Energy Resources, and Oil in Particular, Are One of the Most Important Keys to Peace, to Real Security – Address by the President

23 January 2025 – 19:50

Dear Ukrainians!

Today in Zaporizhzhia, many people were wounded and injured by a Russian missile strike – 52 individuals, including rescuers. A second strike occurred when rescue operations started. Tragically, one person was killed – my condolences. Every air defense system and every interceptor missile saves lives. And it is very important for our partners to feel how much it really helps when our air defense is being bolstered and when the military can report to society on effective interceptions, not hits. I want to express my gratitude to all our rescuers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, everyone who helps people after the attacks – your work truly sustains our entire nation. Today, I want to specifically commend the rescuers from the Zaporizhzhia region: Andriy Eikhvald, Oleksiy Kovalenko, Kostiantyn Kostenko, Oleksiy Perevierziev – thank you! Also, the SES workers from the Kherson region: Viktor Fysunenko, Artem Ozerchuk, Bohdan Kolisnichenko – thank you very much! The Donetsk region: Vladyslav Karpenko, Oleksiy Hayevskyi, Mykhailo Horpinenko, Oleksandr Kobyliatskyi, and Illia Bulkhov – thank you, guys, and all your colleagues!

Today, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal delivered a report on the energy sector – its current state and the work of our energy companies. I am grateful to all repair crews, engineers, and workers in our energy sector. The Prime Minister also reported on the eSupport program. The program is being implemented very successfully, with a high demand from our people – more than 12 million applications have been submitted, and most have already been funded. The program’s timeliness is clear. We will continue working on other state programs as well. It is crucial now to support as many Ukrainian families and citizens as possible.

And one more thing.

We are coordinating our international efforts, and today, we held relevant meetings – primarily concerning the United States and our European partners. Peace through strength is possible, and we are absolutely confident in this. The key is to keep up the momentum and put pressure on Russia – the sole entity that wants this war and that is guilty of this war. It is Russia that is trying to prolong the aggression and occupation. Of course, energy resources, and oil in particular, are one of the most important keys to peace, to real security. And Europe must work more closely with America and other global partners on energy resources, not with Russia. We are preparing our diplomacy and international communications to ensure strong positions not only for Ukraine but for our entire Europe. I thank everyone who is helping us! I am grateful to each and every person fighting for Ukraine – in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, in the south, in the Kursk region – wherever it is necessary for the sake of our country’s interests and independence.

Glory to Ukraine!

Georgia:

⭕ On the 57th day of continuous protests, Rustaveli Avenue has been blocked again.

The demands remain unchanged: new parliamentary elections must be called, and individuals arrested during the protests must be released.

#GeorgiaProtests
Day 57

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 12:43 PM

Day 57 large-scale, continuous; day 87 overall. Theatres disobedience rally marches to the main protest site, Rustaveli. We have two demands:
New, free and fair elections;
The release of the regime prisoners.
#GeorgiaProtests

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM

From tomorrow on, “friends and relatives” or “colleagues” marches in support of individual regime prisoners begin. Tomorrow, there will be five such marches in support of seven individual prisoners. #terrorinGeorgia #GeorgiaProtests

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM

Regime prisoner Nika Katsia is being starved at the prison – the prison suddenly runs out of food when it comes to Nika. This torture has been going on for 3 days. #terrorinGeorgia

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:13 PM

On December 7th, Nika was abducted (we have an eyewitness) and the regime’s police planted drugs on him—not in his pockets, but as part of a fabricated case since he had no drugs on him. Nika was relentlessly harassed by the police. Now he has been sentenced to two months of pretrial detention.
2/4

— Gocha Gogsadze (@gochag.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM

The journalist is being starved at the prison – the prison suddenly runs out of food when it comes to Nika. This torture has been going on for 3 days. Money sent to him is being misused by fellow inmates under the regime’s orders. Nika is forced to endure cold showers in the winter.
3/4

— Gocha Gogsadze (@gochag.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM

This situation cannot continue unchecked—this is a violation of basic human rights, and we must stand up before it’s too late!
4/4

