Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, as the war continues into a new year.
We haven't updated you here since late December, so let's stay up to date with the main developments of the past week.
Battlefield
The holidays were no exception to the fighting, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of targeting civilians in the new year.
Russia has accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were staying in southern Ukraine's Kherson region.
kyiv said there had been another large attack on its power sources by 200 drones.
Elsewhere, the Kremlin continued to score creeping victories in Donetsk and Sumy, capturing the settlements of Bondarne and Hrabovske respectively.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the subject of strong warnings from international energy regulators, has made headlines again, after one of the two power lines supplying electricity to its nuclear reactors was cut.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump said he does not believe an alleged Ukrainian strike on Vladimir Putin's residence in December took place as Russia claims.
“There was something that happened pretty close by, but it had nothing to do with it,” he said.
Diplomacy
Ukraine's allies met yesterday in Paris, seeking to put on paper their contributions to future security guarantees after any ceasefire.
The so-called coalition of the willing will today make firm commitments to protect Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on New Year's Eve.
In his own New Year's speech, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not sign any “weak” peace deals that would prolong the war.
He said Ukrainians were exhausted by nearly four years of war – longer than the German occupation of many Ukrainian cities during World War II – but were not ready to give up.
Ukraine hopes to hold a leaders' summit in the United States by the end of January, he said.
Its chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said Ukrainian, European and American officials planned to continue talks in January to resolve the war.
But there are few signs that Russia would be willing to accept all the proposals presented, with the territory issue remaining a major obstacle to negotiations and fighting between the two sides showing no signs of abating.
As always, Trump's temperature was difficult to take.
In early December, he criticized European leaders as “weak,” suggested the United States might reduce its support for Ukraine and repeated Kremlin arguments saying Zelensky should hold elections.
But by the end of the month, he had both backed Ukraine's account of the alleged attack on Vladimir Putin's home and told reporters: “I'm not happy with Putin. He's killing too many people.”
Zelensky's cabinet reshuffle
Ukraine's president reshuffled his cabinet over the holiday season following the dismissal of chief of staff Andrii Yermak.
Yermak was forced to resign after a search of his home by anti-corruption investigators – although he was never formally charged or implicated.
The president framed his restructuring as part of a broader effort to refocus attention on security, defense development and diplomacy.
- The head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov became his new chief of staff
- Foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko replaced Budanov as head of the GUR
- Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov became Defense Minister
- Former Defense Minister Denys Chmyhal becomes Energy Minister
