Shipments from Ukraine. Day 1045.
kyiv region. On New Year’s Day, a drone strike carried out by Russian forces in the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, hit a multi-story apartment building and a National Bank of Ukraine building, killing two citizens and injuring another six.
Since the beginning of 2025, two civilians have been killed by Russian attacks in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
On January 1, Russian shelling killed a resident of the capital of the same name, Kherson, in the south of the country.
Ukraine halted the transit of Russian natural gas through its territory on Jan. 1, after the expiration of its agreement with Gazprom, Russia’s largest state-owned gas exporter. The decision cuts Moscow’s last remaining pipeline route to Europe. It supplied about 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in 2024, and had been in operation for decades years. Despite recent lobbying for an extension by Slovakia, which continues to rely heavily on Russian gas imports, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has remained firm in rejecting any contract renewal. The European Commission has expressed confidence that its energy security would not be affected by the move, citing the shift by most of its members toward alternative sources and renewable energy to replace Russian energy supplies.
By 2024, Ukraine will more than quintuple its electricity imports compared to last year, with Hungary offering the largest share, almost 40%. The other major suppliers were Slovakia, Romania and Poland. The increase in imports was supported through European Union agreements, adding an increase in import capacity from 1. 7 to 2. 1 gigawatts. This increase in imports proved imperative as kyiv faced 12 primary Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, adding missile bombardments. Despite the damage, Ukraine’s power grid has become resilient and maintains relative stability; Truly extensive efforts will be needed to strengthen it in 2025.
A recent vote shows a sharp drop in optimism among Ukrainians about their country’s long-term future. Conducted through the kyiv International Institute of Sociology, a private think tank, the survey shows a reduction in the percentage of Ukrainians who think the country will be filthy rich and a member of the European Union within 10 years, falling from 73 % in December. 2023 to 57% in December 2024. At the same time, the percentage of respondents expecting a devastated economy over the next decade rose from 5% to 28%. The poll also indicates growing pessimism among Ukrainians about growing internal political divisions, and a decline in optimism about Ukraine’s prospects as a united nation, from 69% to 53%. Despite this, optimism still outweighs pessimism, and a majority clings to hope for the nation’s long term.
In 2024, Russia captured 1,252 square miles of Ukrainian territory—0.5% of Ukraine’s total—at a staggering cost of more than 420,000 troops and $34 billion in equipment, according to an analysis by Forbes Ukraine. Ukraine managed to free 7% of its land area from occupation since the onset of the full-scale invasion, including 185 square miles in Russia’s Kursk region, with Russia relying on foreign mercenaries and 10,000 North Korean troops by year-end.
Russia has stepped up its air movements, launching more than 1,700 missiles and drones at Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure, with record attacks in August. By the end of the year, monthly drone movements reached unprecedented levels, like decoys to overwhelm defenses. With the support of Western aid, Ukraine resisted the pressure, but Russia’s relentless arms production allowed its attacks to continue.
The United States provided $61.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine, but delays and political challenges eroded trust in President Biden, whose approval among Ukrainians dropped 27 points to 55.2%. Europe led in overall support, countering U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s narrative that Washington bears the main burden, as Ukraine navigates a complex geopolitical landscape.
The U.S. has delivered $3.4 billion in direct budgetary aid to Ukraine, the final tranche under the bipartisan Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act for 2024, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced on Dec. 30. Part of the G7’s (Group of Seven major industrialized nations) $50 billion revenue acceleration initiative backed by frozen Russian assets, this funding supports reforms in governance, law enforcement, and anti-corruption efforts. Since 2022, U.S. budgetary support of over $30 billion has stabilized Ukraine’s government operations amid war, ensuring financial stability.
In addition, on Dec. 30, President Biden announced about $2. 5 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, adding $1. 25 billion in withdrawals from Pentagon stockpiles and $1. 22 billion under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which budgets materials for Ukraine’s fast-paced battlefield and its long battle. -Needs in the long term.
Cultural front.
Ukrainian-American stars, Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actress and director Vera Farmiga, and singer Barbra Streisand, a two-time Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe winner, presented Shedryk’s story, a song Christmas song known in the United States as Carroll of the Bells, composed almost a hundred years ago by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych, who was murdered in special Russian facilities in his own home in 1921. Artists of other countries ran Shchedryk in 50 other places. Farmiga and Streisand shared the story of the composition to remind the world of the Ukrainian heritage of the famous Christmas song.
By Danylo Nosov, Karina L. Tahiliani
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