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Russia began the new year by launching a mass drone attack on Ukraine during the night of December 31 through January 1, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Using 111 Shahed drones, Russia targeted several oblasts including Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Why It Matters
Russia's launch of a mass drone attack on Ukraine at the start of the new year is significant because it may escalate tensions between the warring countries. Moscow conducted attacks on both Christmas and New Year's, not halting for the holidays. Moreover, it signifies Russia's commitment to the war as it approaches its fourth year in February.

What To Know
The Ukrainian Air Force managed to largely repel Russia's launch of the barrage of Shahed drones and other UAVs on New Year's Eve, as they shot down 63 drones and 46 more failed to reach their targets. Ukraine utilized aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups to repel the drones launched from Bryansk, Orel, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and Crimea.

The Ukrainian Air Force also noted that the 46 enemy drones that failed to reach their target were lost in location, and two more flew to Russia and Belarus. Wreckage from one of the Russian drones fell on a residential building in Kyiv on the morning of January 1, causing a fire to break out and the deaths of two people, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.

The two victims of the Russian drone attack on New Year's were a married couple, neurobiologist Ihor Zyma and doctor of biological sciences Olesia Sokur, according to Ukraine's Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi's post on Facebook. Both Zyma and Sokur worked at the Institute of Biology and Medicine at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Shahed drones are Iranian-made UAVs, also referred to as "kamikaze drones," and can be fitted with thermobaric warheads. They have been used extensively in strikes on Ukraine. The use of Shahed drones has increased risks of civilian casualties for both Russia and Ukraine, and Iran has previously denied allegations that it has sent the drones to Moscow.

Ukraine launched a surprise new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region on Sunday, aiming to strike back after months under pressure ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The assault appeared to be an effort to seize new territory in the area, where Kyiv's forces first swept across the border with a stunning incursion last August. Since then the Kremlin has retaken a chunk of its own land but struggled to fully expel the invading troops, even deploying thousands of North Korean soldiers in recent weeks.

Reports of the new offensive first emerged from the accounts of Russia's influential military bloggers early Sunday, before officials in Kyiv and then Moscow's defense ministry confirmed Ukrainian forces had launched a new attack.

“The Defense Forces are actively working,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram. “The situation in the Kursk region seems to be causing significant concern among the Russians, as they were unexpectedly attacked on several fronts.”

Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, also remarked, “Kursk region, good news: Russia is getting what it deserves.”

Hours later Russian state media quoted the country's defense ministry as saying that its troops had repelled two Ukrainian attacks in Kursk on Sunday.

"Overall, over the past 24 hours, the “North” group in the Kursk direction defeated the forces of 14 Ukrainian brigades and repelled two counterattacks," the defense ministry said, Russia's RIA state news agency reported.

The offensive follows months of setbacks for Ukraine.

Since the surprise incursion into Russia in August, the U.S. ally's military has been beset by low morale and manpower amid a barrage of Russian attacks.

Kyiv’s forces have largely resisted Russian attempts to expel them from Kursk, but they have been on the defensive as the Kremlin's military pushes to retake territory there and seize new land by advancing across the war's eastern frontlines.

The Ukrainian military said Saturday that the “hottest” front was near Pokrovsk, an important road and rail hub toward which Russia has been pressing for months.

Moscow said Tuesday that Ukraine had fired six U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missiles, six UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles and at least 146 drones into Russia in an attack that it said would not go unanswered.

After Ukraine first launched ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia last year, Moscow responded on Nov. 21 by launching a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik,” or Hazel Tree, at Ukraine.

Russia’s defense ministry said it had shot down all of the Western missiles fired by Ukraine at the Bryansk region, as well as 146 drones outside the war zone. It said two more Storm Shadows had been shot down over the Black Sea.

“The actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by its Western curators, will not go unanswered,” the defense ministry said.

Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region about 450 miles southeast of Moscow, said the cities of Saratov and Engels, on opposite banks of the Volga River, had been subjected to a mass drone attack and there was damage to two industrial sites. Schools had shifted to remote learning, he said.

Ukraine attacked the same region last week and claimed to have struck an oil depot serving an airbase for Russian nuclear bomber planes, causing a huge fire that took five days to put out.

The drone attack struck a munitions storage facility holding guided bombs and missiles at the Engels airbase in Russia’s Saratov region as well as other targets, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine said on Tuesday.

The attack caused a large fire at the Aleksinsky chemical plant in the Tula region and a fire at the Saratovsky oil refinery, while the Bryansk chemical plant was also hit, the source said. Reuters could not independently verify the claims of damage.

The source said there had been subsequent detonations at the Bryansk chemical plant as well as a large fire. The operation was conducted by the SBU and Ukraine’s defence forces, the Ukrainian source told Reuters from Kyiv.

Flight restrictions were imposed at airports in Kazan, Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Nizhnekamsk, Russia’s aviation watchdog said

President Donald Trump said that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone Wednesday about ending the war in Ukraine and that Putin indicated he would be willing to negotiate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"As we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social about their first known call of his second term.

"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations," he added. "We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately."

Trump said he tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, national security adviser Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff with leading negotiations with Russia.

Putin invited Trump to visit Moscow, Peskov said, "and expressed readiness to receive American officials in Russia regarding areas of mutual interest, including, of course, the topic of Ukrainian settlement. Putin and Trump also agreed to continue personal contacts, including setting up a personal meeting."

