January 31, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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

Top Ukrainian officials have in recent days escalated their public lobbying campaign for US-made F-16 fighter jets, arguing they need them urgently to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.

But that push is being met with skepticism by US and allied officials who say the jets would be impractical, both because they require considerable training and because Russia has extensive anti-aircraft systems that could easily shoot them down.

More puzzling to US officials is why Ukraine has made such a public show of asking for F-16s, when in private the jets are rarely mentioned atop Ukraine’s wish list of weapons.

Asked on Monday whether the US would be providing F-16s to Ukraine, President Joe Biden responded with a flat “no.” Asked on Tuesday, whether he plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky amid his calls for F-16 jets, Biden said, “We’re going to talk.”

Ukraine’s renewed public push for the planes, which Ukraine’s foreign minister publicly described as a “priority” on Tuesday, appears driven in large part by a belief in Kyiv that with enough public pressure, the Ukrainians can eventually secure weapons systems that were once deemed a red line by the west.

So far, Ukrainian persistence has paid off, and Ukrainians appear undeterred by the reluctance from allies to send F-16s.

“What is impossible today is absolutely possible tomorrow,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told NPR on Tuesday.

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Russian troops are pummeling the city of Bakhmut into “total ruin,” a Donetsk region military administration head said, as intense fighting continues in the eastern part of the country.

Some Western countries are shutting down the idea of providing fighter jets to Ukraine, even as Kyiv officials step up requests for more military assistance.

Here are the top headlines to know:

A Ukraine-European Union summit will take place in Kyiv on Friday, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. However, he provided no details on who would attend.

The fact that the summit will be held in Kyiv is a “powerful signal to both partners and enemies,” he said at a government meeting.

“To our partners, it is a message that Europe believes in Ukraine’s victory and supports our rapid movement towards EU membership. To our enemies, it is a message of the futility of their efforts to divide the coalition supporting Ukraine and stop our Euro-Atlantic integration,” he added.

A “prolonged stalemate” in Moscow’s conflict with Ukraine “would only benefit Russia,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to a cabinet meeting readout released Tuesday.

Sunak said he reached this conclusion after reviewing the UK’s approach to the conflict since becoming prime minister in October last year, adding that this led him to decide that there was an “opportunity to accelerate” British support for Ukraine.

This would give Kyiv the “best chance of success and make the most of the window of opportunity where Russian forces were on the back foot,” he said, according to the readout. 

This new UK strategy to accelerate support would include greater diplomatic efforts and planning for how to rebuild after the conflict, the prime minister added, according to the readout. 

Ukraine is expecting to receive 120 to 140 modern Western fighting tanks in a “first wave” of deliveries from 12 countries, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday. 

“The tank coalition now has 12 members. I can note that in the first wave of contributions, the Ukrainian armed forces will receive between 120 and 140 Western-model tanks,” Kuleba said in a briefing. 

Kuleba on Tuesday also renewed calls for fighter jets, saying Ukraine’s military “must receive all the types of weapons they need to defend and restore the territorial integrity of our country.”

Russia is unlikely to see strategic success in any potential offensive in Ukraine this spring due to limited support on force ratios, equipment and logistics, according to Western officials speaking to media on background.

These limitations might not prevent Russia “from trying to launch an offensive,” but their “ability to change the course of the conflict at the moment is constrained,” the officials said.

Moscow is struggling to replace its losses, the officials added.

Russia and Ukraine were fundamentally in “a race” as to “who can maintain the supply of weapons,” they said.

Moscow’s current offensive is more about “the existing manpower and equipment being deployed and redeployed locally. You’re seeing people kind of taking offensive action, but I don’t think you’re seeing the beginning of the offensive in big strategic terms. It’s unlikely that hundreds of thousands of mobilized reservists have been formed into cohesive formations capable of major offensive, maneuver operations,” the officials explained.

Meanwhile, the officials expressed doubt in Russia using its neighboring ally Belarus to launch an offensive in the coming months. 

“Belarus is providing a useful training ground for Russian forces where they can outsource for training and then siphon them back round into the front line in Ukraine,” the officials said. “We do see Russian forces in Belarus. We don’t see them deployed to the border, and at the moment, they don’t have the kind of capability in the logistics to project and threaten Kyiv.”

But the Russian troops presence does prompt Ukraine from stationing its troops in that direction to “offset that potential risk,” the officials said, even though they stressed that it is “hugely unlikely” that Belarus “will be an axis of advance in the next several months.”

Russia is violating a key nuclear arms control agreement with the United States and continuing to refuse to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday.

“Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START Treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory. Russia’s refusal to facilitate inspection activities prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control,” the spokesperson said in statement.

“Russia has also failed to comply with the New START Treaty obligation to convene a session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission in accordance with the treaty-mandated timeline,” the spokesperson added.

Under the New START treaty — the only agreement left regulating the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals — Washington and Moscow are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, inspections have been halted since 2020.

A session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission on the treaty was slated to meet in Egypt in late November but was abruptly called off. The US has blamed Russia for this postponement, with a State Department spokesperson saying the decision was made “unilaterally” by Russia.

The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides will soon need to begin negotiating on another arms control agreement.

The State Department says Russia can return to full compliance, if they “allow inspection activities on its territory, just as it did for years under the New START Treaty” and also scheduling a session of the commission.

On Monday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the last remaining element of the bilateral nuclear arms control treaty with the United States could expire in three years without a replacement. 

Asked if Moscow could envisage there being no nuclear arms control agreement between the two nations when the extension of the 2011 New START Treaty comes to an end after 2026, Ryabkov told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Monday: “This is a very possible scenario.”

The statement comes as Russia continues its war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin in December acknowledged that the conflict is “going to take a while,” as he also warned of the “increasing” threat of nuclear war. And without categorically ruling out the first use of nuclear weapons, Putin said he viewed the Russian nuclear arsenal as a deterrent rather than a provocation.

Ukraine’s foreign minister renewed calls for fighter jets on Tuesday.

“The [Ukraine] Armed Forces must receive all the types of weapons they need to defend and restore the territorial integrity of our country,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a briefing.

Kuleba said Ukraine needs fighter jets and long-range missiles not to escalate but rather to act as a deterrence and defense against Russia’s continued war in Ukraine:

“Our partners are aware of the types of weapons we need — first and foremost, fighter jets and long-range missiles that can hit targets up to 300 km (more than 186 miles) away. These are not weapons of escalation, but rather weapons of defense and deterrence against the aggressor. We are actively negotiating to unlock all these solutions. I have instructed all our diplomats in key capitals to make this a priority,” Kuleba continued.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, also called for more weapons. 

Podolyak tweeted Tuesday addressing a belief he said some EU representatives have that Kyiv shouldn’t be given weapons due to a fear the war will spread to Europe. The Ukrainian official said war is “already in the center of Europe” and Russia “kills people in the most anti-human way.” He also warned that if Ukraine does not get weapons the war will spread to the EU because Russia “won’t stop the expansion.”

What Western nations are saying about Kyiv’s requests: The UK said Tuesday it believes it’s “not practical” to send its fighter jets to Ukraine. The fighter jets are “extremely sophisticated and take months to learn how to fly,” a Downing Street spokesperson told journalists.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that although France had not received any request from Ukraine to send fighter jets, “nothing is off limits in principle.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden responded “no,” when asked by a reporter if he would send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. 

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has also ruled out sending fighter jets to Ukraine, according to an interview with German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday. “This is out of the question,” Pistorius was quoted as saying.

France will send an additional 12 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine, on top of the 18 howitzers Paris has already delivered to Kyiv, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday.  

Speaking at a news conference in Paris alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov, Lecornu said that Denmark has also committed to giving 19 French-made howitzers to Ukraine. 

The French minister said another priority was the training of Ukrainian troops and that 2,000 of them would be trained in France by the summer. 

Lecornu also announced a new plan to jointly train Ukrainian soldiers with the Polish military.  

“I can confirm that 150 French soldiers will be going to Poland at the end of February to train battalions in conjunction with Poland,” he said. 

When asked whether France would deliver fighter jets to Ukraine, the defense minister said that there were “no taboos” about sending the airplanes but that each request has to fulfill three criteria: a weapon request must not diminish France’s own defense forces; that the weapons must be useful and useable on the ground; and that they are used for defensive objectives only. 

“We discussed the [air] platform because it’s our necessity to make our capabilities stronger to defend our airspace,” said Reznikov. 

“I’m an optimist and I think it will be as soon as possible,” the Ukrainian defense minister said, adding “one year ago when I was in Washington, DC, I asked about stinger [missiles] and the answer was ‘It’s impossible, Oleksii!’ and it became possible.” 

The US will likely announce further security assistance for Ukraine “soon,” according to White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton.  

“I expect we’re going to have more security assistance to announce soon,” Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One. 

Asked about whether the US would send F16 jets to Ukraine, Dalton reiterated President Joe Biden’s comments on Monday and pointed to the billions of dollars in aid provided so far.

Biden said “no” when asked by a reporter Monday on whether he would send the jets to Ukraine. His answer comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought fighter jets to help sustain his war effort against Russia. Biden has consistently said the planes aren’t on the table, even as he has given aid in other areas, including providing Abrams tanks.

Dalton also emphasized that the US remains in “regular contact” with Ukrainian officials about their needs. 

More on US aid to Ukraine: As of Jan. 19, the United States has committed $26.7 billion to Ukraine in security aid since the beginning of the war nearly a year ago.

The UK said Tuesday it believes it’s “not practical” to send its fighter jets to Ukraine. 

The fighter jets are “extremely sophisticated and take months to learn how to fly,” a Downing Street spokesperson told journalists Tuesday, adding that given those conditions they “believe it is not practical to send those jets into Ukraine.”

The comments come as Ukrainian officials continue to pressure their Western allies for further resources. 

The spokesperson said the UK is committed to continuing to “discuss with our allies about what we think what is the right approach” when it comes to assisting Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that although France had not received any request from Ukraine to send fighter jets, “nothing is off limits in principle.”

Other nations saying no to jets for Kyiv: On Monday, US President Joe Biden responded “No,” when asked by a reporter if he would send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. 

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has also ruled out sending fighter jets to Ukraine, according to an interview with German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday. “This is out of the question,” Pistorius was quoted as saying.

The key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut continues to be one of the main directions for Russian attacks and “everything is being done” to prevent Russian forces from blocking the movement of Ukrainian units, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said during an interview on Ukrainian television on Tuesday. 

“Bakhmut continues to be one of the main directions of the enemy’s attack – they’ve hit our positions there with cannon and rocket artillery 197 times, and there were 42 combat encounters. The enemy got significant losses in personnel during the last 24 hours: 277 enemies were killed, 258 were injured to varying degrees,” Cherevatyi said.

CNN is not able to independently confirm the number of sustained casualties. 

When asked whether the Russians have been able to cut off the transport artery to Bakhmut, Cherevatyi replied “not yet.”

“They didn’t succeed and everything is being done not to allow them to block the movements of our units. All necessary ammunition, equipment, food anything else that our forces need is being supplied to Bakhmut,” he said. 

When asked to comment on reports about a Russian offensive north of Bakhmut in the Lyman direction, Cherevatyi said Russian forces “do counteroffensive in this direction from time to time” and that he “can’t say it’s a big offensive operation.”

“They are moving there — their motorized rifle units and artillery — first of all, to hold the line there, and secondly, as I said, to regain an advantage. In particular, during the last 24 hours in Bilohorivka and Novoselivske the enemy did a counteroffensive, but they were repulsed and pulled back,” he said. 

A farewell ceremony for American volunteer Daniel Swift who died fighting in Ukraine took place in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said in a message on his official Facebook page. 

“He fought with the International Legion and was awarded with [Ukrainian commander] Bohdan Khmelnitskiy award of the 3rd degree. The brave seal is now taking his last path home,” Sadovyi said. 

Swift, a former US Navy SEAL, who deserted the military nearly four years ago, was killed fighting in Ukraine earlier in January, according to a statement by the US Navy.  

In his post, Sadovyi went on to say that Ukraine needs “powerful weapons to stop these deaths.”

“We are calling on the whole world not to postpone what can save lives today. This year all of us have understood the war can be stopped with force only. So we are calling to give us tanks, give us fighter jets,” he said. 

“Russia is a wounded bear at the moment. It needs to be put back into its cave. And this we can do only if we are unite all our resources,” Sadovyi said. 

Russian troops are pummeling the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut into what the Donetsk region military administration head Pavlo Kyrylenko called a “total ruin.” 

Two people were killed in the last few hours, including one underage boy, Kyrylenko says on Telegram. Four civilians were wounded, he added. 

“Russians are levelling Bakhmut to the ground, killing everyone they can reach. We are carefully documenting all war crimes. They will be held accountable for everything!,” he wrote on Telegram.

CNN reported in January that the 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.

Russia had to send home more than 9,000 people who were “illegally mobilized,” Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

“Through the efforts of [the Prosecutor General Office] supervision, more than 9,000 citizens who were illegally mobilized were returned home, including those who, due to their health condition, should not have been mobilized in any case,” Krasnov said at a televised meeting with Putin in the Kremlin.

Mobilization had not been carried out for a long time in Russia, he added, and it “revealed a lot of significant problems.”

In addition, most issues with supplying body armor and uniforms to the front “have been resolved,” according to Krasnov. 

“Now we control the supply of winter uniforms to mobilized military personnel, as well as the formation of appropriate warehouses and their safety,” he said.

Russian citizens had used crowdfunding to equip soldiers deployed to Ukraine as troops said they’ve been short of even basic equipment.

Some background: Putin announced a “partial mobilization” in late September 2022 after Russia suffered a series of major setbacks on the battlefields in Ukraine. The controversial draft sparked protests and an exodus of men from the country before it was suspended Nov. 1 after the target of 300,000 personnel was met.

The area around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is seeing fierce fighting as Russian forces mount an offensive intended to take a key highway.

Russian forces have also carried out strikes in Luhansk region and Kharkiv region, where one civilian was killed by shelling.

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Russian airborne units have joined Wagner mercenary fighters in the battle for the key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to Maksym Zhorin, a former co-commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment.

Zhorin is not fighting on the battlefield but is in contact with Ukrainian soldiers and helps with supplies. 

“Not only the Wagnerites are fighting in the Bakhmut sector on the Russian side,” Zhorin said on his official Telegram channel Tuesday.

“Previously, the assaults were carried out first by convicts, followed by more ‘elite’ Wagner units, but now airborne units have also joined the fight,” he said.

“First of all, this is notable because of the use of their regular equipment. Wagner’s troops are forced to advance on foot, while Russian paratroopers have armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, which they actively use,” added Zhorin. 

“Another difference is that for some reason regular troops are less willing to die than Wagner’s men. That is why they act a little more cautiously. But they are still dying, just not in such huge numbers.”

CNN is unable to independently verify those claims. 

Other Ukrainian military commanders have echoed Zhorin’s assessment in recent days, saying that regular Russian military troops are now assisting Wagner private military contractors in the fight for Bakhmut. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Tuesday to strengthen ties, saying Beijing and Moscow are leading “an authoritarian pushback against the international rules-based order.”

