The US Coast Guard has seized two oil tankers linked to Russia for attempting to evade US sanctions on Venezuelan oil.
On January 7, US officials confirmed that US Coast Guard forces boarded and seized the tankers Bella-1 (also known as Marinera) and M/T Sophia - in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, respectively.
This is according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
US Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem says both ships either last docked in Venezuela or were en route to Venezuela during US operations. operations.
The Bella-1 appears to have been about 300 kilometers south of Iceland when the US forces boarded it.
The Bella-1 was reportedly not carrying any oil, and the M/T Sophia was reportedly carrying up to 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil when the US forces seized the ships. A US official told Western media that Russia had deployed a submarine and other naval assets to escort the Bella-1 ahead of the US operation to seize the ship.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said the United States was executing a court order to seize the "Bella-1" and arrest its crew and bring it to the United States for prosecution.
The Russian Foreign Ministry (MFA) said it was closely monitoring the situation and acknowledged that there were Russian citizens among the crew.
Representatives of the United States, Ukraine and the Coalition of Volunteers continued talks in Paris on January 7, and details of potential security guarantees for Ukraine are beginning to emerge.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on January 7 that he had met with U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and former senior adviser to the U.S. President Jared Kushner as part of ongoing negotiations.
The newly appointed head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kyrylo Budanov, said on January 7 that the talks had yielded results, but that he could not disclose further details.
On January 6, Zelensky summarized details of the Coalition of Volunteers' decisions to on the post-war multinational force and the mechanisms for monitoring the ceasefire in Ukraine.
Ukraine, the United Kingdom and France signed a declaration stating that France and the United Kingdom intend to deploy armed forces in Ukraine as part of a multinational force; to involve the multinational force in land, sea and air deterrence operations; to help build, protect and use facilities for materials, weapons, military equipment and strategic reserves in Ukraine; and to establish a negotiating group to conclude an international agreement with other member states of the Coalition of the Willing.
Belgium will contribute to the coalition's maritime and air commitments and will also support the training of Ukrainian forces; that Sweden is ready to provide Gripen fighter jets for aerial surveillance, maritime assets for mine clearance in the Black Sea and for training Ukrainian forces; and that Germany, Spain, and Lithuania could deploy ground forces to Ukraine after the war as part of a multinational force.
Zelensky also indicated that progress had been made on the "bilateral security guarantees" and "trilateral" documents, likely referring to security guarantees between the United States and Ukraine and peace agreements between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia, and that he expected to sign these documents in the near future.
Zelensky said that Ukraine and the United States still need to resolve territorial issues and control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). He may discuss these issues directly with U.S. President Donald Trump if the delegations fail to make further progress in the talks.
Russian forces are likely unable to simultaneously compensate for losses suffered in Ukraine and build up their strategic reserves. Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported on January 7 that the Russian military command has formed only four new divisions out of the 17 maneuver divisions and up to nine brigades that Russia planned to form in 2025.
Mashovets also assessed that it is unlikely that Russian forces will generate a surplus of more than 70,000 soldiers in 2026 for reserve, a number insufficient to form the planned 17 maneuver divisions.
The then-head of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Military Intelligence (GUR), Lieutenant General Kirill Budanov, stated on December 27 that Russia had not yet developed a strategic reserve with the capabilities it desired, as it was "constantly" activating its operational reserve to support ongoing combat operations in Ukraine.
Data from the Ukrainian General Staff shows that Russian forces suffered about 416,570 casualties in 2025, an average of 1,141 casualties per day, which is roughly the loss of a division's personnel every 10 days. Mashovets estimated that Russian forces would likely suffer increased casualties in 2026 as they storm increasingly fortified Ukrainian positions, including the Ukrainian fortress belt in the Donetsk region.