A building burns after Russian strikes on Kharkiv city in northeast Ukraine, January 15, 2026

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Russia Wobbles Over Its Invasion of Ukraine

Tuesday’s Coverage: Kyiv and France to Start Joint Weapons Production

UPDATE 0832 GMT:

Ukrainian and European officials say Ukraine has begun planning Presidential elections alongside a referendum on any deal to end Russia’s invasion.

They said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky intends to announce the plan on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Zelensky has said of the Trump Administration, “They say that they want to do everything by June…so that the war ends. And they want a clear schedule.”

“The Ukrainians have this hard idea that it all needs to be bundled with Zelenskyy’s re-election,” said “one Western official familiar with the matter”.

Ukraine’s Consetitution prohibits elections under martial law. A vote also faces the challenges of millions of displaced Ukrainians and around 20% of the country under Russian occupation.

Ukrainian and Western officials said both the timetable and the US ultimatum are unlikely to hold, as they hinge on progress with Vladimir Putin towards an end of his invasion.

The officials noted that the Kremlin is still insisting on its control of all of the Donbas area — the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine — and of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Russia could escalates its attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and its ground offensive.

But the announcement puts political pressure on the Kremlin with Ukraine’s reassurance to Donald Trump that it is pursuing a deal.

UPDATE 0817 GMT:

The toll has risen to three murdered by a Russian guided bomb strike on Sloviansk in the Donetsk region on Tuesday.

Another 18 people were wounded across the region.

UPDATE 0812 GMT:

Ukrainian drones set afire Russia’s Volgograd oil refinery overnight.

The refinery, operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil, was struck for the first time this year.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least four civilians, including three toddlers, have been murdered by a Russian strike near Kharkiv city in northeast Ukraine.

Governor Oleh Kiper said two 1-year-old boys and a 2-year-old girl were slain in the town of Bohodukhiv. A 34-year-old man alongside them was also killed.

A 35-year-old pregnant woman and a 74-year-old woman were injured.

Kharkiv city is less than 20 miles from the Russian border. It has held out from being overrun throughout Moscow’s 4-year invasion; however, the area is regularly targeted by missiles, drones, and artillery.

In Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, Russian strikes left about 11,000 residents without electricity amid temperatures as low as -9C (15F).

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the military is reorganizing air defense.

Many changes are happening right now in the work of air defense. In some regions, the way teams operate, interceptors, mobile fire units, the entire small air defence component is being practically rebuilt completely.

But this is only one element of defence that requires changes. Changes will happen.

He added that while assistance is needed from partners, on the frontline “people are indeed the key issue: their training and the actual replenishment of brigades”.