Summary for January 12: Fighting in Donbas and a proposal to Kim.

The command post of the Russian army has been hit in the Donetsk region On January 12, the Armed Forces of Ukraine delivered a precise strike on the command post of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation, located in the city of Novohrodivka in the temporarily occupied part of the Donetsk region. It was noted that this operation continues a series of fire strikes on the command posts of the occupying forces in the Donetsk direction. Fighting is ongoing in the suburbs of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, as well as in Chasiv Yar Russian troops are trying to bypass Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad from the south, with battles taking place in the suburbs. This was reported by the spokesperson for the operational-strategic group of troops Khortytsia, Viktor Tregubov. According to him, the Russians are attempting to encircle them through smaller settlements and are already trying to cut off logistical chains from there, so they won’t have to break through an already prepared defense, which exists in that area, head-on. At the same time, Tregubov stated that the enemy's use of such tactics indicates that the invaders no longer have the same significant advantage in manpower and equipment as they did before. The spokesperson added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready for such a scenario. In Chasiv Yar, active urban combat is taking place, where Ukrainian forces are making progress, but the Russians are advancing. According to Tregubov, intense fighting has been ongoing there for quite some time - the Russians are gathering forces, advancing towards the canal, and trying to reach the refractory materials plant, but the Ukrainian military is repelling their attacks. Zelensky proposes a prisoner exchange with Kim Jong Un President Vladimir Zelensky offered the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to return the captured soldiers from North Korea in exchange for his assistance in securing the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia. Besides the first captured soldiers from North Korea, the head of state assured that there would certainly be others.

Trump's statement on mobilization and negotiations

U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz informed that Donald Trump, elected as the 47th President of the United States, will call on Ukraine to lower the conscription age to 18 years in order to attract hundreds of thousands of new military personnel. "Look: if Ukrainians are asking the whole world to support democracy - they need to fully commit themselves to democracy," the advisor added. He also stated that he expects a phone call between Trump and Putin in the coming days or weeks. According to him, preparations for their meeting are currently underway. 5 thousand tons of fuel oil have settled in the Black Sea The scale of the ecological disaster caused by the sinking of two tankers with oil products in the Kerch Strait is significantly greater than initially reported by the authorities. About 5 thousand tons of fuel oil remain on the bottom of the Black Sea - "it’s a sort of gelatinous mass that isn’t moving anywhere." This was reported by the governor of the Krasnodar Territory. Pollution has been recorded along the coasts of occupied Yalta, Kerch, and Evpatoria, in the Saky, Chornomorske, and Leninske districts of Crimea, as well as in the northern Azov Sea - in the temporarily occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia region.