Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet, the Russian Defense Ministry said on January 5.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost several Western-made armored vehicles, including a Bradley fighter jet.
17 counterattacks by the Ukrainian armed forces were repelled. The enemy lost more than 410 soldiers, 2 Leopard tanks manufactured in Germany, 1 infantry fighting vehicle and 3 armored personnel carriers, including an M113 manufactured in the US," the Russian Defense Ministry statement said. Russia also seized from Kiev a branded 105 mm L-119 artillery craft.
All of these losses to Ukraine have occurred in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, in the two counterattacks in Donetsk that were repelled by Russian forces alone, Ukraine lost 230 soldiers.
A large number of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets have been transferred to Ukraine by EU countries since February 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
The US and its allies have transferred more than $100 billion worth of weapons, equipment and ammunition to Ukraine since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022.
Also related to the developments of the Ukrainian war, Kiev appeared to have launched a new attack in the border area of Russia's Kursk province on January 5. Ukraine has taken control of several territories in Kursk in the past few months.
According to Bloomberg, military bloggers and local media have posted images of armored vehicles moving near Sudzha towards Bolshoye soldatskoye in Kursk Oblast. Some bloggers, including the Rybar Telegram channel, with 1.3 million subscribers, confirmed that the new Ukrainian operation in Kursk has a role in distracting.
In its January 5 military update, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had repelled the Ukrainian attack, describing it as an attack group led by two tanks and 12 armored fighting vehicles.
Ukrainian military officials have not confirmed the specifics of the new operation in Russia's Kursk region, but Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, shared on his Telegram channel on January 5 that Russia "has received what it deserves".
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Countering Disinformation Center, said that the Russian in Kursk "are extremely worried about being attacked from many directions".
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Defense Minister General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov visited Kursk province and met with Governor Alexander Khinshtein, according to a post on the Kursk provincial official's Telegram channel.
Ukraine seized territory in Kursk in a surprise offensive that began in mid-August. A US official said in late December that Ukraine had lost about half of its territory gained in Kursk region and was at risk of losing the rest in the next few months.
Kiev has previously said that the offensive in Kursk Oblast has two main goals - to distract and redirect Russian forces from eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials also hope to use the territory gained in Kursk region for negotiations with Russia.
