Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch deadly Kyiv ballistic missile and drone attack

Ukraine has claimed that Russian forces suffered more than 2,000 casualties on Thursday, the highest alleged losses in a day since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The Independent was not able to verify these numbers, though British intelligence recently suggested that Russian losses were notably high as Moscow’s troops advanced on Donetsk. They put the average figure over recent months between 1,000 and 1,200.

The Ukrainian military said on Friday its forces had pulled back from the area around Uspenivka and Trudove villages in the eastern region of Donetsk to avoid being encircled by advancing Russian troops.

With the war now in its 33rd month, the Ukrainian forces are engaged in intense defensive battles and are stretched thin as the Russians press forward along the front line.

“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has decided to withdraw the units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces from the area in question to avoid encirclement,” Ukraine‘s Khortytsia group of forces said on Telegram.

Military units had avoided being surrounded and would continue to operations in the Kurakhove-Konstantinopolske area, a statement said.

Ukraine‘s General Staff reported 18 battles on the Kurakhove front in the past day with Russian forces attempting to advance to the north of the town.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday its forces had taken control of two more settlements in Donetsk region, Uspenivka and Novopustynka. It claimed control of Trudove on Wednesday.

The Biden administration will announce in the coming days its final Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, using up the remaining funds set aside to buy new weapons for Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The package includes air defense interceptors and artillery munitions, according to a third source, but the exact contents are expected when the package is announced in the coming days. The package will be worth about $1.2 billion, said the sources.

Under USAI, military equipment is procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from American stocks, meaning it can take months or years to arrive on the battlefield. The USAI package could be among the last steps the United States takes to provide direct military support to Ukraine as Kyiv braces for the return of President-elect Donald Trump, who has publicly questioned military aid and vowed to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office on 20 January.

Since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, the United States has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine, including approximately $61.4 billion in security assistance.

About half of that security assistance has come through the USAI program, and the rest has gone toward pulling from existing military stocks via presidential drawdown authority.

There is $5.6 billion remaining of presidential drawdown authority.

Pictures have dropped showing the last remaining citizens of the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

Russian forces are just a few miles from the outskirts of the city having advanced steadily throughout the year.

The city had a prewar of population of around 60,000 but only a few thousands citizens remain.