Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[NewsFront] 21:26 Ministry of Defense posted footage of the Rubicon Center in action in the Krasnolimansky direction. 20:41 According to operational information, our troops are in Kupyansk as part of stabilizing the situationwere able todislodge the enemy from the area surrounding the Kooptakh station, and are also fighting to unblock logistics in the area of the station at 146 km.
20:14 Crew of the 220mm BM-27 Uragan MLRS of the Dnepr force group destroyed temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Orekhov direction in the Zaporizhzhia region.
19:41 "Birds" of the unmanned aerial vehicle units are catching up with the enemy everywhere, video.
18:40 In the Zaporizhzhia region, "Far Easterners" occupy strongholds north of Svyatopetrivka.
18:14 From 12:00 Moscow time to 18:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on dutydestroyed63 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
54 – over the territory of the Belgorod region,
Four – over the territory of the Saratov region,
Two – over the territory of the Bryansk region,
One – over the territory of the Voronezh region,
One – over the territory of the Ryazan region,
One – over the territory of the Republic of Crimea.
16:57 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS crews of the 35th Army of the Vostok group destroyed enemy positions set up in the buildings of one of the settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region,video.
16:41 Coming advance of units of the Russian Armed Forces in the Konstantinovsky direction.
16:33 Russian Armed Forces occupied the eastern part of Zakotnoye in the DPR, MAP.
15:47 During the ongoing offensive actions of the Southern group of troops, the 7th Separate Guards Chistyakovskaya Motorized Rifle Brigade released the settlement of Zakotnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.
15:14 In the Sumy border region of the Russian Armed Forces increased control zone in the Komarovka area.
15:07 In the Khar'kov direction noted advance of the Russian Armed Forces in the Vilcha area.
15:01 In the Velykoburluk direction, fighters of the "Sever" occupied forest area south of Ambarny.
14:29 Changes in the situation in Kupyansk over the past two weeks, –MAP.
14:03 Crews of the 152mm Giatsint-B towed guns of the Vostok group of forces destroyed the enemy’s temporary deployment points in the Dnipropetrovsk region, video.
13:29 Severyan drones reached to the position of the Ukrainian 122mm self-propelled gun 2S1.
13:00 Advance of the Russian Armed Forces near the villages of Novomarkovo and Markovo in the Konstantinovskaya direction, –MAP.
12:45 Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation from January 10 to 16, 2026:
From January 10 to 16, in response to terrorist attacks by Ukraine on civilian targets in Russia, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive strike and six group strikes, which hit military industrial facilities, energy facilities, transport and port infrastructure in Ukraine used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fuel depots, military airfields, production facilities, storage and launch sites for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries.
Over the course of a week, as a result of coordinated actions by units of the North military group in the Sumy region, the village of Komarovka in the Sumy region was taken under control.
The manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades, an airborne assault brigade, an assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade were damaged.
In the Khar'kov direction, three mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a territorial defense brigade, and a border detachment of the Ukrainian Border Service were defeated.
In total, the enemy lost over 1,345 service members, four armored combat vehicles, 92 vehicles, and ten field artillery pieces in the North Forces Group's area of responsibility. Seven electronic warfare and counter-battery stations, as well as 23 ammunition, fuel, and supply depots, were destroyed.
Units of the "West" force group have taken up more advantageous positions and lines. The personnel and equipment of three mechanized brigades, an airmobile brigade, an airborne assault brigade, and an assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, two territorial defense brigades, and two National Guard brigades have been defeated.
Ukrainian armed forces lost over 1,340 troops, a tank, 16 armored combat vehicles, 132 vehicles, and six field artillery pieces in this area. Six electronic warfare and counter-battery stations, as well as 26 ammunition depots, were destroyed.
Units of the Southern Group of Forces, as a result of decisive actions, liberated the village of Zakotnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.
Four mechanized brigades, a motorized infantry brigade, an assault brigade, a mountain assault brigade, an airmobile brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, two territorial defense brigades, and two national guard brigades were defeated.