— Gocha Gogsadze (@gochag.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM

The current situation in Georgia is a goldmine for all social sciences and history researchers.
It’s one of those fundamental grassroots turbulences when everyone is unhappy with everything and you simply know that an era is ending with all its paradigms, customs, mental frames, etc., 1/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

and a new one is beginning – because the old ones are not working, the social contract is collapsing, a new republic is being born.
Yet, the movement being without a significant political leadership in domestic processes (the foreign relations side of the opposition is seen by the people 2/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

as much more effective, in comparison; and of course the President), the expressive side of protests is in a “maintaining what we have” mode as of today, while discontent, exhaustion, confusion, pessimism, optimism, determination to win, the adrenaline of the struggle, and the realization that 3/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

this is the last chance to survive are all intertwined in an emotional rollercoaster.
Traditionally, Georgians look up to the United States and the European Union, in a good sense – deep down we still have the spirit of 1989, we expect friends and partners to uphold standards and show support. 4/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

The mechanisms of further internal non-violent pressure are discussed, but it’s all very new to us, we have just tried our first strike (quite successfully, if you ask me), and we never had to deal with an unyielding mafia regime. In addition, as I said, there is no key domestic political 6/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

orchestrator to easily influence the tactical side. However, the regime also plans and reacts, and virtually anything could spark another avalanche.
I do not have a recipe for victory, but I do not see how this turbulence is sustainable for the regime. 7/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

And amid what feels like a 18-19th century civic nation-forming process to me, hopefully novelty is injected in every problematic area of life, starting from politics, and a new social contract is indeed forged. #GeorgiaProtests 8/8.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM

NATO:

‘As Dutch sailors scan horizon w/ binoculars, Commodore Arjen Warnaar, cdr. of the Nato flotilla in the Baltic, describes the Estlink 2 attack as the “smoking gun, more or less…I think it’s pretty naive if you think those cables were broken by mistake”‘ www.thetimes.com/world/europe…

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— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:41 PM

‘Pools of icy slush have formed on the deck of the Datteln and darkness descends early on the Nato flotilla. By using submersible drones, elite divers and sonar scanning equipment, the taskforce hopes to remove the veil of deniability upon which hostile actors rely.’

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:41 PM

From The Times:

On a freezing morning in mid-January, a German diver is preparing to jump into the Baltic Sea, a dagger strapped to his wetsuit. Momentarily exposed to the wind, his hands go pink in the stinging air and his breath steams out of his balaclava. “If you can dive in the Baltic, you can dive anywhere,” he says.

In the Gulf of Finland, elite divers and submersible drones are being sent to the seabed to investigate what appears to be an intensifying campaign of Russian sabotage. Three underwater cables were severed in the space of two months at the end of last year.

The specialists have arrived as part of Operation Baltic Sentry, a Nato mission to patrol the border with Russia and protect the gas pipelines and internet cables upon which Europe relies.

This week the armada assembled for the first time off the coast of Tallinn, capital of Estonia, with two F-35s, the most advanced fighter jets in the world, cracking open the Baltic sky in a display of western military prowess.

The flotilla includes a Dutch frigate, HNLMS Tromp, a German minehunter, FGS Datteln, and a Dutch survey vessel, HNLMS Luymes. More ships, including a Swedish Visby-class corvette and a French minesweeper, will arrive soon.

On Wednesday, Britain announced that it would send P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting aircraft and Rivet Joint spy planes to bolster the Nato mission in the Baltic Sea. The announcement came after a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, was tracked by the Royal Navy in the North Sea this week, having been intercepted by a navy submarine in November as it loitered over critical infrastructure in British waters.

John Healey, the defence secretary, told parliament that the Yantar vessel was being “used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”.

He warned President Putin: “We know what you’re doing.”

Russia has repeatedly denied responsibility for the attacks on the underwater cables. But patience — already wearing thin after a Chinese container ship admitted to “accidentally” shearing the Balticconnector, a gas pipeline, in 2023 — finally snapped following what Finnish authorities believe to be the most brazen incident yet.

At 8.26am on Christmas Day, the Eagle S, a Dubai-owned, Indian-managed and Cook Islands-flagged tanker, sailed directly over the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia. Moments later, grid operators reported a power outage.

Given that Estonia is trying to wean itself off Russian gas and is reliant on the pipeline for alternative power, the mishap occurred at a propitious moment for Moscow.

The events leading up to the rupture were also odd.

Allegedly part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, the Eagle S was sailing from the Russian port of Ust-Luga to Turkey carrying 35,000 tonnes of diesel and unleaded petrol.

For reasons unclear, the ship slowed down as it approached the cable and then, according to Finnish authorities, dragged its 11-tonne anchor for 60 miles along the sea floor, eventually severing the power line and damaging a further three cables.

Concluding that the incompetence of the ship’s crew was neither a plausible nor a sufficient excuse for the tens of millions of dollars worth of damage caused, Finland responded aggressively.