Trump later confirmed that he had spoken to Zelenskyy, saying in another post on Truth Social that it “went very well” and that the Ukrainian leader also wants peace. Trump said that a meeting related to the war, led by Vice President JD Vance and Rubio, would take place Friday in Munich.

“I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive. It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!”

Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he had a "meaningful conversation" with Trump. "No one wants peace more than Ukraine," he wrote. "Together with the U.S., we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done."

Earlier Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to NATO's headquarters in Brussels that it's "unrealistic" for Ukraine to return to its borders before Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. He also signaled that the U.S. wouldn't support Ukraine joining NATO as part of a negotiated deal to end the war.

The Trump administration also helped secure the release of American teacher Marc Fogel from Russia Tuesday in exchange for the release of Alexander Vinnik, a convicted money launderer who is in American custody and was awaiting transport back to Russia by the end of the week. Fogel had been detained in Russia for 3.5 years after being arrested for possessing medical marijuana.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are headed to Saudi Arabia to initiate negotiations toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The timing of the travel was not specified, and it is unclear whether the trio have already departed.

Senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Rubio and U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, have been huddling in Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference, a forum for international security policy where the Russia-Ukraine war remains a critical topic of discussion.

On Saturday, Kellogg defended the prospect of engaging with Putin in an effort to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine, saying in Munich, "Whether you like it or not, you have to talk to adversaries."

“As a great secretary of defense, General Mattis, once said: I may not like this son of a b----, but I got to talk to him,” he added.

Kellogg also said at the conference Saturday that Western leaders need to do more to enforce sanctions against Russia, adding that negotiations about ending the war could focus on Russia's willingness to cede territory and targeting Putin's oil revenue.

But some members of the administration have seemed reluctant in recent days to specify any particular concessions from Russia ahead of potential negotiations.

Asked Thursday what Russia should give up in order to reach a deal with Ukraine, Trump declined to name specifics.

“As far as the negotiation, it’s too early to say what’s going to happen. Maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t, and it’s all dependent on what is going to happen,” Trump said during a news conference alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has signaled the U.S. would be opposed to Ukraine joining NATO as part of a negotiated peace, indicated that the U.S. is likely to support negotiations in which Ukraine cedes territory that’s already been seized by the Kremlin.

The Trump administration has suggested to Ukraine that the United States be granted 50% ownership of the country’s rare earth minerals, and signaled an openness to deploying American troops there to guard them if there’s a deal with Russia to end the war, according to four U.S. officials.

Rather than pay for the minerals, the ownership agreement would be a way for Ukraine to reimburse the U.S. for the billions of dollars in weapons and support its provided to Kyiv since the war began in February 2022, two of the officials said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented the proposal for the U.S. to own half of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a draft contract he brought to their meeting on Wednesday in Kyiv, according to eight U.S. officials briefed on the meeting.

After that meeting, Bessent said the draft of a U.S.-Ukraine rare earth minerals agreement reflected the president’s goal, but he did not provide details of what the administration had proposed.

Zelenskyy declined to sign the document when Bessent presented it during their meeting, saying he needed to study it and consult others about it, the eight U.S. officials briefed on the meeting said.

The Ukrainian leader said at the time that he and his team “will do everything to review all details of the document” before his arrival in Munich, where he met Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as U.S. lawmakers on the sidelines of a global security conference.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Zelenskyy said in his speech at the security conference Friday that his lawyers would weigh in on the document Bessent presented to him in Kyiv with advice and some changes. He referred to the proposal as a memorandum between the U.S. and Ukraine, not a security agreement.

In recent months, President Donald Trump has expressed interest in striking a deal with Ukraine that would grant the U.S. significant access to its rare earth minerals, which are used to make a variety of technology products.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this month that he would view access to the minerals as a form of “security.”

“I want to have the security of rare earth. We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth, and I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it,” Trump said.

Many of Ukraine’s minerals are in areas now controlled by Russian troops, three U.S. officials said.

Ukrainian officials have said Zelenskyy has long backed the idea of exchanging “critical resources” for continued U.S. support, calling the idea part of the “Victory Plan” that he presented to Trump during a meeting last fall.

In an exclusive interview Friday at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that it would be “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to survive without U.S. military support.

“In all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States. I think it’s very important, critical,” Zelenskyy said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that U.S. troops would not be deployed to Ukraine as part of any security guarantees for the country. Vance told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that the U.S. sending troops to Ukraine is “on the table” if Russia does not negotiate a peace agreement in good faith.

Trump has long bristled at the amount of American support for Ukraine, referring to Zelenskyy at a past campaign event as “the greatest salesman of all time.”

President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that Ukraine was responsible for Russia's invasion of the country three years ago, arguing Kyiv could have made a deal to avoid the conflict.

“You should have never started it,” Trump said of Ukraine while criticizing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had expressed concern that his country was not included in talks between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia

"I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it's going very well. But today I heard, 'Oh, well, we weren't invited.' Well, you've been there for three years," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort. "You should have never started it. You could have made a deal."

Trump went on to say: "I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way."

Are we getting into bed with Russia now.....Trump meeting with Putin without Ukraine represented ? most Odd .