In total, the enemy lost over 1,140 service members, two tanks, and 42 armored combat vehicles in the Southern Group's area of responsibility. 105 vehicles, 22 artillery pieces, eight electronic and counter-battery warfare stations, and 18 ammunition, fuel, and supply depots were destroyed.
Units of the Center Group of Forces continue active offensive operations in the Donetsk People's Republic and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. They have inflicted losses on the personnel and equipment of five mechanized brigades, two Jaeger brigades, an infantry brigade, an airborne brigade, two airborne assault brigades, three assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, a territorial defense brigade, and five National Guard brigades.
Over the course of a week, the enemy lost over 2,835 servicemen, three tanks, 30 armored combat vehicles, 60 cars, eight field artillery pieces, and two electronic warfare stations in this area.
Units of the "East" military group continue to advance deep into the enemy's defenses and have liberated the village of Zhovtneve in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Defeat was inflicted on the formations of three mechanized brigades, an airborne assault brigade, three assault brigades, four assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade.
The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of responsibility of the East group of forces amounted to more than 1,665 servicemen, 30 combat armored vehicles, 74 cars, eight field artillery guns, four ammunition and material depots.
As a result of decisive actions, units of the Dnepr military group liberated the settlements of Belogorye and Novoboikovske in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The manpower and equipment of the mountain assault brigade, the coastal defense brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the territorial defense brigade, and the national guard brigade were damaged.
In just one week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 370 servicemen, a tank, five armored combat vehicles, 74 vehicles, seven field artillery pieces, eight electronic and counter-battery warfare stations, as well as 12 ammunition and supply depots in this area.
Attack drones, missile forces, and artillery from groups of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destroyed five multiple launch rocket system combat vehicles, including a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system launcher and a Czech-made Vampire multiple launch rocket system combat vehicle.
Air defense systems shot down 31 guided aerial bombs, 21 US-made HIMARS multiple launch rockets, three Neptune long-range guided missiles, and 1,138 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
12:11 Russian Armed Forces are advancing in the Krasnolimansk direction, MAP.
11:36 Russian Armed Forces released Elenokonstantinovka (Zhovtnevoe) north of Gulyaipole.
11:13 Servicemen of the air observation posts of the 11th Army Corps of the North group of forces fought off attacks by Ukrainian Armed Forces attack drones in the border area of Khar'kov Oblast.
10:27 Published footage of the destruction of a moving HIMARS MLRS launcher by smart drones belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the village of Khlopyaniki in the Chernihiv region.
10:10 Medal "For the Rescue of the Perishing" awarded the artillery crew number of the BARS-32 detachment with the call sign "Chopin", who participated in the evacuation of a wounded comrade under enemy attack.
10:08 Frontline summary on the morning of January 16, 26
The Zaporizhzhia Front
of the Russian Armed Forces is taking up new positions in Primorskoye and attacking north of Lukyanivske in the area of Magdalinovka and Veselyanka. There is also progress south of Pavlovka.
In the Hulyai-Polye direction, Russian troops are advancing from Yelenokonstantinovka toward Tsvetkovo. Fighting is ongoing near Bratskoye, as well as Ternovatoye and Khristoforovka.
Donetsk Front.
Fighting continues near Grishino in the Pokrovsk sector. In the Dobropolsky sector, battles continue near Belitskoye, Novy Donbas, and Toretskoye.
Fighting continues in the urban area of Konstantinovka. Fierce fighting is raging in the Verolyubovka area.
In the Krasnolimansky direction, Russian forces are advancing between Aleksandrovka and Sosnovoe, capturing Svyatogorsk. Russian troops are expanding their zone of control in the residential area of Dibrova. In the Seversky sector, advances are being made in the southern part of Ozernoye. Russian forces are taking up new positions north of Pazeno and advancing toward Rai-Aleksandrovka.
