As we enter the 701st day of the war, these are the most important developments.

Here is the situation as of Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Battle

• A Russian military transport plane with 74 people on board crashed in the southern Russian region of Belgorod, not far from the Ukrainian border. Russia said there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board, part of a planned prisoner exchange, and accused Ukraine shot down the plane.
• Ukraine did not confirm that it shot down the plane or that the Ukrainian prisoners of war were passengers. The Ukrainian military said it would continue to target military transport planes it believed were carrying missiles for Russia’s war against Ukraine, and Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk accused Russia of trying to discredit Ukraine over the plane crash. “Ukraine has the right to defend itself and destroy the attackers’ airstrikes,” he said.
• Ukrainian military intelligence said Kiev was not asked on Wednesday to ensure airspace security around the Belgorod region, as it had been during previous prisoner-of-war exchanges with Moscow. It said there was no reliable information about who was on board the crashed plane.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for complete clarity about the circumstances of the crash and accused Moscow of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war.” RBC Ukraine news agency said he canceled a planned regional trip and events related to his birthday to cope with the crash.

• Two people were killed and eight injured in the town of Hirnyk, near the front line in the east, after a Russian rocket attack hit a residential area, Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin said. Hirnyk lies northwest of Maryinka, a town still held by Ukraine but almost destroyed after many months of fighting with Russian forces.
• Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said a Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa left one person injured, hitting homes and starting a fire.
• Avdiivka Mayor Vitaly Barabash said Russian troops entered the war-ravaged city for the first time but were pushed back. “Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups entered the southern part of the city of Avdiivka, but were driven out,” Barabash told AFP, declining to say when the Russians entered the city or how long they were there. About 32,000 people lived in Avdiivka before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Politics and diplomacy

• Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said he was concerned that the war in Ukraine had been forgotten amid crises in other parts of the world. At the end of his week-long visit to Kiev, Grandi told the Associated Press news agency that it was important to remind the international community that Ukrainians continued to live through a brutal war and that he feared humanitarian aid would be held up by political strife.
• Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod, where he reiterated his support for Ukraine’s desire to join the European Union, but said political differences remained on issues such as joining NATO . Fico, who was elected after tapping into pro-Russian sentiments, said he did not believe there was a military solution to the war and welcomed a peace plan proposed by the Ukrainian president, although he called it unrealistic.
• In the first of three required readings: The State Duma of Russia passed a law to confiscate property, money and valuables from people convicted of spreading criticism of the Russian army.

• A U.S. Senate committee voted 20-1 to “rebuild economic prosperity and opportunity.” [REPO)] “Law for the Ukrainians,” which would help set the stage for the U.S. to seize Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for post-war reconstruction. The bill has broad bipartisan support but must be passed by both houses of Congress before it can be signed by the president and become law. The EU, US, Japan and Canada froze around $300 billion in Russian central bank balances in 2022 as Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost two years ago.
• Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska became the first women’s qualifier to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 45 years. After her latest victory and wearing blue and yellow to match the Ukrainian flag, she said she was “proud” of those fighting for her country.

weapons

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said European nations must “do more” to provide Ukraine with weapons so it can defend itself against Russia’s attack. “The contributions that the European states have so far planned for 2024 are not big enough,” said Scholz in an interview with Die Zeit.