Veteran of the 24th Brigade, Petro Buryak: We cleared the area, then a drone hit. I lost my memory. In a coma I fought for my life.

I don’t remember my five clinical deaths, only fragments. I flatlined near Mykolaiv and was revived there and twice more in Odesa — Suspilne Lviv1/ Petro Buryak: My wife brought me out of the coma. Inside it I felt lightness and struggle, searching for a way back.

I remember rising above my body on the table—pain everywhere, no one hearing me. Then I floated free, lighter than a feather, no pain at all.

2/

Donald Trump is implementing a 21st-century version of the Monroe Doctrine.

The United States is shifting toward direct control, military scale, and bilateral dominance.

Recent White House actions show how Trump plans to govern and project power. 1/ Military power sits at the core of this strategy.

Trump announced plans to raise the U.S. military budget for FY2027 to $1.5 trillion, the largest defense budget in history.

Trump: “We will build the Dream Military and keep America SAFE and SECURE.” 2/

130 days in solitary confinement. Beatings up to 20 times a day. Electric shocks. Teeth ripped out. Hunger that forced him to eat a rat.

This is the story of Ukrainian soldier Oleksii Anulia, who survived 10 months in Russian captivity — UP. 1/ Oleksii is a professional athlete and former bodyguard. Before the full-scale invasion, he trained in kickboxing, crossfit, and long-distance swimming. Among the people he protected were WhatsApp founder Jan Koum and the son of Libya’s prime minister. 2/

Cuban POW captured in Ukraine: "Russian comander just said, go to Kupyansk. You have to go to Kupyansk. I said it was impossible. I couldn't walk. They told me, it's no problem. So I went to Kupyansk through the forest with a bullet in my leg [friendly fire].” 1/ POW: "I didn't sign a contract. I was supposed to be deported to Cuba. The immigration officer replied that I was being deported to Cuba. After 6 days I left in a metal car. I didn't understand why. It wasn't true. I was going to war." 2/

How effectively Ukraine uses manpower will define the battlefield balance in 2026.

Victory will not hinge on new weapons alone, but on whether Ukraine can keep enough trained, motivated infantry on a 1,000+ km front without breaking unit cohesion — Kyiv Independent. 1/ Ukraine’s so-called “firefighter” units are central. Assault formations are repeatedly thrown into crisis sectors to stop Russian breakthroughs, stabilizing the line fast, but burning through mobilized troops faster than the system can replace them. 2/

In Kyiv, in a clandestine school children are taught using Soviet textbooks, study Russian language, and watch Russian films.

School operates at a Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) monastery. — SlidstvoInfo. 1/ The school functions on the grounds of the Holosiivskyi monastery of the UOC-MP.

It calls itself a “family club,” but in practice it operates as a full-time school: five days a week, 9:00–14:00, grades, exams, and extended-day groups. 2/

Hodges: Budanov [ex-Chief Spy, now Head of President Zelenskyy's Office] is an exceptional person.

I love the idea of him sitting across the table from the Russians and them knowing that he was responsible for the thinning out of their neighborhood. 1/ Hodges: Ukrainian HUR [Defense Intelligence of Ukraine] will continue going after Russian generals involved in war crimes and targeting processes.

Those generals need to be looking under their car for the rest of their life. 2/

Hodges on the US seizing two oil tankers: I kept hoping Trump would see Russia mocked and played him and use U.S. leverage.

We heard “in two weeks” many times and nothing happened. I’ll be the first to say I was wrong if he’s serious this time. 1/ Hodges: I’ll believe Trump is serious when he enforces sanctions on Russia, and the US takes real steps to stop the flow of Russian oil and gas to China and India.

If the US doesn’t do any of those, then this [Trump's talk] will be nothing. 2/

I wrote in FT: Ukraine has survived because parts of its military operate like startups—small autonomous teams, horizontal coordination, fast decisions, constant testing.

This culture must scale across the state for Ukraine to survive and grow. 1/ Ukraine did not stop Russia with more tanks or artillery. It did so by out-thinking and out-adapting a larger army.

The most effective units rewired how they fight: autonomy over hierarchy, speed over procedure, results over reports. 2/

Ukraine is negotiating and preparing for a long war at the same time.

Zelenskyy: I do not want and will not wait another six months hoping that maybe negotiations will work. After months of saying peace talks were “90 percent complete,” he now sounds far more cautious. — NYT 1/ Zelenskyy: The first priority is ending the war. The second is being prepared for Russia’s unwillingness to end the war.