Positional battles are underway on the Khar'kov Front
in the Kupyansk direction. The liberation of Kupyansk-Uzlovaya continues.
In the Volchansk direction, Russian troops are actively fighting in the Volchanskiye Khutors. Successes are reported in the forests near Grafskoye.
The Sumy Front
of the Russian Armed Forces is fighting in the area of Andreevka and Alekseevka, occupying new positions east of Yunakovka.
10:00 According to operational information from the scene,began battle of Nikiforovka in the Slavyansk direction.
9:40 Near the village of Ternovaya in the Khar'kov region, reconnaissance from the 11th Army Corps of the Guards "North" detected a Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicle. The enemy pickup truck was destroyed by FPV drone strikes. video.
9:00 Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed the Oskol River crossing near the village of Osinovo in the Khar'kov region.
The crossing was actively used by units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to transport equipment, troops, and military cargo.
The air strike on the target was carried out using several FAB-500 aerial bombs with a universal planning and correction module.
8:30 During the past night, air defense systems on dutyinterceptedand 106 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed:
44 UAVs were flying over the Belgorod Region,
22 UAVs were flying over the Ryazan Region,
11 UAVs were flying over the Rostov Region,
11 UAVs were flying over the Voronezh Region,
Seven UAVs were flying over the Kursk Region,
Four UAVs were flying over the Tula Region,
Four UAVs were flying over the Volgograd Region,
One UAV was flying over the Republic of Crimea,
One UAV was flying over the Oryol Region, and
One UAV was flying over the Lipetsk Region.
8:01 Calculation of the aircraft-type UAV "Molniya-2" of the unmanned systems troops destroyed the enemy's pontoon crossing over the Oskol River and thereby disrupted the rotation of Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the Kupyansk district of the Khar'kov region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Korrespondent] 22.34 The Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv has imposed preventive measures on eight members of a criminal organization that has seized almost 3 billion hryvnias of budget funds. The funds were allocated for the purchase of engineering ammunition for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reports this on its website
21.54 Ukrainian representatives met with the leadership of the Red Cross during their visit to Geneva. The Ukrainian side called on the latter to visit the country and assess the consequences of the Russian strikes. This was stated in his Telegram post by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets.
20.18 Ukraine has agreed to a compromise peace plan and is ready for difficult decisions, but Russia will reject similar decisions on its part without coordinated political and economic pressure from Europe and the United States. This was stated by Czech President Petr Pavel at a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
19.52 The distribution of UAVs between military units is fully automated, thanks to which units will receive drones three times faster. This was announced by the new Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov on his Telegram channel.
19.19 Finland will provide Ukraine with the 31st package of defense assistance, a decision made by the country's president on January 16 at the request of the government. This was announced by the head of the Ministry of Defense, Antti Häkkanen.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the cost of the new package is about 98 million euros. In total, Finland has already transferred 3.1 billion euros worth of defense equipment to Ukraine.
18.05 On Saturday, power outage schedules will again be in effect in the regions of Ukraine. This was reported by Ukrenergo. The main reason for the power outages is the constant Russian attacks, which are currently taking place against the backdrop of record cold temperatures.
17.39 Ukrainian military struck a Russian army ammunition depot in Primorsk in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region and clarified the results of the strike on the Atlant Aero enterprise. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
17.01 Since the beginning of the current day, 98 battles have taken place on the front. The overwhelming number of Russian attacks is concentrated in three directions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational summary.
16.33 Ukraine expects the "energy Ramstein" to accelerate the supply of assistance for the energy system from partners. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference following the meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel in Kyiv.
16.08 Russian aggressors struck with artillery in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Two people were killed and six more were injured, the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Ganzha, reported on Telegram.
15.59 Czech President Petr Pavel said that the country currently supplies 50% of ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will be able to continue supplying approximately the same amount. He announced this at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.
