Victory Chronicles-DAY 1427

A Russian overnight attack left about 5,635 apartment buildings in Kyiv without heat on Jan. 20, dealing another blow to the capital’s energy system during a brutally frigid winter, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Nearly 80 percent of the affected buildings had only recently had heating restored after previous strikes damaged critical infrastructure on Jan. 9.

Klitschko said the city had reduced outages to just 16 buildings by the evening of Jan. 19, before the latest attack reversed much of that progress. He added that Kyiv’s eastern bank of the Dnipro River that bisects the capital city was also left without water supply following the strike.

Utility crews and energy workers were dispatched immediately to restore heating, water and electricity, the mayor said. Kyiv has more than 10,000 apartment buildings, many housing families and elderly residents who have endured repeated disruptions as Russian attacks continued to target energy infrastructure during the coldest months of the year.

Kyiv has been experiencing very cold winter conditions in recent days, with temperatures consistently below freezing — around –8 °C to –15 °C (about 18 °F to 5 °F) and occasional nightly lows dipping toward –15 °C or colder (around 5 °F or below). Forecasts for Jan. 20–22 also show continued subzero temperatures typical for mid-January in the capital, with daytime highs remaining well below freezing and icy conditions persisting. 

Ukraine seeks to impose heavy monthly losses on Russian forces. Ukraine seeks to inflict up to 50,000 monthly casualties on Russian forces as part of a strategy to make the war unsustainable for Moscow, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said. Speaking at a media briefing, Fedorov said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had tasked the government with building a system capable of stopping Russia in the air and on the ground while expanding asymmetric and cyber operations against Russia’s military and economy.

Fedorov said diplomacy remained an important component of that approach but had to be backed by measurable battlefield results. He said reforms were underway to overhaul defense governance, shifting the ministry’s focus beyond procurement and logistics toward stronger civilian oversight, coordination and accountability.

He said inflicting losses on Russian forces was a crucial metric. Ukrainian forces eliminated about 35,000 Russian troops last month, losses he said were verified by video evidence. Reaching 50,000 a month, he added, would sharply strain Russia’s manpower and ability to continue the war.

Ukrainian drone crew answers plea for bread in front-line town. An elderly woman in the easternmost Donetsk regional town of Kostyantynivka wrote a simple message in the snow – “Please, bread” – hoping someone on the Ukrainian side would see it. 

Her plea was answered. A drone operator spotted the words during an aerial scan and arranged to deliver food with a drone, Ukrainian border guards said.

The message was seen by a 19-year-old pilot with the Phoenix unit, who photographed the plea and requested permission to help. After receiving approval, he dropped bread and biscuits near the woman’s home using a small drone. Soon after, a new word appeared in the snow: “Thank you.”

Officials said evacuating the woman was not possible because Kostyantynivka is in a buffer zone close to a hot zone of fighting. Ukrainian forces said the episode reflected the daily reality of civilians who live near the front line, where drones are often used not only for combat, but to keep people alive.

Ukraine says long-range, deep raids cripple Russia’s air defenses. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said long-range strikes by its Alpha special operations unit inflicted heavy losses on Russia’s layered air defense network, with destroyed or disabled systems valued at about $4 billion over the past year. 

The SBU said the raids targeted key surface-to-air missile systems, including S-300, S-350 and S-400 batteries, as well as Buk, Pantsir and Tor systems.

The agency said Russian radar and targeting assets also suffered major damage, including early-warning and fire-control radars essential for detecting and tracking aircraft and drones. Ukrainian officials said the cumulative effect opened corridors through Russia’s air defenses, allowing long-range Ukrainian drones to fly deeper into Russian-held territory to strike military bases, depots, airfields and other targets.

The operations, the agency said, reduced risks for drone crews and disrupted Russia’s ability to shield critical rear-area infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

1. The Kremlin reportedly established a list of the top five State Duma candidates to represent the Kremlin’s United Russia ruling party in the September 2026 State Duma elections.
2. Putin’s reported platforming of hardline pro-war public figures highlights a Kremlin effort to present pro-war figures as the role models who embody Russia’s political priorities going into 2026.
3. The list, if genuine, suggests that Putin is attempting to further cement a pro-war ideological vanguard in Russian political life by platforming public figures who push Putin’s war and larger pro-war political agenda.
4. Russia reportedly has begun using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) equipped with thermobaric artillery launchers to adapt artillery to current drone-dominated battlefield conditions.
5. Russian forces have reportedly split the grouping operating in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area into two tactical groups: the Dzerzhinsk (the Russian name for Toretsk) and Bakhmut tactical groups.
6. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area. Russian forces recently advanced in Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts and near Slovyansk.

• International Atomic Energy Agency: Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant loses external power due to shelling
• Zelenskyy: Repelling Russian attack cost €80m, Russia now has more missiles
• Lavrov compares Crimea and Greenland in context of Russian and US security
• Zelenskyy confirms Ukraine invited to join Trump’s “Board of Peace”
• Reuters: Russia’s oil and gas budget revenue set to sink 46% in January
• Trump advises Europe to focus on Ukraine rather than Greenland
• Ukraine’s defence forces capture Russian responsible for execution of Ukrainian POWs in Kursk Oblast
• Ukraine Ministry of Economy: Russia has damaged 8.5 GW of Ukraine power generation since October 2025, $1B aid needed