Month: January 2025

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Head of the Office of the President, stated that currently, there can be no negotiations with the Kremlin because Russia has not been forced to pay a sufficiently high price for the war.

Ukrainian officials currently reject any talks of pressure or assumptions that peace negotiations are inevitable, BBC said.

“No negotiation process can take place because Russia has not been made to pay a high enough price for this war,” he said.

Podolyak noted much is being said about negotiations, but this is an illusion.

Ukraine-Russia negotiations

In recent months, many statements have been regarding negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. However, most of these come from the Kremlin, even though the occupiers’ actions suggest otherwise.

At the end of November, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha emphasized that despite constant statements, Russia does not actually want peace in the war.

Additionally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently rejected “peace proposals” from the team of newly elected US President Donald Trump, even though no official US initiatives have been announced.

Moreover, Russia’s unwillingness for peace talks is evident in the continued shelling of Ukraine. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently noted, over the past week, the occupiers launched 120 missile strikes and 500 airstrikes on Ukraine. Additionally, Russia used nearly 660 drones in its attacks.

No urban battles take place in Pokrovsk, the Donetsk region. Russian troops are attempting to circumvent the city, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing the spokesperson of the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group of Troops, Viktor Trehubov.
 

“There are no urban battles in the city. The Russians have not reached the outskirts of the city. Still, they are trying to encircle it through neighboring settlements and villages, penetrating with various groups, accumulating (forces – ed.), and continuing to strike in such a way as to bypass the city. There is also active use of UAVs, and everything the Russians currently have is concentrated around Pokrovsk,” Trehubov said.

Regarding the potential semi-encirclement of Pokrovsk from the south, the spokesperson noted that the city is fortified, so the Russians are not risking direct frontal assaults. At the same time, the enemy is engaged in urban battles on other fronts, particularly in Chasiv Yar and Kurakhove.

According to Trehubov, the Russian army is trying to bypass Pokrovsk and disrupt the infrastructure chains of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

screenshot of deepstatemap.live

Frontline situation

Pokrovsk is a city in the Donetsk region that has recently become a frontline area. Russian forces attempt to break through Ukraine’s defense lines in the Pokrovsk direction. This section is one of the most challenging areas of the front.

The neighboring Kurakhove, Kramatorsk, and Vremivka directions remain active as well.

As the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group of Troops previously reported, Russia had deployed 150,000 soldiers on the Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Vremivka fronts. In particular, around 70,000 Russian military are concentrated near Pokrovsk.

The past year was the most challenging for Ukraine’s energy system since the start of the full-scale war. In 2024, the enemy began shelling as early as March, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing German Galushchenko, Minister of Energy of Ukraine.
 

“This was indeed the most difficult year (2024 – ed.). Because, if we even analyze the strikes that took place in 2022 and 2023, for example, Russia began massive strikes on October 10. In 2024, they started much earlier, as early as March,” Galushchenko said.

According to the Minister, the destruction caused by the attacks on the energy sector was significant and much larger overall than in previous years. In particular, the nature of the strikes, their complexity, and the weapons used by the enemy have changed.

Attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector

Today, Ukraine’s energy system continues to recover after 13 massive Russian shellings in 2024. Emergency recovery work on energy facilities is ongoing. Due to Russian attacks in the fall and early winter, scheduled power outages were reintroduced in several regions.

Meanwhile, the enemy continues to carry out aerial attacks against Ukraine. For instance, on the night of January 2, Russia launched 72 drones against Ukraine. Ukraine’s air defense managed to destroy 47 of them.