
According to The Teleghaph, NATO will create a defensive cordon around Kiev in the event of a Russian offensive. Not only that, for NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: “Europe must adopt a warlike mindset.” “To prevent war, we must prepare… We must make our defenses even stronger by spending more on defense, producing more and better defense capabilities. Russia is working hard to weaken our democracies and attack our freedom, and it is not alone, with China, North Korea and Iran on its side.” Rutte stressed that Europe’s future is at stake: “We need to support Ukraine more to change the course of the war. We all want the war to end, but above all we want peace to continue.” The next NATO summit will take place in six months in The Hague.
Ukrainian President Volodymyt Zelensky complained: “The US, Hungary, Slovakia and Germany do not want to see us in NATO.” Donald Trump’s team: “This war must end. But everyone should be realistic: both Russia and Ukraine will have to make concessions,” said Marco Rubio, Trump’s candidate for US Secretary of State.
The European Union recognizes that Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy system facilities are “surgical” in nature, European Commission representative Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said at a briefing. “There is no doubt that the Ukrainian energy system is under incredible pressure due to the constant surgical strikes of the Russian military,” she said. Itkonen added that Brussels continues to support Kiev.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to use his country’s EU presidency to promote Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Poland took over the presidency of the European Union on January 1 and will hold it until June 30, 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling on the West to use $250 billion in frozen unallocated Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine. He said at a press conference in Warsaw that the Ukrainian army numbers 880,000 soldiers and officers, according to Strana, a Ukrainian news agency. However, as Zelensky noted, Ukrainian troops are dispersed across a vast territory. He also said that the number of Russian troops in Ukraine exceeds 600,000 soldiers, but their concentration in certain areas gives them a quantitative advantage in some areas. Zelensky also said that Ukraine produces 33-34% of all its weapons.
Ukrainian MP Bezuglaya called on the United States to suspend military assistance to Ukraine until the dismissal of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Syrsky.
On January 16, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital, AP reports. In Kiev, agreements valid for 100 years were signed. The agreements cover areas such as defense, science, energy and trade. The agreement will oblige both sides to cooperate on defense and technology projects, including drones. The agreement also provides for the introduction of a system to facilitate the monitoring of Ukrainian grain supplies. Finally, the British Prime Minister announced the transfer of a new air defense system to Ukraine, Reuters.
Russia says in response to Rutte that it is “not interested in a conflict with NATO countries, but its rhetoric and actions indicate that it is preparing for such a scenario,” source Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin, interview with Danish broadcaster DR.
According to Bloomberg: “No to Ukraine joining NATO: In a conversation with Trump, Putin will put forward a number of conditions for peace in Ukraine. Among them, Ukraine should never become a member of NATO. “Putin also wants NATO countries, which apparently continue to supply weapons to Ukraine, to prohibit their use against Russia or return the lost territories,” the agency writes.
The Russian Defense Ministry reports that the collective attack on Ukrainian gas infrastructure was a response to the attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Western ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, as well as an attack on a compressor station in Kuban aimed at disrupting gas supplies through the Turkish Stream. The Russian strike targeted the ground infrastructure of the largest underground gas storage facility in the city of Stryi, Lviv region of Ukraine.
And now a look at the front line as of 17:00 on January 16.
In the Kursk region, the Ukrainians are in the northern part of the front, in the Pohrebky area, from here the Ukrainian forces were transferred by the personnel of the 82nd Airborne Brigade, the Russian Northern Group of Troops reports. During the march, Ukrainian reinforcements in two infantry fighting vehicles and two armored vehicles were destroyed. Ukrainian defensive battles are underway.
In Toretsk, Ukrainian resources recognize the advance of Russian troops “in the north-western and northern parts of the city in the direction of the Toretskugol enterprise, in the area of the industrial site of the Svyatoy Matrona Moskovskaya mine, in the area of the Toretskugol car depot and in the direction of the waste heap of the “Fomikha” mine. The presence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces remains on the northern outskirts of the city, but the Ukrainian troops, not lacking in logistics, continue to hold their positions, although the imminent complete capture of the city by Russian troops is expected.
In the Pokrovs’k direction, the Russian Armed Forces continue actions to cover the city from the southwest. There are reports that Russian units are advancing and gaining a foothold on the outskirts of the village of Udachne. Ukrainian channels admit that Russian troops are attacking on a wide front, reporting battles near the Yasenove settlement, north of Novojelyzavetivka, near Uspenivka and again in the areas of the settlements Andriivka, Petropavlivka, Slov’yanka, Udachne, Zvirove, Pishchane, Vozdvyzhenka. Apparently, attacks in multiple directions should not allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to maneuver forces along the front line.
In the Velyka Novosilka area, actions to encircle the Ukrainian garrison continue. The control zone near the village is expanding to Neskuchne, in the Novyi Komar area, fighting is ongoing.
In the Belgorod region. Drone crashes are reported, at least two. In the DPR, in the Sovetsky district of Makeyevka, fragments of a downed UAV missile injured two people. As a result of a UAV falling on a civilian vehicle, one person was injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
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