Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy is searching for a new head of the Foreign Intelligence Service: former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, former head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasyl Malyuk, and Andriy Biletsky are among the candidates listed for the position. According to the source, Zelenskyy will make a final decision after receiving a list of candidates and conducting in-person interviews.
And Zelensky: “Turkey was a negotiating platform, and there we reached a decision on the return of our prisoners. It remains to be seen whether this situation will continue. The issue of the return of prisoners of war, as well as the issue of a platform for peace talks, will be discussed with our partners.” “I won’t say,” Zelenskyy replied to a question about Dmytro Kuleba’s possible future assignment. Oksana Markarova will be responsible for specific projects related to Ukraine’s reconstruction. Christa Freeland will be responsible for investments and economic affairs. As for a deputy for economic affairs, there is no candidate yet.
“Russia is turning up its nose, but some of our partners can tone it down if they want,” is Zelenskyy’s assessment of Moscow’s willingness to make peace.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Community Development Minister Kuleba said, “we will have to build tunnels like in Gaza.” The ultimate goal is unknown.
Budanov will manage prisoner exchanges together with Umerov. The pauses in exchanges are due to diplomatic pressure from Russia on Ukraine, Zelenskyy stated.
Zelenskyy discussed defense assistance to Ukraine and work on a reparations loan during a meeting with the President of Cyprus and EU leaders. “Many topics were discussed. These included the priorities of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU, defense assistance to Ukraine from EU member states, particularly the strengthening of air defenses, combat aviation, and drone production, and concrete progress in Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also announced that he, European Council President António Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, discussed continuing work on a reparations loan to restore Ukraine’s financial stability.
“The war could end during the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU.” Zelenskyy reported from Cyprus: “We note that negotiations have reached a new stage together with our European partners and, of course, with the United States and all members of the Coalition of the Willing. We know that this war could end during your presidency,” Zelenskyy said during his speech at the opening ceremony of the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Arms production in Ukraine has increased 1.5-fold, Shmyhal stated: “In 2025, Ukrainian defense companies will increase the production of weapons and military equipment by 50%, reaching 180 billion hryvnia, compared to 122 billion hryvnia in 2024.”
British troops will participate in “deterrent operations” in Ukraine, Starmer announced. France and the United Kingdom plan to send up to 15,000 troops to Ukraine, The Times reports. The primary tasks of the French and British armed forces will be equipment maintenance, training of the Ukrainian armed forces, and building defense infrastructure. According to The Times, Britain will provide Ukraine with less than half the planned number of peacekeepers (approximately 7,500). The Times’ sources believe the stated figure of 15,000 soldiers appears optimistic for both countries.
Responding to the Coalition of the Willing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in response to the statement: “The deployment of Western troops and military facilities in Ukraine will be considered an intervention that poses a security threat.” She also added that Western military units and facilities in Ukraine will be considered legitimate combat targets.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expresses serious concern over the illegal military action conducted by the US military against the Marinera oil tanker on January 7. On January 8, a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry read: “The outcome of the Marinera incident cannot but be a further increase in political-military tension in the Euro-Atlantic area, as well as a visible lowering of the ‘threshold for the use of force’ against peaceful navigation. Inspired by the dangerous and irresponsible example presented by Washington, other countries and entities may also consider themselves authorized to act with similar methods.
Furthermore, Turkish sources have learned that on January 7, off the Turkish coast in the Black Sea, 30 miles off the coast of the Turkish district of Abana, in the province of Kastamonu, a drone attacked the oil tanker ELBUS, bound for Russia. The attack damaged the tanker’s topside. No crew members were injured. The vessel reached an anchorage near the town of Inebolu. A Russian Kilo-class submarine “Varshavyanka” (Project 636.1) was deployed in Black Sea waters from the Novorossiysk naval base in the Krasnodar Krai. Total possible salvage: 6 Kalibr cruise missiles.
And now a look at the front line, updated at 3:30 PM on January 8. Blackout in Dnipropetrovsk after the explosions. The city and the region were subjected to a massive drone attack. Local media report that the city is without electricity, water, heating, internet, and communications. Hospitals are also without power. The restoration time is unknown.
Mobile communications are operating in emergency mode in the Kiev-controlled part of Zaporizhia Oblast. All base stations are switched to battery power: this power source will last approximately eight hours. Russian forces are actively destroying bridges behind Ukrainian lines in the Zaporizhia region.
Kryvyi Rih is also under Russian fire, having suffered one of the largest attacks of the entire war, according to Ukrainian Vice President Oleksander Vilkul. Several targets in the city were hit. The situation is serious but under control. Of the eight injured, two remain hospitalized in moderate condition.
The most critical situation for energy supplies is in the district Ingulets, part of the Metalurhichesky District, and in the Dovgintsevo District. Nearly 30,000 people were left without electricity due to an emergency outage. Of the more than 30 closed thermal power plants, all but one are now operational; heat is just starting to flow there.
In the Krasnodar Krai, in the village of Trudobelikovsky, Krasnoarmeysky District, debris from a UAV fell on a private home and a road in the town of Gulkevichi.
In the direction of Sumy, assault units of the Northern Group of Forces are advancing, engaging in fighting in the Sumy and Krasnopil’s’kyi Districts. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to reorganize and strengthen its assault and mechanized brigades.
In the Belgorod Region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to target civilians. In the village of Gruzskoye, one person was killed by a Ukrainian drone explosion. On the road In Grayvoron-Bezymeno, a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone attacked a car, leaving one injured.
In the Cherkiv sector, the Northern Group of Forces is fighting near Vovchansk, while Ukrainian forces are reinforcing their assault battalions to counterattack. Russian forces have advanced near Lyman, in Vovchansk Khutorys, and have captured two forest strips in the Milove-Khatnie area.
In Kupyansk, the situation is tense. Russian units are maintaining a defensive position in the industrial zone and the northern part of the city. Drone operators from the Western Group of Forces are attempting to deprive the enemy of logistics by destroying equipment near the combat zone.
North of Pokrovsk, counterattacks continue in the direction of Dobropillya District, forcing Ukrainian air defenses to gradually recognize the advance of our troops.
West of Hulyaijpole, liberated In Zaporizhia Oblast, in the village of Zaliznychne, the Ukrainian Armed Forces established a new defensive stronghold and stationed drone operators there. The Vostok Group of Forces sent eight Molniya missiles against the Ukrainians, while the Russian Aerospace Forces used FABs. For several days in a row, Ukrainian counterattacks were reported, repelled by Russian troops in the Far East.
On the Zaporizhia front, fighting is ongoing in Prymors’ke. Russian troops are advancing, with fighting northeast and east of Stepnohirsk.
In the Chertson region, above the Sea of Azov and Lake Syvash, near the village of Chonhar, the Dnipro Group of Forces disrupted the flights of two fixed-wing drones. One of them damaged a road bridge during takeoff. Traffic on the bridge was not restricted.
Graziella Giangiulio
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