Memorial held in Lviv for American volunteer who died defending Ukraine
Soldiers stand by the coffin of American volunteer Daniel Whitney Swift throughout the farewell ceremony within the Latin Cathedral in Lviv. Swift fought Russia within the ranks of the International Legion under the Fundamental Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The funeral ceremony for Swift took place within the Latin Cathedral based on Catholic custom. Daniel’s brother was present on the farewell in Lviv. After the ceremony, his body can be delivered to the USA, where it should be buried.
Soldiers of the honour guard with the portrait of Daniel Swift and the coffin covered with the flags of the USA and Ukraine throughout the farewell ceremony within the Latin Cathedral on January 31, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Ivanov | Getty Images
A brother of Daniel Swift with the ceremonial flag of the USA and the mayor of Lviv Andrii Sadovyi with the flag of Ukraine throughout the farewell ceremony on Rynok Square on January 31, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Ivanov | Getty Images
The coffin covered with the flags of the USA and Ukraine throughout the farewell ceremony within the Latin Cathedral on January 31, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Ivanov | Getty Images
A brother of Daniel Swift with a ceremonial US flag during a farewell ceremony on Rynok Square on January 31, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Ivanov | Getty Images
The coffin covered with US and Ukrainian flags and soldiers stand guard throughout the farewell ceremony within the Latin Cathedral on January 31, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Ivanov | Getty Images
An honor guard soldier holds a portrait of Daniel Swift on January 31, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Stanislav Ivanov | Getty Images
— Stanislav Ivanov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
U.S. accuses Russia of endangering nuclear arms control treaty
In image from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Oct. 26, 2022, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired as a part of Russia’s nuclear drills from a launch site in Plesetsk, northwestern Russia.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
Russia’s refusal to permit on-the-ground inspections to resume is endangering the Latest START nuclear treaty and U.S.-Russian arms control overall, the Biden administration charged.
The finding was delivered to Congress and summarized in a press release by the State Department. It follows months of more hopeful U.S. assessments that the 2 countries would give you the option to salvage cooperation on limiting strategic nuclear weapons despite high tensions over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Inspections of U.S. and Russian military sites under the Latest START treaty were paused by each side due to the spread of the coronavirus in March 2020. The U.S.-Russia committee overseeing implementation of the treaty last met in October 2021, but Russia then unilaterally suspended its cooperation with the treaty’s inspection provisions in August 2022 to protest U.S. support for Ukraine.
“Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the USA from exercising vital rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control,” the State Department said Tuesday.
The administration also blamed Russia for the 2 country’s failure to resume talks required under the Latest START treaty.
— Associated Press
Biden says he’ll discuss with Zelenskyy soon about additional weapons packages
U.S. President Joe Biden talks to reporters before walking to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House January 4, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
President Joe Biden told reporters he’s planning to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about future military aid packages.
“We will talk,” Biden said when asked if he has spoken to Zelenskyy and what he planned on tell him about future assistance requests.
In recent days, Kyiv has asked Western partners for extra weapons, including fighter jets.
— Amanda Macias
Three ships leave Ukrainian ports under Black Sea Grain Initiative
Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine and awaiting inspections, are seen anchored off the Istanbul coastline on November 02, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Chris Mcgrath | Getty Images
Three vessels carrying 166,500 metric tons of grain and other food products have left Ukrainian ports, the organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from the country said.
The ships are destined for Spain and China and are carrying wheat and corn.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July amongst Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw three key Ukrainian ports reopen.
Up to now, greater than 690 ships have sailed from Ukrainian ports.
— Amanda Macias
Residents pick up donated firewood in Stanislav, Kherson
Local residents pick up firewood donated by a charity fund in Stanislav within the Kherson region.
Local residents pick up firewood donated by a charity fund in Stanislav, Kherson Region, on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images
Local residents pick up firewood donated by a charity fund in Stanislav, Kherson Region, on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images
Local residents pick up firewood donated by a charity fund in Stanislav, Kherson Region, on January 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images
— Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images
U.S. imposes restrictions on Iranian drone manufacturers in move to limit Russia’s use of the weapon in Ukraine
A “kamikaze” drone approaches for an attack in Kyiv on Oct. 17, 2022.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP | Getty Images
The U.S. Commerce Department imposed restrictions on seven Iranian drone manufacturers and on any transfers of foreign-made components that support drone production.