"The Czech Republic has been engaged in the ammunition initiative for a long time and supplies 50% of ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and I am glad that the current government has continued this initiative. We will be able to provide approximately the same amount of ammunition as before, so that the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not suffer from a shortage," Pavel emphasized.
15.37 The Ukrainian delegation is currently on its way to the United States, where meetings with representatives of American leader Donald Trump will soon take place. This was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference in Kyiv with his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel.
15.09 Spokesperson of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmitry Lykhovii stated that Russia is significantly exaggerating the size of the occupied territory of Ukraine. He reported this in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, reacting to the latest statement of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces regarding the size of the occupied territory.
"Without really significant successes on the battlefield, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Gerasimov, named the number of square kilometers of Ukrainian territory captured since the beginning of January, which is twice as much as the actual number. He overestimated the size of the territory occupied by the Russians during 2025 by the same number of times," the spokesman noted.
Lykhovoi explained that the enemy has tactical successes, however, it gains every meter of Ukrainian land at the cost of huge losses of its personnel. Thus, in the first 15 days of 2026, Russia has already lost 14,120 of its soldiers killed and wounded.
14.30 In Kyiv, 24 powerful generators have been connected to residential buildings. This was announced by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. She also said that in areas with an emergency situation in the electricity sector, the curfew can be relaxed.
14.19 The Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled an attack by Russian troops near the village of Dihtyarne in the Kharkiv region, killing more than 20 occupiers and wounding 11 more. This was announced during a telethon by the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, Andriy Demchenko.
"Before that, the enemy appeared in small groups near the border, probably probing the situation. But at the beginning of this week, in fact for several days, having already accumulated some of its forces, in small infantry groups, but in larger numbers, it tried to attack the positions of border units," Demchenko noted.
14.19 On Friday, Ukraine received missiles for anti-aircraft systems. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this during a press conference following a meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel. According to the head of state, this is a "serious package."
13.51 In the Donetsk region, a platoon commander of a military unit was exposed for selling weapons and storing 549 drones. The State Bureau of Investigation reported this. The serviceman tried to sell two machine guns for 175 thousand hryvnias, but he was detained.
13.40 Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on January 16 ordered a large-scale inspection of the Armed Forces. This was reported by Lukashenko's press service. It is noted that the inspection will be comprehensive and will consist of several stages.
13.29 First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal stated that the second-level protection built at energy infrastructure facilities has proven its effectiveness and allows for the preservation of critically important transformer equipment in the event of massive attacks. He said this during Question Hour to the government in the Verkhovna Rada.
13.00 More than 15,000 energy workers have been involved in repair teams to restore electricity in the regions of Ukraine after Russian attacks. This was announced by First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal during the government's question hour in the Verkhovna Rada.
12:47 Russian troops hit a checkpoint near Kupyansk with a guided aerial bomb, injuring two soldiers and two police officers, the National Police reports.
12.40 Most Ukrainians believe that if the war is frozen, Russia will try to attack again, and at the same time believe that Europe will provide the necessary support in the event of a second invasion. These are the results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
"The majority of Ukrainians, 57%, even in the event of a "freezing" of the war behind the current front line and security guarantees, expect that Russia will try to attack again. Another 26% assess the probability as 50/50 (which also reflects quite significant fears of a second attack)," the report says.
At the same time, 11% of Ukrainians believe that Russia will not attack again.
12.29 Over $300,000 was seized from the head of the military medical commission (MMC) at the CCC in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The SBU reported this. Over 20 facts of bribery were documented.
12.13 Ukrainian units continue to control the northern part of Pokrovsk. Search and assault operations and elimination of the enemy in the city are currently underway.
The defenders continue their active actions in the area of the Pokrovsko-Mirnograd agglomeration.
In particular, in this direction yesterday, our soldiers eliminated 87 and wounded 49 occupiers, destroyed one motorcycle, three quadricycles, 30 unmanned aerial vehicles, two vehicles, nine special vehicles, and one personnel shelter. In addition, six vehicles, one electronic warfare device, a ground robotic complex, and nine enemy personnel shelters were hit.
