The Russian army continues its progression on Ukrainian territory. Moscow troops have further advanced by several hundred square kilometers on the front line, just in January 2025. Although less important than in the two previous months, this development shows that the trend on the field is at The advantage of Russia in recent months. On the other hand, kyiv tries to react, still hoping to be able to count after the election of Donald Trump in Washington on American military support, essential to his armed forces.
In addition to the offensive in the Russian region of Koursk, Ukrainian forces regularly conduct other operations on Russian sensitive sites. This Monday, February 3, kyiv confirmed this Monday, confirmed that she had affected energy facilities in western Russia. In detail, these drone shots “struck the Volgograd oil refinery […] and the Astrakhan gas treatment plant “.
Info to remember
⇒ Russia increased by 430 km² on the Ukrainian battlefield in January
⇒ kyiv has struck several gas and oil -related sites in western Russia
⇒ A Ukrainian separatist killed in an explosion in Moscow
Energy installations struck by kyiv in Russia
kyiv confirmed Monday that he had led drone strikes against several energy facilities in southwest Russia. Ukrainian armed forces and security services “hit the Volgograd oil refinery […] And the Astrakhan gas processing plant, “the Ukrainian staff announced in a message published on Facebook. The first of these two sites processes” nearly 6 % of Russian oil “, according to estimates of the estimates SBU, Ukrainian secret services.
kyiv has intensified its air attacks against Russian energy and military facilities in recent months. This strategy is described as a response to Russia’s bombings against its cities and its energy network for almost three years. Attacks that have led the Ukrainian government to impose emergency power cuts in many regions of the country, to save energy.
A 430 km² increase in the Russian army in January 2025
Moscow continues to move forward in Ukraine. According to a calculation of AFP, based on the data provided by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia increased by 430 km² on the Ukrainian battlefield during the month of January 2025. New figure which confirms the evolution of fighting in the field in recent months, after a previous advance of 476 km² in December and a record increase of 725 km² in November. Russian forward is mainly concentrated on the Donetsk region, where Moscow tries to seize the city of Pokrovsk.
The Russian army has also advanced about fifty km² on the northeast front around the city of Koupiansk, establishing in January its bridgehead on the western shore of the river which had long marked the front line between both camps. Russia’s progressions in Ukraine had already slowed down during the two previous winters. Those of January 2025 are still as large as the two months of January 2023 and 2024 gathered (285 and 146 km²), a sign of a phase of the conflict more favorable to Moscow.
A Ukrainian separatist killed in Moscow in an explosion
Armen Sarkissian, a 46-year-old Ukrainian separatist, was killed in Moscow in an explosion on Monday, February 3, the Russian authorities announced. The man was considered a crime baron and the founder of a battalion fighting the Ukrainian army. The explosion occurred in a luxury residential complex in the northwest of Moscow. The victim’s bodyguard also died, while four others injured were sent to the hospital.
The authors (s) of this explosion are not known for the moment. A source close to the police was content to mention that this attack had been sponsored and “carefully planned”, according to remarks reported by the Russian state agency Tass. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said that “special services are doing their job” and that the information was being clarified. According to the Ukrainian secret services, the Russian authorities had instructed Armen Sarkissian to create this “new armed training” after the start of their 2022 offensive in Ukraine.