Day: January 2, 2025

Ukraine’s Defense Forces repelled one of the fiercest Russian assaults on the eve of the New Year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reports.

According to the Ukrainian leader, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi presented today a report on the situation at the front and in the areas of the Kursk operation.

“Based on the results of these days’ battles, I want to commend the 24th and 100th Separate Mechanized Brigades, which repelled one of the fiercest Russian assaults on the eve of the New Year, as well as the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry, and the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigades, which are defending Pokrovsk, and the 79th Air Assault Brigade, which is operating extraordinarily actively,” Zelenskyy said.

According to Ukraine’s President, every day – both on December 31 and January 1 – the Defense Forces were repelling continuous Russian assaults in the Donetsk region.

“The most intense fighting over the past day was in the Pokrovsk direction, followed by Kurakhove, and it remains tough in the Lyman and Vremivka directions. In the Kursk area, our units continue to defend their positions- facing more than 30 Russian attacks daily,” the Ukrainian head of state noted.

In addition, Zelenskyy mentioned that the defense of the Kherson region was also discussed.

Situation at frontline in Ukraine

The number of combat clashes at the front on January 1 decreased from nearly 200 to 140. In the Pokrovsk direction, Russia continues its most intense attacks. In this area, 38 Russian assaults were repelled.

Yesterday, Ukrainian soldiers showcased a battle against the Russians in Pokrovsk. Furthermore, for the second day in a row, Russia has been destroying Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in Chasiv Yar and Toretsk.

As Zelenskyy previously reported, the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions remain the “hottest” areas on the frontline. In November and December, Russian losses at the front reached record levels.

The training period for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters was reduced by almost 3 months. This, in turn, allowed for operational superiority in the air, according to Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Serhii Melnyk.

As Melnyk explained, the NATO DEEP program focused on training pilots of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

“The process of obtaining private pilot certificates for cadets has been optimized, which allows us to reduce the training time for F-16 pilots by almost 3 months. This provides an important operational advantage in the air,” he said.

F-16 pilot training

On May 19, 2023, then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte announced that the United States was ready to approve training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters.

The next day, on May 20, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Washington was ready to agree to the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine, provided that they were not used to strike at Russian territory. After that, a number of countries began to join the training of Ukrainian pilots.

In August 2024, it was officially announced that F-16 fighters had arrived in Ukraine. The first aircraft were delivered by the Netherlands and Denmark. In particular, it became known that Belgium will deliver 30 fighters by the end of 2028.

Yesterday, on January 1, the British Embassy in Ukraine said that 200 Ukrainian aviators had undergone basic training for F-16 fighter jets in the UK.