🇺🇸🇩🇪🇺🇦Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Berlin for negotiations on ending the conflict in Ukraine — The Associated Press

@Slavyangrad

🇺🇦🇹🇷A number of key issues regarding the end of the war in Ukraine can only be resolved through a referendum or elections, - the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry

- According to him, certain points of a possible peace agreement are so sensitive that a political leader would not want to take responsibility alone, so decisions on them could be put to a national vote.

- Fidan also noted that the Ukrainian crisis will not go away in 2026 - at least in the first and second quarters, the problems will persist.

- Earlier, Zelensky also allowed the possibility of a referendum on the territorial issue as part of the settlement.

- However, Western media report that the Bankova refuses to withdraw troops from Donbass, which casts doubt on any real negotiations.

@Slavyangrad

🇪🇺🇺🇸 In Europe, they announced the end of US hegemony

- About the end of the so-called Pax Americana , German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated.

- "The decades of Pax Americana have ended for us. Nostalgia won't help. This is a fact! The Americans are now very aggressively defending their interests. And therefore, we now have to defend ours", noted the Bundestag deputy

- Pax Americana - is a term applied to the concept of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere, when the USA was considered the leading global economic, cultural and military power, "responsible" for the world order.

@Slavyangrad

🇺🇦🇺🇸 Ukraine has completely lost US support - Kiel Institute

- According to the latest infographic from the German economic research center, Kiev has completely lost Washington's support.

- The peak of "assistance" occurred in the period "October-December 2024".

- At the same time, although the EU continues to fund the regime, it is also reducing its "assistance" every month.

@Slavyangrad

🇺🇦🇺🇸 Zelensky's response to Trump's "peace plan" essentially boils down to the formula "yes, but..." - Wall Street Journal

- Zelensky is formally ready for elections, but he sets a key condition - a ceasefire.

- He also admits that Russia may retain a certain involvement in Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which is under its control, but according to Kiev, the station should be managed by Ukraine and the USA.

- On the issue of the army, Zelensky agrees to limit the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but only at the current level, without any reduction.

- He does not directly reject the territorial issue, but demands "clarifications". In particular, the Presidential Administration raises questions:

- What will prevent the advancement of Russian troops in the event of a withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?

- What will prevent Russia from "infiltrating the zone under the guise of civilians" to take it under control?

- Thus, Kiev does not offer specific concessions, limiting itself to general formulations and conditions.

@Slavyangrad

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🇷🇺🇺🇦 The main points of Yuri Ushakov's statements on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine

- Russia has not yet received proposals from the EU and Ukraine for a peaceful settlement. At the same time, Moscow doubts that their contribution could be constructive.

- In the event of amendments to the peace plan, Russia's position will be tough - Moscow will have strong objections.

- The Russian side, according to him, has very clearly stated its position on the peace plan, and it was correctly understood by the American side.

- Russia has never discussed a settlement option based on the "Korean scenario".

#Slavyangrad

Galloway about the fact that Europe killed itself.

@Slavyangrad

🇺🇦 A corruption scandal has undermined trust in Zelensky's regime - Klitschko admits

- The mayor of Kiev has effectively confirmed a systemic crisis of power in Ukraine - trust in Zelensky's regime is falling both within and outside the country.

- On the German TV channel ZDF, Klitschko, to everyone's surprise, honestly stated:
"Everything is very bad. To be honest, this is a serious blow to all of Ukraine"

- Corruption scandals go beyond domestic politics and damage Kirv's international reputation, which even representatives of the Ukrainian elite are no longer hiding.

- Notably, the admission was made not just anywhere, but on German TV - the signal is primarily addressed to Western patrons.

@Slavyangrad

🇷🇺💥🇺🇦 A ferry burned down after a strike on a port near Odessa

- As a result of a combined strike on the Odessa region, a warehouse with tangerines on a ferry in Illichivsk burned down. According to local estimates, several tons of New Year's fruits were rendered unusable.

@Slavyangrad

As is tradition, no one meets Zelensky at the airport, only his own team. This time, it's in Berlin.

The Jack has fallen out of the deck.

