• The Italian Senate approves the arms expansion, it passes to the chamber
• 49 prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Kiev since the beginning of the war
• Ukrainian military intelligence has “no reliable information” about who was on board the Ilyushin-76 plane that crashed in Russia's Belgorod Oblast.
• British civilians who are part of a “pre-war generation” must be prepared to wage war against Vladimir Putin's Russia if necessary, British Armed Forces Chief of Staff Patrick Sanders said
10:48 a.m. – Kiev: “Oil refinery hit in Tuapse, Russia”
The Ukrainian secret service SBU claims to have attacked an oil refinery in Tuapse, Russia, during the night. RBC Ukraine reports about it. According to SBU sources, drones attacked the Russian refinery and a major fire broke out after two violent explosions.
10:08 a.m. – Isw, Moscow is using the plane disaster to sow discontent in Ukraine
Russian leaders are exploiting the disaster of the Moscow military aircraft (Il-76), which crashed yesterday in the media, to sow discontent in Ukraine and undermine the West's desire to continue providing military support to Kiev: this is what he writes his website American Institute for the Study of War. Chairman of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee Andrei Kartapolov said that Ukraine deliberately shot down the Il-76, knowing full well that it contained Ukrainian prisoners of war, and called for an indefinite halt to all prisoner of war exchanges.
At the same time, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev blamed Ukraine's “internal political struggles” for the disaster. For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is in New York for meetings of the UN Security Council, called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the incident and accused Ukraine of terrorism. These Russian accusations are aimed in part at sowing discontent in Ukraine and stoking distrust of the Ukrainian government, the U.S. think tank comments – a strategy consistent with many other Russian information efforts aimed at internalizing Ukraine to weaken.
9:57 a.m. – The number of injured in Odessa rises to 6
The number of injured in the Russian attack on the city of Odessa (see block 3.32) in southern Ukraine last night, which hit a furniture factory, has risen to six: Suspilne reports on Telegram. Drone fragments fell on residential buildings and injured civilians, the statement said. Ukrainian air defense shot down a total of ten Russian kamikaze drones in the Odessa region and one in the Mykolaiv region.
8:54 a.m. – The black boxes of the crashed Ilyushin were found
Both black boxes of the Russian plane Ilyushin-76 that crashed yesterday in the Belgorod region, which Moscow said was shot down by Kiev forces while transporting 65 Ukrainian prisoners to an exchange with soldiers, have been found and are “in good technical condition.” Russians. This was reported by the Ria Novosti agency, citing the emergency services.
8:04 a.m. – Kremlin: “Kiev’s murder of Ilyushin was a monstrous act”
The shooting down of the Russian Ilyushin plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners, which Moscow accuses Kiev of, is “an outrageous act that cannot be understood.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this, citing the Interfax agency.
When Volodymyr Zelensky speaks of an “international investigation into the criminal actions of the Kiev regime, there is certainly a need for it,” Peskov added.
7:55 a.m. – Kiev: “11 of 14 Russian drones shot down during the night”
Russian forces launched 14 kamikaze drones over Ukraine at night, 11 of which were shot down by Kiev's air defense: the air force announced this on Telegram. “On the night of January 25, 2024, the enemy launched 14 attack UAVs (drones) of the Shahed-136/131 type from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk region (Russia) and from Cape Chauda (Crimea), as well as four S-300 air defense missiles from the Belgorod region (Russia) towards Kharkiv and one from the occupied Donetsk region,” the post says. The 11 drones were destroyed in the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions.
3:32 a.m. – Russian drones against Odessa, two injured
Russian drones attacked the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa twice tonight. This was reported by regional governor Oleh Kiper, citing local media. At least two people were injured.
– A building was hit in Odessa during the night (photo from the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry)
02:58 – The secret of the Il76 crash in Belgorod: Here's what we know
(by Marta Serafini) The secret of the Il-76 will likely be another tragedy hidden in the fog of war.
It is late morning when the Russian Defense Ministry announces that at 11 a.m. local time (9 a.m. Italian time) a Russian military transport plane took off from the Chkalovsky base northeast of Moscow towards Belgorod – with 65 Ukrainian soldiers on board ready for an exchange of prisoners of war, six crew members and three companions – crashed near Belgorod on Russian territory near the border with Ukraine. Pictures of a plane crash are already circulating on the Internet. According to a witness cited by the Tass agency, the Ilyushin crash occurred in a field five to six kilometers from the village of Yablonovo, 45 kilometers as the crow flies from the border. A few minutes pass and the Kremlin Foreign Ministry confirms that the Il-76 was shot down by two Ukrainian missiles in a “terrorist act” of “mad barbarism,” while the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announces that there are no survivors Plank. Then comes the first answer from Kiev from the Ukrainian Pravda, which cites official sources: On board the plane were S-300s, missiles like those used in the attack on civilian targets in Kharkiv on Monday, which were carried out throughout the country 19 people died. A first admission, albeit implicit, that Kiev is involved.
01:17 – Russian attack in Kharkiv region, 4 injured
Four people were injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian village of Rohan in the northeastern Kharkiv region last night. This was announced by the local authorities, citing Kiev media.
01:13 a.m. – Drone attack, oil depot in Tuapse burns
A fire broke out tonight at an oil depot in the city of Tuapse in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar. This was announced by local media, after which residents reported seeing several drones flying over the area.
00:34 – The military point | Belgorod, the secret war front is in Russia
(by Andrea Marinelli and Guido Olimpio) Belgorod is a logistical hinterland that has become a front line. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the inhabited areas increasingly became the theater of conflict, the administrative region and its eponymous capital – just over 300,000 inhabitants 39 kilometers from the Ukrainian border – became the target, the “secret” front of this war. For geographical reasons, given the proximity of the territory, but also due to a precise decision on the part of Kiev, which responded to the bombings of its cities by targeting this border area: the intention from the beginning was not only to provoke aggression, but also to bring the war into Vladimir Putin's backyard.