Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,059

Here is the situation on Saturday, January 19:

Fighting

Three people have been killed in Kyiv overnight, according to the head of the Ukrainian military. As air defense crews responded to a Russian ballistic missile attack while sirens rang out in the Ukrainian capital.
Overnight, Ukraine has continued its drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, hitting depots in the Tula and Kaluga regions south of Moscow. As Kaluga’s regional governor claimed several drones had been shot down, images of the burning depots have been shared online.
Air defense units shot down 14 Ukrainian drones overall, according to the governors of Russia’s Bryansk and Smolensk regions, without making any claims of casualties.
Nearly 89, 000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, according to a joint investigation by BBC Russia and Mediazona, an increase of 3, 965 killed since mid-December. The number of dead Russian soldiers is thought to be much higher because only those who could be verified right away could be included.
Fighting has been reported in the vicinity of Ukraine’s coking coal mines in the west of Pokrovsk, which are a crucial resource for the country’s dependent metallurgical industries in Kryvyi Rih.

Residents at the site of a strike in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine]File: Handout/Ukraine Emergency Service via AFP]

Multiple videos from a pro-Russian Telegram channel appeared to show two Russian soldiers holding the decapitated heads of Ukrainian soldiers on pikes. Additionally, the graphic images appeared to show brutal treatment of Ukrainian sailors from the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade and their bodies.

Russian oil exports decreased by more than 10% in 2024 as a result of a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes on oil infrastructure, according to Reuters news agency.
According to Reuters, the US has imposed sanctions on six of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” the first such sanctions ever to be used in the conflict.

In a new “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty,” Russia and Iran have come to an agreement to strengthen their military and intelligence ties. Iran agreed to work together against common military threats but did not commit to providing full military support to Russia as per the agreement.

A French patrol aircraft has been the target of “Russian intimidation” over the Baltic Sea, France’s defence minister said on social media, after a Russian ground-to-air defence system locked on to French aircraft during a patrol.
In the middle of a diplomatic row with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has threatened to reduce aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Slovakia’s opposition leader in Kyiv.
In preparation for the Holocaust’s 80th anniversary, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish President Donald Tusk held a press conference at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Starmer made the necessary stop after signing a security agreement with President Zelenskyy in Ukraine.
Antony Blinken, the incoming US secretary of state, predicts that the policies of the post-Biden administration will be shredded in Ukraine. According to the Associated Press news agency, Blinken stated in a lengthy final interview that he hoped for “continuity” with Washington’s assistance to Kyiv.