The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) is implementing a new defense project Tysha, aimed at strengthening security in the Black Sea region.

There have been 104 combat engagements along the front line, with the Pokrovsk and Huliaipole sectors the most intense. Fighting is ongoing in most locations.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed that Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov head the Ministry of Defense.

Kyrylo Budanov has led the Hur military intelligence, which has claimed a number of highly-effective strikes against Russia.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha rejected criticism by the Czech foreign minister directed at Ukraine’s Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych over his response to statements by the Speaker of the lower house of the Czech parliament, Tomio Okamura, about Ukraine.

In the Odesa region, as a result of a Russian drone attack on Friday, January 2, a fire broke out in the Danube River delta and spread to the lands of the Vylkove Forestry of the Izmail Forestry District and to Ochakivskyi Island.

As a result of a Russian strike on a residential building in Kharkiv, a child was killed, later the body was found under the rubble.

How the blaze took hold with such ferocity, killing at least 40 people and leaving many more critically injured, is now a key focus for officials.

The investigation into the fire that killed 40 people will consider whether criminal prosecutions are necessary, officials said.

Russian troops shelled and attacked the Synelnykove and Nikopol districts of Dnipropetrovsk region with artillery, UAVs, and FPV drones, injuring two people and damaging civilian facilities.