International Glance
A turbulent New Year’s Eve unfolded across Russia as multiple regions reported drone attacks in the early hours of Jan. 1, triggering fires at oil facilities in Kaluga Oblast and Krasnodar Krai, according to Russian Telegram channels and monitoring groups.
Local residents shared videos showing a glow in the sky and large fires in industrial areas where energy facilities are located. In the city of Liudinovo in Kaluga Oblast, reports indicated that a local oil storage facility was hit.
The Kyiv Independent can't immediately verify the claims.
Footage circulating online showed a tall column of fire and smoke above the site. Regional authorities have not commented on the extent of the damage, though local channels said the fire was preceded by the sound of explosions.
Residents of Krasnodar Krai also reported a turbulent New Year’s night, as the Ilsky oil refinery came under attack. The facility has previously been targeted by drones on multiple occasions, according to open-source reports and local media.
As the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip stretches on, more and more reports have emerged of growing strains between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Putin has claimed the weapons are impossible to intercept because the missile speeds are supposedly more than 10 times the speed of sound.
On December 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a $35 billion deal to sell natural gas to Egypt in what officials describe as the largest energy export agreement in Israel’s history. The natural gas will be produced from Leviathan, a massive field west of Haifa. “On this day,” Netanyahu wrote in a statement that day, the third day of Hanukkah, “we’ve brought another jug of oil to the nation of Israel. But this time, the flame will burn not just for eight days, but for decades to come.”
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were in lockstep on Monday during a press conference following their lunch meeting at Mar-a-Lago, ramping up pressure on Hamas to disarm and threatening to renew attacks on Iran if it seeks to build up its ballistic missile program.
