January 10, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise trip to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday and confirmed that Berlin had promised to send more weapons to the country, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

Ukrainians "should know that they can rely on our solidarity and support,” she said.

This comes after Germany’s ambassador to the US had said Thursday that Berlin would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles and an additional Patriot air defense battery. 

“I have no doubts further German military aid will come,” tweeted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba who accompanied Baerbock to Kharkiv.

Baerbock also spoke about Ukraine’s long-term goal of joining the European Union. 

The Ukrainians, “see their future in Europe, in the EU,” she said. “That is why I would also like to talk about the progress made in the accession process. As the Federal Government, we want to make very concrete offers to Ukraine in order to make progress in strengthening the rule of law, independent institutions and the fight against corruption, as well as in aligning with EU standards."

Russian Col. Gen. Aleksandr Lapin, who previously was head of Central Military District, has been appointed chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces of the Russian army, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, referring to unnamed sources close to the military department. 

Lapin's appointment took place at the end of 2022, another source told TASS.

CNN was unable to independently verify this report. There were no official state announcements about the appointment, and Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov also declined to confirm on Tuesday.

Military analyst Ian Matveev characterized Lapin's promotion as “more of a bureaucratic position, and not a military one."

Lapin, despite having received the Hero of Russia medal, was heavily criticized by the head of the Chechen Republic and Putin's trusted ally, Ramzan Kadyrov, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner group of private military contractors are involved in fighting in the east of Ukraine. Lapin was branded "talentless" by both, following the retreat of Russian forces from the strategic eastern city of Lyman, in the Donetsk region.

The intense fight for the salt mining town of Soledar in Ukraine’s east has seen Russian forces fire 86 times at the area over the past day, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces in eastern Ukraine has told CNN.

Cherevatyi denied a claim by the head of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, that the Kremlin’s forces were close to taking Soledar. Pushilin had been quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as telling on Channel 1 on Tuesday that the town was “close to liberation,” without offering any evidence for his claim.

Cherevatyi said: “We have no such information at the moment. They [the Russians] often make similar statements in similar situations when there are intense battles… they have not been able to take anything solid [in the east], even the district center of Bakhmut, for six months. So now they are trying to inflate another super-victory around Soledar."

Cherevatyi insisted the situation in the town is “under control” and that in some other places near Bakhmut, “the enemy has even been driven back.”

Ukrainians are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the United States as soon as next week, two US officials familiar with the matter tell CNN. 

The training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the US conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system. Fort Sill is one of the Army's four basic training locations and home to the service's field artillery school, which has been training service members for more than a century. 

The training for the Ukrainians on the complex system is expected to take "several months," said Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. "I'm not going to be able to give you a specific timeframe for the completion of the training."

This comes after Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday that the US was looking at a variety of options for where to conduct the Patriot missile training "to include potential training here in the US, overseas, or a combination of both."

The US announced it was sending Ukraine the Patriot missile system in late December when Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky visited Washington and met with US President Joe Biden.

Germany recently announced that it was sending Ukraine a second Patriot missile system from its own inventory.

Lists of Russian soldiers killed in the attack on Makiivka on Jan. 1 will not be published, a military commissioner said Tuesday, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

The Russian Ministry of Defense earlier reported 89 Russian servicemen were killed as a result of a Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied Makiivka on New Year’s Day. The Ukrainian military reported higher figures, initially claiming up to around 400 Russian soldiers were killed. 

CNN cannot independently verify either side’s reported death toll, but the strike appears to be one of the deadliest episodes of the conflict for Moscow’s forces since they invaded the country. 

Fighting has ramped up in eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, as the fierce battle for control of the mining town of Soledar intensifies.

Here are the latest developments:

NATO has pledged to "strengthen" support for Ukraine after signing a joint declaration with the European Union on Tuesday. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the "strategic partnership" between the EU and NATO "more important than ever," as Russia's grinding invasion of Ukraine approaches 11 months.

"We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union, and we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine," Stoltenberg said in Brussels, after signing the third joint EU-NATO declaration with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel. 

The EU-NATO partnership will become "even more important once Finland and Sweden become full NATO members with their accession," von der Leyen added.  

The European Commission chief referenced the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines as an example of the need "to take more responsibility for the security of our network infrastructure." 

She also highlighted the importance of keeping "the pressure on the Kremlin," saying that the EU will soon impose sanctions on countries including Belarus and Iran who militarily support Russia's war in Ukraine.

NATO has remained steadfast in its support of Ukraine since Russian launched its invasion in February, with Western allies sending billions of dollars worth of weapons and other aid to Kyiv.

Challenging weather conditions are exacerbating the stress on Ukrainian power systems, the country's state energy agency has said.

It comes after relentless Russian strikes ravaged the country's power grid late last year.

"Electricity consumption in Ukraine has increased due to low temperatures exacerbated by strong winds in most regions," Ukrenergo said Tuesday.

Supply limits in many regions have already been "exceeded," so emergency outages are now in place, the company said.

High wind gusts had caused "damages to distribution system operators" and repairs were underway, the company added.

Some context: Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure and left many residents without access to heat and power.

Amnesty International previously said Russia strikes on critical systems were "unlawful" and amounted to "a war crime."

"Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure is unlawful. The morale of the civilian population is not a lawful target, and carrying out these attacks with the sole purpose of terrorizing civilians is a war crime," Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said in a statement in October.

"All those responsible for ordering and committing these criminal attacks must be held to account. With Russia ramping up its efforts to terrorize civilians in Ukraine, the international community must urgently respond and condemn these heinous attacks."

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 11th month, US and Ukrainian officials tell CNN that Russia’s artillery fire is down dramatically from its wartime high, in some places by as much as 75%.

US and Ukrainian officials don’t yet have a clear or singular explanation. Russia may be rationing artillery rounds due to low supplies, or it could be part of a broader reassessment of tactics in the face of successful Ukrainian offenses.

It also comes as Ukraine is enjoying increased military support from its Western allies, with the US and Germany announcing last week that they will be providing Ukrainian forces for the first time with armored fighting vehicles, as well as another Patriot Defense missile battery that will help protect its skies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, is apparently clambering to shore up domestic political support, US intelligence officials believe, for a war he initially would only describe as a limited "special military operation."

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