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Reuters: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia has called for an emergency U.N. Security Council session on Wednesday to discuss the crash of a Russian plane that Moscow says was carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange.

RFE/RL: One of Russia's leading manufacturers of fighter jets and civilian aircraft continued to import parts and other equipment from European and U.S. suppliers despite the imposition of Western sanctions.

POLITICO: Putin’s war on Ukraine is dividing Europe’s eastern neighborhood — with some countries moving closer to the European Union but others, including Georgia, gladly following Russia’s path to authoritarianism, a report published Wednesday said.

Reuters: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday the aim of a European Union special summit next week is for all EU member states to agree to financial aid for Ukraine.

Bloomberg: Russia bolstered its influence in the troubled Sahel region of West Africa with about 100 military personnel from the country arriving in Burkina Faso on Wednesday, the first large deployment in that nation (archive).

Reuters: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico reaffirmed support for Kyiv's bid to join the European Union at talks in Ukraine on Wednesday, but said policy differences remained on issues including NATO accession.

The Moscow Times: Russian forces entered the war-battered town of Avdiivka for the first time but were pushed back, its mayor told AFP Wednesday, following months of fierce fighting for the industrial hub in east Ukraine.

Reuters: A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long war.

POLITICO: Andrey Lugovoy, a former KGB agent and current Russian MP, delivered a stark message to the country’s opposition in exile: Criticize the Kremlin, and you’ll die like dogs.

Reuters: Ukraine military intelligence said Kyiv was not asked to ensure air space security on Wednesday around the Belgorod area in southern Russia as had been the case during previous prisoner of war swaps with Moscow.

The Kyiv Independent: Polish farmers began widespread protests across the country on Jan. 24 against the import of products from Ukraine and other non-EU countries, Polish media reported.

POLITICO: Ukraine is holding exploratory talks with EU officials on the bloc's future migration rules to try to ensure more of its citizens return home next year and bolster the economy while the war effort puts a massive strain on resources, two EU diplomats familiar with the conversations said.

Bloomberg: Estonia’s top military commander said fresh intelligence on Russia’s ability to produce ammunition and recruit troops has prompted a re-evaluation among NATO allies and a spate of warnings to prepare for a long-term conflict (archive).

The Messenger: Russia is sending so many soldiers to die on front lines that their bodies don't even get picked up, Ukrainian sniper says.

Reuters: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in a phone call that the Hungarian government supports Sweden's membership of the military alliance, Orban said on social media platform X on Wednesday.

The Kyiv Independent: The Bank of Cyprus, the biggest Cypriot bank, closed its representative offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Jan. 22, the data posted by the Central Bank of Russia revealed.

AP News: Cyprus has made headway in weaning itself off Russian cash and business as it tries to clean up its image, according to official figures, while a visiting team of U.S. officials is helping the government look at cases of alleged sanctions-busting.

POLITICO: People in Britain should be ready to serve in the military in the event of a war with Russia, the head of the British army has warned.

Reuters: Russia's State Duma on Wednesday passed the first stage of a bill allowing the confiscation of property from those convicted of a number of crimes including spreading "deliberately false information" about the Russian army.

AP News: A Russian military transport plane crashed Wednesday in a border region near Ukraine, and Moscow accused Kyiv of shooting it down, saying all 74 people aboard were killed, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war headed for a swap. Russia offered no evidence and Ukraine didn’t immediately confirm or deny it.

worth mentioning

Russia’s MoD claims to have obliterated a French mercenary base in Kharkiv, but no such base existed

Japan’s December imports of Russian LNG hit 7-year record

Putin meets Chad junta leader as Russia competes with France in Africa

Grant Shapps, UK’s defence secretary: Ukraine’s future is in the West’s hands

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