Ukraine seizes property of Russian oligarch Usmanov worth almost US$54m.

With the aid of the materials provided by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the court has seized the property of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov worth UAH 2 billion [US$54 million]: the issue of transferring the property to the Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets is being considered now.

As a result of investigative and operational actions together with the detectives of the Financial Investigations Service, the location of the underground warehouses of the Russian Federation, where more than 160,000 tonnes of Ukrainian iron ore were stored, was established.

The hidden raw materials were discovered on the territory of several seaports of Ukraine," the report states.

It is emphasised that the total value of seized raw materials is almost UAH 2 billion.

The Security Service of Ukraine established that the discovered batch of iron ore belongs to the company of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is part of the inner circle of the top military and political leadership of the Kremlin.

After 24 February 2022 [beginning of the full-scale invasion], he was sanctioned by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, the US and the EU.

"Operational information states that the representatives of the aggressor country tried to illegally transport hidden raw materials by sea vessels to the territory of Russia.

After that, they planned to transfer the minerals for the needs of the metallurgical industry and the military industry of the Russian Federation to meet the needs of the Russian occupation groups," the SSU emphasised.

The Service states that the discovered property has been seized and the issue of its transfer to the Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets is being considered.

Russian forces hit Kherson, damaging the kindergarten and medical aid stations.

Russian troops have attacked a critical infrastructure facility in Kherson using artillery. A kindergarten and an emergency medical aid station have also been damaged following the Russian attack.

Yaroslav Yanushevych, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, reported that Russian invaders had attacked a critical infrastructure facility in Kherson using artillery.

According to Yanushevych, windows have been broken not only in the building of the facility but also in the emergency medical station, kindergarten and a private house. He noted that no casualties had been reported.

Group of Ukrainian soldiers killed in Bryansk Oblast.

Yurii Horovets, Maksym Mykhailov, Taras Karpiuk and Bohdan Liahov, four Ukrainian servicemen, were killed on the territory of the Russian Federation while performing a combat mission.

he Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) announced on 26 December that they had killed four Ukrainians who were allegedly trying to enter the territory of Bryansk Oblast to carry out "sabotage and terrorist acts."

The Russian security services reported that the killed men had foreign weapons, including SIG Sauer submachine guns, communication and navigation devices, and four bombs with a total capacity of about 40 kg in TNT equivalent.

The FSB also released data on the Ukrainians. The security service reported that the following [soldiers – ed.] were killed during an attempt to enter Russian territory: Yurii "Sviatosha" Horovets, born in 1988, whom the Russians called the group's commander; Maksym "Nepyipyvo" Mykhailov, born in 1990; Taras "Tarasii" Karpiuk, born in 1984, and Bohdan "Apollon" Liahov, born in 2003.

Yevhen Karas, a serviceman from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, later confirmed the death of the Ukrainian servicemen. From the photos released by the Russians, he concluded that the group had entered a minefield. Karas shared his memories of the dead men.

"A successful saboteur. This was far from his first intelligence outing. The Russians paid a terrible price... Nationalist. Christian. Actor. Traveler. Veteran. A long-time member of Dmytro Korchynsky's Bratstvo (Brotherhood) political party," Karas wrote about Yurii Horovets.