Kharkiv Oblast
On December 30, 2025, the Ministry of Culture added 26 unique museum objects to the State Register of National Cultural Heritage. Among them are the Altar Gospel of 1707 and the anthropomorphic stele "Kernosivsky Idol" from the 2nd millennium BC.
Over the past day, 98 combat engagements took place, the enemy launched 1 missile and 51 air strikes, and used 151 guided aerial bombs. The Defense Forces hit four concentration areas and two enemy command posts.
Viktor Trehubov, head of the communications department of the Joint Forces Group, reported on Russia's goals for January 2026. They plan to bypass Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region and infiltrate Lyman in the Donetsk region.
Explosions were heard in Kharkiv on January 1; preliminarily, Russian occupiers launched a KAB attack on the suburbs. One person is known to have been injured as a result of the strike.
In 2025, the Russian army increased the pace of its offensive in Ukraine, capturing 4,831 square kilometers of territory and reclaiming 473 square kilometers in the Kursk region. This was made possible by a new operational model, technological adaptations, and a change in attack tactics.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made 25 working trips across Ukraine in a year, focusing on the security situation, especially in frontline regions. He visited Kyiv, Donetsk, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa, and other regions.
The Cabinet of Ministers has allowed healthcare facilities to purchase housing for medical workers in frontline regions. Housing will be provided for the period of employment in the settlement or within 30 km of it.
In 2025, Russians used over 60,000 guided aerial bombs, about 2,400 missiles, and over 100,000 drones. Air raid alerts sounded at least 19,033 times across Ukraine.
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.
Russia again attacked energy facilities in several regions of Ukraine, causing blackouts in five regions, including over 170,000 consumers in Odesa region and thousands in Brovary district of Kyiv region. Bad weather also left part of the residents of Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil regions without electricity.
The settlement of Rodynske, Pokrovsk urban community, Donetsk region, remains under the control of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The 14th National Guard Brigade refutes the occupiers' statements, destroying enemies who penetrate the city.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has ordered the expansion of the buffer zone in Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkiv regions by 2026. This statement was announced by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov.
ATESH agents in the Zheleznodorozhny district of Voronezh destroyed a locomotive that was used to transport military cargo for the Kupyansk group of Russian troops. This complicated the formation of echelons and disrupted the schedules for sending trains with weapons.
The SBU detained a Kyiv resident who distributed videos of the capital's air defense system on social networks. The man filmed the deployment of Ukrainian air defense and published it on Telegram and Instagram.
As a result of enemy shelling in Chernihiv region, more than 75,000 consumers are without electricity, and settlements in Kharkiv and Sumy regions are also de-energized. Due to large-scale destruction, there are no blackout schedules on the left bank of Kyiv, Kyiv region, and Odesa region.
Fighting continues near the settlements of Yunakivka, Andriivka, Yablunivka, Varachyne, Kindrativka. The settlement of Khotyn in Sumy region remains under the control of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
In Ukraine, due to bad weather, roads are snow-covered in 9 regions and wet in 12, but passage on state-level roads is ensured. To ensure passage, 1312 units of equipment and 1484 workers have been deployed.
The Institute for the Study of War predicts that the Russian armed forces will not be able to create a strategic reserve, which will force them to advance slowly at the current pace in 2026. The limitations of Russia's available military force are a significant factor preventing rapid advancement.
On December 28, black ice is expected in Ukraine, with a Level I (yellow) danger declared. In the west of the country, a Level II (orange) danger is forecast.
Sales of New Year's trees in Ukraine decreased by 11% this year, with forestry enterprises selling only 39. 9 thousand fir trees. The number of illegal logging cases also significantly decreased.
Russian troops resumed cavalry assaults on the positions of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade. Ukrainian drones eliminated the occupiers, but the horses were not harmed.
As of December 26, 2025, 97% of local budgets in Ukraine have been approved, which provides a financial basis for communities for 2026. Budgets in 55 communities still need to be approved for stable funding of educational, medical, and social institutions.
Southern regions of Ukraine are preparing for worsening weather conditions with snowfalls, and in some areas, particularly Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions, snowfalls and ice are already being recorded. In Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, snow is also observed, roads are being treated with anti-icing agents, and traffic on state-level roads is ensured.
In Ukraine, due to snow and black ice, 404 road accidents were recorded, 66 of them with casualties. In Kyiv, there were 45 accidents, 6 of them with casualties.
The prosecutor's office sent to court the case against 18 people involved in the torture of more than 90 civilians in Kupyansk, Kharkiv region. From March to September 2022, a torture chamber operated in the Kupyansk district police department, where people were held in inhumane conditions.
Russia attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight, leaving subscribers in Donetsk, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions without power. Due to constant attacks, electricity consumption restriction schedules are applied in almost all regions of Ukraine.
The former head of the SBU department in Kharkiv region was detained after attempting to be released on bail, with new charges filed against him. He is accused of organizing the seizure of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration and attempting to remove the leadership at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Border guards prevented the occupiers from forcing the Lozova River and crossing the state border in the Kharkiv region.
The Kremlin believes it can gain more by continuing hostilities while using negotiations as a foreign policy tool. Russian dictator Putin insists on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the exclusion of Ukraine's possibility of NATO membership.
As a result of the night attack by Russian drones on the port infrastructure of Odesa region on December 25, the head of the guard was killed. Two more people were injured and received medical assistance.