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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he plans to increase his armed forces’ lethality as part of a strategy to disarm Moscow and turn a deadlocked negotiating table.

“The task of Ukrainian units is to ensure a level of destruction of the occupier at which Russian losses exceed the number of reinforcements they can send to their forces each month,” he told military personnel on Monday.

“We are talking about 50,000 Russian losses per month, this is the optimal level,” he said.

Video analysis, Zelenskyy recently said, showed 35,000 confirmed kills in December 2025, up from 30,000 in November and 26,000 in October. But on Monday, he clarified that the 35,000 were “killed and badly wounded occupiers”, who would not be returning to the battlefield.

His commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, conservatively estimated “more than 33,000” confirmed kills in December.

Ukraine believes it has killed or maimed 1.2 million Russians since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently estimated that Russia had suffered 1.2mn casualties, including at least 325,000 deaths, and Ukraine up to 600,000 casualties, with as many as 140,000 deaths.

Al Jazeera cannot confirm casualty estimates from either side.

The war is currently stalemated, with Russia struggling to make meaningful territorial gains.

Russia held just more than a quarter of Ukraine a month into its full-scale war, in March 2022, according to geolocated footage.

The following month, Ukraine pushed Russian forces back from a string of northern cities – Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv – leaving Russia in possession of one-fifth of the country.

In August and September 2022, then-ground forces commander Syrskii masterminded a campaign to push Russian forces east of the Oskil River in the northern Kharkiv region, and Russia itself withdrew east of the Dnipro River in the southern region of Kherson, leaving it with 17.8 percent of the country.

In the last three years, Russia increased that number to 19.3 percent.

For almost six months, Russia has struggled to seize two towns it has almost surrounded with 150,000 troops in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

“In Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, the Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to contain the enemy, which is trying to infiltrate the northern districts of both cities in small groups,” Syrskii said last week.

Russia claimed it had captured the northern city of Kupiansk last month, but Russian military reporters say Ukrainian forces have retaken control of the town and surrounded the Russian assault force within it.

The engine of war

Zelenskyy’s strategy involves increasing domestic drone production and honing the skills of drone operators, because drones now hit 80 percent of targets on the battlefield.

“In just the past year alone, 819,737 targets were hit – hit by drones. And we clearly record every single hit,” he said on Monday.

The military has instituted a point system, rewarding drone operators for the number and precision of their hits.

That reflects a system put in place in April 2024, offering financial rewards to ground troops for destroying Russian battlefield equipment, culminating in $23,000 for capturing a battle tank.

Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister this month, who previously served as digital transformation minister and deputy prime minister for innovation, education, science and technology.

Last week, Fedorov began to appoint his advisers. They include Serhiy Sternenko, who last year created Ukraine’s largest non-state supplier of military drones, to step up drone production. Fedorov’s former deputy at the digital transformation ministry, Valeriya Ionan, was put in charge of international collaborations, thanks to her experience with Silicon Valley giants like Google and Cisco. Fedorov also appointed Serhiy Beskrestnov as technological adviser. Beskrestnov is an expert on Russian drone and electronic warfare innovation.

Russian assaults pound Ukraine

Zelenskyy’s war aims stem in part from the fact that Russia refuses to give up its campaign to seize more of Ukraine.

Despite US President Donald Trump’s efforts to bring about a ceasefire, talks remain deadlocked over the future of Donetsk.

Russia’s worst attack against Ukrainian cities and energy facilities last week came on Saturday, involving 375 drones and 21 missiles, as Russian, US and Ukrainian delegations were negotiating a ceasefire in Abu Dhabi.

The strike left 1.2 million homes without power nationwide, including 6,000 in Kyiv.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said 800,000 homes in Kyiv were still without power following three previous strikes this month. “Constant enemy attacks unfortunately keep the situation from being stabilised,” he wrote on social media.

Zelenskyy told Ukrainians in an evening video address that electricity supply problems were still widespread in Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions.

“We are scaling up assistance points and warming centers,” he said, adding that 174 [crews] were working to fix the damage in Kyiv alone. Shmyal said 710,000 people were still without power in Kyiv.

A Czech grassroots initiative fundraised $6m to buy hundreds of electric generators for Ukrainian households. On Friday, the European Commission said it was sending 447 generators to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Russian drones killed three people. Two of them were a young couple in Kyiv killed when a drone struck their apartment building. Rescuers found only their four-year-old daughter alive.

