Russia on December 29 claimed to have seized another town in Ukraine's Donetsk region as it continues its long, bloody drive against the strategic -- but nearly destroyed -- southern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces have captured Novotroyitske, a settlement with a prewar population 6,300 about 16 kilometers south of Pokrovsk.
The Ukrainian military did not comment specifically about Novotroyitske, but it said Russian troops had carried out 133 attacks on its positions as of 4 p.m. on December 29 -- the largest number in the Pokrovsk area.
SEE ALSO: North Korean Troops Take Pounding In Kursk As Kim Reportedly Doubles Down"In the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have already made 26 attempts to push our defenders out of their positions" in several settlements, it said.
On December 15, British intelligence said Russian forces had made gains south of Pokrovsk, but it is not clear what the Kremlin forces' next steps will be.
The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said geolocation data suggested the Russian military was about 10 kilometers from the border of the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin may be putting pressure on the Russian military command to advance to the border, and not to cover Pokrovsk at this time," it wrote.
Heavy fighting was also reported in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces battle to hold territory taken earlier this year.
SEE ALSO: Zelenskiy Blasts Fico In Energy Feud As Fighting Intensifies On Battlefield"In the Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders repelled 16 attacks by Russian invaders today, 19 clashes continue. In addition, the enemy launched 152 artillery attacks," the military said.
Meanwhile, Russia's assault on Ukraine's Mykolayiv region in the south also intensified.
Regional Governor Vitaliy Kim on December 29 said defense forces had shot down at least nine Iranian-made Shahed drones, although falling debris hit one of the targets -- an energy infrastructure facility -- causing a fire and injuring one person.
On December 28, the military said Ukrainian defenders had neutralized all 16 drones launched by Russia in Mykolayiv city, the capital of the region adjacent to Kherson.
Russia and Ukraine have used drones regularly since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, with the Kremlin increasingly targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure as the winter cold sets in.
Russia has denied it targets civilian infrastructure sites, despite widespread evidence of such attacks, as the Kremlin seeks to solidify positions in the territories it has occupied, not only since the February 2022 full-scale invasion but since its invasion of 2014.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Viktor Muzhenko, the former Ukrainian military commander, said any truce between Kyiv and Moscow that leaves swaths of Ukrainian territory under Russian control would represent a victory for the Kremlin and "fully compensate [it] for its costs of the war."
Muzhenko, who led the military from 2014-19, said the situation with the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and parts of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions is "critical" -- "not only for the loss of territories, but also [the loss of] half of the resource base of Ukraine."
On the foreign-aid front, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on December 29 said Kyiv had received an additional 150 million euros ($156 million) in aid from Denmark, France, and Lithuania to help finance the country's defense industry.
"These funds, in particular, will be used for the production of missiles, deep-strike drones and artillery installations.," he said in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, outgoing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she does not expect the next government in Berlin to "abandon" Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
"No German government devoted to the security of Germany and Europe will abandon the people of Ukraine," she said in an interview published by Bild newspaper on December 29.
Germany will vote on February 23, a day after the anniversary of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed last month.
SEE ALSO: Zelenskiy Huddles With European Leaders In Brussels Ahead Of Trump's ReturnBerlin trails only Washington in the amount of support provided to Ukraine, although Scholz has been reluctant to send heavy weaponry to Kyiv, often angering the Ukrainian leadership.
Addressing worries that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may push a peace deal detrimental to Kyiv following his January 20 inauguration, Baerbock underlined the importance of providing for Ukraine's security needs in any such agreements.
"Only reliable, long-term and, above all, truly sustainable security guarantees will prevent [Russian President Vladimir] Putin from resorting to further campaigns of conquest. Only then will there be lasting peace and stability in Ukraine," she told Bild, without being specific.