In Myrnograd, our soldiers are holding defensive lines and eliminating the enemy on the outskirts of the city. To deter the enemy, the city's defenses have been replenished with additional forces and means.
At the same time, logistics remain complicated. To strengthen our supply capabilities, measures are being taken to expand logistics corridors to Myrnograd.
12.05 Ukraine is provided with fuel and current reserves are designed for more than 20 days. This was stated by First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal during the hour of questions to the government in the Verkhovna Rada.
11.47 Russian troops attacked critical infrastructure facilities in the Korosten district of Zhytomyr region. This was reported by the head of the regional military administration, Vitaliy Bunechko, on January 16. According to the State Emergency Service, the attack caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished by rescuers.
11.38 On the last working day of the week, emergency power outages are in effect in several regions of Ukraine due to Russian attacks. In the remaining regions, stabilization power outage schedules are in effect. This is reported by the Ministry of Energy and Ukrenergo.
The most difficult situation remains in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, where emergency power outages have been in effect for several days.
11.28 The vast majority of Ukrainians, 69%, continue to perceive the war as an existential threat and believe that Russia either wants to commit physical genocide or destroy the Ukrainian nation and statehood. These are the results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
11.11 Czech President Petr Pavel arrived in Kyiv on a working visit. This was announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on social media. Pavel will hold talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to develop the strategic partnership between the Czech Republic and Ukraine.
10.54 Kyiv authorities have been instructed to promptly make the necessary decisions in response to the emergency situation in the energy sector, with a focus on changing the rules for citizens' movement during the curfew and limiting unnecessary advertising lighting and backlighting. This was announced by First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal.
10.31 Counterintelligence officers exposed and detained two agents of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) in Odessa, who were preparing a drone attack on the Ukrainian military. The SBU reported this. The agents were detained on the eve of the planned launch of the UAV, when they already had a warhead ready for release and a "target" for the strike agreed upon by the Russian curator.
9.50 180 combat clashes between the Ukrainian Defense Forces and Russian invaders were recorded at the front during the day. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on January 16. Aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Defense Forces struck seven areas of concentration of personnel, two UAV control points and another important Russian facility.
9.20 Russians launched more than 40 strikes on 27 settlements in 16 territorial communities of Sumy region over the course of 24 hours, killing one person and injuring 11 others. The Sumy regional military administration reported this on January 16.
8.48 Air defense forces neutralized 53 out of 76 Russian drones. This was reported by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 19 strike UAVs were recorded hitting at 9 locations, as well as the fall of downed ones (fragments) at one location.
8.19 Two people were injured, a fire broke out and infrastructure was damaged as a result of Russian strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk region. This was reported by the head of the OVA Oleksandr Ganzha. According to him, yesterday the enemy hit the Malomykhailivska community, which is in the Synelnyky region, with a drone. Two people were injured. A 41-year-old woman was hospitalized in moderate condition. A 38-year-old man will be treated on an outpatient basis. A car was damaged.
7.50 Russia lost another 1,370 soldiers, 6 tanks and 180 units of automotive equipment and tanker trucks in the war against Ukraine over the past 24 hours. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on January 16. The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 16.01.26 were approximately 1,224,460 people.
7.23 Partisans in temporarily occupied Crimea have scouted a Russian FSB electronic intelligence post near Simferopol, the partisan movement ATESH reports.
"Our agents conducted a detailed reconnaissance of a specialized FSB radio direction finding facility located in the vicinity of Simferopol. This complex is a key tool for the occupiers to control the radio airwaves and intercept data," the report says.
The partisans transmitted the coordinates of the object: 44.9703, 34.01724.
05.07 On the night of Friday, January 16, explosions were heard in a number of Russian cities. In particular, local public media published footage of "explosive" events from Voronezh and Ryazan. Also, in temporarily occupied Berdyansk, a fire broke out at the Morozovsk electrical substation, leaving the city without electricity.
