International
Russia announces the capture of the Ukrainian bastion of Kurákhove in the Donestsk region
The Russian Army took the Ukrainian bastion of Kurákhove, in the eastern region of Donestsk, after several months of intense fighting, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported today in a statement.
“As part of the offensive of the units of the South military grouping, the city of Kurákove, the most densely populated urban center of the southwestern region of the Donbas, was totally liberated,” the Russian command said on Telegram.
According to Defense, “for ten years the Kiev regime turned the city into a powerful defensive bastion with a wide network of fire positions and underground tunnels.”
Two months of siege
The city is protected from the north by the Kurákhove dam, “which substantially limited the maneuvering possibilities of Russian assault units,” said the military agency.
In order to defend the city, Ukraine sent a large number of troops, “which included nationalist units and foreign mercenaries, supported with artillery and tanks,” said Defense, according to which the Ukrainian Army concentrated in Kurákhove 26 battalions with more than 15,000 soldiers.
“Thanks to the professional actions of the Russian forces, during the liberation of Kurákhove the enemy lost 80% of his living forces (more than 12,000 people), about 3,000 combat machines, including 40 tanks and other armored vehicles.
During the two months of war actions in Kurákhove, the average daily casualties of the Ukrainian Army ranged between 150 and 180 soldiers between dead and wounded,” according to the Russian report.
An important logistical knot
The capture of this city, an important logistical knot, “made it considerably difficult to supply the rearguard and the Ukrainian military in the Donetsk sector, so that the Kiev regime lost the possibility of bombing the civilian population of Donetsk with its artillery,” Defense explained.
The capture of Kurákhove allows the troops to enter operational space and “increase the speed of the liberation of the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” added the Russian military command.
The pace of the Russian offensive increased in the second half of last year and, especially from August, territorial losses were increasing month by month.
In November, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 610 square kilometers of territory or 20.3 square kilometers a day in their clashes with Russian troops.
The greatest territorial losses are recorded in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv.
Explosions near the Zaporiya nuclear power plant
Meanwhile, observers of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) displaced in Ukraine reported last night that they have heard loud explosions near the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporiya.
In a statement posted on its website, the Vienna-based organization points out that the detonations coincide with reports of a drone attack against the plant’s training center.
This “is another threat to the nuclear safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” warned Director-General Rafael Grossi.
According to international observers, the intensity of military activities in the vicinity of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, occupied by Russia since March 2022, increased over the weekend.
International
Thirteen cuban military members missing after explosion at arms warehouse
Thirteen members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) have been reported “missing” following an explosion at an arms and ammunition warehouse in the eastern part of the island, the military institution announced.
“As a result of the explosions at an arms and ammunition warehouse in the Melones community… in the province of Holguín, 730 km east of Havana,” two officers, two non-commissioned officers, and nine soldiers are reported as “missing,” according to a statement from the Ministry of the Armed Forces released by Cuban state television.
The statement specified that “investigations are still ongoing at the site,” which led to the evacuation of more than 1,200 residents from areas near the warehouse of a military unit where “aged ammunition was being classified.”
Neither the official press nor Cuban state television have provided images of the explosions at the military unit, but independent media outlets published photos online showing a massive column of smoke and police officers deployed in the streets of the Melones community.
International
Trump considers declaring National Economic Emergency to justify universal tariffs
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may be considering declaring a national economic emergency in order to justify implementing a package of universal tariffs on both allied and adversary countries, according to CNN.
The proclamation of these measures would grant the incoming U.S. president the freedom to create a new tariff program using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
This move would give the president the authority to manage imports during a national emergency.
According to the report, Trump has a penchant for this law as it provides broad jurisdiction on how tariffs are implemented without strict requirements to prove they are necessary for national security reasons.
International
Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Márquez detained ahead of Maduro’s inauguration
Enrique Márquez, a minority opposition candidate in Venezuela’s July 28 elections, was “arbitrarily detained,” denounced a political coalition he is part of and his wife, who described the action as “kidnapping.”
Since Tuesday night, there has been a wave of reports of detentions, with at least a dozen arrests just over 48 hours before President Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration for a third six-year term, following a controversial reelection.
“We inform that yesterday, 07.01.25, Enrique Márquez was arbitrarily detained,” stated the Popular Democratic Front (FDP).
“He was kidnapped by paramilitary groups who, using force as their law, aim to silence and intimidate those of us who want a better country and have a different vision,” said his wife, Sonia Lugo de Márquez, on the leader’s X account.
Thirteen cuban military members missing after explosion at arms warehouse
Trump considers declaring National Economic Emergency to justify universal tariffs
Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Márquez detained ahead of Maduro’s inauguration
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
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