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Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin says situation in illegally annexed regions ‘difficult’ as Ukraine claims Russia yet to capture Soledar | Ukraine

Putin says situation in annexed regions of Ukraine is ‘difficult’

The Russian president said the situation in Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed was “difficult in places”.

Vladimir Putin, speaking at a televised meeting with officials, also said Russia had all the resources it needed to improve life in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow unilaterally claimed to have annexed in September, Reuters reports.

Russia’s illegally annexed of the four territories last September, which together make up 15% of Ukraine, marked the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war.

Key events

Russia’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, was appointed as the new commander of the combined forces group for Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine by defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.

Gerasimov will be replacing Sergei Surovikin, a notorious general who opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in the 1990s. He was appointed Russia’s first overall commander for the war in Ukraine on the same day Vladimir Putin was dealt a humiliating blow after an explosion on the Kerch bridge sank a section of the motorway into the Kerch Strait and caused a major fire on the railway.

Surovikin is a veteran commander who led the Russian military expedition in Syria in 2017, where he was accused of using “controversial” tactics including indiscriminate bombing against anti-government fighters.

Surovikin also has a checkered history that includes two stints in jail for allegedly selling weapons and for leading a military column against protesters during the 1991 coup. He has also previously served in Tajikistan and Chechnya.

The top Russian military commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, left, and Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, centre. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/AP

Announcing the appointment on Wednesday, the defence ministry said the changes were designed to increase the effectiveness of managing military operations in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Jennifer Rankin

Jennifer Rankin

Sweden’s bid to join Nato is proceeding “in a good way” the country’s prime minister has said despite “different opinions” with Turkey on what needs to be done for Stockholm to join the military alliance.

Since Sweden confirmed its intention to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in May – an historic shift from neutrality triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – 28 Nato countries have ratified its membership bid. But Turkey continues to demand further action from the Swedish government in tackling military groups it considers terrorists, before approving Sweden’s Nato membership.

Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said “we are proceeding in a good way on the trilateral memo” between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, which is also bidding to join Nato.

One of Sweden’s core tasks, he said, was to strengthen domestic terrorism legislation, adding that his government was “doing exactly what we promised to do”.

Turkey sometimes names people “they would like to have extradited” from Sweden, he said, a matter that was in the hands of Swedish judges, not the government. Turkey and Sweden sometimes had “different opinions” on that, but he insisted it should not overshadow that “things are going well”.

Hungary is the only other member of the transatlantic military alliance that has failed to ratify Sweden’s Nato bid, but sources expressed optimism the Hungarian parliament would do so in February. All 30 Nato countries must approve Sweden and Finland’s membership application.

Kristersson declined to name a date when Sweden might join Nato.

Sweden’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, said a decisive change in Swedish public opinion on Nato came in December 2021 when Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, outlined plans for a new security architecture for Europe that would bar Sweden and Finland from ever joining the alliance. “That was a wake-up call,” Jonson said, adding that Russia’s plans for legally binding restrictions on Sweden’s sovereignty “did not go down well in Stockholm”.

Here are the latest images from Ukraine:

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
A man in military uniform walks past a makeshift memorial at the rubble of a vocational school that Russian servicemen used as barracks, in Makiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
A man in military uniform walks past a makeshift memorial in the rubble of a vocational school that Russian servicemen used as barracks, in Makiivka, Donetsk region. Photograph: Alessandro Guerra/EPA
A Ukrainian serviceman smokes a cigarette at his position on the frontline near Bakhmut.
A Ukrainian serviceman smokes a cigarette at his position on the frontline near Bakhmut. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
A woman walks a dog after snow fall in Kyiv.
A woman walks a dog in the snow, Kyiv. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian servicemen attend a joint drill of armed forces near the border with Belarus.
Ukrainian servicemen attend a joint drill of armed forces near the border with Belarus. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

British government planning to provide tanks to Ukraine

Downing Street has confirmed that the British government is planning to provide tanks to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion, the Financial Times reports.

Journalists were told by a spokesperson for Number 10 that prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has asked defence secretary, Ben Wallace, to “work with partners” and to provide further support to Ukraine “including the provision of tanks”.

Ukraine has been asking for British tanks “since summer”, a source previously told the Guardian. But the reality is that the UK, with a total fleet of 227, has a small supply compared with Germany and the US.

Should the British government supply Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks, it would be the first time a western country has provided Ukraine with modern heavy battle tanks, according to the FT.

Poland plans to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition, the Polish president has said, according to reports.

Kyiv has been requesting heavy military vehicles such as the German-made Leopard 2, which would represent a significant step up in western support to Ukraine.

On a visit to Lviv, Andrzej Duda said:

A company of Leopard tanks will be handed over as part of coalition building … We want it to be an international coalition.

On Saturday, Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said the country did not intend to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine without the formation of a wider coalition.

