Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,059

Here is the situation on Saturday, January 19:

Fighting

Three people have been killed in Kyiv overnight, according to the head of the Ukrainian military. Explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital as air raid sirens sounded and air defence crews responded to a Russian ballistic missile attack.
Ukraine has continued its drone attacks against Russian oil infrastructure, hitting depots in the Tula and Kaluga regions south of Moscow overnight. Images said to depict the burning depots have been shared online as Kaluga’s regional governor claimed several drones had been shot down.
The governors of Russia’s Bryansk and Smolensk regions reported that air defence units had shot down a total of 14 Ukrainian drones with no reports of casualties.
Nearly 89,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine, according to a joint investigation by BBC Russia and Mediazona, an increase of 3,965 killed since mid-December. It is thought the actual death toll is much higher as the numbers of deceased Russian troops include only those who could be immediately verified.
Fighting has been reported in the region of Ukraine’s coking coal mines at Udachne to the west of Pokrovsk, a critical resource for Ukraine’s metallurgical industries in Kryvyi Rih that are dependent on these mines.

A pro-Russian Telegram channel posted multiple videos online appearing to show two Russian soldiers with the decapitated heads of Ukrainian soldiers on pikes. The graphic images also appeared to show Ukrainian prisoners of war from the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade being abused and bodies being desecrated.

Reuters news agency reports that Russian exports of petroleum products fell by more than 10 percent in 2024 after a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes against oil infrastructure.
The United States has imposed sanctions against six Russian oil tankers under construction at the Zvezda shipyard, Reuters reports, the first time such sanctions have been imposed in the conflict to target Russia’s “shadow fleet”.

Russia and Iran have agreed to boost military and intelligence ties in a renewed “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty”. Under the agreement, Iran stopped short of pledging full military assistance to Russia but did agree to work together against common military threats.

A French patrol aircraft has been the target of “Russian intimidation” over the Baltic Sea, France’s defence minister said on social media, after a Russian ground-to-air defence system locked on to French aircraft during a patrol.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hosted Slovakia’s opposition leader in Kyiv amid a diplomatic spat with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has threatened to cut aid to Ukraine.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has visited the site of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, where he held a news conference with Polish President Donald Tusk. Starmer made the stop on his return journey from a visit to Ukraine where he signed a security agreement with President Zelenskyy.
Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken believes the incoming Trump administration will shred Biden-era policies on Ukraine. The Associated Press news agency reports that Blinken made the statement in a wide-ranging final interview and said he hoped there would be “continuity” in Washington’s assistance to Kyiv.