Kaju said that the average number of daily combat engagements fell below 150 last week.

"Russia continues to apply its greatest pressure toward Pokrovsk and Hulyaipole. However, the most reports of Russian troop advances have come from the Sloviansk–Lyman and Kostyantynivka–Druzhkivka directions. On the other hand, it's worth noting that in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, for example, the advance of Russian units has essentially come to a halt," Kaju said.

"Looking at January as a whole, the pace of Russian advances has been significantly slower than in previous months. Weather plays a major role here — it's been quite cold," he added.

Kaju also pointed to the role of Ukraine's active defensive operations, including counterattacks near Kupiansk. "In that area, for instance, Russia's top military leadership claimed that Russian forces still control the settlement of Kupiansk-Uzlova. We can confirm that this is not true — that location remains under the control of Ukrainian forces," he said.

In addition to ground combat, Russia has continued attacking Ukraine's critical infrastructure, primarily through aerial strikes, Kaju noted.

"Last week, about 1,100 drones and some 25 types of missiles were used against Ukraine. As a result of those airstrikes, once again, there were widespread power and heating outages across various cities and oblasts, including Kyiv, where even apartment buildings that had already lost electricity and heat just weeks earlier were affected again. That said, Ukraine's relevant agencies are responding quite effectively. For example, after the January 24 airstrike, power and heat were restored by the next morning to 80 percent of the households that had lost them," Kaju explained.

He said that beyond Kyiv, Russia continues to target critical infrastructure across Ukraine on a wide scale. "We have data from around 11 oblasts where such strikes have taken place," he said.

Kaju also noted that Ukraine continues its own strikes on Russian fuel and energy infrastructure. "Last week, fuel facilities were attacked mainly in Krasnodar Krai and Penza Oblast and energy infrastructure was targeted in Belgorod Oblast," he said.

According to Kaju, Ukrainian agencies are working effectively to repair damaged energy infrastructure as quickly as possible. Ukraine's partner countries are also providing the necessary resources to help the country endure this critical period.

"In summary, last week was marked by a drop in the number of daily combat engagements. On the other hand, Russia continued its airstrikes and attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure at the same intensity. At the same time, the first trilateral peace talks were held in Abu Dhabi. Yet Russia continues with rhetoric suggesting it is advancing rapidly and successfully on the front line — this narrative is once again intended to justify Russia's maximalist demands for ending the war and pressure Ukraine's delegation into making concessions," Kaju said.

"To comment further on these peace talks: if we look at Russia's rhetoric, there's not a single substantive action that shows they truly want peace. Attacks on critical infrastructure continue, including strikes on civilian targets, especially residential buildings, and there's no sign of change along the front lines," Kaju concluded.

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