“When I carried her out, the girl started crying very hard, and then she began to shake violently,” said Marian Kushnir, a journalist who was a neighbour of the couple.

At least five more people died when a drone struck a passenger train in the northern Kharkiv region, and two children and a pregnant woman were wounded when 50 drones rained down on the southern port of Odesa.

Talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said before they began that Russia was not willing to compromise on any of its territorial demands.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said talks were focusing on the nub of disagreement between the two sides, which is Ukraine’s refusal to hand over the remaining one-fifth of Donetsk that Moscow does not control.

Talks are scheduled to continue in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, officials said.

Unvarnished truth from Zelenskyy

In a scathing speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskyy accused his European allies of “wait-hoping” the Russian threat would disappear after almost four years of war in Ukraine.

“Europe relies only on the belief that if danger comes, NATO will act. But no one has really seen the Alliance in action. If Putin decides to take Lithuania or strike Poland, who will respond?” Zelenskyy asked.

US President Donald Trump’s threat to take Greenland by force on January 17, he said, revealed Europe’s lack of readiness when seven Nordic countries sent 40 soldiers to the island.

“If you send 30 or 40 soldiers to Greenland – what is that for? What message does it send? What’s the message to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin? To China? And even more importantly, what message does it send to Denmark – the most important – your close ally?”

In contrast, said Zelenskyy, Trump was willing to seize Russian tankers selling sanctioned oil, and put Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on drug charges, while Putin, an indicted war criminal, remained free. “No security guarantees work without the US,” he said.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte echoed those sentiments in a speech to the European Parliament on Monday [January 26].

“If anyone thinks here . . . that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming,” he said. “You can’t.”

President Donald Trump says he is speaking to Iran’s leadership amid a significant US military build-up in the Middle East, as regional leaders push for diplomacy to avoid a new conflict.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres appears to point at Trump as critics say his ‘Board of Peace’ aims to replace UN.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that international “cooperation is eroding” in the world, during a media briefing where he took aim at one – maybe two – powerful countries undermining efforts to solve global problems collectively.

In his annual address as secretary-general, where he outlined priorities for the UN, Guterres said on Thursday that the world body stood ready to help members do more to address their most pressing issues, including the climate catastrophe, inequality, conflict and the rising influence of technology companies.

But he warned that “global problems will not be solved by one power calling the shots,” in apparent reference to United States President Donald Trump’s administration and his moves to abandon much of the UN system, while also impelling countries to join his newly-created “Board of Peace”.

Guterres went on to say that “two powers” would also not solve key problems by “carving the world into rival spheres of influence”, in what appeared to be a reference to China and its growing role in global affairs.

Guterres, who will step down from his position at the end of the year, underscored the UN’s ongoing commitment to international law amid concerns that treaties, which countries have abided by for decades, are coming undone.

Amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the brazen abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro by US forces, the UN chief warned that international law is being “trampled” and “multilateral institutions are under assault on many fronts.”

But, he added, the UN was still “pushing for peace – just and sustainable peace rooted in international law”.

Beginning in his first term as US President, Trump sought to end his country’s formal participation in many aspects of the UN system, while also eager to wield influence over key decision-making bodies, including through the use of the US veto in the UN’s powerful Security Council.

Trump’s current administration has also imposed sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese and threatened to sanction negotiators involved in UN talks on shipping pollution at the International Maritime Organization.

The US leader’s actions have drawn criticism.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva earlier this month accused Trump of wanting to create “a new UN”.

Lula made his comment just days after Trump launched his “Board of Peace” initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

While more than two dozen countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe have signed up as founding members of the peace board, several major nations, including France, have turned down invitations to join, and Canada has been excluded.

France said the Trump-led peace board “goes beyond the framework of Gaza and raises serious questions, in particular with respect to the principles and structure of the United Nations, which cannot be called into question”.

Numerous US military assets in the Gulf region are ‘within the range of our medium-range missiles’, Iran’s military spokesman warns.

A bowl of leftover pap saved Audu Gimba* from being abducted, but his wife, children, and relatives were not as fortunate. 

On Jan. 18, Audu’s family found their way to the Cherubim & Seraphim (C&S) Movement Church, Number 2, Kurmin Wali, Kaduna State, northwestern Nigeria, like they do every Sunday morning. Around 10:30 a.m., warning cries interrupted their service.

