Ukraine…Russia Day 1432…Ukraine ‘Stiff Upper Lip’…US Security Guarrantee’s?

Ukraine President Zelenskyy, who turns 42 today, thinks he’s got a Good Security agreement with Trump/United States….

Power knocked out in the major cities?

The people of the Ukraine hang in there and cope….

• A US security agreement for Ukraine is “100% ready” to be signed, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said after two days of talksinvolving representatives from Ukraine, the US and Russia – indicating some progress was made. Further discussions are expected next weekend. Speaking to journalists in Vilnius during a visit to Lithuania on Sunday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is waiting for its partners to set a time and place for the signing of the security guarantees document, after which it would go to the US Congress and Ukrainian parliament for ratification. “For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it,” Zelensky said.

• Ukraine sought more air defence support from allies on Sunday as hundreds of buildings in Kyiv were without heating in freezing temperatures for a second day after Russian strikes. More than 1,300 apartment buildings Kyiv were still without heating, mayor Vitalii Klitschko said on Sunday. Sub-zero temperatures and repeated airstrikes have slowed efforts by repair crews working to restore heating and electricity.

• Zelenskyy has also emphasised Ukraine’s push for European Union membership by 2027, calling it an “economic security guarantee.” He described the talks in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi as likely the first trilateral format in “quite a long while” that included not only diplomats but military representatives from all three sides. Zelenskyy acknowledged fundamental differences between Ukrainian and Russian positions, reaffirming territorial issues as a major sticking point.

• Polish president Karol Nawrocki called for unity among countries under threat from an “imperial Russia”, at a Vilnius event commemorating the 1863 uprising in Poland and Lithuania against Tsarist Russia, which Zelenskyy also took part in. “The message of these celebrations is that by looking to the past for what we have in common, it’s easier today to face the problems ahead of us. Especially in an era of the revival of imperial Russia,” Nawrocki’s office said on X. “Whether it’s tsarist Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or Vladimir Putin’s Russia, our countries [Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine], now independent, still face the same problem: the threat posed by the Russian Federation,” Nawrocki said in his speech. Zelensky, in his speech, said Europe should cherish its independence and remain alert. “It is too early for Europe to relax while Russia’s war machine is still running, and while dictators around Europe are not weakening,” he said. “They all look at Europe – at us – as prey.”

• European nations committed to a new clean energy pact, the Hamburg Declaration, aimed at boosting the region’s energy security. The deal, tobe signed at a summit in the German port city on Monday, will bring an “unprecedented fleet” of offshore wind projects to the North Sea that will supply multiple nations, the UK Department for Energy Security said. It comes three years after North Sea countries pledged to build 300GW of offshore wind in that sea by 2050, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “weaponisation” of European energy supplies…..

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ISW….Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 25, 2026

1. Kremlin officials continue to reiterate Russia’s commitment to its original war aims and reject Western security guarantees for Ukraine, amid continued reporting that negotiations will resume in the coming days.
2. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov made a statement suggesting that the Kremlin is using its participation in ongoing negotiations with the United States to stave off a significant increase in US pressure against Russia that could impede its war effort.
3. Russia continues to intensify recruitment efforts for the Russian Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) that may also staff the conventional Russian ground forces.
4. Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov appointed Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov as a Ministry of Defense (MoD) advisor on defense technology on January 25.
5. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Russian forces recently advanced near Borova, in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area, and near Novopavlivka.

Daily Kos Grunt Report for Today….

Ukrainians like the British in WWII have developed a ‘Stiff Upper Lip” in response to the bombing of their key cities…

One of the more unexpected consequences of Russian shelling is that Ukrainians are reassessing the role of pets within their families. Amid the cold, blackouts, and failing heating systems, animals have become not only companions but also sources of literal and emotional warmth.

Ukrainian folk survival wisdom advises pulling a cat under the blanket: the warmth, people say, multiplies instantly.

Some Kyiv residents even pitch tents over their beds, and almost immediately, a cat leaps inside to “heat” the newly created room.

Oleksandr, a Kyiv resident, lives with his wife and three British Shorthair cats, Tisha, Luna, and Siri, a few kilometers away from one of the stations that Russian forces regularly target with imprecise ballistic missiles.

“They sleep next to us all the time,” he says. “It warms you not only physically. They’re warm, soft, especially when they climb onto you, but emotionally as well.”

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With the power outages, Ukrainians have started reading more.

“There’s more time, the internet isn’t always available, and there’s a need to distract yourself. But the brain can’t handle heavy information like in deep literature,” says Kyiv resident Tetiana.

By “deep literature,” she means classics that explore questions about the world and the future. In Ukraine, she adds, “the future is a complicated question for us.”

“My friends are reading more, too, but lighter literature. One of my friends, for example, reads a lot of poetry. They read books that support them emotionally,” Tetiana continues.

“Many people are now turning to psychological literature, trying to understand themselves. You start forgiving people whom you thought were impossible to forgive before the war,” she says.