Zelenskyy: I hear signals about recognizing occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian to end the war.

That would change nothing. Not everyone would accept it, and only Ukraine signs for Ukraine. Our territories remain ours.

1/ Zelenskyy: Ukraine’s security guarantees will rest on preserving an 800,000-strong army and, after the war or a ceasefire, transitioning it from a mobilized force to a professional contract army.

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The Kremlin directly runs cyberattacks against the West.

Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) created, funded, and directed CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn, which attacked US and European critical infrastructure. One of the member is being tried in US court — Kyiv Independent. 1/ In January 2024, Russian hackers remotely sabotaged the water system of Muleshoe, Texas.

They disabled sensors so tanks overflowed. The attackers later posted control-room footage on Telegram, openly claiming responsibility. 2/

Kellogg: The longer the days go by, the better it is for Ukraine than it is for Russia. This war has gone on for four years.

Russia's only been able to take 1% more land. Once you get through the winter, I think it’s better for Ukraine than for Russia. 1/ Kellogg: Putin’s losses have been so severe, economic and personal, that he’s trying to find a way out of this. When he says he’s winning, I don’t think he’s winning this war. Historically, they will find they have failed. Ukrainians have done very well. 2/

FT: Russian satellites Luch-1 and Luch-2 have been intercepting and spying on European satellites — exposing how Moscow can monitor, disrupt, or even hijack systems that power Europe’s communications, TV, and government links. 1/ This matters because many European satellites still use unencrypted command links.

If Russia records these signals, it can later imitate ground controllers, alter orbits, knock satellites off alignment, or force them to fail. 2/

Sometimes we don’t think about what the loss of heating and electricity really means.

This winter, Kyiv’s National Botanical Garden is fighting to save plants and research dating back to the 1940s, maintained through decades of scientific work and generational effort. 1/ Kyiv Independent: the garden holds over 4,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants.

Many exist in only a few collections worldwide. Some ecosystems where they were originally collected no longer exist at all. 2/

Epstein treated Ukraine’s 2019 election as “sophisticated corruption where huge amounts of money will be made.”

He discussed Zelenskyy vs. Poroshenko, coordinated Kyiv modeling agencies Linea 12 Models and L-Models and financed a $400,000 Lviv property deal, Kyiv Independent. 1/ The files link Epstein to two Kyiv modeling agencies: Linea 12 Models and L-Models.

One email calls them “the best in Kyiv” and adds: “most of all it’s cheap escort,” with photos attached and women selected inside the thread.

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Europe is debating nuclear deterrence without the US.

Trump’s threats over Greenland pushed Sweden, Germany and Poland to revisit their nuclear options as trust in America’s umbrella weakens — The Economist. 1/ In Jan, Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter proposed a joint Nordic nuclear programme, possibly with Germany.

German politicians are quietly discussing nuclear hedging. Poland’s PM Tusk said Poland may also need nuclear weapons. 2/

Internal bleeding, severe spinal injuries, displaced vertebrae and damage to internal organs.

For 26 days, Ukrainian emergency rescuer Vitalii Kachuro has been in intensive care after being wounded on January 9 while saving people in Kyiv during a Russian attack — Hromadske. 1/ On the night of January 9, a Russian Shahed drone hit a residential high-rise building in Kyiv.

Vitalii Kachuro was among the first emergency responders to arrive at the scene. 2/

Trump: Putin agreed to pause strikes Sunday to Sunday and kept his word. The attacks resumed after that.

One week may not sound like much, but with the extreme cold in Ukraine, we’ll take anything.

1/ Trump: I want Putin to end the war. I spoke to him, and that’s what I want him to do.

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Why Donetsk sits at the center of the peace talks.

In Abu Dhabi, Rubio called it the one remaining item. Moscow disputes that — but the Ukrainian-held part of Donetsk is the core territorial demand Russia won’t drop, NYT. 1/ Russia still wants 2,082 sq miles of Donetsk — smaller than Delaware, but politically decisive.

For months, Moscow has signaled it won’t stop fighting until Kyiv hands over the rest of the region it still controls. 2/

Foreman: Russia's "third army" is effectively a bit of a rabble. It will throw emphasis back onto nuclear weapons.

Russia is already inferior economically, militarily, financially to Europe. That gap's going to grow. Russia is in decline. Russian economy is creaking along. 1/ Foreman: Why would Russia want to attack NATO when having suffered at the hands of Ukraine so grievously and then have to face an even more superior enemy?