The move furthers efforts to chop the Russian military off from the items and resources it must sustain its war in Ukraine, the department said.
“Because of this, Russia has fewer places to show for military support, as evidenced by its acquisition of drones from, and partnership with, pariah states like Iran. We are going to proceed to take effective, coordinated motion with our federal agency colleagues and international partners to stop entities anywhere on the planet from supporting Putin’s horrific war,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Rozman Kendler in a press release.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced a slew of fresh sanctions and extra measures targeting Iran’s aviation and defense sector, as Washington ups the ante in its campaign against Tehran for supplying Moscow with weapons.
— Amanda Macias
Nearly 8 million Ukrainians have grow to be refugees from Russia’s war, U.N. estimates
Greater than 7.9 million Ukrainians have grow to be refugees and moved to neighboring countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the U.N. Refugee Agency estimates.
Variety of Ukrainians enter Poland since war tops 9.5M
Mahmut Resul Karaca | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Nearly 5 million of those people have applied for temporary resident status in neighboring Western European countries, based on data collected by the agency.
NATO member Poland has accepted the vast majority of the refugees from Ukraine.
“The escalation of the international armed conflict in Ukraine has caused civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, forcing people to flee their homes in search of safety, protection and assistance,” the U.N. Refugee Agency wrote.
— Amanda Macias
Zelenskyy, Trudeau agree on ‘joint diplomatic steps’ toward peace in Ukraine
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Church of St Demetrius the Great Martyr to talk with members of the Ukrainian community as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 4, 2022.
Carlos Osorio | Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have agreed on a joint effort toward the implementation of a 10-point peace formula that goals to resolve the Russian war in Ukraine by February, Zelenskyy announced.
The Ukrainian president tweeted that he’s in “constant contact” with Trudeau concerning the situation on the front and the military’s need for armed vehicles, artillery and aviation.
“We agreed on joint diplomatic steps, specifically on the implementation of #PeaceFormula,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Announced on the G-20 in November, Zelenskyy’s peace formula includes the restoration of Ukraine’s lost territories, release of all prisoners of war, the withdrawal of Russian troops, a tribunal for those chargeable for the conflict and security guarantees for Ukraine.
— Chelsey Cox
Watch: U.S. Congressional Ukraine Caucus holds news conference with wounded soldiers
The U.S. Congressional Ukraine Caucus will discuss Russia’s war at a news conference alongside wounded soldiers.
— Jacob Pramuk
France pronounces it should provide training and more CAESAR guns to Ukraine
Ukrainian servicemen fire with a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on December 28, 2022.
Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty Images
France said it should provide 12 additional CAESAR guns to Ukraine and send about 150 soldiers to Poland to coach 600 Ukrainians on a monthly basis.
The CAESAR, or CAmion Equipe d’un Systeme d’ARtillerie, is a French 155 mm, 52-caliber self-propelled gun-howitzer.
French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu said that he expects about 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers to be trained by the summer.
— Amanda Macias
Ukrainian prosecutor general launches investigation after a baby dies from Russian shelling in Bakhmut
Olga Tomah, 70, reacts in front of a residential constructing where her flat burns after Russian shelling within the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on January 20, 2023.
Anatolii Stepanov | AFP | Getty Images
The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said it launched a pre-trial investigation in Bakhmut after a person and 12-year-old boy died in Russian shelling.
“In line with the investigation, on January 31, 2023, the armed forces of the Russian Federation fired barrel artillery at a residential area in the town of Bakhmut. A person and a 12-year-old boy were killed consequently of the shelling,” the office wrote on its Telegram channel.
The office added that five civilians were injured throughout the attack.
“On-site prosecutors proceed to take all possible and appropriate measures to document war crimes committed by representatives of the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” the office added.
— Amanda Macias
Russia’s war has damaged greater than 75,000 buildings in Ukraine, official says
A Russian soldier walks amid the rubble in Mariupol’s eastern side where fierce fighting between Russia/pro-Russia forces and Ukraine on March 15, 2022.
Maximilian Clarke | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Russia’s war has completely destroyed greater than 75,000 buildings, including houses, hospitals and schools, said Yaroslav Brisiuck, deputy chief of mission on the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.
