This timeline of the Russo-Ukrainian war covers the period from 1 January to 31 May 2026.
January 2026 1 January The Russian-installed governor of Kherson Oblast, Vladimir Saldo, said 28 people were killed while several others were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on hotels and restaurants in Khorly. Saldo accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians during New Year's Eve celebrations.
Multiple animals were killed and injured in a Russian airstrike on the Feldman Ecopark in , Kharkiv Oblast.
Drones were reported over Moscow, shutting down local airports. They were believed to be timed to interfere with President Putin's New Year's speech. Ukrainian drones struck the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai and various sites in occupied Donetsk Oblast.
Germany delivered two Patriot missile systems to Ukraine.
2 January
Six people were killed in a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of the HUR, was appointed to replace Andriy Yermak as head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Ukrainian drones struck the Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery in Samara Oblast.
Geolocated footage showed Ukrainian forces operating in Drobysheve near Lyman, an area Russian forces claimed they controlled. Geolocated footage showed Russian advances in the city of Kostiantynivka and northwest of the village of Oleksandro-Kalynove; and Russian advances towards and Prymorske near the Konka river.
3 January In Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, 44 settlements were subjected to mandatory evacuation due to the deteriorating "security situation", affecting some 3,000 children and families.
Geolocated footage indicated Russian advances in central Sotnytskyi Kozachok, northwest of Kharkiv; and northeast of Orikhovo-Vasylivka near the E40 highway.
4 January The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Russian forces seized Podoly near Kupiansk. The Head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, claimed the Chechen 270th Akhmat-Kavkaz Motorized Rifle Regiment took the village of , southeast of Orikhiv.
Russian authorities said two people were killed in Ukrainian drone strikes on Belgorod and Kursk oblasts.
Two people, including a National Guard of Ukraine officer, were injured in a car bombing in Obolonskyi District in Kyiv. A suspect was arrested.
The mayor of Moscow claimed around 28 drones approached the city, leading to the cancellation of more than 200 flights as Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports were closed. Ukrainian drones struck the Energia enterprise at Yelets in Lipetsk Oblast. The plant makes batteries for various Russian weapon systems.
President Zelenskyy dismissed Lieutenant General Serhii Deineko as head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, and replaced him on an interim basis with his deputy Valeriy Vavrynyuk.
5 January
Vasyl Malyuk was forced to resign as head of the SBU by President Zelenskyy.
One person was killed in a Russian drone attack on Kyiv.
Russia claimed to have taken Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast.
Ukrainian drones destroyed a Russian 9S32M1 radar of an S-300V missile system in Donetsk Oblast.
The Russian 136th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade’s commander, Colonel Eric Selimov, was killed in a car crash in Alchevsk Raion in Luhansk Oblast.
Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported Russian advances north of Yablunivka across Highway H20, and also in southeast Kostiantynivka.
6 January A Russian milblogger claimed Russian forces took the village of Pishchane, southeast of Kupiansk.
Ukrainian drones struck targets in Penza and Sterlitamak. Ukrainian drones struck Yaroslavl, with Yaroslavl Oil Refinery believed to be the target. Ukrainian forces attacked the 100th Arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate located in Neya in Kostroma Oblast, which supplied ammunitions storages in the Central and Moscow Military Districts. Ukrainian forces also attacked an oil depot in Usmansky District in Lipetsk Oblast.
7 January Ukrainian drones set fire to the Oskolneftesnab oil depot near Kotel in Belgorod Oblast. A warehouse belonging to the Russian 20th Motor Rifle Division in Donetsk was also struck.
Russian forces struck Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi ports in Odesa Oblast, killing one person and injuring five more.
Geolocated footage showed Russian advances in north Yunakivka and Ukrainian advances in Vovchanski Khutory.
8 January Russian forces struck Lviv with an Oreshnik missile.
DeepstateUA reported Russian forces took the villages of Andriivka in Sumy Oblast and in Donetsk Oblast. The Ukrainian Kursk Group of Forces denied the claim of Andriivka being captured.
A Russian shadow fleet oil tanker Elbus was struck by a drone off the coast of Turkey. According to ASTRA, the tanker was headed to Novorossiysk and sustained damage, but no crew members were injured. The ship was towed to İnebolu for inspections.
The pro-Ukrainian Freedom of Russia Legion set fire to some 15 trucks at the village of Kochegury in Belgorod Oblast.
Geolocated footage showed Ukrainian forces continued to operate in near Borova, an area Russian forces claimed they controlled, while the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Russian forces took the village of , south of Pokrovske.
9 January
Four people were killed in Russian airstrikes on Kyiv that also damaged the building housing the Qatari embassy.
Ukrainian FP-2 drones struck a fuel train in Crimea and a military arms depot in Donetsk. Ukrainian missiles struck the thermal power plants at Belgorod and Oryol, resulting in blackouts.
The Minister for Development of Communities and Territories Oleksiy Kuleba, said Russian forces struck a vessel en route to Chornomorsk, and another vessel near Odesa, killing a Syrian national.