Earlier today, a German government spokesperson said that it was not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy and Poland’s President Duda attend a joint news briefing with Lithuanian President Nauseda in Lviv.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy and Poland’s President Duda attend a joint news briefing with Lithuanian president Nauseda in Lviv. Photograph: Pavlo Palamarchuk/Reuters

Estonia has demanded that the Russian government reduce the number of its embassy within the country, according to reports.

According to the press release of the ministry of foreign affairs, the Russian embassy was warned on Wednesday 11 January that the diplomatic staff should be reduced by half by 1 February.

The press release reportedly said: “Estonia considers the principle of parity very important in our relations with Russia. Considering that, in light of this war of aggression, the Russian embassy is not engaged in promoting Estonian-Russian relations, we believe that its (current) size is not justified. Now we have set a limit for the number of diplomats working in Estonia in order to achieve parity”.

Currently, eight diplomats and 15 other officials work in the Estonian embassy in Moscow, while 21 Russian diplomats and 23 other officials are located in Tallinn.

Jennifer Rankin

Jennifer Rankin

Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said he expects decisions later this month on further military support for Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters in Stockholm, Kristersson said he had recently told Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that “we want to do more” adding that he expects “decision making in January”.

He declined to specify whether EU nations should be supplying Ukraine with tanks, a key demand of Zelenskiy’s, backed by France and Poland.

Germany, manufacturer and supplier of Leopard 2 tanks to other European nations, is coming under growing pressure to supply the vehicles to Ukraine and allow other European nations to do so the same. Sweden is one of 13 European countries that uses the powerful Leopard 2 tanks, which number some 2,000 at different states of readiness.

Speaking separately, Sweden’s supreme commander, Micael Bydén, said Ukraine had impressed allies with its willingness to fight and courage but will “probably need even more [western support] to win the war

Some pictures from the conflict today:

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Andrzej Duda of Poland attend a press conference in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Andrzej Duda of Poland attend a press conference in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Photograph: Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers at a joint drills of armed forces, national guard and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) near the border with Belarus.
Ukrainian soldiers at a joint drills of armed forces, national guard and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) near the border with Belarus. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Richard Partington

Richard Partington

Soaring food and energy prices could persist ‘for next two years’

Soaring prices for energy and food could persist for the next two years, hurting global efforts to combat poverty and the climate crisis, a report prepared for next week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has warned.

The WEF’s annual global risks report found the international cost of living crisis unleashed by the Covid pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine topped the list of concerns in a survey of more than 1,200 global experts, policymakers and business leaders.

Sounding the alarm in the run-up to the annual gathering of world leaders in the Swiss mountain resort, it said the energy and food supply crunch was likely to persist for the next two years as the biggest risk to the world economy.

Read more here:

Summary

Welcome, if you’re joining us now, to our continuing live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war – day 322 of the conflict. It is 4pm in Kyiv. Here’s the latest:

  • The European Union is “prepared for a long war” in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia’s aggression for “as long as it takes”, said Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU’s presidency. He also said the EU would continue working on more sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

  • Russian forces are trying ‘without success’ to capture Soledar, a Ukrainian official said. “The enemy has again replaced its units after sustaining losses, has increased the number of Wagner (Russian mercenaries),” Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.

  • The German government said they are not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine. The statement from a government spokesperson on Wednesday comes after Germany’s foreign minister visited the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv Tuesday. The spokesperson said Germany was coordinating closely with the United States, France, Britain and elsewhere on military support for Ukraine.

  • The Russian president said the situation in Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed was “difficult in places”. Vladimir Putin, speaking at a televised meeting with officials, also said Russia had all the resources it needed to improve life in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow unilaterally claimed to have annexed in September.

  • Ukraine must “be ready” at its border with Russian ally Belarus even though it sees only “powerful statements” coming from its neighbour, Zelenskiy said on Wednesday. Kyiv has warned that Russia may try to use Belarus to launch a new ground invasion of Ukraine from the north.

  • Nato and the EU are launching a task force to bolster the protection of critical infrastructure in response to last year’s attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and Russia’s “weaponising of energy”, leaders said on Wednesday. The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the task force would initially come up with proposals on transport, energy, digital and space infrastructure.

  • President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stripped four political figures of their Ukrainian citizenship on Tuesday, including the pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who was transferred to Russia last year in a prisoner swap deal.

  • Russian strikes hit eastern Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv late on Tuesday, the regional governor said, only hours after a surprise visit by the German foreign minister with her Ukrainian counterpart.

  • The Russian mercenary Wagner Group has claimed control of the salt-mining town Soledar, a town in eastern Ukraine, despite Ukrainian officials reporting that their soldiers are still resisting the attack.

  • A Ukrainian soldier has told CNN that the situation in the eastern town of Soledar is “critical”, and that the death toll is so high that “no one counts the dead”.

  • Russia and Ukraine have agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war, according to the Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova who met with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in Turkey.

Dan Sabbagh

Dan Sabbagh

Ukraine war pushes civilian casualties from explosive weapons to a four-year high

Civilian casualties from the use of explosive weapons soared by 83% last year because of the war in Ukraine, according to a monitoring organisation that counts the number of deaths caused by conflict and war.

Action on Armed Violence said the total number reported killed and injured in 2022 was 20,776, the highest level since 2018, with 10,381 casualties in Ukraine alone, based on reports from English language media.

Its figure, though, is almost certainly a significant underestimate partly because media reports only capture the most serious incidents. The latest UN figures report 17,994 civilian casualties in Ukraine, 6,919 killed and 11,075 injured.

Read more here:

The European Union is “prepared for a long war” in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia’s aggression for “as long as it takes”, said Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU’s presidency.

Speaking at a news conference, Billstrom said, according to Reuters:

Despite Russia’s continued attempts to divide us, unity within the EU and across the Atlantic has been strong. The EU is prepared for a long war and will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side with political, economic, military and humanitarian support for as long as it takes.

He said the EU would continue working on more sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine after previous nine packages of measures were passed by the 27-nation bloc since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

Here are the latest images coming out of Soledar, where Ukrainian soldiers are defending the eastern town from Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries.

Ukraine’s military has denied that Russian forces have encircled and captured the eastern town of Soledar, after claims by the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that the town had fallen.

Smoke billows during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
Smoke billows during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photograph: Libkos/AP
A Ukrainian officer examines the situation in a shelter in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region, Ukraine.
A Ukrainian officer examines the situation in a shelter in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photograph: Roman Chop/AP
Ukrainian soldiers watch as smoke billows during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers watch as smoke billows during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photograph: Libkos/AP
A resident of Soledar waits in temporary sleeping accommodation before being transported to an evacuation train where she will get out in Dnipro, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
A resident of Soledar waits in temporary sleeping accommodation before being transported to an evacuation train where she will get out in Dnipro, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Russian forces trying ‘without success’ to capture Soledar, Ukrainian official says

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said on Wednesday that Russian forces were trying without success to break through Ukrainian defensive lines to fully capture the eastern town of Soledar and that fierce fighting was raging.

The official, Hanna Maliar, wrote on Telegram:

Heavy fighting continues in Soledar … The enemy has again replaced its units after sustaining losses, has increased the number of Wagner (Russian mercenaries) and is trying to burst through our forces’ defence and fully seize the city, but is not having success.

The Kremlin also stopped short of claiming victory and acknowledged heavy casualties, Reuters reports.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said:

Let’s not rush, let’s wait for official statements. There is a positive dynamic in progress.

The German government is not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesperson has said.

The statement on Wednesday comes after Germany’s foreign minister visited the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv this week, promising more weapons and giving hope that Berlin will release Leopard 2 tanks to help break the deadlock in the near 11 months-long war.

The spokesperson said Germany was coordinating closely with the United States, France, Britain and elsewhere on military support for Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Germany promised last week, after months of equivocating, to send 40 tracked armoured Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in parallel with the US supplying 50 similar Bradleys.

On Monday, the UK indicated it was considering providing a small number of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, the first time any western country had suggested it was willing to send over its heaviest armour.

Ukraine is particularly keen to acquire Leopard 2s because there are more than 2,000 in Europe, in the service of 13 countries. But Berlin’s permission is required if they are to be re-exported, and Germany has been concerned about the dangers of escalating the conflict.

Here are images from Vlissingen, Netherlands, as US army vehicles, including hundreds of tanks, are being brought ashore as part of a mission to strengthen the Nato eastern flank.

US military vehicles arrive in Vlissingen on their way to strengthen Nato eastern flank.
US military vehicles arrive in Vlissingen on their way to strengthen Nato eastern flank. Photograph: Remko de Waal/EPA
US military vehicles arrive in Vlissingen on their way to strengthen Nato eastern flank.
US military vehicles arrive in Vlissingen on their way to strengthen Nato eastern flank. Photograph: Remko de Waal/EPA
A soldier guiding a US Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) as it disembarks in the Dutch port of Vlissingen.
A soldier guiding a US Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle as it disembarks in the Dutch port of Vlissingen. Photograph: Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

Putin says situation in annexed regions of Ukraine is ‘difficult’

The Russian president said the situation in Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed was “difficult in places”.

Vladimir Putin, speaking at a televised meeting with officials, also said Russia had all the resources it needed to improve life in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow unilaterally claimed to have annexed in September, Reuters reports.

Russia’s illegally annexed of the four territories last September, which together make up 15% of Ukraine, marked the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/jan/11/russia-ukraine-war-live-wagner-may-make-up-quarter-of-russian-combatants-zelenskiy-strips-kremlin-allies-of-citizenship Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin says situation in illegally annexed regions ‘difficult’ as Ukraine claims Russia yet to capture Soledar | Ukraine

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