Victory Chronicles-DAY 1065

U.S. President Donald Trump placed the blame on Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin for the Russo-Ukrainian war not having ended while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in a video address on Jan. 23. 

“It’s time to end it,” he said, a day after threatening to impose more severe sanctions and trade tariffs on Russia to encourage Putin to sit at the negotiation table. 

When asked if the bloody war will end by the time the forum reconvenes next year, Trump responded by saying, “well you’re going to have to ask Russia…Ukraine is ready to make a deal.”

Trump said he would like to meet with his Moscow counterpart as soon as possible “and get that war to end…it’s from the standpoint of millions of people being shot on the battlefield.”

The 47th U.S. president emphasized that “it’s carnage.”

Though Kyiv doesn’t disclose its casualty figures, it estimates that has suffered close to a million since embarking on an  all–out invasion in February 2022, including killed, wounded, missing and those taken prisoner. 

The catastrophic war is considered the bloodiest ground conflict on the European continent since World War II. 

Meanwhile more than 120 Ukrainian attack drones targeted 13 Russian regions overnight, Russian regional authorities reported. The UWC saw visual evidence of an oil refinery and thermal power plant in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, ablaze after the swarming attack. Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian critical infrastructure, especially energy facilities, as part of a larger campaign to weaken Moscow’s war logistics and deprive it of crucial revenue for its war coffers. 

Source: White House, Politico, Dialog.ua

A Russian aerial attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia along the Dnipro River on Jan 23. killed 1 civilian and 52 others, including first responders. 

In a statement released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he expressed gratitude to the first responders and “to everyone who assisted victims after the attacks.”

More than 20,000 city residents were temporarily left without electrical power after the attack, Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov said afterward. 

He said there were four explosions in the city without specifying what had been struck beyond residential areas. Four emergency service workers had been injured and were subsequently hospitalized.

Sources: Office of the President of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia Regional Administration

A Ukrainian sniper of the 37th Marine Brigade looks through the scope of his long-range rifle. The brigade was formed on Jan. 12, 2023 as part of the Ukrainian Navy’s expansion and is outfitted with a mix of both new western supplied equipment, and old Soviet stockpiles. 

It also boasts loyal elements of Ukrainian from the Russian occupied Crimean Peninsula. It’s last base of action was near Kurakhove in the Donetsk region before Russia mostly took it over.

Source: Defense Ministry of Ukraine, X page of the 37th Marine Brigade

Polish President Duda says Putin should plead for peace to end war in Ukraine

Speaking on a panel at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin must be forced to “beg” for peace in the unprovoked war he started in Ukraine. 

At the second minute of the video, Duda says, “what we should do to stop the imperial ambitions of Russia…If you look at Russian aggression against Ukraine…we should launch such a strong measure to force Putin to ask for peace, to ask for negotiations.”

He continued: “I want for Vladimir Putin to beg us, beg Ukraine, beg allies of Ukraine to sit at the table and talk.”

Key Takeaways: 

• Russia is reportedly planning to deploy additional North Korean forces, missiles, artillery systems, and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Kursk Oblast to support Russian long-range fire operations.

• The Kremlin appears to be growing increasingly concerned about perceptions of Russia’s economic instability.

• Russian forces recently executed at least six unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast.

• Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Toretsk and Pokrovsk.

• The Kremlin is reportedly taking measures to protect industrial facilities in Russian border regions from Ukrainian strikes.

Dnipropetrovsk region native Yevhen Orlov, 40, died from his wounds while fighting on the front line and was pronounced dead in a Kharkiv hospital in September 2024. He had served in the fearful 3rd Assault Brigade that was formed in February 2023 and consisted mostly of former Azov battalion soldiers. 

After heavy fighting for the Kyiv region (Moschun, Irpin, Brovary), Kharkiv and the Donbas, as well as along the Zaporizhia and Kherson axes, the Defense Forces command decided to unite the Azov fighters (who were subordinate to the National Guard) and their fellow volunteers into a single military structure.

Source: Serhiy Pohrebetskyi

• BBC: Dark humor for dark times: How comedy helps in Ukraine
• The Telegraph: Ukraine: The latest – the Telegraph’s most popular ever Podcast
• RFE/RL: Drones downed southeast of Moscow, regional governor says amid reports of strike on oil refinery
• Business Insider: Ukraine’s French-trained brigade was meant to be a flagship project. Now it’s ex-commander is detained with a $2.1 million bail
• Kyiv Post: Ukraine orders children to evacuate from northeastern towns