18.01.2026

NBC News: Trump is privately ramping up his focus on another target in the Western Hemisphere, increasingly complaining to aides in recent weeks about Canada’s vulnerability to U.S. adversaries in the Arctic.

The Kyiv Independent: Repair works have begun on the backup power line connecting the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the power grid under an International Atomic Energy Agency-brokered local ceasefire, the agency announced on Jan. 18.

Reuters: The Trump administration wants nations to pay $1 billion to stay on his peace board, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a draft charter. Trump would serve as its inaugural chairman and each member state shall serve a term of no more than three years from this charter's entry into force, subject to renewal by the chairman.

United24 Media: Russian authorities exported more than two million tons of grain harvested in temporarily-occupied parts of Ukraine in 2025, presenting it as Russian produce and expanding the number of international buyers, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

The Kyiv Independent: A volunteer fundraising platform in Poland has raised more than 2.4 million Polish zloty (around $660,000) to purchase generators for Kyiv, its organizers announced on Jan. 18, as Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure continue amid freezing winter conditions.

Reuters: The majority Russian-owned oil firm NIS has restarted a refinery in Serbia, resuming imports of crude oil after securing a waiver on sanctions imposed by the United States, Serbia's energy minister said on Sunday.

The Telegraph: Pro-Putin spy nuns infiltrating Sweden: Sisters from a notorious Belarusian convent, with links to Kremlin intelligence, are allegedly fuelling a cynical propaganda war (archive).

Reuters: Two people were killed and dozens more wounded in a mass Russian drone attack across Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, as U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators hashed out a post-war plan in the latest round of peace talks.

17.01.2026

Ukrainska Pravda: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has said Russia is considering attacks on substations linked to Ukraine's nuclear power plants in a bid to force Ukraine to agree to unacceptable demands.

United24 Media: Italian financial authorities have detained a cargo ship in the port of Brindisi on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions targeting Russia, according to ANSA.

Reuters: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that he had ordered imports of electricity and additional power equipment to be accelerated as much as possible as Ukraine confronts its worst wartime energy crisis.

United24 Media: Ukrainian forces have successfully targeted Russian air defense infrastructure in temporarily occupied Crimea and a drone storage facility near the city of Donetsk, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on January 17.

Reuters: Ukraine's peace negotiators arrived in the United States on Saturday for talks on details of a proposed agreement to end the four-year war with Russia, the head of the Ukrainian president's office said.

ISW: Russian milbloggers continue to loudly reject the alternate battlefield reality that Putin and senior Russian military commanders are trying to create.

The Insider: Polls show Rachida Dati could reach Paris mayoral runoff despite questions over €420,000 in gifts from executive tied to Russian oligarchs. Dati has maintained ties to Henri Proglio, a board member of a firm managing assets for the Kovalchuk brothers.

The Kyiv Independent: American officials have put forward the idea of expanding the Gaza 'Board of Peace' to include other countries affected by war and conflicts, including Ukraine and Venezuela, the Financial Times reported on Jan. 16.

16.01.2026

United24 Media: Finland will send its 31st defense aid package to Ukraine, with the decision approved by the country’s president on the government’s proposal. The package is valued at about $113 million, bringing the total value of Finnish military assistance to Ukraine to roughly $3.6 billion since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Reuters: Denmark's Joint Arctic Command in Greenland is focused on countering potential Russian activity, not defending against U.S. military threats, its head Major General Soren Andersen said on Friday, amid renewed attention on the Arctic region.

The Moscow Times: State media regulator Roskomnadzor denied claims on Friday that it is throttling download speeds on Telegram, following reports from users in Russia of problems with the messaging app earlier in the day.

Reuters: A majority of Ukrainians would strongly oppose withdrawing troops from the part of the eastern Donetsk region still controlled by Kyiv in exchange for European and U.S. security guarantees, a poll released on Friday indicated.

The Moscow Times: American investment fund Noble Capital RSD has filed a lawsuit against Russia seeking more than $225 billion in unpaid debt and other financial obligations of the Russian Empire that the Bolsheviks repudiated after seizing power in 1917.

Reuters: Five men have been charged in Poland with taking part in a Russian-run sabotage plot to send explosive parcels to Britain, the U.S., Canada and other destinations, and will face life sentences if convicted, prosecutors said on Friday.

Reuters: The Czech Republic is set to provide Ukraine with combat planes shortly that can shoot down incoming drones, President Petr Pavel told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Friday.

Reuters: The European Commission is considering ways to allow Ukraine's quick accession to the EU as part of a peace deal with Russia but without giving Kyiv full membership rights, which would only be "earned" after transition periods, EU officials said.

The Moscow Times: Russia will sharply increase sales of foreign currency and gold from its National Wealth Fund to offset a steep fall in oil and gas revenues, which sank last year to their lowest level since the pandemic and halved in December year-on-year.

Reuters: China has stopped imports of electric power supplies from Russia, Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the situation and high prices, while Russia said it was ready to resume sales and talks were taking place.

Reuters: Lithuanian authorities accused Russia's GRU military intelligence service on Friday of masterminding attempted arson attacks on a plant that supplies radio wave scanners to Ukraine's army.

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