Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 01-15-2025

The world in focus, as seen by Canadian leading global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw in a quick review of the biggest news in international media today.

A week after flames leveled huge swaths of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, Southern California remained under a severe fire threat as residents struggled to comprehend the scale of the loss. An army of firefighters spent Tuesday putting out small fires before they got out of control, and continued building containment lines on the Palisades and Eaton fires in hope of preventing them from spreading. The firestorms are expected to be the most costly in U.S. history, consuming what officials estimate could be more than 12,000 structures, including many homes. “This is the most devastating natural disaster to hit the Los Angeles area,” said L.A. Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott. “I’ve worked here for 20 years and I’ve never seen nor imagined devastation to be this extensive.” - LA Times

• As the Los Angeles Fire Department faced extraordinary warnings of life-threatening winds, top commanders decided not to assign for emergency deployment roughly 1,000 available firefighters and dozens of water-carrying engines in advance of the fire that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades and continues to burn, interviews and internal LAFD records show. Fire officials chose not to order the firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift last Tuesday as the winds were building — which would have doubled the personnel on hand — and staffed just five of more than 40 engines that are available to aid in battling wildfires, according to the records obtained by The LA Times, as well as interviews with LAFD officials and former chiefs with knowledge of city operations.

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Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• Russia launched approximately 1,700 One Way Attack Uncrewed Aerial Systems (OWA UAS) of varying types into Ukraine in the month of December 2024, a decrease from November’s total of 2,300. This was the first time that a decline in numbers has been seen since March to April2024. It is likely that weather factors impacted operations early in the month, possibly evidenced through several nights of waves greater than 100 OWA UAS that followed periods of particularly low or no activity.
• The Ukrainian Air Force reported that 53% of Russian OWA UAS were shot down, while the remainder were disrupted using electronic warfare or had already flown off course without causing a significant threat. Various factors can impact the monthly launch rates positively or negatively, however it remains likely that Russia can sustain numbers in excess of at least 1,500 per month.

The missile assault comes a day after Ukraine carried out its largest aerial attack on Russian territory since the beginning of the war.

[UPDATES] As of 11 a.m., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops launched over 40 rockets into Ukraine, targeting gas infrastructure and energy facilities. 

Zelensky reported that at least 30 of these missiles were intercepted and destroyed. Additionally, the Russian military deployed more than 70 drones in attacks across Ukraine overnight.

The self-proclaimed republic has been unable to provide heating and hot water to residents since Jan. 1, when Moscow cut off gas to Moldova over a financial dispute.

The leader of breakaway Moldovan region Transnistria visited Moscow recently for talks on resolving its energy crisis, local media reported Tuesday.

The tiny self-proclaimed republic, which is reliant on Russia’s financial backing, has been unable to provide heating and hot water to residents since January 1, when Moscow cut off gas to Moldova over a financial dispute.

Russian forces reduced attacks in the Kharkiv sector “because they’re now concentrating on other areas… and cannot operate effectively in the Kharkiv region,” said an AFU official.

Drone operators from the Khartiya National Guard brigade eliminated 20 Russian soldiers and a T-80 tank in the Kharkiv sector of the front line, according to the Khortytsya Operational Strategic Group on Telegram.

“Good news: 20 fewer occupiers are on our land thanks to Khartiya UAV operators,” reads the caption accompanying the first video shared by the group.

A ceasefire that leaves Ukraine unprotected would only provide a pause before a wider war. Washington and Kyiv must agree viable security guarantees before any negotiations with Putin begin.

President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign boast that he could finish the war in Ukraine in 24 hours has increased expectations of an imminent ceasefire. But without credible Western security guarantees agreed beforehand, a ceasefire would be a prelude to a bigger disaster.

Proponents say that Trump’s threat to halt or decrease military assistance to Kyiv, while simultaneously warning Russia that he could give Ukraine all it needs on the battlefield, will bring both sides to the negotiating table. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky repeated in a recent interview that Putin is afraid of Trump, and that peace can be achieved through strength.

One of the captured North Korean soldiers fighting for the Kremlin previously voiced a desire to stay in Ukraine, while the other said he wanted to return home.

The two North Korean troops captured by Ukraine expressed no desire to seek asylum in South Korea, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) spy agency said on Monday.

DPRK (North Korean) troops began aiding Moscow’s attempt to retake the Kursk region from Ukrainian control in late 2024, with Seoul claiming on Monday that around 300 have been killed alongside thousands wounded.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The Kremlin remains committed to achieving the original goals of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in any future peace negotiations — namely the destruction of the Ukrainian state, dissolution of the current Ukrainian government, demilitarization of Ukraine, and a permanent ban on Ukraine’s future membership in NATO.
• Patrushev stated that Russia’s goals in Ukraine remain unchanged and that Russia remains committed to achieving all of the goals that Russian President Vladimir Putin used to justify the full-scale invasion.
• Russian officials continue to deny the existence of a Ukrainian identity and state that is independent of Russia as part of ongoing Russian efforts to justify the destruction of the Ukrainian state.
• Patrushev stated that he believes that only Russia and the United States should engage in negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, and senior Kremlin officials are also questioning the role that European countries could play in such negotiations.
• The Kremlin will likely attempt to seize on potential future Russian advances into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast for informational purposes, but these advances, if they occur, are unlikely to have significant operational impact.
• Ukrainian forces conducted a large-scale series of drone and missile strikes against military and defense industrial targets in Russia on the night of January 13 to 14.
• Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities continue efforts to find a solution to the gas crisis in Moldova as the pro-Russian breakaway republic Transnistria continues to refuse help from Ukraine or Moldova.
• Kremlin officials are attempting to exploit the energy crisis in Moldova to set conditions to justify future Russian aggression against Moldova.
• Russian federal censor Roskomnadzor reportedly caused a brief but widespread internet outage in Russia while operating restriction systems of its Sovereign Internet on January 14.
• Russian forces recently advanced in the Toretsk and Pokrovsk directions.
• Russia continues efforts to bolster military recruitment efforts by offering financial incentives to those who sign military service contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD).