Now would be an excellent moment for Europe to defy both Putin and Trump and hand over Russia's foreign assets to Ukraine.
Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of January 22 to 23.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 101 Shahed-type, Gerbera-type, and other drones — of which roughly 60 were Shahed-type drones — from the directions of Kursk and Oryol cities; Shatalovo, Smolensk Oblast; Millerovo, Rostov Oblast; Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai; and occupied Donetsk Oblast.[93] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 76 drones and that 19 drones struck 12 locations. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces struck residential and civilian infrastructure in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv oblasts.[94]
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Ukraine’s Air Force says 76 of 101 Russian attack drones were destroyed or suppressed overnight. Launches came from several regions in Russia and occupied Donetsk. About 60 were Shaheds, including jet types. Some drones remain in flight.
Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure overnight on January 22 to 23. Geolocated footage published on January 23 shows Ukrainian drones striking the Penzanefteprodukt oil depot in Penza City, Penza Oblast.[36] Penza Oblast Governor Oleg Melnichenko acknowledged that Ukrainian forces struck an oil depot in Penza City, causing a fire.[37] Geolocated footage published on January 23 shows an explosion after a reported Ukrainian strike against an unidentified Russian air defense system in Novaya Adygea, Republic of Adygea.[38] Satellite imagery taken on January 22 shows that an overnight January 21 to 22 Ukrainian drone strike on the Tamannefttegaz Oil Terminal near Volna, Krasnodar Krai, damaged several oil tanks and pipelines.[39]
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The Kremlin is trying to push Trump to abandon the negotiation process with Ukraine and Europe that he has been leading and to concede to the demands Russia made at the August 2025 US-Russia summit in Alaska. Ushakov stated after Putin’s January 22-23 meeting with the US delegation that “there is no hope” of achieving a long-term settlement to the war without resolving the territorial issue according to the “formula” the United States and Russia allegedly agreed to in Alaska.[5] Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on January 23 that the Kremlin considers it “inadvisable” to “publicly delve into the details” of the “Anchorage formula” but that Ukraine’s withdrawal of its forces from all of Donbas (Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts) is an important condition for a peace settlement.[6] A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters that the Kremlin considers the “Anchorage formula” to include Ukraine ceding all of Donbas to Russia and freezing the current frontlines elsewhere in southern and eastern Ukraine.[7] Trump has led conversations with Ukraine and Europe in recent weeks that have made significant progress in determining the conditions necessary to ensure an enduring and reliable peace in Ukraine. These US-led talks have notably led to Ukraine making considerable concessions, such as changing Ukrainian laws to allow for elections during the current period of martial law.[8] Trump also worked with Ukraine and Europe to alter the initial US-proposed 28-point peace plan into the latest iteration of the 20-point plan, signaling the administration’s commitment to working with Ukraine and Europe to secure a just end to the war. ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin has been trying to manipulate the lack of publicly available agreements resulting from the Alaska Summit, presenting the alleged US-Russian agreements in ways that benefit Russia.[9] The Kremlin has been using the ambiguity around the summit to try to conceal the way Russia — not Ukraine — has been impeding the negotiations process by maintaining its original war demands. Russia is likely attempting to convince Trump to walk away from US efforts to work with Ukraine and Europe by offering the ambiguous “Alaska formula” as a way to end the war.
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- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with a US delegation in Moscow on the night of January 22 to 23 and agreed to trilateral US, Russian, and Ukrainian working group meetings in Abu Dhabi on January 23 and 24.
- The Kremlin is trying to push Trump to abandon the negotiation process with Ukraine and Europe that he has been leading and to concede to the demands Russia made at the August 2025 US-Russia summit in Alaska.
- The Kremlin is engaged in an informational campaign aimed at Ukraine’s partners that attempts to present control over Donbas as the main issue left to discuss in peace talks, but Russian officials’ statements for domestic audiences have repeatedly confirmed that Russia’s demands go beyond eastern Ukraine.
- Long-term support for Ukraine’s economy and reconstruction is essential for Ukraine’s security, but is not a substitute for robust security guarantees that deter future Russian aggression.
- Kremlin officials indicated that Russia wants to use its assets frozen in the United States to benefit the Russian economy and offset the cost of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as ISW recently assessed.
