Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 01-31-2025 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
AFU’s General Staff says that operations targeting Russian command posts will continue until Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is completely ended.
Ukraine’s Missile and Artillery Forces struck a command post of the Russian Armed Forces’ Kursk group in the city of Rylsk, located in Russia’s Kursk region, according to a report from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU).
“As a result of a coordinated and precise strike, the enemy’s command and control post was destroyed,” the report read.
Nations around the Baltic Sea have scrambled to bolster their defences since the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months, with some observers blaming Russia.
Norwegian police said on Friday they had seized a Norwegian-owned ship at Latvia’s request over its suspected involvement in damage done to a Baltic Sea cable.
The vessel’s owner has rejected any wrongdoing.
Several outlets reported that Russia is preparing to mass-produce a new version of its Iskander-M ballistic missile, which could have a range of up to 1,000 kilometers.
Several military-specialized outlets, including Military Watch Magazine and Bulgarian Military, recently reported that Russia is preparing to mass-produce a new version of its Iskander-M ballistic missile system, which could have a range of up to 1,000 kilometers – twice the reach of the current version.
The publications, citing unnamed sources, stated that the missile had been informally called the Iskander-1000 and that its development was first mentioned in May 2024, when Russia celebrated the 78th anniversary of the Kapustin Yar missile test range.
Ukraine’s bombardment of energy infrastructure in western Russia is now a month old. Kyiv says its kamikaze aircraft are getting results. Moscow says its air defenses shoot everything down.
A Ukrainian follow-up strike on a key Russian oil export terminal shut it down and halted about 20 percent of Russian crude exports by sea, according to reports on Friday.
Russia’s Ust-Luga port, on the Baltic Sea, west of the major Russian city St. Petersburg, had stopped loading tankers because damage to pumping infrastructure on oil transportation pipelines upstream had left the facility without product to load.
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.
The air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport was understaffed on Wednesday evening when a passenger plane and a military helicopter collided in midair, according to a government report about the circumstances surrounding the disaster that killed 67 people and sparked renewed debate around the airport’s crowded airspace. According to the report, described to The Washington Post, two people were handling the jobs of four among other colleagues inside National’s control tower at the time of the collision. The control tower staffing levels, the report concludes, were “not normal” for the time of day or the amount of air traffic over D.C., where an average of more than 100 helicopters a day zip around and underneath arriving and departing airline flights. The crash occurred around 8:50 p.m., and its cause remained unclear Thursday evening.
The plane that departed from Wichita on Wednesday evening carried 60 passengers and four crew members, according to a statement by American Airlines. The U.S. Army helicopter had a crew of three soldiers. Bodies were taken to National and near the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, where authorities had pitched red morgue tents on the banks of the Anacostia River.
According to Ukrainian National Police, the woman was reportedly locked in an apartment in Belgorod, where a Russian serviceman held her captive for over a year.
The National Police of Ukraine suspects Vyacheslav Dubenko, a Russian soldier from the 1st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Western Military District, of rape, deportation, and forcing a young Ukrainian woman into sexual slavery during Russia’s occupation of the Kharkiv region.
According to Ukrainian authorities, in March 2022, Dubenko and his fellow soldiers entered a private home in a village in the Izyumsky district, where the 21-year-old victim lived with her family.
Finland’s Insta combined with Ukrainian specialists to develop a new version of its Steel Eagle explosive fragmenting ball charge system, creating an extended range attack drone.
The Finnish company “Insta Group Oy” has unveiled a new version of its Steel Eagle strike drone, which was first introduced two years ago. Tuure Lehtoranta, Insta’s Vice President for Defense Sales, said the updated weapon system had been developed in cooperation with an unnamed Ukrainian drone manufacturer.
The drone is now called the Insta Steel Eagle ER (Extended Range). It is a quadcopter drone fitted with Insta’s patented conical explosive payload that functions like a “claymore” directional mine, which the company refers to as its “jump buddy.”
A US defense startup has unveiled its lightweight, throwable, autonomous UAS that serves as both a rapidly deployable kamikaze attack drone and counter-UAV system.
More than 50 years ago the US Army experimented with the idea of fitting anti-tank grenades inside grid-iron footballs, arguing that many of its soldiers were used to throwing the pigskins accurately and over effective distances.
The California-based US defense startup, XDOWN Incorporated, has brought the concept up to date with its “throw-and-forget” P.S. Killer (PSK) multi-role tactical unmanned aerial system (UAS). The concept is captured in the company’s tagline for the product: “Grab it – Switch it ON – Throw it.”
Ukrainian law enforcement officials suspect Kuna of tax evasion. Although the platform’s founder said cryptoexchange lawyers were not invited to the court, he is still not willing to fight further.
Ukraine’s cryptocurrency exchange, Kuna, ceased its operations in all countries. This was announced by the company’s founder, Mykhailo Chobanian, on Jan. 30.
The ceasing of operations was followed by a decision to block access to Kuna in Ukraine, issued by Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv upon the request of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BEB).