Terrorists had surrounded Kurmin Wali from all angles, unleashing their horrors on the worshippers of C & S 1 and 2 and the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Church in the same community. They would later make away with 177 people in total, according to Audu and some media reports. 

“We tried to run out but discovered we were surrounded. Even if you run, they chase you down,” he recalled the horrors of that morning. He said the terrorists were also collecting phones and cash from the victims. Before they got to him, he threw his phone into the bushes, planning to retrieve it after he escaped. 

The terrorists divided the captives into batches, with Audu and four others placed at the front. 

“As we were walking, I saw one of my brothers being beaten by the terrorists. They demanded that he get them food from his house. He told them he only had leftover pap, and when he brought it to them, their attention shifted to it, including the terrorists holding us hostage. When I noticed that, I used that opportunity to run and hide, but the rest were taken into the forest,” he told HumAngle. 

From his hiding spot, Audu watched as the terrorists brought out the remaining church members who had been hiding, made them lie on the ground, and then herded them into the forest. 

“The terrorists were holding guns, which were similar to the ones soldiers use,” he told HumAngle. “All of them had weapons. They came out through three angles; even if you run, you will run into them from all angles.” Although no one was shot, the presence of the firearms and the terrorists’ known ruthlessness were enough to force the villagers into submission. They wore no masks, and the survivors who spoke to HumAngle said they did not recognise them as familiar faces.

They came in through the forest and returned through the same path, this time with unwilling villagers, leaving behind a trail of fear and heartbreak. 

“My in-laws and two other women were heavily pregnant. My second wife and another in-law had daughters under two years old. My daughter was one year and two months old, and my three sons and their wives were all taken away into the forest. The children are not even old enough to walk on their own,” his voice cracked as he named his losses. 

He admitted that revisiting the events of that day makes him want to break down and cry.

It wasn’t just his losses, he said, but also the reaction of the military, those meant to protect them, that further pushed him into despair.

“The day the soldiers arrived, we told them the path they followed. When one of my brothers insisted on showing them the way, one of the soldiers even threatened to slap him. I don’t think any soldiers walked for 10 minutes between the village and the forest. They just stood there watching us,” he lamented. 

Security officials first dismissed the attack as a falsehood spread to cause chaos, only to later confirm it. The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, said the reason for the denial was “to confirm details first before making any statements”. 

“We need help,” Audu cried. “We don’t have anything to do unless the government helps us. What can I possibly do to help them come out? It’s just my wife and me; they have taken everyone else away.”

A recurring problem 

For the people of Kurmin Wali, this is not the first of such attacks. Eight days earlier, on Jan. 11, another mass abduction of about 21 people occurred. The people were released four days later, only after a ransom of ₦2.6 million was paid, according to another villager, Moses Noma*. 

Attacks on the village remain largely underreported. Online searches for Kurmin Wali mostly return reports of the most recent abduction, belatedly drawing attention to yet another community Nigeria has failed to protect. 

Moses escaped the latest attack, but his family had been directly affected by the previous one. The incident occurred at night. 

“They entered my house and my brother’s house,” he recounted. “Twelve people from my family were kidnapped. I barely escaped with my wife. When I returned, I heard my mum crying. She had been badly beaten with metal and was injured. I picked her up along with my injured uncle and took them to the hospital.”

When Moses arrived, his mother was in a pool of her blood. He thinks the kidnappers must have assumed she died due to how badly she was bleeding. Even when he heard her cries, he hid until he was sure the terrorists had gone before he went to her side. Fortunately, her injuries were treatable, and she was able to return to her family. 

Usually, when attacks like this occur, residents say they report them to military personnel stationed along nearby roads. However, soldiers often arrive late, if at all, and little is done until kidnappers demand ransom and eventually release victims on their own. In some cases, soldiers show up a day after the attack, claiming they did not receive permission to respond earlier, residents said. 

“Even as we speak, we are currently patrolling the streets because no security forces have been dispatched,” the 30-year-old man explained a week after the attack, despite the governor’s visit four days earlier. 

According to Moses, the village has been under constant threats and attacks for about three years. “Even in February last year, they came and kidnapped people,” he noted.