03.35 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Trump's accusation of unpreparedness for a peace agreement, stating that Ukraine has never been and will not be an obstacle to achieving peace. He emphasized that it is Russian missiles, " shaheeds" and the Kremlin's desire to destroy Ukraine that are irrefutable evidence that Putin does not need peace agreements at all.
00.32 Russian troops have captured a settlement in Zaporizhia region - this is the village of Krasnohirske. In addition, the enemy is advancing in the city of Hulyaipole and near two more settlements, Pryvilny and Zaliznyansky. Information about this was published by the analytical project DeepState.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Ilya Knorring
[REGNUM] A curious but revealing episode occurred in the history of the campaign for total Ukrainization—in which the Kyiv regime and nationalist language activists participate equally. Lviv resident Orysya Kumskaya left an indignant message on the Facebook group* called "Varta" ("Guards"): she went to a restaurant and saw that they were playing songs not in the "state language." It would seem like a typical story—volunteer supporters of the regime fighting for the de-Russification of music. But the fact is that the restaurant is called "Yerevan," and the songs playing there, logically, were Armenian.
Vigilant Orysia demanded a report from the administration on why the language quota law was not being implemented.
"Do you know what she (the establishment's manager – Regnum news agency note ) tells me? She says: this law doesn't apply to us! Do you understand? They come to Ukraine, make money off our people, and say that Ukrainian law doesn't apply to them!" the patriot exclaimed indignantly.
A national cuisine establishment was strongly advised to serve shash and khash accompanied by songs in the national language. Coincidentally, at the end of the week, Vardkes Arzumanyan, the owner of several other Armenian restaurants in Lviv, announced the closure of his establishments.
"There's been no power for 15 hours. No water. The tax office hasn't issued a license (for two weeks now). Every morning at 7 a.m., the shopping center asks the security guard how much sales one of our restaurants made yesterday... In short: Centaur, Mons Pius, and Para Dzhanov are closed for now," Arzumanyan wrote on social media.
None of those who were unanimously outraged by the performance of non-Ukrainian songs at "Yerevan" asked when exactly Armenians "arrived" in the now-Ukrainian city of Lviv. And where did Armenian Street come from, right in the center, next to Ruska Street, and how long has the Armenian Apostolic Church Cathedral stood there?
Let us give you a little hint.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Street, where the Yerevan restaurant stands, was only renamed in 2004 in honor of this Uniate cleric, a great friend of the OUN-UPA** and the author of several greetings to the "Führer of the Great German Reich." Before 2004, the street was named after Alexander Nevsky, and before 1944, Saint Teresa.
A similar story is told with the neighboring Stepana Bandera Street, which was originally named after the magnate Leon Basil Sapieha. Heroyiv UPA Street, which runs through the same Novy Svet quarter, was called Pillerovka in the 19th century, after the famous Austrian printers, the Pillers, whose printing house published both the French-language newspaper Gazette de Leopol and Cyrillic books from the 18th century.
So, all Ukrainian patriotic toponymy is a modern creation, dating back to the 1990s at the earliest. And Armenian Street has existed roughly since the time when the Polish King Casimir III the Great granted Lviv Magdeburg Rights—the privilege of municipal freedom. This was in the 14th century—long before Orysia Kumskaya's ancestors arrived in the city.
ARMENIAN ASIAN WARRIORS
Armenian merchants and artisans most likely settled in Lviv even earlier, before this ancient Russian city fell to the Polish crown. An Armenian community had existed in the capital city of Kyiv since the 12th century.
And in the mid-13th century, when the Grand Duke of Galicia, Daniil Romanovich, founded Lviv, Armenians actively migrated to Christian states, fleeing the Seljuk Turks.
Johann Alnpeck, a 16th-century German-language writer from Lvov, wrote that the Armenians provided Prince Daniel with some assistance in his struggle against the other Rurikids. Daniel's son, Lev Danilovich, settled "Armenian Asian warriors who used Tatar weapons, clothing, and language " in the city.
