Executive Summary

It's Saturday, January 24th. Limited armed conflict occurred on January 23 as diplomacy took center stage with Russia, Ukraine, and the United States holding their first trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the nearly four-year war. Russian strikes on Ukraine killed 3 civilians and wounded 27 in attacks across Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Chernihiv regions. A suicide bomber targeting a wedding in northwest Pakistan killed 7 and wounded 25. U.S. military forces conducted a lethal strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific killing 2 suspected drug traffickers.

No confirmed lethal incidents on January 23

No armed conflict, terrorist attacks, or lethal security incidents with confirmed January 23 timing were documented across the Middle East and North Africa theater. Gaza ceasefire violations continued but specific casualties for this date could not be verified from available reporting. The regional security environment remained tense with ongoing Israeli-Palestinian tensions, Iran protest crackdown aftermath, and Syria transition challenges, but no date-specific violent events were confirmed.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, BBC News

Russian strikes kill 3 civilians across Ukraine

Russian forces killed 3 civilians and wounded at least 27 others on January 23 across multiple Ukrainian regions. In Derhachi community, Kharkiv Region, a Russian FPV drone deliberately targeted a vehicle carrying bread-delivery volunteers, killing 2 people and wounding 3 others. Regional officials condemned the attack on humanitarian workers providing food aid to border communities.

In Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russian glide bomb strikes killed 1 person and wounded 9. Governor Ivan Fedorov reported the casualty toll rose throughout the day as rescue operations continued in the settlement.

Additional Russian strikes injured civilians across multiple regions. In Kryvyi Rih, a combined attack around 11:00 local time wounded 12 people including 4 children. Russian forces launched a drone attack on a high-rise residential building in Dnipro, injuring at least 7 people. In the village of Vertiivka, Chernihiv Region, Russian troops struck an agricultural enterprise with drones, injuring 4 men. In Sumy, Russian invaders struck a shopping center in the Kovpakivskyi district on Friday, January 23, though no casualties were reported from this attack.

Ukrainian forces conducted counter-strikes, hitting the Penzanefteprodukt oil depot in Russia's Penza region on Friday morning, causing a fire. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 119 combat clashes since the beginning of the day. Russian forces made 62 aviation strikes dropping 145 controlled bombs and launched thousands of kamikaze drones.

Historic Ukraine-Russia-US trilateral talks begin in Abu Dhabi

Russia, Ukraine, and the United States held their first trilateral peace talks on Friday, January 23, in Abu Dhabi, marking the first such meeting since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The talks, scheduled to continue into Saturday January 24, focused on parameters for ending the war with territorial disputes over the Donbas region emerging as the key sticking point.

The White House characterized Friday's meeting as productive, with officials stating conversations would continue the following day. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with the heads of delegations and expressed hope the talks would contribute to ending the conflict. The UAE Foreign Ministry said the two-day meeting was part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis.

The U.S. delegation included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and NATO's top military commander US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich. Ukraine was represented by Rustem Umerov (head of national security and defense council), Andrii Hnatov (chief of general staff), and Kyrylo Budanov (head of the presidential office). Russia sent Admiral Igor Kustyukov among its delegation.

The trilateral meeting came after Witkoff and Kushner held overnight talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday. President Zelenskyy said territorial disputes would be central to discussions, stating the Donbas issue is key. The Kremlin maintained its demand that Ukraine withdraw forces from eastern territories Russia has illegally annexed but does not fully control. Witkoff had stated in Davos on Thursday that negotiations were down to one issue.

Sources: Ukrainian General Staff, Ukrinform, Al Jazeera, ABC News, NBC News, Euronews, Fox News, The National (UAE), Anadolu Agency, RTE

US military strike kills 2 in Eastern Pacific drug operation

U.S. military forces conducted a lethal kinetic strike on an alleged drug smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Southern Spear, killing 2 people with 1 survivor recovered by search and rescue. The strike targeted what U.S. officials described as a semi-submersible or maritime vessel suspected of drug trafficking.

No additional operational details were released regarding the specific location or circumstances of the strike. The incident marked a rare kinetic action in the Eastern Pacific region and represented a continuation of U.S. counter-narcotics military operations in international waters.

Sources: Wikipedia, The Rio Times

No confirmed lethal incidents on January 23

No armed conflict, terrorist attacks, or lethal security incidents with confirmed January 23 timing were documented across Sub-Saharan Africa based on date-specific reporting. Multiple active conflict zones continued operations including Sudan's SAF-RSF civil war, counter-terrorism efforts against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, and insurgencies across the Sahel region, but specific violent events could not be conclusively verified as occurring on this date versus being reported on this date.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Geeska

Taiwan detects 23 Chinese military aircraft sorties

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence detected 23 PLA aircraft sorties starting at 10:40 local time on January 23, with 17 crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The incursion included J-10 fighters, H-6K bombers capable of carrying cruise missiles, and KJ-500 early warning aircraft conducting air-sea joint training alongside 5 PLAN naval vessels.

The operation represented sustained gray-zone pressure following China's Justice Mission 2025 exercises conducted in late December 2025. Taiwan's defense ministry monitored the activities and responded with appropriate defensive measures. No hostile engagement or casualties were reported from the military activities.

Sources: The Tribune, War on the Rocks

Suicide bomber targets wedding in northwest Pakistan

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest among wedding guests at the home of Noor Alam Mehsud, a pro-government peace committee leader, in Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Guests were dancing to drums when the blast occurred on Friday, January 23. The explosion caused a roof collapse that hampered rescue operations.

The attack killed 7 people and wounded 25 others, some critically. The bombing exemplified Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ongoing targeting of tribal leaders who collaborate with Pakistani security forces. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the attack bore hallmarks of TTP operations against government-aligned community figures.

India eliminates foreign terrorist in Kashmir operation

Indian Army and Jammu & Kashmir Police conducted a joint counterterrorism operation in the Parhetar area of Kathua District, eliminating 1 foreign terrorist in a precision strike. The militant was reportedly connected to Jaish-e-Mohammed. No security force or civilian casualties were reported from the encounter. Search operations continued in the area after the strike.

Sources: ABC News, Associated Press, Local 10, ClickOnDetroit, Messenger-Inquirer, India TV News, TDT News, Kashmir Age, RFE/RL

Fortinet zero-day actively exploited

Fortinet confirmed active exploitation of a FortiCloud SSO authentication bypass vulnerability on fully-patched FortiGate firewalls. The zero-day allows unauthorized access and firewall configuration changes. An automated exploitation cluster began on January 15, 2026, according to security researchers.

Energy sector targeted in phishing campaign

Microsoft's Defender Security Research Team identified a multi-stage adversary-in-the-middle phishing campaign targeting multiple energy sector organizations. The campaign abused SharePoint file-sharing services and used inbox rules for persistence, linked to the Tycoon2FA phishing-as-a-service platform.

CISA adds exploited vulnerabilities

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added four actively exploited vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, including CVE-2025-68645 affecting Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite with a CVSS score of 8.8.

Sources: Western Illinois University, GovInfoSecurity, CSCIS