US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores will face a US court for narco-terrorism and illegal arms trafficking. Maduro has already been detained and will be brought to New York after an operation conducted by the Delta Force special operations group.
In occupied Luhansk region, miners were left without full payments on the eve of the New Year, and residents of Alchevsk and Perevalsk faced a sharp reduction in water supply. Russian investors did not pay the miners of the "Bilorechenska" mine, and water supply to Alchevsk was reduced by 80%.
The Venezuelan government accused the United States of military aggression after a series of explosions in Caracas and other regions. President Nicolás Maduro declared a state of emergency and mobilized defense forces.
The German CSU party proposes sending men fit for military service back to Ukraine. It is also proposed to use refugees' personal funds and assets to cover their living expenses.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a change in the format of the Ministry of Defense's work, proposing Mykhailo Fedorov to head it. Denys Shmyhal remains in the team; he has been offered another important area of state work.
On January 3, from 00:00 to 06:00, planned technical work will be carried out in the "Oberih" register. During this period, the Reserve ID update and service provision will be temporarily unavailable in the "Reserve+" application.
In the occupied Luhansk region, reservists from the mobilization reserve will guard critical infrastructure facilities, including oil depots, instead of Russian military personnel. The document came into force on December 30, providing for six-month training for citizens with the promise of financial assistance to the unemployed.
Yurii Yastremskyi, a soldier of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade, sustained a shrapnel wound to the head and underwent complex rehabilitation. The MHP-Hromadi Charitable Foundation and the Makitra volunteer space provided him with adaptive clothing.
In Bashkortostan, payments for signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense have been increased again from 500,000 to 1 million rubles. New payments will take effect on January 1, 2026, despite previous reductions and budget problems.
As of January 1, an updated procedure for military training of reserve officers, stipulated by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1612, is in force in Ukraine. The program allows citizens to obtain an officer rank and prepare for contract or conscription service.
The Center for Countering Disinformation has uncovered a new Russian tactic on TikTok: mass registration of accounts before holidays with emotional AI content. After gaining an audience, the profiles change their theme, promoting manipulative narratives.
Russia is preparing for the militarization of children, including adding drone control to GTO standards and expanding state regulation of military-sports training. Militarization has been extended to New Year's events, where children are given rides on military equipment and allowed to shoot.
In 2026, the salary requirements for granting deferrals to employees of critically important enterprises will change, increasing to 21,617. 5 hryvnias. This is due to an increase in the minimum wage, which will be 8,647 hryvnias from January 1.
The "Impulse" system has started to be implemented in the units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to automate accounting and increase work efficiency.
In Kharkiv on December 31, a man shot a serviceman of the TCR, damaging his uniform but not injuring him. The assailant was detained after a special police operation was launched.
The Coordination Headquarters for the first time released data on more than 10,000 Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine over almost four years of war. In the incomplete year 2025, more Russians were captured than in 2022 and 2023 combined.
Two Ukrainian citizens have been sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. They provided the enemy with coordinates of Ukrainian Armed Forces units and military facilities for air strikes on Zhytomyr, Donetsk, and Odesa regions.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the Russian-Ukrainian war is part of the Kremlin's plan against other European countries. He emphasized that this aggression directly threatens the freedom and security not only of Germany but of all of Europe.
The Kremlin is actively promoting the forced mobilization of reservists to participate in hostilities in Ukraine, as Russia suffers disproportionately high losses. Dictator Putin signed a decree allowing the deployment of reservists to training camps from 2026 to protect critical facilities.
The Ministry of Defense has started testing military registration through the "Reserve+" application. Men who turn 17 in 2026, or those aged 25 to 59, are invited to participate in the testing.
Vladimir Putin signed a decree on sending Russian citizens in the mobilization reserve to special training camps in 2026. The camps will be held to protect critical infrastructure and life support facilities.
Mykola Shevchenko, an officer of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and a public figure from Dnipro, died in battles with the Russian occupiers. He joined the defense of his homeland in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russian advance of 3,000 kilometers over the past year cost Russia hundreds of thousands of casualties. He noted that the number of mobilized in Russia now equals irreversible losses, indicating a halt in the growth of the Russian army.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the dismantling of tent camps in Belgrade after student protests. He also confirmed the reinstatement of compulsory military service from 2026 for men aged 19-27 for 75 days.
The Bring Kids Back UA and Save Ukraine initiative announced the successful evacuation of a group of children from the temporarily occupied territories. Among those rescued are teenagers with congenital disabilities, former territorial defense fighters, and those who were forcibly attempted to be mobilized into the Russian army.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that martial law would be lifted only after Ukraine receives security guarantees. And it will also require the consent of the army command.
On December 28, a man suspected of attacking a serviceman of the Territorial Recruitment Center (TCR) was detained in Odesa. He inflicted a knife wound on the serviceman in early November.
The Odesa Regional TCC and SP reported the death of a man in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi RTC and SP. The preliminary cause of death is acute heart failure caused by a chronic illness.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, 870 violations against journalists and media have been recorded. In November-December 2025, the destruction of editorial offices and the prosecution of Ukrainian journalists were documented, as well as the death of two media workers who defended Ukraine.
Russia reached its 2025 mobilization plan of 403,000 people already in early December, overfulfilling it. The main source of army replenishment is contract soldiers, who are lured by significant payments.
