RUSSIA STRIKES AGAINST UKRAINE: Large-scale missile, drone attack this morning… Explosions heard in Kyiv, Drohobych… Air raid alerts go off everywhere in Ukraine… Footage of high-rise apartments already on fire in Kyiv… additional footage here.

UPDATE: Five settlements in Kharkiv region hit with airstrikes… Leaders react to this morning’s attacks… Five dead in Kyiv so far… Russia closing grip on Avdiivka.

In other news, Tucker Carlson is grifting his grift while other people stay in jail for doing their job.

FORBES: Russia has massed 500 Tanks, 40k troops to attack Kupiansk.

KHARKIV IN THE WORLD NEWS: How Russia’s war is changing childhood in Ukraine

A few links for your Friday…

• Five Places to take your significant other for a romantic evening
• Yermilov Center is showing an exhibit by the artist known as ‘Hamlet’ thru the beginning of March, free admission

Update to the ‘Five Places’ piece is this nice highlight of ‘Paris’ on Yaroslav Mudroho.

Documentary about Kharkiv artists wins the grand jury prize at Sundance!

HOLY CRAP!

I’m told by Ukrainian govt source that reports of the firing of top general Valery Zaluzhny look to be true. We await confirmation by presidential order - but this appears to be a done deal.

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) January 29, 2024

UPDATE 1 Contradicting reports at this point, stay tuned.

UPDATE 2 OK looks like it was a disinfo-op…

COFFEE NEWS FOR YOUR MONDAY…

• Check out ‘Yikhat Nada’ opening on Nauki
• Mr. Bourbon now serving breakfast!
• Makers Coffee on former-Pushkinskaya already rebuilding!

BUH-BYE PUSHKINSKAYA… Kharkiv City council voted to rename ‘Pushkinskaya’ street to ‘Grigori Skovorodi’ street, so as to continue de-Russification of the city. In all 65 streets were renamed in the resolution, you can read about most of them here in Ukrainian.

REPO MEN: US Senate Committee backs bill to sieze Russian assets to help Ukraine.

Pushkinskaya hit by Russian missles yesterday, video here and Gwara Media article here.

UPDATE - additional pictures from Gwara here.