Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could play a “decisive” role in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. “For us, this is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy mentioned during an interview with Ukrainian television.
Zelenskyy noted that Trump had promised to be among the first to visit Washington following the presidential inauguration later this month. “His qualities are indeed there,” Zelenskyy said regarding Trump. “He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin.” Trump had previously claimed he could end the war in Ukraine within a day, though he never elaborated on how he would achieve this.
As Zelenskyy made these comments, the Ukrainian military reported conducting a high-precision strike on a Russian command post located in Maryino, within Russia’s Kursk region. “These strikes disrupt the ability of the Russian Federation to conduct terrorism against innocent Ukrainian civilians,” stated the Ukrainian military via Telegram.
In response, Russia’s military claimed that air defense units intercepted four Ukrainian missiles in the region. The regional governor reported that the strikes had compromised a high-rise apartment building and caused damage to other structures in a nearby village. Another post from the Ukrainian military presented a video purportedly showing damage inflicted on a Russian base in Ivanivskoye, adjacent to Maryino, with a school, pharmacy, and apartment building among the damaged sites, according to Kursk regional Governor Alexander Khinshtein.
VOA could not immediately verify these reports. Ukraine had initiated an incursion into Russia five months prior, with Ukrainian forces still active in the Kursk region, despite the Russian military asserting that much of the lost territory has been reclaimed.
Meanwhile, Russia announced that it had targeted energy facilities in Ukraine that support Kyiv’s military-industrial complex. The Russian Defense Ministry indicated that within the past 24 hours, it had deployed air force, drones, missiles, and artillery against energy facilities, military airfields, and Ukrainian military personnel across various locations, though independent verification of this report remains unavailable.
Russian forces are reportedly advancing swiftly on the eastern front of Ukraine. “They are putting pressure on our boys, who are exhausted, and that is a fact. We will do everything to at least stabilize the front in January,” Zelenskyy expressed during his Thursday interview.
On the same day, Ukraine’s military reported the downing of 47 drones launched by Russian forces overnight, out of a total of 72 drones used in the attacks. Defensive measures successfully intercepted drones over regions including Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Odessa, and Sumy. Officials in those areas did not report any significant damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry asserted that its forces had destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones, mainly along the Russia-Ukraine border, with interceptions occurring in Bryansk, Belgorod, Kursk, Kaluga, and Voronezh. The governors of Bryansk and Kaluga confirmed no casualties or damages in their regions.
Thursday’s attacks followed a tragic incident the previous day, where Russian forces killed at least two individuals in Kyiv.
