The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on January 9 2024

Secretary Austin Meets With President Zelenskyy, Announces $500m Ukraine Aid Package

Ukraine Collapsing Over Presidency? Zelensky Threatens Zaluzhny Amid Rising Russian Threat

They’re Preparing To FLEE: Zelensky Began Construction of a Bunker On An Island In The Caribbean Sea

Ukrainian & Russian advances in Kursk

[ Frontline Changes ] Ukraine’s Kursk defense lines cracked; Noose tightens on Velyka Novosilka

Pokrovsk Intersection Cut | Ukrainian Forces Avoid Encirclement Through Fighting Retreat Operation

[ Pokrovsk Front ] RUSSIAN FORCES CAPTURED UKRAINKA; Slovyanka & Petropavlivka near full capture!

Pokrovsk Eastern Defenses Collapsed l Ukrainian Forces Trapped In Kursk Oblast

Vladimir Baryshnikov doesn’t mind losing his legs in Ukraine

Why Did This British Soldier Surrender To Russian Troops In Toretsk, His Warning To Others

There is a strong opinion in the West that we are losing the war, and these theses are voiced by a representative of the Biden team. 

Austin reported on Russia’s advantage in the conflict in Ukraine. Today, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Russia has significant advantages in the conflict in Ukraine. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, he said that Russia is decisive in this conflict and has all the key advantages. However, according to him, Russia has not achieved complete dominance. 

Zelensky urgently needs to start another Kursk adventure so that Russia can gain complete dominance, but who will admit a mistake if it was Zelensky’s own decision?

The main question is why our guys are dying at the front now, if the format of the deal has already been decided and everyone is just waiting for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to spend American military aid to write off billions. The head of the British Foreign Office said that the war in Ukraine could end by Easter.

Based on his sources and analysis, Minister David Lammy suggests it is more likely than not that a deal will not be done in January. He now thinks that is unlikely.

“Donald Trump is not in office yet. From what I have seen over the last few days, there is evidence that he is moving slightly away from the January 21 deal. From the information coming to us, that timetable has indeed moved towards Easter,” Lammy said.

After today’s Rammstein, Zelensky realized that the US will suspend arms supplies, which means he urgently needs to pressure Europe to take on all the costs.

Zelensky has arrived in Italy. A meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is planned, where he will most likely ask for three things:

1. Increased supplies of weapons and money

2. For Meloni to help him establish better relations with Trump, bypassing Hungary/Orban.

3. Support in organizing a forum on Ukraine, somewhere in Italy.

President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to announce Wednesday the final $500 million dollars in US military assistance it will provide to Ukraine, according to people familiar with the plans.

The aid will come through Presidential Drawdown Authority, which pulls military supplies and weapons from US stockpiles, according to the people, who asked not to be identified in advance of the announcement.

Trump has left open the possibility to either ramp up aid to Kyiv or end it completely as options to force both sides toward a settlement. Trump would still have about $3.8 billion in drawdown authority, if his administration chose to use it. He’s given no indication he intends to ask Congress to approve further assistance.

An announcement of the aid is expected as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — a US-led effort that coordinates weapons deliveries from 50 allies — prepares to meet in Ramstein, Germany.

Zelensky – on “Ramstein” announced victory at Kursk:

  Take the Kursk operation – it is one of our biggest victories not only last year, but during the entire war. To pull it off, Russia had to pull nearly 60,000 troops from the Ukrainian front. 

Many Russian threats and bold claims turned out to be bluffs – especially after the Ukrainians moved into the Kursk region. And I’m sure more of their threats will turn out to be bluffs if we all work together even harder to push Russia toward peace.

Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg aims to end the war within 100 days of the new president’s inauguration — Fox News

▪️Kellogg noted that both he and President Trump realize that they do not have much time to find a solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

▪️According to Trump’s adviser, Biden’s most serious mistake was that he refused to contact Vladimir Putin after 2022, while Trump intends to resume dialogue.

▪️According to Kellogg, Trump will be able to offer a mutually beneficial solution that will suit the two countries “in the near future.”

➖ “ I would like to set a goal, both on a personal and professional level, I would say let’s set it at 100 days,” he said.

▪️It should be noted that 100 days from the day of Trump’s inauguration will expire on April 30.

