Ukraine's defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has announced that troops will begin using a homegrown replacement for the Chinese-made DJI Mavic drone, addressing concerns over reliance on China given its close ties with Moscow. The retail-grade Mavic is widely used for aerial reconnaissance on the frontlines by both sides, despite Ukraine already producing many of its own attack and defensive drones.
Fedorov stated that the Ukrainian version will have the same camera but a longer flight range, though he did not disclose the manufacturer. He also outlined a data-driven overhaul of Ukraine's military, including a mission control system for drone flights and artillery crews to improve performance data, and said Ukraine will allow allies to train artificial intelligence models on its combat data.
Overnight Russian strikes on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed a 77-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman, and wounded a 53-year-old woman, according to the head of the regional military administration. The missile and drone attack also damaged several buildings.
A separate Russian air attack on Tuesday cut power to more than one million Kyiv residents and affected substations carrying power from Ukraine's nuclear plants. The United Nations atomic watchdog said several substations critical for nuclear safety were affected, while power lines to some other nuclear plants were impacted. All off-site power was also temporarily lost at the Chornobyl plant.
Drone and missile strikes killed four more people: three in Zaporizhzhia and one in the Kyiv region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address that more than one million households in Kyiv remain without power and urged the US to increase pressure on Moscow, stating it has 'not yet had the strength' to stop Russia.
A new round of peace talks at Davos between US and Russian envoys was described as 'very positive' and 'constructive' by the Russian envoy, Kiril Dmitriev. Zelenskyy, however, stressed that America can do more to help Ukraine.
