Latest Developments in Ukraine: Jan. 28

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EST. 4:17 a.m.: Ukraine will need $17 billion more this year for energy repairs, de-mining and to rebuild infrastructure, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Friday, according to Reuters. He told a government meeting that five high-voltage substations in the central, southern and southwest regions were hit during Russia's air attacks Thursday. The energy sector has been severely damaged following four months of Russian missile and drones attacks. Shmyhal said the government hosted a meeting with Western partners this week to coordinate financial support in a transparent and efficient way. The government also said it was setting up a state agency for infrastructure recovery and development. Mustafa Nayem, a prominent former journalist who had been a deputy infrastructure minister since 2021, would head the newly created agency. 3:09 a.m.: The latest intelligence update from the U.K. defense ministry said Russia probably had more than 300 casualties, most of them killed or missing rather than wounded, in a Jan. 1 strike near Donetsk. Russia said it had 89 casualties. 2:07 a.m.: Russia's foreign ministry said Friday it had ordered Latvia's envoy to leave the country within two weeks following a decision by Riga earlier this week to expel Moscow's ambassador, Reuters reported. The ministry said it had summoned the Latvian charge d'affaires to protest Riga's decision to downgrade relations with Russia. Latvia said on Monday it had acted out of solidarity with its Baltic neighbor Estonia, which also expelled its Russian envoy, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Moscow. In its statement, the Russian ministry said it saw "solidarity" only in the Baltic states' "total Russophobia and a desire to be the initiator of hostile steps towards Russia, which are encouraged by the United States and some other countries that are unfriendly to us." The ministry also criticized what it said were measures to restrict the Russian language in Latvia and the destruction of Soviet-era memorials and cultural legacy. Latvia is home to a large ethnic Russian minority. 1:11 a.m.: Germany's 100 billion euro ($108 billion) special defense fund is no longer enough to cover its needs, Reuters reported, quoting the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius' interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung published Friday. Pistorius, who took office last week after his predecessor resigned, said Germany would also need to raise its annual regular defense spending from the current level of around 50 billion euros. Germany also needs to replenish its military hardware stocks, including replacements for the 14 Leopard tanks that Berlin agreed to send to Ukraine to help repel Russia's invasion, the new defense chief said. Asked whether Germany would send fighter jets to Ukraine, the next request from Kyiv after Germany approved earlier this week the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks, Pistorius said this was "ruled out." "Fighter aircrafts are much more complex systems than main battle tanks and have a completely different range and firepower. We would be venture into dimensions that I would currently warn against," Pistorius said in the interview. 12:02 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday repeated a claim that neo-Nazis were committing crimes in Ukraine as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, Agence France-Presse reported. "Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies," Putin said. "This is evidenced by the crimes against civilians, ethnic cleansing and punitive actions organized by neo-Nazis in Ukraine. It is against that evil that our soldiers are bravely fighting," he said. Supporters of Putin's military operation allege Ukraine's treatment of Russian speakers in the country is comparable with the actions of Nazi Germany. One of the goals of the operation was the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine, Putin said, when he announced nearly one year ago he had ordered Russian troops towards Kyiv. The claims have been contested by the Ukrainian government and the country's Jewish community. Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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