“The Russian Federation doesn’t stop shelling Ukrainian cities, infrastructure destroying historic and cultural heritage of Ukraine,” the diplomat said during an event on the German Embassy in Washington.
“Greater than 50% of the Ukrainian energy systems have been destroyed by Russian missiles and Iranian drones,” Brisiuck added.
— Amanda Macias
Ukrainian official says Russian forces have committed greater than 64,000 crimes since war began
War crime prosecutor of Kharkiv Oblast stands with forensic technician and policeman at the positioning of a mass burial in a forest during exhumation on September 16, 2022 in Izium, Ukraine.
Yevhenii Zavhorodnii | Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A Ukrainian diplomat said his country’s law enforcement has documented greater than 64,000 crimes committed by Russian forces since February.
“Russia cannot defeat us on the battlefield so that they have resorted to the strategy of killing civilians. Russian troops on a each day basis commit war crimes against humanity,” Yaroslav Brisiuck, deputy chief of mission on the Ukrainian Embassy within the U.S.
Brisiuck said that Ukrainian authorities partnered with third-party investigators have recorded instances of rape and sexual violence, torture, looting and compelled deportations.
“We must proceed consolidating the efforts on the legal front to revive the rule of law and deliver justice and hold Russia responsible,” he said during a discussion on the German Embassy in Washington.
Brisiuck added that Ukraine has began the colossal litigation process for potential crimes at each the national and international level, including the International Criminal Court.
The Kremlin denies that its troops in Ukraine goal civilians or commit war crimes.
— Amanda Macias
Most major firms have yet to withdraw from Russia
A view of Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed at night in Moscow, Russia on October 27, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
After Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, firms across the G-7 major economies and the European Union announced plans to stop business operations in Russia.
Yet a report published earlier this month by Switzerland’s University of St. Gallen found that of the 1,404 EU and G-7 firms that were energetic in Russia on the time of the primary incursion into Ukraine, fewer than 9% had divested a minimum of one subsidiary by November 2022.
The research team noted that these divestment rates barely modified over the fourth quarter of 2022.
Barclays European consumer staples analysts said that while many of the firms they cover had pledged to exit Russia, few have managed to achieve this yet. Various firms told Barclays that there have been a bunch of challenges to totally divest.
Read the total story here.
– Elliot Smith
Ukraine to receive 120-140 tanks in ‘first wave’ of deliveries, minister says
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba attends a joint media briefing amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine 14 September 2022.
Nurphoto | Getty Images
Ukraine will receive 120 to 140 tanks in a “first wave” of deliveries from a coalition of 12 countries, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday.
Kyiv secured pledges from the West this month to provide predominant battle tanks to assist fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion, with Moscow mounting huge efforts to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine.
“The tank coalition now has 12 members. I can note that in the primary wave of contributions, the Ukrainian armed forces will receive between 120 and 140 Western-model tanks,” Kuleba said during an internet briefing.
The foreign minister said Kyiv was working behind the scenes to win over more countries to provide tanks at what officials say is a critical time within the war.
“… We proceed to work on each expanding the membership of the tank coalition and increasing the contributions of those already pledged,” he said.
Kyiv plans to launch a serious counteroffensive to recapture swathes of territory taken by Russia within the south and east of the country.
The USA has told Kyiv to carry off on those plans until Western military assistance has arrived in Ukraine. Ukraine can be concerned that Russia could launch its own major offensive in the approaching weeks or months.
— Reuters
Bakhmut hit by rocket-propelled artillery 197 times over past day, official says
A damaged automobile and pile of debris are seen because the Russia-Ukraine War continues in Bakhmut, Ukraine on January 28, 2023.
Marek M. Berezowski | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Bakhmut in Donetsk stays the important thing goal for Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, a spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Cherevaty, said during a national telethon Tuesday.
“Bakhmut continues to be considered one of the predominant directions of the enemy’s attack. There, they struck our positions with rocket-propelled artillery 197 times” over the past day, he said, in comments reported by news agency Ukrinform.
He added that 42 combat clashes had taken place in the identical timeframe with 277 Russian soldiers killed and 258 wounded.
Ukrainian soldiers return from the front line in Bakhmut, Ukraine on Jan. 29, 2023.
