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An FPV drone intercepts a Shahed-136 carrying an R-60 air-to-air missile.

Interesting fact: an FPV drone costing about $500 can destroy equipment worth tens of millions of dollars with a single successful strike.

🇺🇸🇻🇪 Trump receives Nobel Peace Prize from Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado — Reuters

Kyiv is suffering from massive power outages. Meanwhile, Ukrainians decided to throw a small party in their neighborhood 😎 📹: churano/Threads

🤝 President Zelenskyy and the IMF Managing Director discussed Ukraine’s Extended Fund Facility for 2026–2029, which has been under development since the fall of 2025. The program is intended to ensure macro-financial stability, support defense and social needs, and facilitate post-war reconstruction. Kristalina Georgieva said that ahead of the meeting with Zelenskyy, she visited an energy facility damaged by Russian shelling and expressed solidarity with Ukraine. “We admire the strength of the Ukrainian people. It is an honor for us to be an institution that can extend a helping hand to you,” she said. The president, in turn, thanked the IMF for its support, particularly amid the energy crisis caused by Russian attacks and cold weather.

🇺🇦🇺🇸 Zelenskyy, responding to Trump’s criticism, said Ukraine is not an obstacle to peace. “Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace. It is Russian missiles, Russian Shaheds, and Russia’s attempts to destroy Ukraine that clearly show Russia does not need agreements at all,” he said. According to the president, Russian strikes are deliberately aimed at crippling Ukraine’s energy sector and breaking its people. “When Ukrainians are left without electricity for 20–30 hours because of Russia, when Russian strikes are aimed at destroying our energy system and our people, it is Russia that must be pressured. I thank everyone who supports Ukraine in this. We will significantly intensify our diplomatic efforts — public and official, as well as non-public and unofficial,” Zelenskyy emphasized.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte held a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Ukraine’s energy situation. Rutte said the talks focused on the energy crisis, “where Russian attacks are causing terrible human suffering,” and pledged to help ensure that Kyiv receives the assistance it needs.

Russia plans to launch a large-scale geological exploration program in the temporarily occupied Donetsk region in 2026, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reports. The program предусматривает phased exploration of deposits, with a focus on raw materials in high demand in the modern economy, particularly strategic and rare metals. The Service noted that Russia, in violation of international law, is seeking to offset its own economic failures by exploiting the subsoil of the Donetsk region, turning geological exploration into a mechanism of resource plunder in the occupied territories.

🇹🇷🇺🇦 Peace in Ukraine would mean a security agreement between Europe and Russia — Turkish Foreign Ministry. “The peace that will be achieved will not be peace only between Russia and Ukraine. In fact, it will also be peace between Europe and Russia,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said. He also criticized the shift in the US role in the war — from a leading position to a more neutral one — and stressed Washington’s historical responsibility for European security. “European security is closely linked to Ukraine’s security. When it comes to a peace agreement, three military dimensions stand out: monitoring and verification of the agreement, support for Ukraine’s deterrence capabilities, and measures to be taken in case of violations,” the diplomat noted. Fidan also confirmed Türkiye’s readiness to take responsibility for naval security.

History shows that no empire lasts forever—each either collapses or must adapt and modernize.