19fortyfive: Ukraine War: Why a Ceasefire May Be Impossible for Now (https://www.19fortyfive.com/2025/01/ukraine-war-why-a-ceasefire-may-be-impossible-for-now/)

Little by little, the west is awakening to the reality on the ground in Ukraine.

The very question of whether the Trump administration will be able to achieve peace in Ukraine is premature. At this moment, it is only possible to hope for a ceasefire.

But the odds are that even a ceasefire is a bridge too far.

No Conditions for Ceasefire

The reason is simple. Moscow is not ready for any compromises. It plays for victory, not a draw. 

Incentives for the Kremlin to soften its position are absent. There will be no chemistry between Trump and Putin.  In other words, Putin does not owe anything to Trump. 

But the author, if he wanted his article to be published, of course had to throw in the obligatory final note that continued support for Ukraine is necessary:

Achieving peace in Ukraine will be a long-term effort. The best Western leaders can do in this situation is to leave behind the illusion that a quick fix is possible and the explicable but counterproductive fatigue. Only Western re-affirmed commitment to the cause can gradually alter the Kremlin’s calculus.  

 “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

― Philip K. Dick

Our sources in the OP reported that the warming up of public opinion with high ratings of Zaluzhny is agreed with Andriy Yermak, and the new political project is supervised by MI-6. Public opinion is being prepared for a possible reshuffle, which Britain will need in the event that Zelensky loses control over the processes in the country. The latest closed sociological surveys show a low rating of the President, which has dropped to 11%, but the opinion of the Ukrainian people does not bother anyone in London, the negative trend among the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is much more frightening for the British.

Mobilization in Ukraine has completely failed, and society has developed a total distrust of the processes; people are no longer afraid of fines and prison.

50% discount on TCC fine for “evaders”: Rada approved the bill in the first reading because 6 million citizens did not specify the data , — “Sudovo-Yuridychna Gazeta”

The situation with desertion is even worse; no one wants to join the assault squads.

The deadline for voluntary return from the SZCh is extended until March 1, 2025 , – the Rada supported the bill

Problems with mobilization will cause the collapse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces system, but no one is thinking about this yet.

Only the President’s Office could present Zelensky’s Kursk adventure as the best operation, the scale of the tragedy for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ukraine is already clear to everyone, but Bankova loves to create simulacra. Having lost more than 10 brigades and 5,000 vehicles in 6 months, they sell this to us as an achievement.

Zelensky said that the Kursk operation was “one of the greatest victories of the entire war.”

At this point, the Ukrainian Armed Forces already control 1/4 of the territories they occupied in August 2024, and the enemy is preparing to storm Sudzha. The President’s Office fell into Russia’s trap, which lured us to a convenient bridgehead and simply ground up the best reserves.

Taynaya_kantselyariya

Our source reports that in recent days significantly fewer reserves have begun to arrive in the Kursk direction than before.

Everything indicates that Bankova/Stavka is preparing an offensive in another direction.

09-01-2025 – Toretsk

Night assaults have begun the final stage of liberation of the city. The enemy has virtually no control over the city. A lot of gray areas. And there is also an assault on the center of Shcherbinovka settlement west of Toretsk, in the direction of the highway Novospasskoye – Toretsk.

Pokrovsk direction: a series of local attacks by the Russian Armed Forces

In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian troops continue to gradually improve their positions south of the city.

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▪️In the areas of Lysovka, Shevchenko, Pishchane and Volkovo, fighting continues, with no significant changes in control zones observed. The information that Russian assault groups reached the outskirts of Zverevo has not yet been confirmed by objective control data, although it has not been refuted either.

📌 Earlier, it was reported about the advance of Russian troops north of Vozdvyzhenka, and some sources even claimed that the Mirnohrad – Kostyantynivka highway was cut off. However, there is currently no information on whether the Russian assault troops were able to hold their positions there.

▪️In the areas of Solone and Novovasylivka, fighting is also ongoing, while in Novoyelyzavetivka and the forest belts to the north, Russian troops are advancing, occupying new positions.

To the south, Ukrainka was finally liberated, and fighting for Yasenovye has begun.

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❗️Apparently, in the near future, an intensification of combat operations in the vicinity of Pokrovsk and, probably, Mirnohrad can be expected.