After such attacks, some residents flee to other parts of Kaduna, such as Marraraban Kajuru, Kasuwan Magani, and neighbouring towns, and return after some time. Moses, like others, usually finds his way back home, but the terror never stops. 

Government intervention? 

James Kura* says it was the stars that guided him home that night. 

“We were in church. We stationed some people outside to ensure security. When they saw them coming, they raised an alarm. We ran out, but soon discovered they had circled us. They put us together and collected all our money and phones in front of the church. Then they started to march us into the forest,” he narrated. 

At one point, the terrorists stopped and started to beat them heavily with sticks before continuing with the march. James was injured during the assault. 

They later arrived at Sabon Gida, a nearby village that has been deserted due to the constant terror attacks, one of the many ghost communities in Kaduna State. Some captives managed to escape there. But it was much later that James found the chance. 

“I noticed I was lagging behind and the kidnappers were distracted, so I used that opportunity to hide somewhere in the bushes until they left. I started to walk into the forest and eventually found my way home by following the stars,” he recalled. James got home around 9 p.m. that night. 

Despite his escape, many of his relatives and friends remain in captivity.

James and ten other escapees were taken to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna town on Jan. 23, following the governor’s visit. Before then, James had tried to treat his injuries at a chemist’s shop in the village.

The hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Abdulqadir Musa, said the victims would receive maximum care and attention and would “leave the hospital smiling”.

Even so, this was not the first time James had been kidnapped. In 2021, he was abducted from his home and held captive for days, and the horrors of that experience fueled his determination to escape repeating it. 

“They demanded a ransom of ₦1 million then, and they demanded other items like phones, which amounted to almost ₦200,000 extra,” he recalled. 

Although the current ransom demand has not been formally communicated, James told HumAngle that the kidnappers are demanding 17 motorcycles, which they claimed were left behind after the attack. Residents say only three were found, some of them already stripped of parts such as headlights. 

A separate report corroborates James’ account, adding that ₦250 million and three more motorcycles, bringing the total to 20, have been demanded by the terrorists. 

For a community already struggling to survive, residents say such demands are difficult to meet. The  Kaduna State government has said it will work with security operatives to ensure the victims are rescued unhurt. 

“We have been collaborating with the relevant security agencies, both the military, the DSS, the police, and the Office of National Security Adviser, to ensure the quick return and recovery of our people that were abducted in this very important community,’’ Uba Sani said during his visit to Kurmin Wali. 

The fear of the future 

Survivors like James are worried and concerned about their future security, the fate of their loved ones who are still in captivity, and the ransoms they may be forced to pay. 

Nigeria has criminalised ransom payments, with violators facing at least 15 years in prison. Yet kidnapping continues to surge nationwide, with few successful rescue operations, leaving families with little choice. 

On social media, people, including former top government officials, have crowdfunded for ransom. About ₦2.23 trillion in ransom payments was made between May 2023 and April 2024 in Nigeria, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. 

“When the governor visited, he promised he would bring us security. The government is taking care of our hospital bills and feeding. But in addition to that, the most important thing we need now is financial support because we know we would have to pay ransom,” he added. 

As for tightened security in the village, Audu said some military officials were stationed in front of their church during their morning service on Jan. 25. However, they are unaware of any action or movement to retrieve their loved ones, whose situation remains unknown. 

*Names marked with an asterisk are pseudonyms we’ve used to protect the identities of those interviewed.

Jan. 30 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Thursday night said he was decertifying all Canada-made aircraft and threatened a 50% tariff on all planes sold to the United States, further deepening the fissure in U.S.-Canada relations created under Trump’s second term in office.

Trump made the threat in a post on his Truth Social platform, stating the threat was in response to Canada’s alleged refusal to certify several Gulfstream jet series.

“We are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified, as it should have been many years ago,” Trump said.

“Further, Canada is effectively prohibiting the sale of Gulfstream products in Canada through this very same certification process. If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50% Tariff on any and all Aircraft sold in the United States of America.”

By law, aircraft certification, which includes safety and airworthiness determinations, is governed by the Federal Aviation Administration, and it was not clear if the president has the power to decertify already approved aircraft by presidential action.

UPI contacted the FAA for clarification and was directed to speak with the White House, which has yet to respond to questions about decertification and its process.

Bombardier, the Montreal-based aerospace company, said it has “taken note” of Trump’s social media post and is in contact with the Canadian government.

