A total of 192 combat clashes have occurred on the battlefield over the past day. The most intense fighting has occurred on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts, where 80 battles took place in total. Combat clashes also persist at the Kursk bridgehead held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,

The surprise attack seeks to reverse Ukraine’s decreasing hold of the region. Since Kyiv’s forces gained partial control of Kursk following a daring cross-border assault last August, Russian troops, aided by North Korean soldiers, have halved the territory held by Ukraine, albeit while suffering thousands of casualties.

Kyiv troops attacked in at least three areas within the Kursk region, some using armoured vehicles, according to the Institute for the Study of War

Russian forces continue to make costly but consistent gains in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. They are steadily grinding down a pocket of resistance around the town of Kurakhove and are also fighting to envelop the larger nearby city of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian soldiers and officials said.

As Ukrainian forces mount a new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that success in this region would improve Kyiv’s bargaining position in any future ceasefire negotiations.

This represents nearly half of the skirmishes over the past day, as the military reported 218 clashes across the front.

January 7, attacked a command post of Russian troops in the Kursk region. A precision strike was carried out, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "On January 7, 2025, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a precision strike on the command post of the 810th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed