Kremlin says British tanks will ‘burn’ Ukraine
The Kremlin has said heavy armored vehicles supplied to Ukraine will “burn”, days after Britain said it would supply Challenger 2 tanks to the country.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov was asked by reporters to comment on recent moves by Ukraine’s Western allies to supply Kyiv with heavier armored vehicles.
He replied that “nothing could change” the intention of Western countries to supply such equipment, but that it would make no difference to the war, nor to the “special military operation”, according to comments reported by the state news agency Tass news and translated by Google.
“The special military operation will continue. These tanks are on fire and they will burn like the rest. The objectives of the special military operation will be achieved,” he added.
A Challenger 2 main battle tank on display for the Royal Tank Regiment’s regimental parade on September 24, 2022, in Bulford, England.
Finnbarr Webster | Getty Images News | Getty Images
On Saturday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that Britain would supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, making it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has repeatedly requested.
Russia criticized the move, saying it would only escalate the war. The Russian embassy in London tweeted that “Challenger 2 tanks will hardly help the Ukrainian military to turn the tide in the field. However, they will become legitimate large-scale targets for Russian forces.”
—Holly Elliott
An official stationed by Russia in Crimea says air defenses shot down seven drones
Russian warships are seen before the Navy Day parade in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on July 23, 2021.
Alexey Pavlishak | Reuters
The governor of Sevastopol in Russia-installed Crimea said Monday that air defenses had shot down seven drones over the city in what he called a “failed attack by Ukraine.”
Sevastopol, which is on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014, has come under repeated airstrikes since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Russian officials have blamed the attacks on Ukraine.
Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said all the drones were shot down over the sea, with no damage to any infrastructure. He denied reports in Ukrainian media that there were explosions in the city and said air defenses continued to monitor the skies, in a post on his Telegram channel.
— Reuters
German Defense Minister Lambrecht announces his resignation
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (R) attends a meeting with members of a Ukrainian security advisory group at the US airbase in Ramstein, western Germany, April 26 of 2022.
Andre Pain | AFP | Getty Images
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz to be fired, she said in a statement on Monday, the culmination of growing skepticism about her ability to get Germany’s military in shape in the context of the war. ‘Ukraine.
“Today I have asked the chancellor to remove me from the office of federal defense minister,” Lambrecht, a member of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), said in the statement.
His decision to step down comes as Germany is under pressure to approve increased international military support for Kyiv, and Germany’s defense capabilities have been called into question after several Puma infantry tanks were knocked out of service for a recent military drill.
— Reuters
The children’s hospital in the city of Kherson was damaged in an attack, the official said
Multiple windows at a children’s hospital in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson have been blown out during a Russian attack, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Posting on Telegram, Tymoshenko said the damage had occurred when she came under “enemy fire,” but gave no further details.
“This time, they attacked a children’s hospital. As a result, about 30 windows of the (6-story) neonatal building were broken,” he said, according to a Google translation of his comments.
There is no information about any victims, he added. CNBC could not immediately verify its report.
—Holly Elliott
Ukraine likely to continue holding positions in Soledar, UK says
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Monday that Ukraine likely held positions in Soledar, a town Russia claims to have fully captured.
The ministry said heavy fighting continued in both the Kremina and Bakhmut areas of the Donbas front over the weekend.
“As of January 15, 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) almost certainly held positions in Soledar, north of Bakhmut, in the face of continued Wagner Group. [private military company] attacks,” the ministry said in an intelligence update on Twitter.
Members of Ukraine’s 95th Air Assault Brigade defend an area near the front line of combat on Jan. 12, 2023, outside Kremina, Ukraine.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Around Kremina, a town in Luhansk about 40 kilometers north of Bakhmut, the fighting has been characterized by a complex series of local attacks and counter-attacks in forested country, said the UK, which noted that, overall, “the UAF continues to gradually advance its front. line to the east on the edge of the city of Kremina.”
“Over the past six weeks, both Russia and Ukraine have made hard-fought but limited gains in different sectors,” the ministry noted.
“Under these circumstances, a key operational challenge for both sides is to generate capable, uncommitted troop formations that can leverage tactical successes to create operational breakthroughs.”
—Holly Elliott
Ukraine is dealing with the Dnipro attack in which 35 people are known to have died
A residential building destroyed after a Russian missile attack on January 15, 2023 in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Global images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Ukraine is reeling from a major Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday following an attack on an apartment block.
Dnipro regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said in an update on Telegram on Monday morning that 35 people had been killed in the attack, including two children. He added that 39 people were rescued and 75 are known to have been injured in the attack, including 14 children.
Ukraine’s emergency services said on Sunday that there were 45 reports of missing people and that “while 11 people have been identified, the fate of 34 people is being clarified.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that the rescue operation was continuing as debris was cleared at the site of the attack, which the president called an act of terrorism by Russia.
“As of now, the fate of more than 30 people who may have been in the house at the time of the terrorists’ missile impact remains unknown,” he said in his daily speech.
“Dozens of people were rescued from the rubble, including six children. We fight for every person! The rescue operation will last as long as there is the slightest chance of saving lives.”
Firefighters and rescuers carry a girl rescued from the rubble on January 15, 2023 in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Global images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Zelenskyy called on Russians to condemn the attack, saying: “I want to say to all those in Russia – and of Russia – who could not even now utter a few words of condemnation of this terror… Your cowardly silence, the your attempt. “Waiting” for what’s happening will only end up with these same terrorists coming after you one day.”
The Ukrainian Air Force said the apartment block was hit by a Russian Kh-22 missile, an anti-ship missile known to be inaccurate. Russia has previously said it does not deliberately target civilians, but there have been multiple cases of civilian infrastructure, including schools, residential buildings and hospitals, being hit in missile attacks.
—Holly Elliott
Everything is going according to plan in Ukraine, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via video link from a residence outside Moscow, Russia, on January 11, 2023.
Mikhail Klimentiev | Sputnik | Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the dynamics of the war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”, is positive.
“The dynamics are positive. Everything is developed within the plan of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. And I hope that our fighters will please us more than once with the results of their combat work,” Putin said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV Channel, according to the state news agency Tass.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday that Russian forces had captured Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region the previous day, after several days of conflicting reports on whether the city had fallen under Russian control.
This capture taken from an AFP video shows smoke rising as seen from the outskirts of Soledar, eastern Ukraine, on January 11, 2023.
Arman Soldin | Afp | Getty Images
A ministry spokesman said the control of Soledar allowed Ukrainian forces to cut supply routes to Bakhmut and then encircle the city, a key objective for Russia for months as it seeks to expand its control over the region. Donetsk, neighboring Luhansk. and all of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has not acknowledged defeat in Soledar, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said Sunday evening that “the battle for Soledar, for Bakhmut, for the entire Donetsk region, for the Luhansk region continues without any truce, without any stoppage “.
—Holly Elliott