As the Dutch sailors scan the horizon with binoculars, Commodore Arjen Warnaar, 60, the commander of the Nato flotilla in the Baltic, describes the Estlink 2 attack as the “smoking gun, more or less”.

He said: “I think it’s pretty naive if you think those cables were broken by mistake. There’s quite a lot of internationally flagged oil tankers in the Baltic. Most of them go to and from Russia’s ports.

“Dragging your anchor over the bottom for miles and miles, that’s not logical is it? If your anchor fell out, you would typically cut your engine, or just cut [the anchor], let it go.”

Given the number of attacks, some more impatient commanders, including General Martin Herem, head of Estonia’s armed forces, have speculated that Nato could blockade the Baltic; the sea has been nicknamed the “Nato lake” because the recent accession of Sweden and Finland means that nine out of the ten countries bordering it belong to the defensive alliance.

However, given that this would amount to a declaration of war, Nato has opted for a less confrontational approach. Operation Baltic Sentry will primarily involve scrutinising the movements of suspicious vessels.

More at the link.

Back to Ukraine.

I want to show you what the Day of Unity was like across the country. It commemorates the Treaty of Unity signed on January 22, 1919, when eastern and western Ukraine was united❤️

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— Sofia (@sofiaukraini.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 11:19 AM

The Kursk cross border offensive:

North Korean reinforcements are expected to arrive in Kursk “within the next two months,”

“North Korea has provided about 120 170mm M1989 Koksan and 120 M-1991 240mm MLRS to Russia in the last 3 months, and will likely send at least as many more in the future” – Budanov
www.twz.com/news-feature…

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:17 AM

/1. North Korean 122mm MLRS disguised as civilian trucks have been spotted in Russia, on the Kursk front. This is the first time this North Korean MLRS has been spotted in Russia.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 3:51 AM

/2. Illustrate images of this North Korean MLRS from the military parade.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 3:52 AM

🔥HIMARS strikes a position with a concentration of Russian personnel in Kursk region using M30 DPCIM cluster munitions.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 2:22 PM

Obligatory:

Kharkiv:

A film centered around the city of Kharkiv has earned an Oscar nomination. ‘Porcelain War’ offers a poignant look at the lives of ceramic artists in Kharkiv as they navigate the challenges of war.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 10:48 AM

Porcelain War, a documentary by Brendan Bellomo and Kharkiv native Slava Leontiev, is now an Oscar nominee!

The film follows three Kharkiv artists who stayed in their city under relentless russian attacks, showing that even in war, beauty and resilience endure.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 12:48 PM

Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast:

russians struck Kupiansk, in Kharkiv region, killing a civilian 54-year-old woman with an FPV drone.

Russia kills civilians in the Kharkiv region every single day.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 8:59 AM

Kherson:

Kherson celebrates Ukrainian Unity Day in a bomb shelter, under hourly shelling, aerial bomb, tank attacks and human safari drones.

Indivisibility, integrity of all territories, spiritual unity—still invincible.

My heart belongs to this city

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Heroes!

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— Zarina Zabrisky (@zarinazabrisky.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 12:38 AM

A powerful wave of drone strikes, launched as part of the peace enforcement campaign, swept through Russia’s border regions. The strikes targeted the Ryazan oil refinery, caused further damage to the Kremnii plant in Bryansk, and even reached the Moscow region.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 7:18 PM

Ryazan, Russia:

Russian Ryazan oil refinery, another angle.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 6:22 PM

Ryazan oil refinery in russia has been booming lately 💥

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 4:44 PM

Columns of fire on the Russian Ryazan oil refinery. Looks like quite a decent hit.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:59 PM

Russian oil refinery in Ryazan burning intensively after drone attack.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM

Bryansk, Russia:

Unidentified buzzing objects have also been spotted in the Russian city of Bryansk.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:19 PM

More from Bryansk. At least two hits were recorded on the Kremniy EL plant.

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) January 23, 2025 at 6:42 PM

Moscow:

The Mayor of Moscow, Sobyanin, reported that Russian air defense forces destroyed UAVs flying toward Moscow in the Kolomna and Ramenskoye urban districts.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron skeets or videos today. Here is some adjacent material.

Pets, Ukrainian Army-style.

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— UNITED24 Media (@united24media.com) January 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM

💓 In Khmelnytskyi, police psychologists and dog handlers held a canine therapy session for injured soldiers.

Initially used for displaced persons, including children from Mariupol, the therapy now supports wounded defenders.

📷: National Police

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— UNITED24 Media (@united24media.com) January 23, 2025 at 10:02 AM

Open thread!