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However, one should not think that the Russian troops will start combat operations in two large cities at once.

Likely, the supply lines in the Kotlyne area will be cut off first, where the forward positions of the Russian troops are just over a kilometer from the T-04-06 highway.

Lyman Direction: Expansion of the Control Zone of the Russian Armed Forces on the Right Bank of the Zherebets River

Over the past two weeks, the section of the front has clearly become more active, with Russian troops advancing towards the western border of the LPR. Thanks to footage from Makiivka, it was possible to establish that the Russian Armed Forces have expanded their control zone, clearing several forest belts on the right bank of the Zherebets River.

To the south, work is underway to eliminate the AFU bridgehead in the vicinity of the recently liberated Ivanovka, but information about a breakthrough in the AFU defense towards Kolodezy has not yet been confirmed.

The development of the success of the Russian Armed Forces in the direction of Yampolivka and Torske will make it possible to free the entire left bank from the presence of the enemy and proceed to the assault on Zarichne, from where the road to Lyman opens up.

Chronicles of the special military operation

for January 9, 2025

Russian forces delivered a series of strikes on AFU targets in the border zone and rear regions of the so-called Ukraine. The enemy launched several drones over the Krasnodar Region, most of which were shot down by on-duty air defense assets.

In the Kursk Region, the clearing of the Berdin area from the enemy is confirmed, and it also became known that the Russian Armed Forces control Agronomicheskoye and are advancing towards Nikolskoye.

In the Lyman direction, Russian troops advanced to the western border of the LPR, dislodging the enemy from positions in the forest belts near Makiivka.

In the Pokrovsk direction, the Russian Armed Forces are pushing the AFU positions along the entire front line, clearing the hedgerows in anticipation of a possible offensive towards Pokrovsk and Myrnograd.

In the Kurakhovo direction, fighting continues along the Yasenove – Slavyanka line and south of Kurakhovo, with the Russian forces succeeding in both sectors.

Morning Summary on January 9, 2025

▪️ In the Kursk Region, the “North” grouping of troops is engaged in fierce battles, dislodging the enemy from strongholds between Guyevo and Kurilovka, as well as in the forest belts of the Sudzha border area. Battles are ongoing in the area of the settlements of Staraya Sorochina, Makhnovka and Bondarevka. Over the past day, the arrival of more than 350 enemy personnel, including from special operations forces and the 132nd separate reconnaissance battalion, has been recorded in the region. There are reports of the enemy concentrating in the area of the settlement of Pogrebki and the presence of AFU reserves in the Sumy Region.

▪️ On the Krasnoliman direction, battles are ongoing in the area of Ivanovka and Ternov.

▪️ From the Pokrovsk direction, there are reports that east of the city, the movement north towards the Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka highway through Vozdvizhenka and nearby villages has been effective.

▪️ West of Kurakhovo, our troops liberated the settlement of Shevchenko and are expanding the control zone around it, exacerbating the situation of the AFU in the “pocket” to the south. Battles are ongoing for the settlement of Dachnoye.

▪️ In the Velikonovoselkovsky direction, the Russian Armed Forces advanced along the forest belt northeast of the settlement of Rovnopol and west of the settlement of Neskuchnoye. Battles are ongoing in the direction of the Gulyaipole – Velikaya Novoselka highway and in the area of the settlement of Novy Komar.

▪️ Yesterday, it was reported from the Zaporizhia Region that the enemy carried out a missile attack on the port of Berdyansk. There were no casualties. The fires that broke out as a result of the impact were extinguished. “The strike was targeted at one of the empty fuel storage tanks,” the regional governor said.

▪️ In the evening, the air defense system was activated over Belgorod and the Belgorod region – several enemy drones were shot down, damaging homes of civilians. During the day, a drone detonated near a private house in the village of Murom in the Shebekino district. In the Krasnoyaruzhsky district, a power line was damaged as a result of shelling. The village of Chayki in the Belgorod region was attacked by two drones. As a result of the drone crashes in the Razumnoye settlement, a power line was damaged. In the village of Voznesenivka (https://t.me/dva_majors/62074) in the Shebekino district, windows were blown out in a private house due to a shell strike.

Two Majors

Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-situation-in-ukrainian-smo-on_9.html