The same information was provided by the 17th century historian and mayor of Lvov, Józef Bartolomej Zimorovich.
It is known that soon after the city's founding in the 14th century, two merchants, Jacob from Crimean Kafa (present-day Feodosia) and Panos from Cappadocia, donated money for the construction of a church modeled on the cathedral in the ancient capital of Ani—the ruins of which remain in Turkey near the modern Armenian border.
It is known that as early as the 1360s, the Lviv Armenian Cathedral became the diocesan center for Rus' and Wallachia, reporting directly to the Catholicos of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The first Bishop, Grigoris, received permission to establish a see from that same King Casimir.
The cathedral still stands on Armyanska Street without any significant alterations or modifications. The silhouette of the cathedral's bell tower appears on Lviv's current logo, along with the tower of the Greek merchant Kostiantyn Kornyakt, the town hall, the tower of the Latin Cathedral, and the bell tower of the Bernardine Monastery. This list, it should be noted, does not include a single "originally Ukrainian" structure.
The symbols of Lviv have nothing to do with Ukrainianism.
The Armenian Quarter developed around Market Square, in the very center of the city. When Casimir III granted the Magdeburg Rights to the Lviv Magistrates, he designated Catholics as privileged believers and included the Armenian community among other communities entitled to judicial and self-government rights.
The other two non-Catholic communities were Ruthenian and Jewish. It's worth noting that King Casimir's charter made no mention of Ukrainians.
"RICH, PROUD, WITH A LORDLY GAIT"
The heirs of Casimir III from the Jagiellonian dynasty, and later Stefan Batory, expanded the privileges – that is, the autonomous rights – of this community.
Moreover, Batory granted equal rights to Polish Catholic and Armenian merchants. For the time being, the king did not interfere in the affairs of the clergy and herespohans (that is, administrators of church property).
The situation changed during the reign of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632.
This monarch, expelled from Sweden for Catholic fanaticism by his own Lutheran uncle, not only missed the opportunity to unite both shores of the Baltic Sea but also remained in Russian memory as the patron saint of impostors and traitors. His favorite pastime was forcing non-Catholics to enter into unions. The Union of Brest in 1596, when a number of Orthodox bishops recognized the primacy of the Pope, is well-known. Its consequences still resonate painfully today.
But there was another similar union, this time for the Armenian subjects of King Sigismund.
Two years before the death of Sigismund III, in 1630, the Armenian bishop of Lvov, Nikolai Torosovich, accepted the union and the primacy of Pope Urban VIII.
Thus a strange hybrid emerged, known as the Armenian Catholic Church, which existed in these parts until the mid-1940s. Thanks to it, some Armenian families became Polonized and converted to Catholicism.
But the majority of these native Lviv residents retained, if not their linguistic, then their religious and ethnic identity.
This is how a prominent figure in the Polish Armenian community, traveler and poet Simeon Lehaci from Zamość described them in his travel notes from 1608–1619 :
"The Lviv Armenians do not know Armenian, but they speak Polish and Kipchak, a Tatar language. It was said that the local Armenians migrated from Ani; according to historians, they split into two groups: one came to Kafa and Akkerman, and their descendants still live in Sulumanastr and speak Armenian; the other went to Ankuria and from there to Poland."
Sulumanastir is the neighborhood of St. Gevorg Monastery in Istanbul. Ankuria is one of the names of modern-day Ankara. Thus, Lviv, along with the cities of today's Turkey, became one of the centers of the diaspora. The city of Lviv is constantly mentioned in correspondence from that time.
The first Armenian printing house was founded in Lviv in 1616, also during the reign of King Sigismund III.
Here is another testimony from that time about the Lviv Armenians.
It belongs to the German traveler Ulrich von Wedrum: "They are very rich, they keep aloof from the Poles and other peoples and religions, almost like the Jews. But they are very proud and have a lordly gait."