Marek M. Berezowski | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Cherevaty said Russian troops were unable to chop the route used to provide Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut despite the repeated attacks.
“Up to now they’ve not succeeded. Every thing is being done to stop them from blocking the movement of our units. All of the obligatory ammunition, equipment, food, are being delivered to Bakhmut,” Cherevaty said.
CNBC was unable to right away confirm the knowledge.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russia claims further advances in Donetsk
Russia’s defense ministry claimed that its armed forces in Ukraine have seized one other village in Donetsk.
Russian troops have reportedly captured the village of Blahodatne within the region (the realm pro-Russian separatists call the “Donetsk People’s Republic” or DPR), based on an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov.
Ukraine has not commented on the claim, but Russia has been seen to have made incremental gains within the Donetsk region around Vuhledar, to the southwest of the town of Donetsk.
A volunteer who’re evacuating civilians from Bakhmut, when the Russian shelling began in Bakhmut, Ukraine on January 30, 2023.
| Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Yan Gagin, an advisor to the acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, told the Rossiya-1 TV channel Tuesday that Russian forces in Donetsk are taking control of 1 settlement after one other, and are advancing on Bakhmut, capturing which is a key strategic goal for Russia.
“Our troops in Artemovsk [Russia’s name for Bakhmut] are advancing, and so they are taking settlement after settlement, moving quite actively,” he said in comments reported by news agency Tass and translated by Google.
The U.K.’s Ministry of Defence said Tuesday that, within the last three days, Russia likely developed its probing attacks across the Donetsk towns of Pavlivka and Vuhledar right into a “more concerted assault.”
The settlements lie around 30 miles southwest of the town of Donetsk, and Russia previously used the a hundred and fifty fifth Naval Infantry Brigade in an unsuccessful assault on the identical area in November 2022, the ministry noted on Twitter.
—Holly Ellyatt
Russia says European powers should counterbalance ‘aggressive’ Poland, Baltics
An individual walks past a Latest Yr decoration Kremlin Star, bearing a Z letter, a tactical insignia of Russian troops in Ukraine, on the Gorky Park in Moscow on December 29, 2022.
Alexander Nemenov | Afp | Getty Images
Russia said on Tuesday that calls by the president of Lithuania to provide Ukraine with fighter planes highlighted the “extremely aggressive position” of the Baltic states and Poland, and that “major European countries” should counterbalance their stance.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Monday that NATO should stop drawing “red lines” and may supply Ukraine with whatever weapons it needed, including fighter jets and long-range missiles.
Asked about those comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “On the whole, we see a particularly aggressive position from representatives of the Baltic countries and Poland. They’re apparently able to do anything to impress the expansion of further confrontation, with little regard for the implications.”
He added: “After all, it is rather sad that under these conditions the leaders of major European countries, who drive all European processes, unfortunately don’t play a balancing role.”
Nauseda’s call followed decisions last week by Germany and the USA to provide battle tanks to Ukraine, a move Russia described as an escalation of the conflict.
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – all ruled by Moscow until they broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 – have strongly backed Ukraine, supporting its argument that it needs more advanced Western weapons as soon as possible with the intention to head off a feared latest Russian offensive.
Moscow sent tens of 1000’s of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last yr in what it called a “special military operation.”
— Reuters
Kyiv criticizes Croatian president for saying Crimea won’t ever return to Ukraine
Pedestrians pass an enormous wall mural showing a map of the Crimean peninsula stuffed with the flag of the Russian Federation, in support of the Russian annexation, in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 28, 2014.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ukraine’s foreign ministry criticized Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Tuesday for saying Crimea would never return to Ukrainian control, describing his comment as “unacceptable.”
Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In remarks on Monday detailing his objection to Zagreb providing military aid to Kyiv, Milanovic said it was “clear that Crimea won’t ever again be a part of Ukraine”.
“We consider as unacceptable the statements of the president of Croatia, who effectively forged doubt on the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
— Reuters
Ukraine’s defense minister in Paris with jets on the agenda
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that whether Ukraine can be supplied with fighter jets would rely upon several aspects.
Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov can be meeting French President Emmanuel Macron and his French defense counterpart Sebastien Lecornu in Paris Tuesday, with the thorny issue of fighter jets high on the agenda.
