RIGHT SPEAK: 57 Combat Clashes On Front Lines, UKR Advances Near Verbove; Zaluzhnyi Says UKR Downed Record Number of Kinzhal Missiles on Jan 2; Ukraine downs 72 Missiles in RU Morning Attack; Downs All 35 RU Attack Drones Overnight; Kills 800+ RUs, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

War update: 57 combat clashes on front lines, Ukrainian forces advance near Verbove:

Ukraine's defense forces have repelled enemy attacks in five sectors and advanced near Verbove, Zaporizhzhia region.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in its morning update posted to Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"Fifty-seven combat clashes took place in the past 24 hours. In total, the enemy launched 89 missile strikes, 72 air strikes, including Shahed-136/131 drone strikes and carried out 48 MLRS attacks on the positions of our troops and settlements. Unfortunately, due to Russian terrorist attacks, there are dead and over 130 wounded civilians, including children. Over 100 private residential and apartment buildings and other civilian and industrial infrastructure in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions were destroyed and damaged," the post said.

The enemy launched air strikes on Bilohorivka and Serebrianske Forestry in the Luhansk region, Avdiivka, Novomykhailivka and Heorhiivka in the Donetsk region, as well as Novodanylivka and Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region.

About 120 settlements in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions came under artillery fire.

The situation in the area of responsibility of the North operational and strategic grouping of troops in the Volyn and Polissia sectors remains largely unchanged.

In the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna sectors, the enemy maintains its military presence in the border areas, conducting subversive activities to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to dangerous areas and increasing the density of minefields along the state border in the Belgorod region.

In the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops in the Kupiansk sector, Ukrainian defenders repelled seven enemy attacks near Synkivka and east of Petropavlivka, Kharkiv region, where the enemy unsuccessfully tried to break through the defenses of Ukrainian forces. --->READ MORE HERE

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Zaluzhnyi says Ukraine downed record number of Kinzhal missiles on Jan. 2:

Ukraine downed a record number of Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles that Russia launched against the country on Jan. 2, Ukraine's Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi reported. The Air Force intercepted all 10 Kinzhals Russia launched on Jan. 2, using the U.S.-designed Patriot air defense systems.

If the missiles hit their targets, the consequences would have been catastrophic, Zaluzhnyi wrote on X.

Russia launched at least 99 missiles on the morning of Jan. 2, targeting Kyiv, the surrounding region, and Kharkiv. The attack killed 5 people and injured 127, including children, as of 5 p.m.

The Air Force reported earlier that 72 Russian missiles were shot down, along with all of the 35 Shahed "kamikaze" drones that Russia used to attack the country earlier in the night.

On X, Zaluzhnyi thanked Ukraine’s allies for providing the air defense systems but said that the country needs more systems.

"There is no reason to believe that the enemy will stop here. Therefore, we need more systems and munition for them," he wrote. --->READ MORE HERE

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+++++Russia-Ukraine News LATEST UPDATES: (REUTERS) (AP) (NY POST) and (WSJ)+++++

+++++Air Force: Ukraine downs 72 missiles in Russian morning attack+++++