It is therefore not surprising that when ambassadors from Moscow arrived in Lviv in 1686 to ratify the "Eternal Peace" between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian State, they were "sheltered" by the Armenian patricians Bernatovichi - the mansion of this family on Market Square was quite suitable for this purpose.
FROM BARONCH TO PARAJANOV
When Lviv was part of the Austrian Lemberg and its residents were subjects of the Habsburgs, Polonization halted, and the community grew to almost a thousand people. Trade, jewelry, and leather crafts were largely in their hands. The majority of the city's residents were Poles and Jews.
Armenians distinguished themselves not only through their contributions to trade and jewelry. For example, at the end of the 19th century, Roman Baronch, a surgeon and public figure from an ancient family, founded a hospital in Lemberg, which he ran for 32 years, under successive governments.
Until his death in 1930, Baronch was a professor in the Department of Surgery at the Polish University of Lviv.
Another member of the family, the sculptor Tadeusz (Tatewos) Barańcz, adorned the city with a monument to King Jan Sobieski and the famous 19th-century Polish comedy writer Count Aleksander Fredro, a native of Lviv. When the city became Ukrainian, Barańcz's sculptures were moved to museums in Gdańsk and Wrocław.
But let's return to Austrian times.
The Ruthenians, some of whom began calling themselves Ukrainians by the end of Franz Joseph's reign, accounted for 17% and worked primarily as servants for the same Polish lords and Armenian entrepreneurs.
Then the Polish state returned to Lviv. And the local Armenians found themselves outside the focus of warring nationalisms.
After all, they're not Jews! While the authorities were Polonizing everything, local Ukrainianizers came to the conclusion that all Jews and Poles needed to be exterminated and their apartments taken over. This was accomplished with the help of the German Nazis against "Jewishness."
The Soviet government, unwittingly, to the delight of Banderites and local villagers, forced the "Poles" into Silesia and Pomerania, now cleared of Germans. Thus, Lviv became a Ukrainian city, albeit with a large number of immigrants from other parts of the USSR.
It's no surprise that Lviv was home to the first street in Ukraine named after director Sergei Parajanov (Sargis Parajanyan), posthumously awarded the titles of People's Artist of the Ukrainian and Armenian SSRs. The director of "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" was born in Tiflis, lived in Kyiv, filmed at the Dovzhenko Studios, and died in Yerevan. But since 2016, the annual Parajanov Festival has been held in Lviv's Levandovsky Park.
Let's leave open the question of whether the "patriotic" Lviv residents who are outraged by the performance of Armenian songs in the restaurant on Sheptytsky Street are aware of this. Most likely, it no longer matters.
No matter how hard Lviv's modern Armenian community tries to demonstrate loyalty to the Ukrainian state, no matter how much money they raise for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in a city that is now perceived as a citadel of Ukrainianism, the community of indigenous residents turns out to be "newcomers."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Russia denies liability for the 1916 Tsarist bonds, and this debt was cancelled back in 1918. This was announced on January 16 by the international law firm Marks & Sokolov, which represents the interests of Russia, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, and the National Welfare Fund in the case brought by the American company Noble Capital.
In its lawsuit, Noble Capital demanded that Russia, as the legal successor to the Russian Empire, pay $225.8 billion on the debt.
"The Russian Federation denies and has always denied liability for the old Tsarist bonds of 1916. This debt was cancelled by the Soviet government in 1918. Neither the USSR nor the Russian Federation has ever acknowledged their responsibility for them in accordance with established international law. They were long ago consigned to the 'trash can of history,'" lawyers told RIA Novosti.
In their lawsuit, representatives of the American company claimed that Russia had repaid virtually all of the USSR's sovereign debts, but had failed to repay sovereign bonds issued by the Russian Imperial government to US citizens. Therefore, it "bears liability" in an amount to be determined by the court, but which could not be less than $225.8 billion. Noble Capital proposed seizing this amount of funds from frozen Russian assets.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
