’s berth, adding that emergency crews were dispatched to repair the damage.