Russia has lost at least 19 generals since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has killed senior Russian officers — by artillery, sniper fire, strikes on command posts, and suspected sabotage — both near the front and deep behind it, The Insider reports. 1/
Recent losses include top figures from across Russia’s military hierarchy:
- Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological defense troops,
- Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the General Staff’s main operational directorate, 2/
- Mikhail Gudkov, deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy,
- Fanil Sarvarov, head of the General Staff’s operational training department. 3/
Ukraine should study Baltic integration policies — what works and what backfires. Because after the war we will need to encourage a shift to Ukrainian without pushing Russian-speaking citizens into alienation.
The Economist uses Latvia as a warning case and calls it a “gift to the Kremlin.” 1/
Latvia shut down Latvian Radio 4 (LR4) on Jan. 1, ending public Russian-language broadcasting after nearly 25 years.
LR4 had a stable audience and an anti-Kremlin, pro-Latvian editorial line. It went silent because it broadcast in Russian. 2/
The legal basis is Latvia’s 2023 National Security Concept: public media content must be in Latvian or “languages belonging to the European cultural space.” Russian does not qualify.
Russian-language media can exist only with private funding. 3/
Sen. Tillis: We had 17 military installations in Greenland, and they'd be happy to have us back. We could do it without taking over a NATO country.
And I would defy you [Trump] to find any credible general with a star on his shoulder who would say that it is a good idea. 1/
Sen. Tillis: Stephen Miller speaks for the President of the United States. But when he says that the US government thinks that Greenland should be a part of NATO, he should talk to people like me who have an election certificate and a vote in the US Senate. 2/
Sen. Tillis: What makes me cranky is when we tarnish the extraordinary execution of a mission in Venezuela by turning around and making insane comments about how it is our right to have territory owned by the kingdom of Denmark. 3X
Kellogg: Zelenskyy's a tough son of a b*tch. He's stubborn. He has his opinion. He's unafraid to say that. He knows how to use media.
I said [to Trump] he was an embattled and courageous leader. We in the United States have not seen a leader like him since Abraham Lincoln. 1/
Kellogg: There are some malevolent actors out there. You have North Korea, China, what's left of Iran, and Russia. In the past, we didn't allow those four to come together. We kept them separated. Now they've come together. The point is to separate them. 2/
Kellogg: I don't think Putin wants Ukraine to succeed. Putin as a former KGB officer, I don't think they ever outlived their roots. He's got a goal in mind. What we want in the West is not necessarily what he wants. 3/
Is the British Army ready to deploy to Ukraine after a ceasefire?
Former UK defence secretary Ben Wallace questions whether the proposed “coalition of the willing” has the troops, funding, and logistics to succeed. — The Telegraph. 1/
The Paris Declaration suggests Britain and France could put boots on the ground in Ukraine after a ceasefire. Wallace points to funding gaps among coalition leaders.
Wallace: “Britain and France aren’t spending any extra money on defence — only Germany is.” 2/
Wallace questions how long the UK could sustain a deployment without weakening other commitments.
Wallace: “We could do it for a short period of time, but it would come at the expense of something else.”
That “something else” is likely the UK’s 500-soldier NATO battlegroup in Estonia. 3/
Ukraine is two steps away from a ceasefire, but the price is high. True peace arrives only with EU membership; now, it’s about a "grand truce."
The main hurdles are the status of Ukraine-controlled Donbas and security guarantees — former FM of Ukraine Kuleba, 24 Channel. 1/
Kuleba: We are standing "at the door." Opening it means a unified position between Ukraine, Europe, and the US. Crossing the threshold means forcing Putin to sign. The US needs a quick result for a Trump diplomatic win, so the pressure on Kyiv is immense. 2/
Kuleba: Ukraine-controlled Donetsk region. Russia demands Ukraine withdrawal and entry of Rosgvardia (de facto sovereignty loss). Ukraine is ready to consider withdrawal only as a tactical move (like in Kyiv 2022), without political concession of the land. 3/