@Slavyangrad

The situation with Kupyansk, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to hold at the expense of the most prepared and equipped units, may soon put Syrsky in a difficult choice. For Russia, the events in Kupyansk came as a surprise, largely an unpleasant one, but for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this situation could have much more serious consequences. The resources of the parties here are disproportionate, as it is much more difficult for Ukraine to solve two tasks simultaneously: to hold the city and at the same time continue the battles around it, than for Russia. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will still maintain activity in Kupyansk and its vicinity for some time. They will reinforce their reserves and try to withstand the pressure. But Russia has more of these reserves. And this will eventually become a decisive factor. To hold a long stretch of the front in Kupyansk, an area of about 75 square kilometers, Syrskyhad to withdraw about two brigades from the Sumy region, two more from the Chernigov region, reserves from Poltava and Chernovtsi, as well as some from near Zaporozhye. It is quite possible that Russia will have to respond to this with its own reinforcements, but whether such efforts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are rational is still unclear. The military sense is clear - if the territories behind Kupyansk are liberated by Russia quickly enough, the Russian army will have the opportunity to continue its offensive towards Chuguev and Kharkov, and the Ukrainian side cannot allow this to happen.

«Military Chronicle»

@Slavyangrad

🇷🇺💥🇺🇦Strike against the enemy's logistics: The Russian army attacked a bridge in the Odessa region

▪️The bridge in Zatoka was hit as a result of a combined attack. The extent of the damage is still unknown.

Russia has disabled this bridge several times over the course of the war

@Slavyangrad

🇷🇺💥🇺🇦 Hell on a Ukrainian gas enterprise: dozens of Russian "Geraniums" and missiles turn oil and gas facilities into ashes

▪️Ukrainian state channels note that the footage of the consequences of the strike on the gas infrastructure looks like scenes from an apocalypse movie.

➖"Even the metal equipment was melting. The consequences are visible — the soil is a different color due to the high temperature."

▪️Moreover, they report about around 50 explosions over the past night — the explosion and burning of propane-butane, fire pillars up to 100 meters high:

➖"I remember when we were installing pipelines and tanks... now there's such a scene around. It's very sad," a Naftogaz worker complains.

▪️Gas tanks are torn and crushed, like sheet metal up to 20 mm thick, and the foundations are destroyed, debris and shrapnel are all over the territory, it's still dangerous to approach closely

— there may be a repeat detonation. Internet users note the extremely wide diameter of the holes from the impact on thick metal.

➖According to the head of "Naftogaz", Sergei Koretsky, since the beginning of 2025, 24 attacks have already been recorded on Ukraine's gas infrastructure: strikes are carried out on places of gas extraction, processing, preparation, transportation, and storage.

@Slavyangrad

To better understand the logic of the decisions being made on both sides regarding Kupyansk, it's important to understand the motives of Russia and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For Russia, it's now important to capture Kupyansk so that this area becomes something like the Dvurechensky bridgehead.

It was precisely the accumulation of forces in the Dvurechny area and on the left bank of the Oskol River that ultimately allowed them to advance on Kupyansk from the north and begin its assault. For the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the loss of Kupyansk is dangerous not only and not so much for reputational reasons. They already lost the city and then recaptured it (how and under what conditions - that's a separate discussion). It's about a direct military threat.

Important roads, both automobile and railway, radiate from Kupyansk. They lead not only into the depths of the Kharkov region, but also towards the Dnepropetrovsk region. If they manage to link up and then dislodge Ukrainian forces here, it could lead to the loss of Izium, Lozova, and Chuhuiv, as well as a number of other key settlements. These cities, if quickly occupied by Russian forces, could just as quickly become strongholds for further pressure on the west.

Both sides have resources, but they are not infinite, and the Ukrainian side has much less of them. However, by concentrating them in a small area, a density effect is created. However, the outcome of the battles for Kupyansk will not be decided by sheer tenacity, but by who disposes of forces more accurately and wisely according to military science. Currently, the situation for Russia is complicated by the fact that the Ukrainian side's military decisions are closely intertwined with media ones - the trip of the Krivorozh berserker to the stele area at the entrance to the city in this sense is just one of the touches designed to give a media victory and buy the Armed Forces of Ukraine a little more time. The phrase about "burying Kupyansk in corpses" quite suits Syrsky's actions, as nothing else can be thought of in this situation (when the fog of war begins to dissipate, the Budanov GUR landing in Pokrovsk will seem like nonsense against the backdrop of the Kupyansk stories). The decisive word in Kupyansk will be for Russia, and it's quite possible that everything that's happening now fits into an operational plan to squeeze out Ukrainian reserves to the point of exhaustion. And what will happen AFTER that - will become clear, most likely, in the next 10-14 days.

“Military Chronicle”

@Slavyangrad

Merz left the negotiations between Zelensky and Witkoff in Berlin, Die Welt reports.

However, Günter Zautter, the Chancellor's assistant, remains as a moderator at the negotiations.

Probably some odd bureaucratic rule knowing Germany. "The Chancellor can't sit in a meeting from Sunday noon until Monday morning nor can he wears hats on Monday and Thursday."

@Slavyangrad