Even European NATO could handle the Russian army let alone with the Americans there. An army quite good on paper. 2/

Sikorski: The Nobel Peace Prize is of some interest. Right now, prime ministers get letters. As foreign ministers, we have the right to nominate.

If President Trump secures a fair peace for Ukraine, I shall do it myself. But it's I who will decide what a fair peace is. 1/ Sikorski: Norwegian air defense systems and F-35s were the 1st to help protect the Polish sky. Defense cooperation has been growing steadily and effectively.

Together we are helping Ukrainian soldiers who can now train in Poland in camps. 2/

At the end of Ukraine conflict, we'll have a very big Russia problem

Russia will be reconstituting its force on NATO borders, led by the same people, convinced we're the adversary, and very angry. Putin taking on Baltic republics might be a gamble he's willing to take, Times 1/ Russia maintains the world's biggest nuclear stockpile: ~5,000 warheads on 324 ballistic missiles, 71 bombers, and 12 missile launching submarines.

Much of its arsenal, including strategic weapons, has not been damaged in Ukraine. 2/

Kasparov: Europeans’ dominant thought has been that somehow war in Ukraine will end: “Somehow they’ll come to an agreement. We don’t want to go all the way; we’re not at war with Putin.”

It’s still this mentality of detente. No one took any radical action. 1/ Kasparov: The Russian government will be a threat. This threat could escalate into outright aggression. Europe is preparing for this. Multi-year military budgets are being planned. It is understood that this war must be won and Putin deprived of the ability to fight. 2/

Sarah Paine: Putin is fixated on Ukraine, Xi on Taiwan — opposite ends of Eurasia. Their main theaters don’t align.

The West should avoid hot war, avoid trade wars, grow stronger. While Putin burns through Russia’s assets in Ukraine. That’s how the last Cold War was won.

1/ Sarah Paine: Putin is trying to build an empire in the age of nationalism. It’s a non-starter.

He’s burning Russia’s military in Ukraine while China expands into Central Asia.

Moscow chose a hot war while weak, and Beijing is strong. That’s what makes this so damaging.

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In a Kyiv suburb a Shahed strike erased a family in minutes.

Svitlana Blatova and her partner Maksym were killed instantly. Their 4-year-old daughter survived.

“A child screaming, ‘Mama, mama, mama.’ And her mother wasn’t answering. The upper floor was burning,” — Hromadske. 1/ Hours before the hit, Svitlana posted plans for the next day — errands, work, preparations for her eldest son’s 20th birthday. She went to sleep smiling. 2/

From Morgan Stanley to the front line.

At 22, Ukrainian Viktoriia Honcharuk had a Manhattan banking job, Midtown apartment. Two weeks later, she was evacuating wounded soldiers under Russian fire, NY Post. 1/
Viktoriia quit her investment banking role in Dec 2022 and flew home.

No combat or medical background. She signed up as an emergency combat medic because it was the most needed job. One week of training. Then the front. 2/

Colombian volunteer in Ukraine, DW: As of now, the president of Colombia sees us as mercenaries. He said we're mercenaries.

Because we're fighting for the freedom of a country? I personally fight for freedom. 1/ “The moment you get to this position, you see it's hell. Three orcs came up to my position, and I killed them. One FPV hit me, broke my finger. I bandaged myself up and kept fighting. That night I repelled a lot of assaults.” 2/

Putin cannot win on the battlefield, so he сonducts genocide against civilians — cutting heat, electricity, gas, and water to millions of Ukrainians during winter, writes Peter Dickinson in the Atlantic Council. 1/ Since late 2025, Russia has launched its most comprehensive campaign of strikes on civilian infrastructure since the full-scale invasion.

Power plants, heating hubs, gas and water systems are hit repeatedly to block repairs and keep cities freezing. 2/

Hodges: What makes NATO successful? Cohesion.

The Soviet Union and Russia avoided a conventional attack because they knew we would all show up.

That certainty — that everyone would be there — was the secret sauce, more decisive than money spent on equipment. 1/ Hodges: The seizure of a Russian tanker showed how the alliance works.

US helicopters staged through UK bases, refueled with British naval support, operated with US ships based in Spain by allied permission. Half of the intelligence came from allies, not only the UK. 2/

Matviichuk, Nobel Peace Prize winner: It's very difficult on daily basis to work with human pain. Russian war turns people into the numbers.

We have more than 100,000 episodes. But people are not numbers. With our documentation work, we are returning people their names. 1/ Matviichuk: War test us and provide people an opportunity to express the best in them, to be courageous, to fight for freedom and to help each other. In Ukraine, people risk their lives for others who they never met before. We have no luxury to become cynical. Cynicism is illness. 2/