Ukraine has set its sights on receiving fighter jets, corresponding to U.S. F-16s, from its allies, however the U.S. and Germany have already ruled out such weaponry, particularly given the actual fact they only greenlighted the sending of Western tanks to Ukraine last week.
For his part, President Joe Biden answered with an emphatic “no” when asked by reporters Monday if the U.S. can be sending jets to Ukraine.
There appears to be a softer attitude amongst a few of Ukraine’s allies, nonetheless. with Poland and France signaling that the availability of fighter jets isn’t out of the query. On Monday, Macron said any offer would rely upon several aspects.
“Nothing is excluded in principle,” Macron said after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte when asked about the potential of sending jets to Kyiv because it battles Russia’s invasion, France 24 reported.
The conditions are that Ukraine must first make the request; that any arms would “not be escalatory”; and that they’d “not be prone to hit Russian soil but purely to assist the resistance effort.” Macron added that any arms delivery “must not weaken the capability of the French armed forces.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Russians organising ‘field hospitals’ amid heavy losses in Luhansk
Hospital staff in Ukraine. Many medical facilities have had to maneuver underground amid extensive Russian bombardment.
Marcus Yam | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Russian forces are reportedly commandeering civilian medical facilities and turning them into “field hospitals” with the intention to treat wounded soldiers as casualties mount, Ukraine said Tuesday.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook claiming that Russian forces in Luhansk proceed to “suffer heavy losses” and that they’ve “begun using additional civilian medical facilities to deal with wounded Russian invaders.”
Two hospitals in the town of Luhansk, including a maternity hospital, have grow to be field hospitals where soldiers are being treated, Ukraine said. Due to that, the General Staff said maternity services can now only be offered on the Luhansk Regional Perinatal Center “where there’s a catastrophic lack of space and risks and adversarial conditions for childbirth.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Russia carrying out ‘more concerted assault’ on Donetsk now, U.K. says
Within the last three days, Russia likely developed its probing attacks across the Donetsk towns of Pavlivka and Vuhledar right into a “more concerted assault,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.
The settlements lie around 30 miles southwest of the town of Donetsk, and Russia previously used the a hundred and fifty fifth Naval Infantry Brigade in an unsuccessful assault on the identical area in November 2022, the Ministry noted on Twitter.
Members of a Ukrainian artillery unit cover their ears as an M109 self-propelled artillery unit is fired at Russian mortar positions around Vuhledar from a front line position on Dec. 19, 2022 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Chris Mcgrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images
“Elements of the a hundred and fifty fifth are again involved as a part of an a minimum of brigade sized force which has likely advanced several hundred metres beyond the small Kashlahach River which marked the front line for several months.”
The ministry noted that Russian commanders are likely aiming “to develop a latest axis of advance” into the Ukrainian-held a part of the Donetsk region “and to divert Ukrainian forces from the heavily contested Bakhmut sector.”
“There may be a sensible possibility that Russia will proceed to make local gains within the sector,” the U.K. said, nevertheless it added that “it’s unlikely that Russia has sufficient uncommitted troops in the realm to realize an operationally significant breakthrough.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Biden rules out sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House in Washington on Dec. 21, 2022.
Olivier Contreras | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters Monday afternoon that the U.S. wouldn’t send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
When asked by reporters whether he would send fighter jets to Kyiv, Biden replied with one word: “No.”
The U.S. and Germany only last week gave the greenlight to sending modern battle tanks to Ukraine after months of pleas from Kyiv for the tanks.
Inside hours of receiving news that it might be receiving Western tanks, Kyiv renewed its calls for fighter jets, corresponding to the U.S.’ F-16s, saying it needs all of the firepower it will possibly get sooner reasonably than later.
Biden’s comments come a day after his German counterpart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, also ruled out sending jets to Ukraine, saying it seems “frivolous” to debate the problem when allies had just approved the sending of tanks.
Ukraine’s defense minister is anticipated in Paris on Tuesday to satisfy French President Emmanuel Macron, with differences appearing to emerge between allies over F-16s.
