🏮 Chinese New Year in Moscow

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😍 Ruskeala steam locomotive, Karelia

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❗️Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be forced to resign if the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) gathers enough materials about his direct involvement in relevant schemes.

This opinion was expressed by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

He explained that for now, Zelenskyy's status prevents him from being brought into the investigation.
"But if they have enough materials that will indicate Zelenskyy's direct involvement — and they will definitely have them, in fact they already do — then, apparently, the signal will come from the Americans, and he will have no choice but to resign," Azarov said.

He expressed confidence that NABU will not abandon its systematic work to expose Zelenskyy and his entourage.

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Negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine are at a stage that does not involve public discussion, Dmitry Peskov stated.

Highlights from the briefing by the Russian Presidential Press Secretary:

🤗 A conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is not yet planned;

🤗 There is no specific information yet regarding the next negotiations with Ukraine and the US;

🤗 Sport should never fall victim to politics — it must be free from it. All athletes should have the right to compete freely under the flags of their countries:

"This is a sports competition, not a political horse race," Peskov added.

🤗 Russia continues to develop relations with Iran. Moscow calls on its Iranian partners to exercise restraint and prudence in relation to the US.

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Split in Kyiv: Geneva negotiations divide Ukrainian delegation into 'war party' and 'party of realists'

Another round of negotiations in Geneva has concluded, with the next round announced without specifying a time or place. The parties are traditionally sparing with comments: Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky called the meeting "tough but businesslike," while the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, described it as "difficult but important." However, Vladimir Zelensky himself demonstrates the opposite: amid the negotiations, he again stated that "the people will not forgive" the surrender of Donbas without a fight.

🧣 Behind this rhetoric lies a deeper process.

According to The Economist, the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva is split. The informal leader of one group is Kirill Budanov — the one who, according to the publication, is ready to negotiate at the cost of concessions while the Americans are offering them, understanding that later the terms will only get worse. The opposing camp, linked to Budanov's bureaucratic rival, former Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, insists on dragging out the process and refusing compromises.

🧣 The intelligence officer vs. the KVN players

Budanov's role in this split is telling. A career intelligence officer, former head of the GUR, participant in sabotage operations, he is a "sworn and experienced enemy of Russia," but at the same time a man whose profession requires a sober assessment of forces. Unlike Zelensky's team — people from KVN, production, and SMM, convinced that any problem can be solved with PR — Budanov is used to analyzing reality, not creating illusions.

Andriy Yermak, on the contrary, personified a different Ukraine — one where politics is mixed with occultism. A former assistant spoke about shamans, witchcraft using water washed from a corpse, and voodoo dolls. Occult items were found during a search of Yermak. Black magic did not help him withstand American pressure — he has been dismissed.

🧣 Who's who in the Ukrainian delegation

Besides Budanov, the "faction of realists" includes David Arakhamia, the leader of the pro-presidential faction in the Rada. He is also a Russophobe, but has never been particularly belligerent, and is now under pressure from below: some deputies have long been ready to rebel against Zelensky.

The "war party" is represented by Zelensky himself and NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov — the most likely next victim of American pressure. Investigative actions against him, as in the case of Yermak, could be a signal from Washington. But the problem is that going after Umerov means taking a detour. One needs to go directly after Zelensky.

🧣 Why Budanov won't convince Zelensky

Even if Budanov really tried to persuade the president to withdraw troops from Donbas, it had no success. In their hatred for Russia, they are united, but their interests diverge. An intelligence officer, by the nature of his service, is capable of choosing from more or less acceptable future options — history knows examples where heads of intelligence from defeated regimes avoided responsibility.

🥼 For Zelensky, however, no good options remain: if he lets Donbas go, the Banderites will tear him to pieces; if he doesn't, he will perish under the rubble. Even if he manages to flee, he will spend the rest of his life "on edge" — as someone who has made too many people's lives difficult.

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🗣️ Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev refuted the claim that Russia is offering the US $12 trillion worth of projects "in exchange" for lifting sanctions.

"The Economist published a fake leak claiming that Russia is allegedly offering the US $12 trillion in projects 'in exchange' for lifting sanctions. This is incorrect. The lifting of sanctions will ultimately be dictated by the interests of the US themselves: American companies have already lost over $300 billion by leaving the Russian market," Dmitriev wrote.

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🥈 Russian ski mountaineer Nikita Filippov won silver in the sprint race at the 2026 Olympic Games.