I understand that we are very close to results, but at some point, Russia may block everything. 2/

The US seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela after a 2+ week chase across the Atlantic - US European Command

The Coast Guard says the ship dodged a US blockade of sanctioned tankers and refused boarding. A Russian submarine and warship stayed nearby, Reuters 1/ The tanker originally sailed as Bella-1. It later re-flagged as Russian and renamed itself Marinera.

The Coast Guard tried to stop it last month, the crew refused to let boarding teams on and kept sailing. 2/

The UK and France have pledged to deploy troops and weaponry to Ukraine as part of security guarantees to underpin a proposed peace deal.

A European-led deterrence force would provide reassurance in the air, at sea and on land with US support — FT.

1/ UK PM Starmer said allies made commitments paving "the way for the legal framework under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil."

After a ceasefire, the UK and France will establish military hubs across Ukraine with protected weapons facilities.

2/

Dmytro, Russian POW: Try to leave your position and we’ll shoot you ourselves. That’s what commanders told us.

Over the radio, wounded soldiers begged to pull back — some without arms, some without legs.

[Russians treat their people no better than enemies]

1/ Dmytro: We walked for five days and nights with no food or water, sleeping in forest pits.

Wounded were brought in, one had lost a leg to a mine, but no food, no medicine arrived.

About 25–30 went in. Only three survived.

2X

They stripped me naked and put a dead body next to me. “If you move, you’re next.”

Russian forces told this to a Ukrainian captured near Mariupol on March 3, 2022. He spent more than three years in captivity.

This is the story of Oleksandr Hurzhov — Hromadske. 1/ Hurzhov is 30, from Mariupol. Russian troops captured him less than a week after the full-scale invasion began.

He was wounded, cut off from Ukrainian units, and later listed as AWOL while in captivity.  2/

Sikorski: Putin may have hoped, as he did from the beginning, that democracies are pathetic, democracies don't have the staying power.

Now he has to be ready to fight for another two years. And it's not clear that his army and his economy can bear that burden. 1/ Sikorski: The list of agreements where West Europeans decide above the heads of Central and Eastern Europe is a long and a very unhappy one.

And we know what they are. The latest ones, of course, were Minsk I and Minsk II, and we don't need a Minsk III. 2/

A 55-year-old Ukrainian infantryman went to the front for two weeks.

He stayed on the front line, meters from Russian positions, for 165 days.

This is the story of “Udav,” a soldier of the 152nd Separate Jaeger Brigade, — Ukrainska Pravda. 1/ Udav entered the position on June 18, 2025. He exited on November 30.

Command attempted to rotate him five times, but no replacement reached the position.  2/

John Bolton: Putin believes Ukraine belongs in a restored Russian empire and launched unprovoked aggression.

Ukraine posed no threat to Russia. That’s nothing like Venezuela, which directly threatened U.S. security. Ukraine, Taiwan, and Venezuela are not comparable cases.

1/ Bolton: After removing Maduro, Trump signaled the U.S. would “run Venezuela for a while.”

By sidelining the democratic opposition and dealing with Maduro’s inner circle, Trump risks settling for “Maduro 2.0” to secure oil—undercutting the case for removing him at all.

2/

Trump says the US will run Venezuela after capturing Maduro — The Economist.

After a US special forces raid captured Maduro on Jan 3, Trump framed the US control of Venezuela as enforcing American dominance in the western hemisphere. 1/ Trump invoked a new Donroe Doctrine: American dominance will never be questioned again.

He claimed Maduro’s VP Delcy Rodríguez would cooperate with US plans. She rejected this, calling the operation illegal and an atrocity. 2/

Bolton: Putin enters 2026 convinced he is winning.

He sees no domestic threats, little Western resolve, believes time is on Russia’s side, and has no incentive to compromise, The Kyiv Independent. 1/ Despite heavy losses, Putin views the war as logical — a step toward rebuilding a Russian empire. Human and economic costs matter less than territorial control. 2/

A 20-year-old woman named Polina has returned from Russian-occupied Crimea to join Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

In Crimea, Russians forced her to listen to the Russian anthem, banned Ukrainian symbols, and pressured her at school, reports Suspilne. 1/ Polina was 9 years old when Russia occupied Crimea in 2014.

She remembers columns of Russian military vehicles in Kerch, the rapid ban on Ukrainian symbols, mandatory listening to the Russian anthem at school, and pressure on students who rejected Russian propaganda. 2/

Russia has begun mounting Verba MANPADS on Shahed drones, turning them into flying anti-air threats. — United24

A modified Shahed was recovered by Ukraine’s 412th Nemesis Brigade. 1/ The drone carried a 9K333 Verba missile, confirmed by markings on the launch container.

Verba entered Russian service in 2015 as a newer system than Igla and offers up to 6 km range and 3.5 km altitude. 2/