News outlet Politico reported Monday that France is considering Ukraine’s request for fighter-jet pilot training, citing an aide to the country’s defense minister, while Poland has signaled its willingness to send such weaponry but said it might act in “full coordination” with its allies.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russia’s latest offensive against Ukraine will fail, Zelenskky vows
“The situation could be very tough. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas within the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to interrupt through our defense,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday.
Yan Dobronosov | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv and its Western partners will do every thing obligatory to ensure that “Russia’s intentions to maneuver to a latest stage of offensive for the sake of revenge fail.”
“I’m confident in our army. We are going to stop all of them little by little, destroy them and prepare our big counteroffensive,” Zelenskyy said in an address alongside his Danish counterpart in Odesa.
Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen for providing financial and security assistance to Ukraine.
“I’m grateful to the Danish coalition government for making a separate fund to assist our country. Reconstruction should grow to be considered one of the important thing directions of the fund’s work,” Zelenskyy added.
— Amanda Macias
Ukrainian representative in Tehran summoned to Ministry of Foreign Affairs following drone strikes in Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Facebook that the temporary representative of Ukraine was summoned to a gathering at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran.
Nikolenko didn’t elaborate on the main points of the meeting but added that Kyiv isn’t chargeable for the string of explosions at Iranian facilities, based on an NBC News translation.
Over the weekend Iran said that bomb-carrying drones struck a defense manufacturing plant within the central city of Isfahan. The Iranian Defense Ministry didn’t share information on who it suspected of carrying out the strike.
— Amanda Macias
EU allocates 114 million euros to construct an energy hub in Poland
Local residents charge their devices, use web connection and warm up after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 24, 2022.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The European Union allocated 114 million euros to Poland’s latest “rescEU energy hub” for Ukraine.
The hub will essentially be a logistics center for supplying emergency energy aid to Ukrainians amid Russian shelling on critical infrastructure. The funds will purchase roughly 1,000 generators to be distributed to Ukrainians through the hub.
The European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism has previously provided 1,400 generators to Ukrainians in need.
— Amanda Macias
Friends bury 28-year old orphan Ukrainian serviceman in Bakhmut
EDITOR’S NOTE- Graphic Content- This post accommodates the image of a dead Ukrainian servicemen in Sloviansk.
Friends gather to bury Ukrainian serviceman, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, at a cemetery in Sloviansk. Koroniy was a member of the Azov battalion, killed in motion in Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
Ukrainian servicemen and friends of the late Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, who was killed in motion in Bakhmut, carry his coffin during a funeral at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
Kateryna Avdeyeva (C), holds a portrait of her late friend, Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion killed in motion in Bakhmut, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, as she attends his funeral ceremony at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Natalia Shalashnaya (R), 52, mourns over the casket of the late Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion killed in motion in Bakhmut, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, of whom she was the legal guardian, at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP | Getty Images
Kateryna Avdeyeva (C), mourns as she holds a portrait of her late friend, Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion killed in motion in Bakhmut, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, as she attends his funeral ceremony at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
Natalia Shalashnaya, 52, pours water into the grave of the late Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion killed in motion in Bakhmut, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, of whom she was the legal guardian, at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
Oleksiy Storozh (R), 28, fires his rifle within the air throughout the burial of his best friend, the late Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov battalion killed in motion in Bakhmut, 28-year-old orphan Oleksandr Korovniy, at a cemetery in Sloviansk on January 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
Kremlin dismisses Boris Johnson’s missile strike accusation
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The Kremlin dismissed Boris Johnson’s claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike.
The previous U.K. prime minister claimed in a BBC documentary that he’d had a phone call with Putin before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Johnson said within the show that Putin “threatened me at one point, and he said, ‘Boris, I don’t need to harm you but, with a missile, it might only take a minute’ or something like that.”
“But I believe from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the kind of air of detachment that he looked as if it would have, he was just playing together with my attempts to get him to barter,” Johnson said.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the claim as a “lie” Monday, telling reporters “What Mr. Johnson said isn’t true. More precisely, it’s a lie,” he said based on an NBC News translation of the comments.
“This may occasionally either be a deliberate lie by Mr. Johnson, after which the query arises as to the explanations for his presentation of such a version of events. Or he actually didn’t understand what President Putin was talking about with him. And on this case it becomes just a little worrying for the interlocutors of our President,” Peskov said.
