[Korrespondent] 22:45 Powerful explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied city of Rovenky in Luhansk Oblast on the evening of December 30. Social media reports of a large-scale fire at a local oil depot.
It is noted that explosions were heard before the fire, which, according to eyewitnesses, indicated a drone strike on the oil depot. As a result of the attack, fuel tanks caught fire.
21:33 Russian troops struck the Black Sea port for the second time in a day, causing an oil tank to catch fire.
Work is underway to eliminate the fire and the consequences of the shelling. Boom barriers have been installed at some berths to prevent possible pollution of the water area.
21.12 Citizens who arrive at territorial recruitment and social support centers during mobilization will be fed at state expense and according to the food catalog used in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
19.37 The United Arab Emirates announced its intention to buy a stake in Ukrainian defense-tech company Fire Point. The arms manufacturer was valued at $2.5 billion in total. BBC News Ukraine reports this, citing informed sources in the company.
18.51 Security guarantees should include a monitoring mission and clauses on the partners' response in the event of a violation of the agreement. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Head of State explained that security guarantees are being implemented in stages, and the number one priority for Ukraine is to have a monitoring mission simultaneously with the ceasefire.
"The monitoring mission will be led by our partners, whom we trust and who can technically do it - they have a satellite, the entire drone infrastructure for this," Zelenskyy noted.
According to the president, the second part of the security guarantees is prescribing points on how Ukraine's partners will react in the event of a ceasefire violation.
18.30 Statements by the United Arab Emirates and India condemning the fake attack on the residence of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin are disturbing, as these countries did not condemn the Russian attacks on Ukrainian children, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"You know, to be honest, it causes misunderstanding and unpleasant feelings that some representatives, like India, the Emirates, and several other states, condemned their strikes. They condemned, excuse me, our drone strikes on Putin's residence, which did not happen. And where is their condemnation, by the way, that all this time they are hitting our children, killing people? I don't hear anything from India, to be honest, right now, or from the Emirates," the head of state said.
17.19 Since the beginning of the day, 63 combat clashes have been recorded on the front, fighting is currently ongoing in seven directions, with the Russian army continuing to attack most actively in Pokrovske. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on the evening of December 30.
17.14 National Security Advisors of the Coalition of the Willing countries and Ukraine will meet on January 3 in Ukraine. After that, a meeting at the leadership level will be held in France on January 6. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
16.59 The Ministry of Defense has begun testing military registration in the Reserve+ application. Soon, some citizens will be able to register remotely - without personal visits to the CCC and paper procedures, the department explained.
16.33 Russian military attacked two civilian vessels in the Black Sea.
"Today, Russians used strike UAVs to attack the Emmakris III and Captain Karam vessels, which were entering the port to load wheat. There are wounded civilians," the Ukrainian Naval Forces said in a statement.
16.27 The Defense Forces captured a group of Russian attack aircraft, which were withdrawn from the forest belt using a drone. The Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine reported this on December 30. It is noted that the enemy group was discovered in the forest belt by pilots of the 108th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces during aerial reconnaissance.
16.08 Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree sending reservists to special training camps in 2026 to protect "critically important facilities."
According to the decree, the gatherings will be held to "ensure the protection of critical facilities and other life-support facilities." The decision took effect today.
16.02 Due to the worsening security situation and increased threat to life, mandatory evacuation has been announced from some settlements in the Synelnyky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region. This was announced by the Pokrovska territorial community on December 30.
15.27 The primitive fiction of the Russian Federation about the alleged "drone raid on Putin's residence" in Valdai is an excuse for Russia's rejection of the peace efforts of the US and Ukraine. This was stated by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tykhyi, according to a publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
15.15 Ukrainian military released a photo of the destroyed Kup'yanysk, Kharkiv region, which Russian invaders tried to capture. The photos were published by the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"These shots show the once cozy and peaceful Kupyansk, which Russia has turned into ruins and complete devastation. It's not hard to see what this city was like before the arrival of the occupier," the post under the photo says.
It is noted that the 116th Motorized Rifle Brigade is one of the units that is worthily defending the city. "Russia is destroying, and we are defending ours - our land, our people, and our future," the message says.
14.38 In the Odessa region, a hostile drone attack on the morning of December 30 damaged port and industrial infrastructure, and one person was injured. This was reported by the head of the Odessa OVA, Oleg Kiper. Damage was recorded to facilities in the ports of Pivdenny and Chornomorsk. A civilian ship with grain and oil tanks were damaged.
13.59 Two children, aged 4 and 7, were returned from the temporarily occupied left-bank Kherson region to the territory controlled by Ukraine. This was reported by the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin.
