The Ukrainian president said Aleksandr Lukashenko rung him on the "second or third day" after Putin's invasion.

Alexander Lukashenko on Jan. 7 claimed rising tensions around Belarus are driven by foreign adversaries and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of being directed to provoke Belarus into war.

"During the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost 38,000 of their soldiers in this direction alone, with nearly 15,000 of these losses being irreversible," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Both Russian and Ukrainian official confirmed the fresh offensive into the Kursk region on Sunday. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said that Russian forces had pushed back Ukrainian troops, though online bloggers said Moscow faced major pressure.