A video originally posted by a Russian Telegram channel about issues within Russia’s military was hijacked by propagandists, who falsely claimed it showed Ukrainian soldiers.
Russian propagandists are spreading a fake narrative on social media, claiming that Ukrainian soldiers are being taken to combat missions in handcuffs, according to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security Council.
“The enemy is circulating a video allegedly showing Ukrainian soldiers being taken to battle in handcuffs,” the report on Telegram said.
Putin’s Belarusian vassal Aleksandr Lukashenko had himself ‘elected’ president for the seventh time on Jan. 26 in a so-called election managed by his security forces.
On X (formerly Twitter) on Jan. 28 Franak Viačorka, a senior aide to exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, listed the countries that congratulated the Belarusian dictator on his “reelection” in the fake presidential election held on Jan. 26.
No real surprises that most of the former Soviet republics that have remained in Moscow’s orbit did so. They are: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Close to 300 foreign mercenaries surrendered to UN peacekeeping forces after being contracted by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to fight against the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.
Close to 300 foreign mercenaries – at least some identifying themselves as Romanians – have surrendered to local UN peacekeeping forces after being contracted to fight for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa.
Reuters reported Wednesday that the mercenaries were contracted to counter an offensive by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who captured the city of Goma in eastern DRC, near Rwanda. The rebels then cornered the mercenaries, who subsequently surrendering to local UN peacekeeping forces.
EBA proposed narrowing the geographic scope of warnings for Russian aerial strikes, when and where possible – saying the current generalized approach leads to unnecessary losses and production halts.
The European Business Association (EBA), an organization representing almost 1,000 Ukrainian and foreign companies, asked Ukraine’s authorities to establish a “targeted air raid alert system” that limits work-stoppage to specific city sectors rather than region-wide halts that hamper productivity.
The current air raid alert system covers entire Ukrainian regions, especially if the air raid alert is announced due to a possible ballistic missile strike or when Russian fighter-bombers take off. In this case, the air raid alert is announced around the country and could last for hours, while companies must halt operations and send the staff to the shelter to keep them safe.
Lukoil facilities have become frequent targets of Ukrainian drone and cyberattacks recently. The refinery in Volgograd is one of Russia’s largest.
Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Volgograd region early on Friday, Jan. 31, with one of the drones striking the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka oil refinery, local Telegram channels reported.
The attack sparked a fire at the facility after drone debris fell on the site, according to regional governor Andrey Bocharov. The fire was quickly extinguished, but one refinery worker was injured and hospitalized.
Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski accused Russia on Tuesday of attempting to recruit Poles on the dark net to try to influence Poland’s presidential election campaign.
Warsaw has warned before of the danger of Russian interference in the mid-May election, but Moscow has repeatedly denied meddling in foreign ballots.
Gawkowski said Russia was looking for Polish citizens willing to influence the campaign from inside the country, offering them €3,000– €4,000 to spread content containing disinformation.
Atesh agents infiltrated a Russian Guard unit, established contact with servicemembers, and extracted valuable intelligence, which was swiftly relayed to Ukrainian forces, the group reported.
The Atesh guerrilla movement has conducted reconnaissance of a Russian Guard military unit on Nikolaeva Street in Smolensk, where its agents monitored the movement of personnel and equipment, the group reported on Telegram.
Atesh shared photos of the unit, along with precise coordinates:
Various Ukrainian media projects have asked for help following the suspension of USAID funding.
Earlier this week, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended. all of its projects in Ukraine. The decision was made after USAID received a directive from the US State Department to freeze foreign aid for 90 days.
Against this backdrop, the investigative journalism project BIHUS.Info turned to its readers and viewers for help.
Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.
Key Takeaways from the ISW:
Noting that Europe needs to “take more responsibility for Ukraine,” Stockholm promises to send boats, missiles, trucks and ammo.
In the wake of the new US administration’s call on Europe to boost their contributions to NATO, and questions surrounding Washington’s overall commitment to Kyiv’s protection, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said on Thursday that Stockholm will be sending an additional $1.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
“Among other things, we’re financing Ukrainian investments in drones and long-range missiles,” Johnson said.
US Senators from both sides of the aisle are given pause about nominee for Director of National Intelligence, due to her friendliness with dictators and leniency for intel whistleblower Snowden.
The US Senate on Thursday grilled President Donald Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, specifically questioning her past relationships with dictators in Syria, Libya, and Russia.
Gabbard, presently a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve, served as a Democratic legislator in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021 and as the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016. She switched her allegiance to the Republican Party in 2022.
Three elderly civilians among the casualties of airstrikes in eastern Ukraine, as a boarding school, near border, housing displaced Russians was also damaged.
A Russian drone attack on a residential block killed nine people including three elderly couples in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, officials said on Thursday.
Moscow has pummeled Ukrainian cities with dozens of drones or missiles almost daily since it invaded in early 2022.