“Our aircraft, facilities and technicians are fully certified to FAA standards and renowned around the world,” Bombardier said in a statement.

Bombardier said it employs more than 3,000 people across nine facilities in the United States and creates “thousands of jobs” there through its 2,800 suppliers. It said it is also “actively investing” in expanding its U.S. operations.

Relations between the United States and Canada have precipitously dropped since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Trump’s threats to annex Canada, impose unilateral tariffs and take Greenland — territory of a NATO ally — by force if needed has prompted Ottawa to pivot toward Europe and Asia.

The announcement comes on the heels of reports stating that the Trump administration has been in talks with the Alberta Prosperity Project separatist organization.

According to The Financial Times, the first to report on the development Thursday, separatist leaders in the western Canadian province met with U.S. officials in Washington three times since spring.

The APP has said that its leadership has taken “several strategic trips” to Washington, D.C., to foster discussions on Alberta’s potential as an independent nation.

Jeffry Rath, a separatist supporter who participated in the talks, said U.S. officials are “very enthusiastic about Alberta becoming an independent country,” according to the APP.

The meetings were swiftly and widely condemned in Canada.

“I expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty,” Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada told reporters on Thursday.

“I’m always clear in my conversations with President Trump to that effect, and then move on to what we can do together.”

Premier David Eby of British Columbia called the meetings “treasonous activity.”

“I’m not talking about debates that we have inside the country among Canadians, about how we order ourselves, our relationships between the federal government, the provinces, referenda that might be held. I’m talking about crossing the border, soliciting the assistance of a foreign government to break up this country,” Eby said during the same press conference.

“And I don’t think we should stand for it.”

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy welcomed possible one-week pause after Russian attacks left homes with no heat in plummeting temperatures.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed United States President Donald Trump’s announcement that Russia will not attack Kyiv and “various” Ukrainian towns for seven days as civilians struggle with a lack of heating amid freezing winter temperatures.

In a post on social media on Thursday, Zelenskyy said that Trump’s comments earlier in the day were an “important statement” about “the possibility of providing security for Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities during this extreme winter period”.

Zelenskyy said that the pause in bombing had been discussed by negotiators during recent ceasefire talks in the United Arab Emirates, and that they “expect the agreements to be implemented”.

“De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war,” the Ukrainian leader added.

Trump said earlier on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to his request not to fire on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv for a week due to severely low temperatures.

“I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting, citing the “extraordinary cold” in the region.

The announcements came as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday that 454 residential buildings remain without heating in the city, as the Ukrainian capital struggles to restore power to homes following repeated Russian bombings targeting power and heating infrastructure in recent weeks.

Temperatures are forecast to drop to -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight in the Ukrainian capital this week.

Russia’s capital Moscow has experienced its heaviest snowfall in 200 years during the month of January, the meteorological observatory of Lomonosov Moscow State University said on Thursday, according to Russia’s state TASS news agency.

Russia and Ukraine also exchanged the bodies of soldiers killed in the war on Thursday, officials from both countries confirmed.

Similar exchanges have been agreed to during previous rounds of ceasefire talks. However, a breakthrough on ending Russia’s nearly four-year war on Ukraine has remained elusive.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continued to pour cold water on ceasefire prospects on Thursday, saying that Moscow had yet to see a 20-point ceasefire plan that he said had been “reworked” by Ukraine and its allies.

Russia’s top diplomat also claimed that Ukraine had used brief pauses in fighting to “push” people to the front lines, according to TASS.

Jan. 29 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance on Wednesday designated 11 new public institutions, bringing the total to 342, while postponing a decision on whether to classify the Financial Supervisory Service as a public institution until next year.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Public Institution Management Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol at the Government Complex Seoul.

The newly designated institutions met statutory criteria, including receiving government support exceeding 50% of total revenue, the ministry said.

They include the Korea Customs Information Service, Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Corporation, Child Support Enforcement Agency, National Incheon Maritime Museum, Korea Sports & Leisure, Korea Statistics Promotion Agency, Spatial Information Industry Promotion Agency, Korea Water Technology Certification Agency, National Agricultural Museum, Central Social Service Agency and the National Disaster Relief Association.

The ministry said designation of the Financial Supervisory Service was deferred to prioritize substantive operational reforms over formal classification. Officials cited concerns that adding public institution oversight could overlap with existing supervisory structures and undermine the watchdog’s autonomy and expertise.

