January 24, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send approximately 30 US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week, according to two officials familiar with the deliberations.

The US will also send a small number of recovery vehicles, one of the officials said. Recovery vehicles are tracked vehicles used to assist in the repair of tanks on the battlefield or the removal from the battlefield for service and maintenance in a different location.

The timing around the actual delivery of the tanks is still unclear and it normally takes several months to train troops to use the tanks effectively, officials said. 

An announcement about the tanks could be part of an attempt to break a diplomatic logjam with Germany, which indicated to the US last week that it would not send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine unless the US also agreed to send its M1 Abrams tanks. 

Top national security officials in the administration have been actively considering steps they could take to convince Germany to send the Leopards. 

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday that she suspects that the matter of tanks “will be resolved relatively soon.”

Asked about what was happening on the provision of tanks — German Leopards or US Abrams — Sherman did not give a specific answer, but said, “I think you’ll see in the days ahead resolution of some of these issues.”

“This is hard for everybody. Each country as President Biden has said has to make its own decisions about what weapons it wants to provide,” Sherman said in remarks at the City Club of Cleveland in Ohio Tuesday. 

Some background: On Friday, at a meeting of Western defense leaders in Germany, the US and its allies failed to convince German officials to send the Leopards as part of Berlin’s next round of military assistance to Ukraine. But on Tuesday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, “We are preparing our decision, which will come very soon” on the tanks. 

Sky News Arabia was first to report the news that the US is considering sending the tanks.

The administration has never taken the possibility of shipping American tanks entirely off the table, but US officials said publicly last week that now is not the right time to send the 70-ton M1 Abrams tanks because they are costly and require a significant amount of training to operate. 

The tanks have instead repeatedly been floated as a long-term option — even as critics say the right time is now, as Ukraine braces for the possibility Russia will mobilize more troops and launch a new offensive. The UK has already announced it will send 12 of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, crossing what had previously appeared to be a red line for the US and its European allies.

Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelensky has consistently asked Western allies for modern tanks as his country prepares braces for an expected major Russian counteroffensive in the spring. 

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.

The post has been updated with more details on the tanks.

The decision to send US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine will rely on an “iterative” process around what Ukraine’s needs are, what aid is appropriate for the US to send and technical considerations surrounding the operation and maintenance of the tanks, White House National Security Council Senior Coordinator for Communications John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday.

“We have talked about the fact that the Abrams are an incredibly capable system but it’s a very expensive system to operate and to maintain,” Kirby told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “It has a jet engine — it doesn’t mean that the Ukrainians can’t learn it, it just means that we have to factor all that stuff in with any system that we’re going to potentially provide to them.” 

Earlier Tuesday, CNN reported that the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations. The timing around the actual delivery of the tanks is still unclear and it normally takes several months to train troops to use the tanks effectively, officials said.

Kirby acknowledged that the complexity of the Abrams systems could play a role in the US’ decision to share tanks with Ukraine. 

“Without getting ahead of any decision that hasn’t been spoken to yet, I would just tell you that again, with any advanced system, you have to factor in things like supply chain and maintenance time and how often can you keep them operational and how do you use them effectively,” Kirby told Anderson, adding that ensuring Ukrainian troops are sufficiently trained on the systems “absolutely affects,” the US’ decision. 

To date, the US has begun supplying refurbished Soviet-era T-72 tanks, but modern Western tanks are a generation ahead in terms of their ability to target enemy positions. Still, Kirby dismissed the idea that providing the newer systems might escalate tensions with Russia.

“Look, let’s make no mistake — the only party that’s escalated the war is Russia, they started it and they have been escalating it ever since,” he said. “I mean, we don’t talk about it as much in the last few days, but they’re still using cruise missiles and drones to hit civilian targets and infrastructure, knock out the lights and the water while the Ukrainians are suffering through a brutal winter. So I mean it is Russia that is the aggressor here, it is Russia that has escalated.” 

Germany has decided to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to German newspaper Der Spiegel. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the decision after “months of debate,” according to the exclusive report.

Here are the latest headlines:

Leopard 2 tanks: Berlin has not yet formally notified Warsaw about the reported decision to allow Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine, a Polish official told CNN Tuesday. Poland will ask for reimbursement from the European Union for any Leopard tanks sent to Ukraine, according to Poland’s prime minister. German parliament is set to debate the contentious Leopard tank issue Wednesday morning.

Abrams tanks: The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States “is regularly engaged in” conversations with allies and partners about military equipment for Ukraine, but would not confirm reports about sending Abrams tanks or that Germany will send Leopards. 

Russian shortages and inflation: Russian President Vladmir Putin said Tuesday that inspections have indicated a shortage of some drugs in Russian pharmacies as well as an increase in prices, according to state news agency TASS. Shops in Moscow have shuttered as businesses face the economic fall-out from massive Western sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine.

Wagner appeal: The head of the Wagner private military company appealed Tuesday to the Russian State Duma to issue protections for the volunteers and convicts who fight as Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine.

British volunteer deaths: British volunteers Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw were killed during a humanitarian evacuation mission in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, according to a statement from the Parry family released Tuesday by the UK foreign office. The families of both men had previously said the two had gone to Ukraine to work as humanitarian volunteers. CNN has seen no evidence they participated in hostilities in Ukraine.

