While waiting for the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House and the possible negotiation to end the war in Ukraine, Russia continues to attack every morning with drones. The Ukrainian Air Force has stated that it has shot down 93 of the 141 drones launched by Moscow overnight, while also attacking some military targets in Kazan.
On Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky denounced that over the past week, Russia attacked his country with 1,370 aerial systems: 550 drones, 660 aerial bombs, and 60 missiles of various types.
Meanwhile, Russia announced that it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Ukrainian troops killed civilians in a village in the Kursk region, which had been taken by Kiev's troops.
Russia Investigates Video of Military Police Beating Soldiers
Russia has launched an investigation after a video circulating on social media showed what appears to be a military police officer brutally beating soldiers destined for Ukraine with a baton and using stun guns on them, Reuters reports.
The videos show a man in Russian military police uniform approaching one of the soldiers, hitting him to the ground with a baton while shouting insults and stunning him with an electric pistol. Another soldier is then seen being beaten with a baton and stunned with the pistol while the man in military police uniform demands that they undress.
The date of the video, distributed on Telegram by Russian war correspondents, is January 16, and according to local authorities, the events took place at a unit in Kyzyl, in the southern Siberian region of Tuva. It is unclear what prompted such a beating of the soldiers. According to Russian war correspondents, these were wounded soldiers who had been discharged from the hospital to return to the front lines in Ukraine.
The regional government of Tuva stated on its website that an investigation had been opened following the appearance of the videos. "On January 16, 2025, cases of mistreatment of contracted soldiers in military unit No. 55115 were recorded, including beatings and the use of electric shock pistols before being sent to the SVO," said the Tuva government.
SVO is the acronym Russia uses to describe what it officially calls its "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine. "The perpetrators have been identified, a preliminary investigation is being conducted against them, and the circumstances of the incident will be assessed in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the perpetrators will be punished," declared the regional government.
US Tells Moscow It Can Appoint Its New Ambassador to Washington
The United States has informed Russia that it can proceed with appointing its new ambassador to Washington, as stated by Grigory Karasin, head of the International Affairs Committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, to state television, Reuters reports.
The former Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, left his post in October.
Russia Shoots Down 33 Ukrainian Drones Over Seven of Its Regions
Russian anti-aircraft defenses shot down a total of 33 Ukrainian drones over seven regions of the country during the past night and early morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on its Telegram channel on Monday.
According to the military report, 14 of the unmanned aircraft destroyed last night were shot down over the territory of the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine. The other drones were downed over the regions of Kaluga (6), Belgorod (3), Kursk (3), Ryazan (2), Oryol (2), and the Republic of Tatarstan (3).
Initially, Defense reported the downing of one drone over Tatarstan, but later increased the number of Ukrainian drones destroyed in that Russian republic to three, located over 500 kilometers from the nearest point of the Ukrainian border.
Due to the drone attack, the Tatar authorities, who stated that no damage or casualties were caused, suspended operations at three airports in the republic, including the one in its capital, Kazan.
Ukraine Attacks Russian Military Targets in Kazan
Ukrainian forces have attacked targets located on Russian territory early this morning. "There were explosions in Kazan, military infrastructures were targeted," wrote the head of the Disinformation Center of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on his social media.
Kovalenko noted that in Kazan, there is a factory for Russian bombers Tu-22M3 and Tu-160 and other key companies for Russian military aviation, including a helicopter production plant and a missile explosives factory.
Russian Telegram channels reported explosions at a military airfield in Kazan and at factories of the Russian military-industrial complex located in that region of southwestern Russia.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 93 of the 141 drones launched by Russia overnight, as reported by the Ukrainian Air Force, specifying that 47 of them were "lost," referring to the use of electronic warfare to redirect the drones. Two of the lost drones returned to Russia.