Russian milbloggers claimed Russian forces took the village of , northwest of Kupiansk. Geolocated footage showed Russian advances in west , and northwest of and , all located east of Kostiantynivka. Geolocated footage showed Ukrainian advances west of and Russian infiltration in , both located north of Huliaipole. Geolocated footage showed Ukrainian forces continued to operate in central Stepnohirsk, an area Russian forces claimed they controlled.
The SBU arrested two GRU agents who were accused of assessing the effectiveness of the Oreshnik missile strike on Lviv.
10 January Ukrainian drones set fire to the Volgograd oil refinery. A drone warehouse in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, attached to the Russian 19th Motor Rifle Division, was attacked, as was an "UAV control point" near Pokrovsk. In Donetsk Oblast, a command post in Kurakhivka and a grouping of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division in Hirnyk were both attacked. Voronezh was attacked by 70 drones and a Neptune missile according to the SHOT Telegram channel, while the Russian MoD claimed all were shot down. The air defense and 20 explosions caused by the drones lasted for an hour.
Iraq established a commission to prevent Iraqi nationals from going to Russia to fight in Ukraine.
Russian milbloggers claimed Russian forces seized Viroliubivka, north of Kostiantynivka, and the villages of and , both located north of Huliaipole.
11 January
Voronezh Oblast Governor Alexander Gusev claimed a woman died and three were injured by a drone attack on Voronezh city. The Governor claimed several administrative buildings, a secondary school, ten private houses and ten apartment blocks were damaged in “one of the heaviest drone attacks since the start of the special military operation.”
Russia deployed a new jet powered drone called the Geran-5, which carries a warhead, has a strike range of and can be air launched by Su-25 aircraft according to HUR.
Ukrainian drones struck three Lukoil drilling rigs on the Caspian Sea (the V. Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin, and Valeri Graifer), a Buk-M3 missile system in Luhansk Oblast, and a Russian army warehouse in Kherson Oblast.
Britain said it will develop a new ballistic missile for the defense of Ukraine.
Geolocated footage showed Russian infiltration in south Podoly near Kupiansk, and Russian advances in east Kostiantynivka, and in west near Borova.
12 January Ukrainian drones struck the in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, causing a power outage in the region.
Russian forces struck energy infrastructure in Odesa Oblast, causing significant damage and leaving 33,500 consumers without electricity. Russian forces also struck two vessels near Odesa Oblast, injuring one person.
The Russian defense ministry claimed Russian forces took village, east of Stepnohirsk, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
13 January Four people were killed in a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv.
The SBU said it carried out an attack on a Russian UAV factory in Taganrog in cooperation with the Ukrainian Navy.
Three Greek-owned tankers, the Delta Harmony, the Matilda and the Delta Supreme, were attacked and damaged by unknown maritime drones en route to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium at Novorossiysk.
A Russian source confirmed the Ukrainian recapture of Kurylivka and , Ukrainian control of Petropavlivka, and Ukrainian advances in west and east Podoly; all near Kupyansk. Geolocated footage confirmed Russian advances east of , northeast of Borova.
14 January A Russian air defence missile accidentally struck an apartment block in Rostov-on-Don, starting a fire. Mayor Alexander Skryabin blamed the fire on "Ukrainian drone debris." The city was targeted by Ukrainian drones and missiles with its fuel storage tank reportedly ablaze. The Governor of Rostov Oblast, Yury Slyusar, claimed one person was killed and five were injured, including a four-year-old, by falling drone debris. The Governor of Belgorod Oblast claimed two people were killed in drone strikes.
The Russian defense ministry claimed Russian forces crossed the international border into Sumy Oblast and took the village of .
President Zelenskyy declared a state of emergency in the Ukrainian energy sector due to Russian attacks and adverse winter conditions.
15 January Ukrainian drones set fire to the chemical plant in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Oblast. The plant made ingredients for explosives such as TNT and RDX used by the Russian military. This marked the fifth time the plant was struck since June 2025.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, claimed a major critical energy infrastructure facility was destroyed by a Russian strike.
Russian forces struck the port of Chornomorsk, damaging a docked vessel.
DeepstateUA reported that Russian forces took the village of Krasnohirske in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
16 January A Ukrainian drone struck a high-rise building in Ryazan, damaging two apartments and injuring two people. Drone debris also struck an "industrial enterprise" according to Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov.
Geolocated footage published on January 16 confirmed Russia's control over . The ISW assessed that Russian forces also took ; both are located north of Huliaipole. Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces took the villages of near Stepnohirsk, and in Kharkiv Oblast near the international border. The Russian defense ministry claimed that Russian forces took the villages of near Siversk and near Huliaipole.
17 January The Russian defense ministry claimed that Russian forces took the village of Pryvillia, south of , Donetsk Oblast.
18 January Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces took the villages of Ozerne, near Lyman and , east of Dobropillia.
Ukrainian drones strikes on electricity infrastructure in Russian-occupied Ukraine left over 200,000 households in Zaporizhzhia Oblast without power, according to Russian occupation officials.
The container ship Aurelia was struck by a drone some 80-90 nautical miles at sea, after its departure from the Russian port of Novorossiysk. The strike severely damaged several containers but did not damage the ship or injury to crew. It stopped at the Turkish port of Samsun to have the damaged containers removed.
19 January