The President's Daily Brief
January 6th, 2025: Ukraine Launches Massive Counterattack in Kursk & Undersea Sabotage Off Taiwan
Mon, 06 Jan 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Reports of a surprise Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region following months of pressure from Russian and North Korean forces. More undersea sabotage: a telecommunications cable off Taiwan’s coast has been damaged, just days after similar accusations against Russia in the Baltic Sea. An update from Haiti, where international forces are working to maintain order as gangs attack the nation’s already struggling healthcare sector. And in today’s Back of the Brief: Hospitals in China are overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses, raising fears of a potential epidemic. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the surprise Ukrainian offensive in Kursk?
It's Monday, 6th January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. Today, we start with reports of another surprise Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region. It's a bold move following months of pressure from Russian and North Korean forces. I'll bring you the details.
Later in the show, more undersea sabotage. I mean, this is becoming quite the thing. A telecommunications cable off Taiwan's coast was damaged just days after Russia faced accusations of similar sabotage in the Baltic Sea. Plus, an update from Haiti, where international forces are working to maintain order as gangs launch attacks on the nation's already struggling healthcare sector.
And in today's back of the brief. All right. First of all, no need to panic. But hospitals in China are overwhelmed with patients suffering from a respiratory illness, sparking fears of another potential epidemic. And if the Chinese regime treats this problem the way that they did covid.
Well, they'll try to keep it under wraps, they'll downplay the problem, avoid transparency, of course, and blame the rest of the world. But I guess that just makes me cynical. But first, today's spotlight. Ukrainian forces have launched a surprise counteroffensive in Russia's Kursk region, catching Moscow off guard. The operation began at approximately 9 a.m.
Moscow time on Sunday, which is 1 a.m. on the east coast of the United States. The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the attack, stating, "...the operation to destroy the Ukrainian army formations continues." Russian military bloggers, often quick to share frontline developments, confirmed the scale of the offensive.
Popular blogger Rybar reported that Ukraine deployed several formations into Kursk, gathered from the neighboring Ukrainian region of Sumy. This indicates that Kyiv has been preparing for this operation for some time, despite facing challenges elsewhere. Ukrainian officials have celebrated the offensive.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office shared a brief but pointed message on Telegram stating a Kursk region. Good news. Russia is getting what it deserves. Meanwhile, Andrei Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, described the operation as targeting Russian forces in multiple directions, causing what he called, quote, great distress in Moscow.
However, Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces, President Zelensky, and the Ministry of Defense have remained silent about this operation so far, leaving analysts to speculate about the broader strategy. At least one prominent Kremlin propagandist is mocking Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Kursk region. Well, that's what Kremlin propagandists do.
They're calling it a PR stunt designed to impress Donald Trump. Sergei Markov, the former Kremlin speechwriter, said that Ukraine had only launched a counteroffensive in the Kursk region to show the incoming U.S. president that it could still take the fight to Russia. However, despite what their propagandists are saying, the Kremlin itself is clearly taking the offensive seriously.
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Chapter 2: What recent incidents of undersea sabotage have occurred?
Analysts widely agree that Ukrainian forces are on their back foot, grappling with manpower shortages and losing ground in eastern Ukraine. Whether this new offensive marks an inflection point in the conflict or is a, well, let's call it a desperate gamble by Kiev, that remains to be seen. All right.
Coming up next, undersea sabotage strikes off Taiwan's coast, and international forces in the country of Haiti struggle to counter gang attacks on the nation's fragile health care system. I'll have those stories when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk about your online security.
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Turning to more undersea sabotage, Taiwan has appealed to South Korea for assistance in investigating a Chinese-owned cargo vessel suspected of deliberately severing a cable on Friday near its northern port of Keelung.
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