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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.