Donald Trump and Keith Kellogg in 2017 (AFP)

Monday’s Coverage: Kyiv Renews Offensive in Russia’s Kursk Region

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1352 GMT:

For the first time, Ukraine has used a naval drone as a springboard to knock out Russian air defense systems.

“Only a week after Ukrainian sea drones made history by successfully taking down Russian helicopters, another historical first as our homegrown naval drones are now launching their own FPV [first-person view] drones, destroying Russia’s air defense units,” Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security posted.

Monday’s attack damaged or destroyed two Russian anti-missile Pantsir-S1 systems and one OSA anti-aircraft vehicle in the occupied part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Last week Magura V5 naval drones hit three Russian Mi-8 helicopters, downing two of them over the Black Sea.

UPDATE 1324 GMT:

A UK national, serving as a medic on the frontline with the Ukrainian army, has been killed.

The family of Jordan Maclachlan, 26, from Ardnamurchan in the Scottish Highlands, said he died on Friday.

“Jordan always believed that he was making a difference and we are all so proud of him helping others,” the family said in a statement. “Jordan was a fun-loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and a friend to many and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

UPDATE 0822 GMT:

At least three civilians have been killed and at least 23 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

The fatalities were in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine and the Donetsk region in the east.

In Kherson city, two people were killed and 17 injured when a Russian drone dropped explosives on a bus.

Air defenses downed 28 of 38 drones launched by Russia overnight. The other 10 decoy drones were lost to electronic counter-measures.

UPDATE 0811 GMT:

Ukrainian officials are investigating a highly-publicised brigade, partly trained by France, which has reportedly suffered a desertion rate of almost 40%.

The 155th Mechanized Brigade, “Anne of Kyiv”, was one of several formed last year. The unit was to be made up of 4,500 soldiers, with France training about half of them and providing equipment.

The commander of Ukraine’s land forces, Mykhailo Drapaty, acknowledged problems of staffing, training, and command. He said he “will not refute” the reports that 1,700 soldiers had fled the brigade without going into combat, and 50 had escaped while training in France.

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation is examining desertions and “abuse of power” by a military official.

A French army official confirmed that several dozen Ukrainian soldiers deserted while in France:

There have been a certain number of desertions, but they remain very marginal given the volume of people who have undergone training.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Gen. Keith Kellogg, has postponed a fact-finding trip to Kyiv and other European capitals until after Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

“Four sources with knowledge of the trip’s planning” reported the postponement. They did not give a reason.

Kellogg, an advisor to Trump since the 2016 Presidential campaign, has been more supportive of ongoing assistance to Ukraine than either Trump or incoming Vice President J.D. Vance. At the same time, he has backed pressure on Kyiv to enter negotiations with Russia for a resolution of Moscow’s 33 1/2-month invasion.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “The new American President himself knows the United States has no chance of winning anything if Ukraine loses.”

Macron urged Washington to convince Russia to enter negotiations. He called on Kyiv to consider concession of short-term Russian occupation of parts of Ukraine, citing the necessity for “realistic discussions on territorial issues”.

“There will be no quick and easy solution in Ukraine,” he told French ambassadors.

Meanwhile, the current US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said during a visit to South Korea, “The DPRK [North Korea] is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.”

US, South Korean, and South Korean intelligence assess that around 11,000 North Koreans have been deployed alongside Russian units. They are mainly in the Kursk region of western Russia, part of which has been held by Ukraine since a cross-border incursion on August 6.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a weekend interview that 3,800 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded. He added on Monday night that almost 15,000 Russian soldiers are “irrecoverable” after five months of fighting in Kursk.

The enemy has already lost over 38,000 soldiers in this single direction alone, with approximately 15,000 of them irrecoverable losses.

The Russians have deployed their strongest units to Kursk, including soldiers from North Korea. Importantly, all this manpower cannot now be redirected to other fronts—neither to the Donetsk region, nor against Sumy, the Kharkiv region, or Zaporizhzhia.