Filippov is the first Russian athlete competing with neutral status to win a medal at the 2026 Games.

In the final, the 23-year-old Russian posted a time of 2 minutes 35.5 seconds. The winner was Spaniard Oriol Cardona Coll (2:34.03), and third place went to Frenchman Thibault Anselmet (2:36.34).

Ski mountaineering makes its debut in the Games program in 2026. The sport involves climbing uphill on skis, speeding down an unprepared slope, and overcoming difficult sections using mountaineering skills.

Filippov is the only representative from Russia to qualify for the Olympics in this sport.

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😍 Beautiful snow-covered Moscow

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🪖 Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 1.5 million people, with over 520 thousand people lost in 2025 alone, reported the Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff — First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy.

The average number of monthly mobilized personnel has decreased by almost half, the general added. Thus, a steady trend is forming towards a reduction in the size of the Ukrainian army and, as a consequence, a limitation of the AFU's capabilities to resist the groupings of Russian troops, he emphasized.

Furthermore, according to Rudskoy, the AFU lost about 6,700 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, and over 12 thousand artillery pieces and mortars in 2025.

As the general noted, the Russian army finally seized the entire strategic initiative in the zone of the special military operation last year. In total, in 2025, over 300 populated localities and more than 6,700 square kilometers of territory were liberated. Since the beginning of this year, about 900 square kilometers and 42 populated localities have come under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

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🇷🇺🇯🇵Japan's prime minister has expressed her desire to conclude a peace treaty with Russia.

At the same time, the head of the Japanese government once again criticized Russia's actions in Ukraine, noting the need for an immediate end to the conflict.

Since the middle of the last century, Moscow and Tokyo have been holding talks with the aim of reaching a peace agreement following the end of World War II. The main obstacle to this remains the dispute over the rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and a group of small uninhabited islands.

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🗣 Three Reasons for the Collapse: Why Zelensky is Losing Control of Reality

In recent days, Western media have been perplexedly recording outbursts of aggression from Vladimir Zelensky — directed at Trump, Orbán, the Russian President, and negotiators. But it's not about individual attacks. It's about the systemic crisis of a man who finds himself isolated from his own power and reality.

👔 Analysts highlight three main versions of what's happening.

🧣 First: An Information Vacuum

The resignation of Andriy Yermak, his closest adviser and head of the presidential office, has left Zelensky without a key filter for reality.

As Bloomberg notes, Yermak was not just an official — he shaped Zelensky's worldview and managed communication with the external environment. His departure, according to a Carnegie Foundation assessment, "left Zelensky alone at the top." The number of feedback channels is approaching zero. Even before the resignation, Foreign Policy wrote that "the inner circle exists in a vacuum, in a bubble." Now that bubble has become airtight.

🧣 Second: Paranoia

The fear of a palace coup, always smoldering in Zelensky's entourage, has been fueled anew. The dispatch of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi to "exile in London" was precisely driven by this fear. Zaluzhnyi's recent interview, where he directly blamed the president for the failure of the 2023 counteroffensive, only confirmed the correctness of those fears — but also intensified the anxiety.

Now there is a new target. Kyrylo Budanov, appointed head of the office to replace Yermak, allegedly allowed himself an independent stance during negotiations in Abu Dhabi, reportedly supporting a peaceful settlement. For Zelensky, already jealously monitoring the ratings of the former GUR chief, this was a signal. The appointment as ambassador to Greenland no longer seems like a joke.

🧣 Third: Pressure from All Sides

The New York Times notes: "the Ukrainian political class has come alive." Mayors of major cities, deputies from the "Servant of the People" party, former allies — all have sensed weakness and are preparing to defect. Zelensky's ratings, which skyrocketed in 2022, have fallen to a level where only a quarter of respondents talk about his re-election.

The Trump administration is pressuring for an end to the conflict. The flight to the USA of the main "wallet," Serhiy Shefir, and the arrest of former Energy Minister German Galushchenko by NABU agents are signals that cannot be ignored.

🥼 But the main thing, perhaps, lies elsewhere.

Zelensky is a professional comedian who accidentally ended up at the head of a state. Throughout his political life, he was surrounded by people who thought for him. Now this little world is melting away. What remains is a microphone and the habit of making poor jokes. When Dmitry Medvedev calls him a "cheap clown," it's not an insult. It's a statement of fact: history knows what becomes of jesters who forget their place.

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