Debunked accusations: No military equipment is being stored in the Ukrainian nuclear power plants inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi told European Parliament lawmakers on Tuesday. Grossi’s comments come a day after Russia again accused Ukraine of using nuclear power plant sites to store Western-supplied weapons.  

No military equipment is being stored in the Ukrainian nuclear power plants inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi told European Parliament lawmakers on Tuesday. His comments debunk previous accusations made by Russia.

“This morning I instructed my teams to address a comprehensive review of the facilities in collaboration and in cooperation with the Ukrainian management of these facilities to ascertain whether there is, in fact, any military equipment in store or stationed or being moved there. And, of course, the results of those inspections was negative,” Grossi told the assembly in Brussels.
“It’s the second time that in a calm way, a technical way, the IAEA has been able to debunk accusations of illegal things, and very dangerous things, taking place in these facilities,” he said. 

Grossi’s comments come a day after Russia again accused Ukraine of using nuclear power plant sites to store Western-supplied weapons.  

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence (SVR) Director ​Sergey Naryshkin accused Ukraine in a statement of “stockpiling weapons and ammunition provided by the West on the territories of nuclear power plants.”

“This applies to the scarcest and most expensive missiles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the HIMARS MLRS and foreign air defense systems, as well as large-caliber artillery ammunition,” the statement added.

Regarding the situation on the ground in Ukraine, Grossi told European lawmakers that the possibility of increased military activity in the coming months “raises our degree of concern” about the potential impact on Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure.

The situation in the recent days around Zaporizhzhia has been “pretty tense” with shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzia nuclear site, Grossi added.

Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto welcomed reports Tuesday that the United States and Germany are planning to send battle tanks to Ukraine, telling CNN’s Isa Soares that it is “very good news.”

German news outlet Der Spiegel reported Tuesday that Germany is set to deliver its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, citing unnamed sources. CNN reached out to the German government for comment on Tuesday evening but has not received a response.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations.

Haavisto noted that while there isn’t a “final confirmation” of the reported German decision yet, “there can be a connection” between both developments. Germany had indicated to the US last week that it would not send its Leopard tanks unless the US also agreed to send its Abrams tanks.

“Now of course if the Leopard 2 is moving and the Abrams moving on the US side, Ukraine will get those weapons that they are in need of to defend their territory,” the Finnish foreign minister told CNN. “Very good news.”

British volunteers Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw have been killed during a humanitarian evacuation mission in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, according to a statement from the Parry family, which was released Tuesday by the UK foreign office. Bagshaw was a dual national of New Zealand.

“It is with great sadness we have to announce that our beloved Chrissy has been killed along with his colleague Andrew Bagshaw whilst attempting a humanitarian evacuation from Soledar, eastern Ukraine,” the Parry family statement said. “His selfless determination in helping the old, young and disadvantaged there has made us and his larger family extremely proud.”

“We never imagined we would be saying goodbye to Chris when he had such a full life ahead of him. He was a caring son, fantastic brother, a best friend to so many and a loving partner to Olga,” the statement added. 

“He found himself drawn to Ukraine in March in its darkest hour at the start of the Russian invasion and helped those most in need, saving over 400 lives plus many abandoned animals. It is impossible to put into words how much he will be missed but he will forever be in our hearts,” it said.

“We feel so privileged that he chose our family to be part of,” the statement said, which was signed by family members Rob, Christine, and Katy Parry. 

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has requested privacy for the family at this time. 

More on this case: The families of both men had previously said the two had gone to Ukraine to work as humanitarian volunteers. CNN has seen no evidence they participated in hostilities in Ukraine.

On Jan. 9, Ukrainian police reported that they were searching for Bagshaw and Parry. Ukrainian police noted that the two Britons “left Kramatorsk for Soledar” — the scene of intense recent fighting — “and contact with them was lost,” CNN previously reported.

CNN’s Seb Shukla, Mick Krever, Anna Chernova and Eve Brennan contributed reporting to this post.

Incoming US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy met with Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday. 

“This was an opportunity for her to have a discussion with her counterpart here in DC,” he said at a press briefing.

Price said the two did not discuss “any form of a negotiated settlement over Russia’s brutal war with Ukraine.”

“She’s currently in the process of having consultations with desks and individuals here in Washington, and in this case, she had an opportunity to have a discussion with Ambassador Antonov,” he said.

Price said that Tracy is expected to depart for Moscow “where she will present her credentials in the coming days” and she is expected to be in place as the top US diplomat in Russia “later this month.”

“We have been clear about our desire to maintain open channels of communication with Russia,” Price said.

He noted that the US Embassy in Moscow is “under duress because of the pressure and the limitations that the Kremlin has imposed on it,” but the US is also able to communicate with the Russian Embassy in the US. 

“There are open channels of communication. We use these channels to convey where we are on issues that are of the utmost priority to us,” including wrongfully detained American citizens and the costs of Russian escalation, Price said.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States “is regularly engaged in” conversations with allies and partners about military equipment for Ukraine but would not confirm reports that the US is preparing to send Abrams tanks or that Germany will send Leopards. 

“We’re not going to get ahead of any potential announcements from other allies, other partners, we’re not going to preview anything else we may have to say,” Price said at a press briefing Tuesday. 

“We have not taken capabilities off the table,” he added.

The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, three US officials familiar with the deliberations said Tuesday. An announcement could come as soon as this week, the officials said.

The timing around the actual delivery of the tanks is still unclear, and it normally takes several months to train troops to use the tanks effectively, officials said. 

Price noted that “just because we’re in the same public place doesn’t necessarily mean we haven’t made progress on any given issue.”

Berlin has not yet formally notified Warsaw about a decision to allow Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine, a Polish official told CNN on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, the German government press office confirmed receipt of a Polish request to export the German-made main battle tanks to Ukraine. 

Newspaper Der Spiegel reported Tuesday that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine after “months of debate.” It will be part of a larger effort for allies to send tanks to Ukraine, the report said.

CNN reached out to the German government for comment on Tuesday but has not received a response. 

Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the US National Guard, told reporters Tuesday that it is “pretty motivating” to see Ukrainian troops training with Guard members in Germany.

“I had the opportunity to actually visit them in 2022 in June as we were training the Ukrainians there, and I will tell you it’s a great effort, Ukrainian soldiers are very motivated, obviously their country has been invaded, an unprovoked invasion, and they’re there trying to defend their sovereignty … it’s pretty motivating to see the dedication of our Guardsmen and the Ukrainian soldiers working together to prepare them to go back into their country,” Hokanson said.

Ukrainian soldiers began training in Germany with US troops last week on combined arms training. A group of 90-100 troops also began training on the Patriot missile system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Germany is set to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, newspaper Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday evening, citing unnamed sources. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine after “months of debate,” according to the exclusive Der Spiegel report.

It will be part of a larger effort for allies to send tanks to Ukraine, the report added.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations.

An announcement about the tanks could be part of an attempt to break a diplomatic logjam with Germany, which indicated to the US last week that it would not send its Leopard tanks to Ukraine unless the US also agreed to send its M1 Abrams tanks.

CNN reached out to the German government for comment on Tuesday evening but has not received a response. 

Meanwhile, German parliament is still due to debate the contentious issue of possibly sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday morning.

The German army has 320 Leopard 2 tanks in its possession but does not reveal how many would be battle-ready, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense previously told CNN.

A bipartisan group of United States senators who just returned from a visit to Ukraine urged President Joe Biden’s administration to send tanks to Kyiv in hopes of encouraging Germany and other allies to also send tanks.  

“The best tank for the fight is the German Leopard tank … [and] American tanks can be helpful in this regard. If we send some Abrams tanks, it will open the floodgates to more tanks coming from allies,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said at a news conference Tuesday. 

Graham said that despite some issues associated with the American Abrams tanks, sending them would still be an important signal. US officials said publicly last week that hesitations stemmed from the tanks being costly and requiring a significant amount of training to operate. 

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal added that “the Pentagon ought to come full board with those Abrams tanks, if that’s what is necessary for the Germans to give permission to our allies, to provide the Leopard 2 tanks, and for the Germans to provide those tanks themselves.”

The senators stressed that they believe the war is at an important point and that there is an urgent need for additional weapon support now. 

“I want to thank President Biden for saying that Ukraine will get everything it needs to win. … There is an urgency to now, time is not on our side,” Blumenthal said. 

CNN reported earlier that the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine and could make an announcement as soon as this week, according to three US officials familiar with the deliberations.

The head of the Wagner private military company on Tuesday appealed to the Russian State Duma to issue protections for the volunteers and convicts who fight as Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine.

“There are media outlets that purposefully look out for negative information about the volunteers, including former prisoners, publish such materials that portray the defenders of Russia — people who give up their lives for us — in a bad light, vilifying them as villains and criminals,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a letter to Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, according to a version published by his holding company, Concord.

He said that it was necessary to ban publications “of a negative nature and any criticism of the participants of the special military operation, as well as information about their past offenses.”

“I ask you to urgently take measures about the introduction of article 280.5 ‘On discrediting participants in hostilities, volunteers, including former convicts’ to the Criminal Code,” he added.

Prigozhin said that Wagner fighters “courageously and honourably fulfill their duty to the Motherland, effectively completing military tasks, ensure the safety of the state and suffer combat losses.”

Prigohzin also brought up the issue of number of media outlets and bloggers “who openly discredit volunteers.”

“Such practices must be severely suppressed in order to consolidate our society in confronting Russia’s external threats,” he said.

Mariupol’s Azovstal plant is too badly damaged to be restored to a functioning state, a Russian official tasked with government construction projects said Tuesday, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

“Definitely no one will restore Azovstal, because to do it on the scale of that Soviet enterprise, as it was before, this is impossible and unprofitable. It was too badly destroyed during the hostilities,” said Yulia Maksimova, head of state-owned company Roskapstroy.

According to Maksimova, the region’s economy will be “partially revised” and “new directions will be developed.”

Remember: The Azovstal plant was the site last spring of a longstanding siege of Ukrainian forces by the Russian military, hoping to complete their capture of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Separately, the new Russian-appointed mayor of Mariupol, Oleg Morgun, on Tuesday announced plans to restore the Azov Shipyard, which is the largest enterprise in the Sea of Azov, specializing in ship repair and shipbuilding.

“There is an intention to restore the Mariupol shipyard, for it to work,” Morgun said on state TV Russia 24.

According to Morgun, there are plans to also restore the work of the Ilyich metallurgical plant as there is “interest from investors” from other regions of Russia who also want to open new production facilities in the city.

The German parliament will debate the contentious issue of possibly sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday. 

The opposition parties Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) have requested the debate, arguing they want to “end the Leopard-blockade of the federal government.” The opposition parties say, according to the parliamentary website, that the German government “must fear losing the trust of its allies.”

The debate will start at 9.05 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Some context: Poland has formally asked Germany for permission to transfer Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. Germany has so far resisted calls from Poland, the US and a handful of other NATO countries to transfer the tanks into Ukraine, or authorize other countries to send some of their Leopards to Kyiv.

However, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier that the country will make a decision on the tanks “very soon.”

The European Commission on Tuesday welcomed developments in Ukraine suggesting the country is taking corruption seriously, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero said that she could not comment on ongoing criminal matters, but said “we do welcome of course the fact that the Ukrainian authorities are taking these issues seriously.”

Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in June 2022.

“Anti-corruption measures are of course an important dimension of the EU accession process,” Pisonero said during a news conference. “And they are also part of policy conditions for the Union’s continued macro-financial assistance.”

Some more context: A number of senior Ukrainian officials have resigned or been fired by President Volodymyr Zelensky in the biggest shakeup of the government since the war began.

The shakeup comes amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of wartime supplies.

The recent changes to “personnel” within Ukraine’s government prove that Zelensky “sees and hears society,” according to a presidential adviser.

The German army has 320 Leopard 2 tanks in its possession, but it has not revealed how many would be battle ready, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense told CNN.

Those Leopard 2s — all in the A5, A6 and A7 series, are in various stages of condition, state of repair and readiness to be deployed, the spokesperson explained. 

The German army no longer has Leopard 1s in its possession, which is an older series of the main battle tank line, she said. Likewise, it does not have older Leopard 2 models like the A4, in stock. 

Separately, the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall said last week it had 139 Leopards in stock, but of those only 29 Leopard 2s would be combat-ready for delivery in the spring of this year. Those 29 have already been theoretically pledged to third countries as part of a tank swap.

The rest of the stock needed to be prepared over a longer period of time, according to the company.

A Rheinmetall spokesperson on Tuesday told CNN that of the rest of the stock — 88 Leopard 1 tanks — a few could be deliverable in about nine months, and the rest in a year. 

Another German weapons manufacturer, FFG, has 99 Leopards in its depot, but only the older Leopard 1 range, a spokesperson for the company tells CNN. 

Even if a tank is ready and repaired, it needs munition and spare parts to be deployable. 

Some context: Poland has formally asked Germany for permission to transfer Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. Germany has so far resisted calls from Poland, the US and a handful of other NATO countries to transfer the tanks into Ukraine, or authorize other countries to send some of their Leopards to Kyiv.

However, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier that the country will make a decision on the tanks “very soon.”

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, claimed Tuesday that Moscow’s “adversaries” monitoring arms production in the country would be disappointed because it has “quite enough of everything,” according to state news agency TASS. 

Medvedev made the comments during a visit to the Kalashnikov plant in the city of Izhevsk, where he held a meeting focusing on the production of essential weapons and military vehicles, according to TASS. 

“We have seen the vehicles, and today we will talk about production of the most essential weapons, with an emphasis on drones, which are in particularly high demand during the special military operation,” Medvedev said, according to TASS. “Naturally, we will discuss a number of other key issues, especially considering that it is necessary to constantly come back to them and look at what is being produced and how.” 

“And our adversaries are watching as well, as they claim from time to time that we [lack] either this or that, that we have only enough missiles for only a couple more strikes, or something else like that. So, I would like to disappoint them — we have quite enough of everything,” he said, according to TASS. 

Russian President Vladmir Putin said Tuesday that inspections have indicated a shortage of some drugs in Russian pharmacies as well as an increase in prices, according to state news agency TASS.

“The fact is that, firstly, our prices have grown lately and there has been a certain shortage of some medicines, despite the fact that we have seen an increase in the production of pharmaceutical products,” Putin said during a virtual meeting with members of the government.

“In the first three quarters of last year it was about 22% up, with domestically manufactured drugs accounting for 60% of our market,” Putin said, according to TASS.  

“Nevertheless, there is a shortage of certain drugs, and their prices have risen,” he added. 

Some context: Shops in Moscow have shuttered as businesses face the economic fall-out from massive Western sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine. While the shelves in most stores remain well stocked, Western products are becoming increasingly scarce and very expensive, further driving prices that are already hammering many Russian households.

Poland will ask for reimbursement from the European Union for any Leopard tanks it sends to Ukraine, the Polish prime minister said Tuesday.

In an interview with Polish broadcaster TVN, Mateusz Morawiecki said the request will be “another test of the goodwill of the European Union,” and added that he hopes it will happen.

The German government has received the Polish request to export German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a spokesperson told CNN.

Germany has so far resisted calls from Poland, the US and a handful of other NATO countries to transfer the tanks into Ukraine, or authorize other countries to send some of their Leopards to Kyiv.

That position has led to a weekslong spat between German and Polish leaders, with Morawiecki accusing Germany of “wasting time” by failing to come to a decision.

“We are preparing our decision and it will come very soon,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday, adding that if the decision is to send the tanks, Germany would be able to “act very soon.”

CNN’s Rob Picheta and Antonia Mortensen contributed to this post.

Poland has officially requested permission to re-export German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. A German government spokesman would not say how quickly a possible approval could happen, but said the process would take place with “necessary urgency.” 

In Ukraine, a number of officials have left their government posts amid a renewed anti-corruption drive from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Here are the latest headlines:

The current map of control:

Uprooted from its home in Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014, soccer club Shakhtar Donetsk  is accustomed to the change and upheaval brought about by war having played at stadiums around the country for close to a decade.

But even by Shakhtar’s standards, the events that have unfolded since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February have been unprecedented.

“What we’re doing on the pitch, it’s in support of our people, our refugees, our Ukrainian Army,” the club’s CEO Sergei Palkin tells CNN Sports.

At the start of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian Premier League was postponed for six months, in which time Shakhtar embarked on a “Global Tour for Peace” across Europe to raise money for those caught up in the war.

Read the full story here.

US and Western officials are urging Ukraine to shift its focus from the brutal, months-long fight in the eastern city of Bakhmut and prioritize instead a potential offensive in the south, using a different style of fighting that takes advantage of the billions of dollars in new military hardware recently committed by Western allies, US and Ukrainian officials tell CNN.

For nearly six months, Ukrainian forces have been going toe-to-toe with the Russians over roughly 36 miles of territory in Bakhmut, which lies between the separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Heavy shelling has left the city almost completely destroyed.

“It is a brutal and grinding fight,” a senior Western intelligence official said last week, with each side exchanging anywhere from 100-400 meters of land per day and exchanging several thousands of artillery rounds almost daily.

Now, ahead of what is widely expected to be a brutal spring of fighting, there is a tactical opening, US and Western officials say. In recent weeks they have begun suggesting that Ukrainian forces cut their losses in Bakhmut, which they argue has little strategic significance for Ukraine, and focus instead on planning an offensive in the south.

That was part of a message delivered by three top Biden officials who traveled to Kyiv last week.

Read the full story here:

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Related article Western allies urge Ukraine to shift tactics away from grinding war of attrition in Bakhmut | CNN Politics

The German government has received a Polish request to export German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a spokesman told CNN.

He would not say how quickly a possible approval could happen, but said the process would take place with “necessary urgency.” 

“The Federal Government has received an application from Poland for the export of Leopard 2 tanks,” the spokesman confirmed.

“As already explained by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit at yesterday’s government press conference, applications for the approval of an arms export are examined with the necessary urgency in accordance with the established procedures and arms export guidelines,” he added.

Two more deputy ministers have been dismissed from the Ukrainian government as part of the “personnel” changes announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky last night. 

“At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Jan. 24, a number of personnel decisions were made,” Oleh Nemchinov, the minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, said on Telegram. 

He said that Viacheslav Nehoda, the deputy minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, and Vitalii Muzychenko, deputy minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, had been dismissed.

They join Viacheslav Shapovalov, a deputy minister of defense, and Ivan Lukerya, a deputy minister of Communities and Territories Development, in leaving the government.

The dismissals follow that of Vasyl Lozynskyy, the acting minister of Communities and Territories Development.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said on Sunday that Lozynskyy had been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement. He has not commented on the allegations. 

In a Facebook post published on Monday, Lozynsky’s lawyer, Oleksandr Tananakin, said his client had been dismissed “before he was notified of suspicion.”

“No funds, let alone in the amounts indicated by the NABU [National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which had accused him of receiving “unlawful benefits”], were found and seized from Mr. Lozynsky,” he said.

Tananakin accused the bureau of “deliberately using manipulative tactics to inform the public in order to artificially create a representation of Lozynsky’s guilt and form a negative image of him.”

In a post on his Facebook page, Nehoda said that he was “automatically subject to dismissal” because “in December, the Government decided to liquidate the Ministry of Regional Development.” He said that only two deputies were offered jobs with the minister and that all others automatically lost their jobs. “I didn’t write any letter of resignation, it’s not necessary at all,” he said.

In addition, the cabinet supported the dismissal of the governors of the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Sumy and Kherson regions, Nemchinov said.

On Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had signaled that there would be changes to “personnel” within the Ukrainian government, without naming the people impacted. 

The Kremlin is not currently talking about the possibility of restricting citizens’ travel outside of Russia, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

“No (such plans) are not being discussed in the Kremlin,” Peskov told reporters.

Earlier Tuesday, state news agencies reported that Russian lawmakers have drafted a bill requiring citizens to register online to book a specific date and time for crossing the Russian border.

The proposed amendments will only affect freight transport, said Yevgeny Moskvichev, head of the State Duma Transport Committee, according to RIA Novosti.

The draft bill was posted online on Monday but had been taken down as of Tuesday morning, according to RIA Novosti.

The Kremlin and other Russian officials have repeatedly denied widespread speculation that Moscow is planning to close country’s borders in January, and possibly announce a second wave of mobilization.

Berlin’s approval of Leopard 2 tank deliveries to Ukraine would inevitably affect relations between Russia and Germany, which are already at a “fairly low point,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

Peskov said that there is currently “no substantive dialogue with Germany or with other EU and NATO countries.”

“Of course, such deliveries do not bode well for the future of relations. They will leave an imminent trace,” Peskov added during a regular press briefing.

Peskov was speaking before Poland formally asked for approval from Germany to transfer some of its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine on Tuesday.

Recent changes to “personnel” within Ukraine’s government prove that President Volodymyr Zelensky “sees and hears society,” according to a presidential adviser.

“Zelensky’s personnel decisions testify to the key priorities of the state… No ‘blind eyes’,” tweeted Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine.

“During the war, everyone should understand their responsibility. The President sees and hears society. And he directly responds to a key public demand – justice for all…” 

Earlier Tuesday, it was announced that Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, a deputy prosecutor general, and Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff had tendered their resignations and been dismissed. 

Deputy defense minister Viacheslav Shapovalov resigned after allegations of corruption surfaced in the media.

Germany will “very soon” decide whether to allow delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday.

“We are preparing our decision and it will come very soon,“ Pistorius said during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday.

If the decision is taken to send the tanks, Germany will be able to “act very soon,” added Pistorius.

He defended Germany from criticism for holding off on sending the tanks, saying they are not the only ones weighing up the decision. 

Germany would not stand in the way if other nations started training Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard tanks, he added.

“We don’t stand in the way of starting the training right away, but we can’t do that until we’ve made a decision about how to handle the Leopard delivery,” Pistorius said.

Russian lawmakers have drafted a bill requiring citizens to register online to book a specific date and time for crossing the country’s borders, state news agency TASS reported Tuesday, citing an official document at their disposal.

The amendments to the transport law were prepared by Yevgeny Moskvichev, head of the State Duma Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development, according to TASS. 

“The passage of vehicles belonging to Russian carriers, foreign carriers, citizens of Russia, foreign citizens, stateless persons, and others on sections of highways in order to cross the state border of the Russian Federation is carried out on a reserved date and time in accordance with the procedure established by the government of the Russian Federation,” reads the draft of the bill, reports TASS.

The amendments also introduce new measures of controlling the arrival of vehicles on the reserved date and time, and equipping checkpoints with means that would allow the forced stopping of vehicles, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. 

In September, the announcement of a “partial mobilization” sparked an exodus from Russia as military-age men fled the country rather than risk being conscripted, with video footage showing long lines of traffic at land border crossings into several neighboring countries, as well as surging airfares and sold-out flights.

Poland has officially requested the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Polish defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Tuesday.

“I also appeal to the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. This is our common cause, because it is about the security of the whole of Europe!” he urged.

CNN has asked Germany for confirmation.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that he is “confident” a decision on sending German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine will be made soon. 

Speaking to reporters at a news conference alongside new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin Monday, Stoltenberg said the much debated issue was discussed during a meeting between the two earlier. 

At a meeting at the US’ Ramstein air base in Germany on Friday, Berlin failed to reach an agreement with key Western partners on providing the tanks to Ukraine ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive in the war.

According to German law, weapons intended for warfare that are manufactured in the country cannot be re-exported without the federal government’s approval. 

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Viacheslav Shapovalov has resigned after allegations of corruption surfaced in the media.

Shapovalov submitted his resignation after a “campaign of accusations related to the procurement of food supply (to the Armed Forces of Ukraine),” according to a statement from the ministry, which described the allegations as “unfounded and baseless.” 

The minister was responsible for the logistics of the Armed Forces, the statement said. 

On Monday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said that it was investigating “high-profile media reports about possible abuses by the Ministry of Defense in the procurement of food for the military.” 

In his resignation letter, Shapovalov said he was leaving so as not to distract from the war effort.

“Due to the large public outcry, which was largely provoked by unsubstantiated manipulations around the issue of supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there are risks of destabilizing the army supply processes. This is unacceptable during the war with Russia,” reads the letter.

“In this situation, the priority is to ensure the stable work of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and to create conditions for transparent, unbiased inspections by law enforcement and other authorized bodies.” 

A top Russian general who oversaw a withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from Ukraine’s southern Kherson region two months ago has “likely” been dismissed as a key operational commander in the war, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defence.

In an intelligence update on Twitter, the UK ministry said Gen. Col. Mikhail Teplinsky “was the officer on the ground in charge of Russia’s relatively successful withdrawal from the west of the Dnipro [River] in November 2022, and he has received praise in Russia as a capable and pragmatic commander.”

It remains unclear whether Teplinsky will retain his additional remit as head of Russia’s Airborne Forces (VDV), the UK ministry added. 

“There is a realistic possibility that debate over the tasks VDV has been given has contributed to his dismissal: VDV has often been employed in ground holding roles traditionally given to the mechanized infantry,” the UK ministry said.

The UK ministry said Teplinsky’s removal could be a sign of discord within the Russian military hierarchy amid Moscow’s faltering campaign following the appointment of Gen. Valery Gerasimov as overall commander earlier in January. 

“Teplinsky’s dismissal is likely another symptom of continued divisions within the senior hierarchy of Russia’s operation as General Valery Gerasimov attempts to impose his personal authority on the campaign,” the ministry said.

CNN hasn’t been able to independently verify the UK ministry’s claims. 

In a post on Telegram announcing his resignation, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said he was “grateful to all Ukrainians for their trust in our work.”

Here’s a translation of his statement:

“I am grateful to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, for his trust and the opportunity to do good deeds every day and every minute.
“I am grateful to every head of the regional military administrations. Together we have managed to build the most powerful team in the country. You are really cool. You are real warriors of light!
“I thank the mayors of the cities. For being constructive in disputes.
“Thanks to the cool team of the Directorate for Regional Policy of the Presidential Office. Without you, nothing would have happened.
“I am grateful to all Ukrainians for their trust in our work.
“Thank you to the Armed Forces for protecting and defending our country.
“I thank my wife and son. For understanding and support.
“Honored!
“See you soon.”

Tymoshenko did not specify a reason for his resignation in his Telegram post.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Tymoshenko’s resignation on Tuesday, a day after the president had signaled there would be changes to “personnel” within the Ukrainian government, without naming specifically affected people.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, has resigned from his post, according to a statement posted on his official Telegram account Tuesday. 

Tymoshenko shared a photo of his resignation notice and said: “I would like to ask you to dismiss me from the post of Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine at my own request.”  

In his statement, Tymoshenko thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, heads of regional military administrations and mayors, and his wife and son. 

Tymoshenko did not specify a reason for his resignation in his Telegram post.

Zelensky’s office confirmed Tymoshenko’s resignation on Tuesday, a day after the president had signaled there would be changes to “personnel” within the Ukrainian government, without naming specifically affected people.

“There are also personnel decisions —  some today, some will be made tomorrow —  regarding managers of various levels in government ministries and other central government agencies, in the regions, and in the law enforcement system,” Zelensky said during his nightly address.

The Biden administration has recently raised concerns with China about evidence it has suggesting that Chinese companies have sold non-lethal equipment to Russia for use in Ukraine, in an effort to ascertain how much Beijing knows about the transactions, according to two US officials.

That equipment includes items like flak jackets and helmets, multiple sources familiar with US and European intelligence told CNN, but stops short of the more robust military assistance that Russia has requested.

The equipment transfers are “concerning,” one of the US officials said, but at this stage, it’s not clear to Washington whether the central government is aware of it. Although state-owned enterprises dominate China’s economy, not all are subject to day-to-day oversight.

Some US officials believe the Chinese government knows about the equipment transfers and should take steps to upend them, the second official said.

While the Biden administration is still weighing the impact and overall significance of the support, it is a matter of increasing concern among US officials.

The US officials declined to offer details on the communications between the Biden administration and Beijing.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken travels to China in the coming weeks, and the transfers are expected to be a topic of discussion, the second official said.

CNN has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington for comment. Bloomberg first reported the contact between the Biden administration and Beijing.

Read more here.

Wagner Group fighters have become the disposable infantry of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, but a Ukrainian military intelligence document obtained by CNN sets out how effective they have been around the city of Bakhmut — and how difficult they are to fight against.

Wagner is a private military contractor run by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been highly visible on the front lines in recent weeks — and always quick to claim credit for Russian advances. Wagner fighters have been heavily involved in taking Soledar, a few miles northeast of Bakhmut, and areas around the town.

The Ukrainian report, dated December 2022, concludes that Wagner represents a unique threat at close quarters, even while suffering extraordinary casualties. “The deaths of thousands of Wagner soldiers do not matter to Russian society,” the report asserts.

“Assault groups do not withdraw without a command… Unauthorized withdrawal of a team or without being wounded is punishable by execution on the spot.”

Phone intercepts obtained by a Ukrainian intelligence source and shared with CNN also indicate a merciless attitude on the battlefield. In one, a soldier is heard talking about another who tried to surrender to the Ukrainians.

CNN can’t independently authenticate the call, which is alleged to have taken place in November.

Wounded Wagner fighters are often left on the battlefield for hours, according to the Ukrainian assessment. “Assault infantry is not allowed to carry the wounded off the battlefield on their own, as their main task is to continue the assault until the goal is achieved. If the assault fails, retreat is also allowed only at night.”

Read the full story:

A mural depicting mercenaries of Russia's Wagner Group that reads: "Wagner Group - Russian knights" vandalized with paint on a wall in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. The fighting for the salt mining town of Soledar and the nearby city of Bakhmut has highlighted a bitter rift between the Russian Defense Ministry leadership and Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rogue millionaire whose private military force known as the Wagner Group has played an increasingly visible role in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Related article Deadly and disposable: Wagner's brutal tactics in Ukraine revealed by intelligence report | CNN

Russia has sent tens of thousands of new troops to reinforce the front lines in Ukraine over the past few months, a senior US military official said Monday.

The troops have made little difference in the conflict, the official said, arriving on the front lines “ill-equipped, ill-trained” and “rushed to the battlefield.”

Russia has sent the troops in as replacements or reinforcements for existing units instead of newly organized and cohesive units. The troops began arriving on the battlefield following Russia’s stated mobilization of 300,000 new personnel in October, the official later said.

On Friday, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley said Russia had suffered “significantly well over 100,000 [casualties] now,” including killed in action and wounded in action.

US officials believe that Russian intelligence officers directed a Russian White supremacist group to carry out a letter-bombing campaign that rocked Madrid late last year, targeting the prime minister, the American and Ukrainian Embassies as well as the Spanish Defense Ministry, according to current and former US officials.

Spanish authorities have yet to make any arrests in connection with the attacks, which wounded one Ukrainian Embassy employee, but they were widely suspected at the time to be linked to Spain’s support for Kyiv.

Some details of how, exactly, the campaign was directed and carried out remain fuzzy, two US officials said. It’s not clear how much knowledge — if any — the Kremlin or Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had.

Still, US officials now believe the attack was likely a warning shot to European governments which have rallied around Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February of last year.

The New York Times first reported on the alleged involvement of Russian intelligence in the attacks.

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment “on matters involving leaked intelligence or active law enforcement investigations,” and referred to the Spanish government “for information related to their ongoing investigation.”

Read more here.

John Kirby, US national security council coordinator for strategic communications, on Monday downplayed the notion that Germany’s indecision on providing advanced military tanks to Ukraine is dividing NATO.

Some Western allies continue to pressure Germany to authorize the delivery of its modern Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

No decisions have been made “one way or another,” Kirby told CNN.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier on Monday that a decision would be taken “soon,” as EU Foreign Ministers meet in Brussels for talks on Monday. 

Kirby affirmed that “NATO has never been more staunchly united than it has been over the last year with this war in Ukraine,” but acknowledged the alliance is “not going to ever agree on every single aspect of every decision”. 

“What’s really important to remember is that these are national decisions, they’re sovereign decisions,” he said. 

“I certainly can’t speak for the Germans on what’s going into their calculus about the Leopard tanks. The Leopards are very good and there [are] a lot of them on the European continent, and certainly, they could be effective on the battlefield. But again, what Germany does, they’ve got to decide,” Kirby added. “They have to work through this in a sovereign way.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday outlined the bloc’s plans to continue supporting Ukraine, saying it reached an agreement to provide an additional 500 million euros ($543.03 million) and additional military training assistance worth 45 million euros ($48.87 million), dedicated to a military training mission for Ukrainian forces. 

That brings the EU’s total amount of military support for Ukraine, coming via the European Union’s intergovernmental fund, to 3.6 billion euros ($3.9 billion), Borrell told reporters in Brussels on Monday. 

Borrell added that the total figure of the bloc’s support to Ukraine, including military, financial, economic and humanitarian aid, now stands at 49 billion euros ($53.21 billion). 

“Russia continues its systematic barbaric attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructures,” Borrell said. “We have not seen any genuine willingness from Russia regarding a fair and sustainable peace.” 

A former commander in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, who fled to Norway to seek asylum after crossing the country’s arctic border, has been arrested by Norwegian immigration authorities. 

Andrei Medvedev said he feared for his life after refusing to renew his service with Wagner, according to an interview with Vladimir Osechkin, head of human rights advocacy group Gulagu.net, earlier in January. 

Medvedev said he was afraid of being executed in the same manner as Yevgeny Nuzhin — a defector from Wagner who was killed on camera with a sledgehammer.

“The person concerned has been arrested under the Immigration Act and it is being assessed whether he should be detained” [for a longer period of time], Jon Andreas Johansen, an official from Norway’s National Police Immigration Service (NPIC), said in a statement to CNN on Monday. 

“Beyond that, we have no comments,” Johansen said. 

On Monday, Gulagu.net head Osechkin said in a new statement posted on YouTube that Medvedev called him from the detention center and told him authorities arrested him on Sunday. 

Osechkin said Medvedev is appealing to the prime minister of Norway and journalists for protection and to stop the deportation process. 

More on Wagner: The mercenary group is headed by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and has emerged as a key player in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — recently doing much of the fighting in the small eastern town of Soledar.

The group is often described as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014, and has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

Just last week, the US announced it would designate the Russian mercenary organization as a “transnational criminal organization” and impose additional sanctions against the group and its support network across the world.

CNN’s Mick Krever and Katharina Krebs contributed reporting to this post.

Germany has not received a request from Poland or any other country for permission to transfer German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesman said Monday.

He promised that any application would be “processed with the necessary speed that is required, but of course also with the necessary thoroughness that such procedures demand.” 

Poland is one of 13 European countries with German Leopard 2 tanks in its inventory, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

It has offered to send them to Ukraine and is trying to convince other countries to do the same, but Germany’s permission is typically required to re-export them.

On Sunday, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieckic said Europe was “wasting time” on the discussions.

But Hebestreit defended Berlin against such accusations.

“Maybe it’s good to weigh and consider a lot of things before you go recklessly into a step that you bitterly regret later,“ he said, adding that other countries, such as Spain, also have qualms about the potential tank transfer.