As conditions for reconsideration, the government ordered the Financial Supervisory Service to strengthen democratic oversight by its supervising ministry, including mandatory consultation on personnel and organizational changes, expanded management disclosure through ALIO, and full implementation of the Financial Consumer Protection Improvement Roadmap announced last year.

The Public Institution Management Committee plans to review progress on those measures and reassess the watchdog’s designation status in 2027.

Koo said that while public institution designation could enhance transparency and public accountability, it could also create inefficiencies if layered on top of the existing supervision system.

“There is concern that overlapping management structures could weaken autonomy and professional expertise,” Koo said.

Separately, the ministry said it will disclose, for the first time since enactment of the Public Institutions Act in 2007, a list of entities that met designation criteria but were not classified as public institutions, along with the reasons.

The committee also approved changes to designation categories for the Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation and the Korea Legal Protection and Welfare Foundation.

Koo said the expanded disclosures are intended to make public institution management more transparent and easier for citizens to understand, while strengthening trust in the public sector.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260129010013790

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday the US is prepared to use “all options” to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, while emphasizing that Washington is still leaving room for a diplomatic deal, Anadolu reports.

“With Iran right now, ensuring that they have all the options to make a deal. They should not pursue nuclear capabilities,” Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting along with US President Donald Trump.

Trump reiterated Wednesday that a “massive armada” is headed to Iran, expressing hope that Tehran will “come to the table” and negotiate with Washington.

READ: Iran warns of uncontrollable consequences if attacked

Hegseth stressed that the Pentagon stands ready to carry out any directives issued by Trump, signaling that military options remain firmly on the table if diplomacy fails.

“We will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects of the War Department, just like we did this month,” he said, referring to the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have reacted strongly to the latest threat issued by Trump, as a US military fleet moves toward Iranian waters amid escalating tensions between the longtime adversaries.

READ: Israeli, Saudi officials visit US for Iran talks amid military buildup: Report

Jan. 29 (Asia Today) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that Washington does not recognize any trade agreement with South Korea unless it is ratified by the South Korean National Assembly, reaffirming that higher tariffs would remain in place until legislative approval is secured.

In an interview with CNBC, Bessent said the absence of parliamentary ratification meant no valid agreement existed between the two countries.

“Because the South Korean National Assembly has not passed the trade agreement, there is no trade agreement with South Korea until they approve it,” Bessent said, repeatedly emphasizing the need for lawmakers to ratify the deal.

Asked whether South Korea would face 25% tariffs until ratification, Bessent replied, “I think that helps move the situation forward,” a comment widely interpreted as signaling tariff pressure aimed at accelerating legislative action.

His remarks clarified the backdrop to Donald Trump’s announcement Sunday that the United States planned to raise reciprocal tariffs on South Korean exports, including automobiles, timber and pharmaceuticals, from 15% to 25%.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the South Korean legislature had failed to enact what he described as a “historic trade agreement.” No executive order or formal notice has yet been issued to implement the tariff increase.

Trump later suggested negotiations could still resolve the issue, saying Monday that Washington would “work with South Korea to find a solution.”

Pressure from the Trump administration has extended beyond tariffs. The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington has raised concerns over South Korea’s regulatory treatment of U.S. technology companies. According to the report, J.D. Vance told South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok during a White House meeting last week that the administration wanted meaningful de-escalation in how U.S. tech firms are regulated.

South Korea has fully mobilized its trade channels to assess Washington’s intentions. Trade Minister Kim Jeong-kwan is scheduled to travel to Washington later Tuesday after completing meetings in Canada, where he is expected to meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Trade Negotiations Commissioner Yeo Han-koo also plans consultations with the U.S. trade representative.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260129010013312

As both sides in the war in Ukraine continue their campaigns of long-range drone attacks, the Ukrainian government’s internal security agency has released a compilation of strikes directed against Russian airbases. The video, published by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), records drone strikes against Russian military aircraft by its special forces unit, the “Alpha Group,” also known as “A” Special Operations Center.

“The enemy is used to feeling safe in the deep rear. But for the special forces of “Alpha,” distance has long ceased to matter,” the SBU wrote in a post accompanying the video on social media.

