The Baltic countries, which have long claimed that they could become victims of a future invasion by Moscow, are taking the initiative and deciding to equip themselves with joint “defense structures” along the borders with Russia and its ally Belarus. This was announced by the Estonian Ministry of Defense, according to which Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia “will build anti-mobility defense structures in the coming years to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats.”
Meanwhile, Russian maneuvers are already causing problems for Poland and Sweden: according to the ISW, the interruptions in GPS systems that occurred between December and January in both countries could be precisely due to the electronic warfare exercises conducted by Moscow in Kaliningrad and in the Baltic Sea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to attack energy infrastructure on Russian territory with its drones, with the bombings, although not on the same scale as the Russian ones on its territory, still having important symbolic value and demonstrating the responsiveness of Kiev's armed forces. A military intelligence source yesterday claimed responsibility for a raid on an oil depot in the Bryansk border region in which four large tanks caught fire. The attack occurred in the town of Klintsy. Governor Alexander Bogomaz said that a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle intercepted by Russian defenses dropped the bombs it was carrying on the depot before it was destroyed.
And in Ufa, the capital of the Russian Republic of Bashkiria, demonstrations continue to protest against the arrest of Bashkir activist Fayil Alsynov. According to the independent media SOTAvision, around 1,500 people gathered in a square and sang and danced to demand the release of Alsynov, who was sentenced to four years in prison for “inciting hatred between ethnic groups”. Accusation that the activist denies. According to independent media, the Moscow Times reports, at least ten people were arrested.
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– The Baltics' tripartite agreement for an anti-Putin wall
There are updates at 3:40 p.m
Lukashenko: I received Iskander missiles from Russia.
Fly. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had received Iskander-type hypersonic tactical missile systems from Russia. “We received these Iskander systems from the Russians, paid for by them, although we pay them for other things. It is a particularly dangerous weapon. “I signed a decree on how they should be used with the approval of the president,” Lukashenko said, quoted by Ria Novosti. “We must thank the Russians” because they “helped us a lot last year,” Lukashenko continued in statements republished by Ukrainska Pravda. “I don't even want to mention the nuclear weapons that put everyone in their place. As soon as Belarus got nuclear weapons, everyone laid down their pens,” he added. “God forbid I or any other generation of politicians ever have to deal with this alone.” Think about the use of nuclear weapons. It's a terrible weapon.
1:07 p.m
Mattarella: Wars on the EU's borders worry us
ROME. “We are living through a difficult, in many ways dramatic time, in which man seems stubbornly determined to destroy what he has built and to denigrate his own dignity. “We are worried about the wars being waged on Europe’s borders,” said President Sergio Mattarella. “Not only because the wind of death, destruction and hate travels faster than weapons and affects our lives, our economy and our conscience.” But “because Europe has written the word peace into its identity.” This calls for “those in power to be held accountable.”
12:28 p.m
Zelensky to Trump: “Can you end the war in 24 hours?” Then come to Kiev”
Volodymyr Zelensky invited Donald Trump to Kiev, but on one condition: in an interview with Channel 4 News, the Ukrainian president said that the former US president would be welcome in the capital as long as he could end the war with Russia within 24 hours , as he claimed last year. “Please, Donald Trump, I invite you to Ukraine, to Kiev. So if you can end the war within 24 hours, I think that would be enough,” Zelensky said. “Maybe Donald Trump has a real idea and can share it with me,” he added during the interview that aired last night. In an interview with Fox last June, Trump claimed: “I would find a deal in 24 hours. I would say one thing to Zelensky and Putin. I would make a deal very quickly and that would stop the destruction.”
12:14 p.m
Zelensky's advisor Podoliak: Missiles are needed from at least 250 km away. This area can change the situation.
BERLIN. Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in an interview with German newspaper Bild: “Missiles with a range of 250 kilometers or more are currently one of the most important solutions; they can significantly change Ukraine's situation in the war with Moscow.” Situation at the front. Russia fights with quantity, not quality.” Podoljak, whom Bild describes as the Ukrainian president’s “most important adviser,” recalled that “Ukraine defends itself in different directions and attacks in different directions. The front line of today's intense fighting is 600-800 kilometers” and the “overall line” of one is “1,300 km”. “The problem at this stage of the war is that the number of weapons, drones, grenades, etc. is not evenly distributed” between the two sides and “that has to be balanced!” Responding to a question about those in the West who say Ukrainian plans to retake all of the territory are “completely unrealistic,” Podoliak replied: “These people have to realize that this is a big war. He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) has started a big war and will not be happy with a small part of Ukraine, which means this war will not end.” “The question is whether Ukraine exists as a state or “Not,” he summarized. “Of course we have to talk to people; we understand that two years is a long war,” “there are disappointments. But: The state must be able to defend itself; the state must be able to defend its principles,” emphasized Zelensky's adviser.
10:10 a.m
Zelensky: Cyborgs defending Donetsk airport have shown that we are indestructible
“242 days of defense of Donetsk airport. 242 days of steadfastness and courage from our defenders. The performance of the cyborgs has shown that Ukrainians are indestructible”: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy writes on East) defended from the Russian invasion. “Then the world could already see what the Ukrainians were capable of,” Zelenskyy added. “We remember everyone who fights for our country.” Today Ukraine remembers the defenders of Donetsk airport.
08:19
Moscow: A Ukrainian drone was shot down over Bryansk province
According to Russia, a Ukrainian drone was intercepted and shot down in the skies over Bryansk province on the border with Ukraine. According to the Moscow Defense Ministry, this morning “at about 6:30 a.m. local time, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using a drone against structures within the territory of the Russian Federation,” as it is described, was foiled. A republished statement from Russia's Tass agency added that “air defense destroyed the drone over the Bryansk region.” The region's governor, Alexander Bogomaz, announced via Telegram that there were no injuries or damage.
07:46
Kiev: 4 out of 7 Russian drones shot down during the night
Russian forces fired seven kamikaze drones against Ukraine last night, four of which were shot down by Kiev's air defense: this was announced by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrinform reported. “During the night hours, the Russian invaders carried out another attack, launching seven Shahed-136/131 unidirectional attack UAVs. Four enemy UAVs were destroyed by the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces,” the message posted on Facebook said.
1 O 'clock
Biden on Ukraine: “Make negotiations fail? Ask Trump”
“Ask him.” This is the answer that US President Joe Biden gave to a journalist who asked him whether Donald Trump wanted to derail negotiations over Ukraine.
00:10
Aiea: Mines again around the Zaporizhzhia power plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Friday evening that mines had been replaced around the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The power plant, Europe's largest, has been in the hands of Moscow's armed forces since March 2022 and has been hit by multiple battle-related blackouts and the Russian military regularly accuses Ukraine of posing a threat. “Mines have been replaced along the perimeter of the nuclear power plant,” the IAEA said in a statement. The mines were removed in November but have now been reinstalled, which is “incompatible with IAEA safety requirements,” the press release said. According to the IAEA, they are located “in an area prohibited for employees working at the plant,” between the plant’s internal and external fences. The IAEA has reported that the agency still does not have access to various parts of the plant. At the beginning of January, Moscow cited security reasons for restricting access. Tensions continue to arise between Moscow and Kiev over this issue and the IAEA acts as a mediator to work with the Russians to ensure the security of the site. The Zaporizhzhia Power Plant is located in Energodar, along the Dnieper River, which serves as a natural border line between Russians and Ukrainians. The location is also 50 kilometers as the crow flies southwest of the city of Zaporizhia.