- The Kremlin is likely preparing to carefully manage the succession plan for Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov in order to avoid a tumultuous transfer of power that may result in unrest in Chechnya and divert Chechen resources from the war in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov appointed Serhiy Sternenko to advise the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (MoD) on scaling up the use of drones on the front.
- Russian forces recently advanced near Slovyansk and Novopavlivka.
https://t.co/u7X99IVVYM
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Operational information as of 22:00 on January 23, 2026 regarding the Russian invasion
In total, 119 combat clashes have taken place since the beginning of this day. Ukrainian defenders continue to resolutely repel enemy attempts to advance deeper into our territory.
Russian invaders have carried out 62 air strikes and dropped 145 guided bombs. In addition, they have deployed 3,339 kamikaze drones and carried out 2,779 shelling attacks on the positions of our troops and populated areas.
- In the North Slobozhansky and Kursk directions, the enemy carried out five air strikes, dropping 11 guided bombs, and carried out 56 shelling attacks on the positions of our troops and populated areas, one of which was from a multiple launch rocket system.
- Today, the enemy attacked the positions of our defenders five times in the South Slobozhanskyi direction in the areas of the settlements of Prylipka, Vovchanski Khutory, Ambarne, and in the direction of the settlement of Nesterne.
- No enemy offensive actions were recorded in the Kupianskyi direction.
- In the Lyman direction, the Defense Forces repelled eight enemy assaults in the areas of the settlements of Novoselivka, Tverdokhlibove, Drobysheve, Torske, Yampil, and in the direction of the settlements of Lyman, Stavy, and Dibrova. Three more combat engagements are ongoing.
- In the Sloviansk direction, the enemy has attacked twice near Siversk since the beginning of the day.
- In the Kramatorsk direction, three enemy assaults took place today in the direction of the settlements of Nikiforivka and Minkivka.
- Twenty combat clashes took place today in the Kostyantynivka direction. The enemy stormed the positions of Ukrainian units in the areas of the settlements of Kostyantynivka, Kleban-Byk, Pleshchiivka, Sofiivka, and in the direction of Illinivka, Stepanivka, and Novopavlivka. One battle is still ongoing.
- In the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of this day, the enemy has attacked 31 times in the areas of the settlements of Dorozhne, Chervonyi Lyman, Rodynske, Sukhetske, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Udachne, Molodetske, Filiya, and in the direction of the settlements of Novyi Donbas, Bilytske, Hryshyne, Shevchenko, and Novopavlivka. In some locations, fighting continues to this day.
Today, according to preliminary data, 109 occupiers were neutralized in this direction, 75 of whom were killed. In addition, Ukrainian soldiers destroyed two tanks, two armored combat vehicles, five vehicles, two pieces of special equipment, a quad bike, one electronic warfare system, 34 UAVs, and one enemy personnel shelter. Our defenders also hit one artillery system, a quad bike, two vehicles, an electronic warfare device, and ten enemy personnel shelters.
- In the Oleksandrivka direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled five attacks by the invaders in the areas of the settlements of Oleksandrivka, Zlagoda, and in the direction of Dobropillia, Ivanivka, and Novyi Zaporizhzhia.
- In the Huliaipole direction, the aggressor attempted to advance 20 times on the positions of our troops in the areas of Solodke, Huliaipole, and in the direction of Sviatopetrivka, Zelenoye, and Varvarivka. Four combat engagements are ongoing. Vozdvyzhivka, Dolynka, Zaliznychne, Bratske, Rizdvyanka, and Ternuvate were hit by enemy airstrikes.
- In the Orikhiv direction, our defenders repelled an enemy attack in the direction of Pavlivka. The enemy launched an airstrike on Verkhnia Tersa.
- In the Prydniprovsk direction, the occupiers did not carry out any offensive actions.
Glory to the Ukrainian defenders!Glory to Ukraine!
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This is the way.
The French Navy has released footage of the seizure of Russia’s “shadow fleet” tanker Grinch.
Tightening sanctions enforcement and systematically hunting down vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet would place significant additional strain on Putin’s war economy.
— Giorgi Revishvili (@revishvili.bsky.social) 2026-01-23T17:10:40.347Z