The footage shows several Russian aircraft being targeted, from the perspective of the attacking drones. It appears that most, if not all, of these strikes were previously claimed, and some have been previously seen in the form of video stills. But the end result is certainly impressive, presuming all of the targeted aircraft were damaged or destroyed — which is far from clear from these videos.

The SBU claims that the total value of the damage was more than $1 billion, although it’s far from clear how this was calculated, especially since some of the airframes in question are decades old and no longer in production. It’s also notable that the SBU figure includes damage inflicted on ammunition and fuel depots at the airfields in question.

Regardless, the 15 aircraft claimed targeted by the SBU appear to comprise:

From what can be seen, the An-26 appears to have been damaged beyond repair, while one Su-24 seems to have had at least its tail section damaged; available satellite imagery may show a destroyed Su-24, but the quality of the imagery means that it can’t be determined for sure.

These aircraft were targeted at five different airfields, the SBU stated, without disclosing their exact locations.

However, based on open-source analysis, it seems that the targeted bases included Belbek, Kirovskoye, Saky, and Simferopol, all in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The growing threat of attacks like these on airbases has prompted Russia to build new hardened aircraft shelters and embark on additional construction to help shield aircraft from drone strikes and other indirect fire. This is part of a broader push by the Russian military to improve physical defenses at multiple airfields following the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The highlighted airfield raids in the video are part of a wider Ukrainian drone campaign carried out last year, in which the SBU also targeted Russian air defense systems, radar installations, and critical energy infrastructure.

As far as air defense systems are concerned, the SBU claims that it destroyed Russian equipment worth an estimated $4 billion last year. These included S-300, S-350, and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, as well as advanced radar systems such as the Nebo-M, Podlet, and Protivnik-GE.

In 2025, Ukraine also carried out the spectacular Operation Spiderweb, a large-scale Ukrainian drone strike against airbases across Russia in June. This targeted Moscow’s fleet of strategic bombers and saw a reported 117 drones launched against at least four airfields.

New footage from Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb hitting Russian bombers

Notable also is the fact that the specific Ukrainian campaign against Russian airfields is something that was brought up by U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last summer. The timing of that call suggests that Operation Spiderweb prompted that discussion.

Lots of people are reposting this Trump Truth Social post as if it’s recent (in part because Ukraine just released another video of hitting parked Russian warplanes), but it is in fact from last summer. pic.twitter.com/8jodT8bm7H

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) January 29, 2026

Ukraine’s ability to strike high-value Russian targets at considerable range has been bolstered through the addition of long-range cruise missiles, as well as an expanding inventory of attack drones, both large and small.

Meanwhile, SBU is continuing its long-range drone strikes.

Overnight on January 13, the security agency teamed up with the Ukrainian Navy to attack a drone production facility in Taganrog, where several production halls appear to have been destroyed, based on satellite analysis.

Ukrainian Defenders destroyed several warehouses of Atlant Aero plant in Taganrog, Russia. Combat drones and their parts were produced there.

Glory! pic.twitter.com/P6RcfpXtbl

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) January 16, 2026

The facility in question, the Atlant Aero factory, is responsible, among others, for producing Russia’s Molniya loitering munition, widely used in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces reportedly hit a Russian drone factory in the city of Taganrog tonight, setting it ablaze.

Multiple explosions were reported at the Atlant drone company, manufacturer of the Molniya-series attack drones. pic.twitter.com/yr3SA3b7gV

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 13, 2026

Drones being used to strike enemy facilities producing drones is very much indicative of the path the war has taken, when it comes to the increasing use and diversity of uncrewed systems across all fronts.

For its part, Russia employed a BM-35 loitering munition to attack what was claimed by some observers to be a Ukrainian F-16 fighter at Kanatove Air Base in Ukraine’s Kirovohrad region, on January 26. In fact, the target was either a decoy or a ground-instructional aid, something that even Russia’s Rubicon Drone Operations Center attested to.

This is not the first time that a Russian drone strike has claimed a Ukrainian aircraft mock-up, but again demonstrates the potential vulnerability of airfields to these kinds of attacks.

Notably, too, the BM-35 drone used in the strike is reported to use satellite connectivity via Starlink, allowing operators to control it in real time over long distances.

The SBU’s latest ‘greatest hits’ compilation underscores how drone attacks on Russian military aircraft are one of its highest priorities and one that we will certainly see targeted again in the months to come.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com