The children were rescued as part of the initiative of the President of Ukraine, Bring Kids Back UA, and with the assistance of the charitable organization Save Ukraine.
13.44 China has called on the parties to the Russian-Ukrainian war to refrain from escalating the situation in response to claims of an alleged "attack on Putin's residence." This was stated by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, Ukrinform reports.
"China calls on all parties concerned to adhere to the four principles: preventing the conflict from expanding, refraining from escalating the situation, refusing to incite hostility, and creating conditions for a political settlement of the crisis," Lin noted.
At the same time, the diplomat did not comment on whether Beijing considers the Russian statement to be true, and did not express any reservations or condemnation of the fact of the "attack" itself.
13:40 Russians occupied three settlements in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk region, and also advanced near Andriyivka and in Myrnograd. This was reported by the analytical project DeepState on its Telegram channel.
13.27 At a meeting of the Defense Council, a decision was made to evacuate 14 border villages. This was announced by the head of the Chernihiv Oblast Defense Department, Vyacheslav Chaus.
He noted that the border area is currently under daily shelling. Despite the real threat, 300 people still live there.
Chaus added that it was the military who saw the need for evacuation.
13.14 The Kremlin refused to provide evidence of the alleged raid by almost a hundred Ukrainian drones on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Valdai. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, Russian media reported.
"I don't think there should be any evidence here if such a massive drone strike is being carried out. As for the debris, I can't say. This is more of a topic for our military," Peskov said.
12.59 On the night of December 30, the forces of unmanned systems struck enemy facilities related to the storage, maintenance, and preparation of launch of attack drones on the territory of Donetsk airport. This was reported by the commander of the SBS Robert Magyar Brovdi.
12.58 A Kyiv resident who published the work and positions of air defense during Russian attacks on the capital has been detained. The SBU reported this on December 30. It is noted that the Kyiv resident "leaked" videos on social media, which recorded the work of the capital's air defense. Living on the top floor of an apartment building, the man recorded the location of the air defense, which worked on Russian air targets, on his phone camera. He then published the captured files in a group chat on Telegram and on the Instagram page of his company with a total of over 13 thousand subscribers.
12.49 Russia has not provided any credible evidence to support its claims of a so-called "attack on the residence" of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Valdai. This was emphasized by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on the social network X.
11.59 Russia does not abandon its intentions to seize Ukrainian territories. It also continues its attempts to plunge Ukrainian cities and villages into blackouts through massive air attacks. This was stated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky.
11.37 The Russian Oreshnik missile system has allegedly already entered combat duty on the territory of Belarus. This is evidenced by reports from the Russian and Belarusian defense ministries.
10.14 Russia's war against Ukraine may end in 2026, as the size of the Russian army has stopped growing for the first time in almost four years of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview with Fox News.
9.51 House of Representatives member Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, criticized US President Donald Trump's reaction to Russia's report of an alleged "Ukrainian drone attack on the residence" of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, The Hill reports.
9.33 Air defense forces neutralized one ballistic missile and 52 UAVs used by the Russians to attack Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force reported this on December 30. Hits of a ballistic missile and eight strike UAVs were recorded at five locations.
9.22 Russian troops carried out almost 50 strikes on 23 settlements in 13 territorial communities of Sumy region over the past 24 hours, one person was injured. The Sumy regional military administration reported this on December 30. It is noted that a 60-year-old man was injured in the Bezdrytsk community as a result of a guided bomb explosion.
8.48 The fiercest battles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the Russian occupiers were taking place in the Pokrovsk and Hulyaipil directions. Over the past 24 hours, December 29, 151 combat clashes took place on the front. This is evidenced by the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
7.39 Russia lost another 1,220 soldiers in the war against Ukraine over the past 24 hours. This is evidenced by the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
06.37 On the night of Tuesday, December 30, the Russian occupation army struck Zaporizhia. As a result of the attack, an industrial infrastructure facility was damaged, a large fire broke out. Residential buildings were damaged by the blast wave. A woman was injured.
04.00 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the need for Ukrainians living in Russia to participate in the presidential elections in Ukraine. He stated that the term of office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ended in May 2024.
03.25 On the night of Tuesday, December 30, the aggressor country Russia attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones. An air alert was declared in the eastern, northern and southern regions of Ukraine due to the ballistic threat. Explosions thundered in Odessa and Kharkiv.
02.03 External power supply was restored at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Repair work has been completed, and the power transmission line has been reconnected to the power grid.
01.02 Late in the evening on Monday, December 29, a series of explosions were heard in occupied Donetsk. According to local Telegram channels, Donetsk was attacked by drones.