Globalsecurity.org

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been shot down by air defense systems over the Russian city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

Ukrainians and Russians have celebrated Orthodox Christmas as fighting persisted despite Russia's unilateral call for a 36-hour cease-fire that Ukraine said was only a ploy by Russian President Vladimir Putin to reposition and reinforce his troops.

Russia says its forces continue to implement a ceasefire in Ukraine, despite artillery attacks by Kiev's forces in eastern Ukraine.

Back up power to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was restored yesterday evening after repairs to the 330 kilovolt (kV) line, which was disconnected last week due to damage caused by shelling, were completed, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team currently present at the plant confirmed.

The Russian-backed governor of the Crimean city of Sevastopol posted on the Telegram message service that air defenses shot down a drone on Saturday, Orthodox Christmas. In a Reuters report about the incident, Mikhail Razvozhaev suggested that the drone was deployed by Ukraine.

Shelling rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Saturday, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's declaration of a 36-hour cease-fire to observe eastern Orthodox Christmas.

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As Islamabad increasingly voices concern about the alleged sheltering of a Pakistani insurgent group in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, there is speculation whether the Pakistani military might strike targets in the neighboring country and how that would impact the region's fragile security.

In June, after North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles into the ocean, South Korea and the United States responded by sending the exact same number of missiles into the sea.

On the morning of 6 January, President Xi Jinping held talks with President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov at the Great Hall of the People during the latter's state visit to China. The two presidents announced the decision to elevate the China-Turkmenistan relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Hundreds of political prisoners in Myanmar were granted amnesty this week, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said Friday, but thousands more remain incarcerated.

A junta military airstrike on a popular gold prospecting area in Myanmar's Kachin State killed one man and injured more than 30 other people, some critically, forces loyal to the country's parallel National Unity Government told RFA.

A U.S. naval ship made another "routine" Taiwan Strait transit Thursday, drawing criticism from China which said the exercise would "escalate tensions" in the region.

Plans by the Biden administration to expand restrictions on people seeking refuge in the United States are "not in line with refugee law standards", the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.

A Kremlin-declared truce in fighting in Ukraine for Orthodox Christmas has been broken by exchanges of artillery fire along the front line, including in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, where one person was killed, and the eastern region of Luhansk, according to Ukrainian officials.

In a flurry of announcements, some of Ukraine's major Western allies pledged this week to send advanced armored combat vehicles to help Kyiv in its fight against Russia's invasion.

A 330 kilovolt (kV) back-up power line to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), that was disconnected last week due to damage caused by shelling, has still not been restored underlining further the facility's fragile supplies of electricity from the grid, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

DOD officials unveiled the more than $3 billion package of military capabilities to help Ukraine drive the Russian invaders from their soil.

Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces the Biden Administration's commitment of $3.075 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine. This includes the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $2.85 billion to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs, as well as the Department of State's announcement of $225 million in Foreign Military Financing to contribute to the