“But once more I officially repeat: this can be a lie, there have been no threats with missiles.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukraine’s prime minister says Kyiv wants to hitch the European Union inside two years
Ukraine has made no secret of its wish to hitch the EU and has already applied to hitch the bloc.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv wants to hitch the European Union inside two years, setting a really ambitious timetable for joining the bloc.
Talking to Politico, Shmyhal said “we have now a really ambitious plan to hitch the European Union inside the following two years … So we expect that this yr, in 2023, we will have already got this pre-entry stage of negotiations,” he said.
Ukraine has made no secret of its wish to hitch the EU and has already applied to hitch the bloc. It isn’t the one candidate country. Others, corresponding to North Macedonia and Montenegro have waited over ten years for any progress in their very own respective membership applications. French President Emmanuel Macron has said EU membership for Ukraine is prone to be a process that can take “many years.”
EU commissioners are heading to Kyiv on Friday to satisfy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Politco noted that their task will likely be “managing expectations” regarding such a decent timetable for entry into the EU.
— Holly Ellyatt
Boris Johnson claims Putin threatened him with a missile attack
Russia welcomed Boris Johnson’s departure from office.
Justin Tallis | Afp | Getty Images
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russian President Vladimir Putin looked as if it would threaten him with a missile strike in what he described as an “extraordinary” phone call before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In an excerpt of a BBC documentary called “Putin vs the West,” Johnson says he spoke to Putin in February 2022, shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During that decision, he said he told Putin that war can be an “utter catastrophe” and would entail sanctions on Moscow and certain more NATO troops on Russia’s borders.
Johnson said that after making those points throughout the call, by which he said Putin had been “very familiar,” Putin appeared to threaten him.
“He threatened me at one point, and he said, ‘Boris, I don’t need to harm you but, with a missile, it might only take a minute’ or something like that,” Johnson said within the documentary, the BBC reported.
“But I believe from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the kind of air of detachment that he looked as if it would have, he was just playing together with my attempts to get him to barter.”
It’s inconceivable to establish whether Putin was serious in his comment but relations between the U.K. and Russia were already strained before the war, particularly after a Russian nerve agent attack carried out within the U.K. in 2018. The U.K.’s staunch support of Kyiv has heightened tensions.
— Holly Ellyatt
Germany’s Scholz adamant Berlin is not going to send fighter jets to Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses the lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin on Jan. 25, 2023.
Fabrizio Bensch | Reuters
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted on the weekend that fighter jets wouldn’t be provided to Ukraine, telling a German newspaper that there shouldn’t be a “bidding war” over weaponry and that Germany “is not going to allow a war between Russia and NATO.”
Scholz reiterated Germany’s objections to sending fighter jets to Ukraine, telling the Tagesspiegel newspaper Sunday that there is no such thing as a query of doing so.
“The query of combat aircraft doesn’t arise in any respect,” Scholz said, based on Politico’s translation of the unique story.
“I can only advise against stepping into a relentless competition to outbid one another on the subject of weapons systems,” he added.
Germany last week agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after months of resisting pressure to achieve this. Berlin also said it might allow other allies to send their very own German-made tanks to Kyiv. The U.S. also agreed to send various M1 Abrams tanks.
A Belgian F-16 jet fighter takes part within the NATO Air Nuclear drill “Steadfast Noon” on the Kleine-Brogel air base in Belgium on October 18, 2022.
Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty Images
Ukraine expressed gratitude for the choice to send tanks but immediately said it needed more firepower to counter Russia’s invasion, asking for fighter jets from its allies. One defense ministry advisor told CNBC he was sure Kyiv would receive F-16 fighter jets from its allies and that there needs to be no delay over the choice, as there was over tanks.
Over the weekend, one other Ukrainian official said negotiations over the possible sending of attack aircraft to Ukraine were “ongoing.”
“Our partners understand how the war develops. They understand that attack aircraft are absolutely obligatory to cover the manpower and armoured vehicles that they provide us,” advisor to the top of the Office of the President Mykhailo Podolyak told the Freedom TV channel Saturday.
“In the identical way, with the intention to drastically reduce the important thing tool of the Russian army – artillery, we want missiles. That is why negotiations are already underway, negotiations are accelerating,” Podolyak said in comments translated by NBC News.
— Holly Ellyatt