“The Indo-Pacific faces growing challenges from China’s coercive behavior to provocations by North Korea. And in Europe, Russia continues to wage its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. This war is not just a European crisis, but a challenge to the world order,” Stoltenberg said in a joint statement with Kishida on Tuesday, adding that he and Kishida agree that “transatlantic and Indo-Pacific security is deeply interconnected.”

“If President Putin wins in Ukraine, this would send a message that authoritarian regimes can achieve their goals through brute force. This is dangerous. Beijing is watching closely and learning lessons that may influence its future decisions,” said Stoltenberg.

During a visit Tuesday to Japan’s Iruma Air Base, Stoltenberg said that “the war in Ukraine matters for all of us, and therefore we’re also very grateful for the support that Japan is providing, also using the planes and the cargo capabilities.”

Japan has provided nonlethal aid to Ukraine in the form of drones, bulletproof vests, helmets, tents and medical supplies. However, due to defense guidelines that effectively ban weapons exports, Tokyo has not delivered weapons.

Stoltenberg arrived in Tokyo on Monday from South Korea, where he had urged Seoul to increase its military support for Ukraine.

Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first leaders from their countries to attend a NATO summit last year, joining alliance leaders as observers.

As the battle for the key eastern city of Bakhmut continues, Ukrainian forces managed to destroy Russian trenches on the outskirts of the city, turning them into a “grave,” the Ukrainian Border Guard said Tuesday on its official Telegram channel.

“The rifle unit of the Russian Federation set up an improvised dugout in the forest strip. Our fighters tracked down the hiding place of the enemy infantry and hit it with mortars,” the Ukrainian Border Guard said.

The Border Guard reported that five “invaders” were buried under rubble and another four occupants were wounded after the attack destroyed the structure.

The city of Bakhmut has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in recent days, as Russian forces try to take control of the Kostiantynivka-Bakhmut highway and disrupt supplies to Bakhmut. Keeping the city under Ukrainian control would represent a symbolic victory for Kyiv but if the city is taken by Russian forces it would give them an opportunity to advance further to the strategically important cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Fighters from the Russian mercenary company Wagner have been leading the fight against Ukrainian forces in and around Bakhmut but on Monday, Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of the “Svoboda” battalion of the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard, said in an interview on Ukrainian television that it seemed Wagner fighters have now been replaced by Russian paratroopers.

A post published Tuesday on the official Telegram channel of Dmytro Kukharchuk, commander of the 2nd assault battalion of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, says the claimed invincibility of the Wagner military unit is now a “myth.”

“I have to admit that in some areas they do manage to carry out the tactics of a creeping offensive. In their opinion, it is successful, in my opinion - absolutely not, because the round-the-clock bombardment of our positions with corpses, which results in rare cases in advancement of 50 meters, can hardly be called a success,” the post reads.

CNN is unable to independently verify these claims.

“Ultimately, the war is not about territories, but about people who will then liberate even more territories, as it happened in Kharkiv or Kherson. Their attitude towards people has not changed since [Red Army General] Zhukov’s time,” the post continues.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says it rejects “defamatory statements” by Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak following the committee’s decision to consider ways for Russian athletes to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games.

Podolyak posted a strongly worded tweet Monday criticizing the IOC’s stance on Russia.

“The IOC rejects in the strongest possible terms this and other defamatory statements. They cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion. Therefore, the IOC will not further comment on them,” an IOC spokesperson told CNN in a statement Tuesday.

The IOC has indicated that Russian and Belarusian athletes could be allowed to “participate in competitions as ‘neutral athletes’ and in no way represent their state or any other organisation in their country, as is already happening in professional leagues, particularly in Europe, the United States and Canada, and in some individual professional sports.”

During his nightly address Saturday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he “wrote a letter to the presidents of the International Sports Federations with a call to reconsider the decision of the International Olympic Committee to return Russian athletes to international competitions.”

According to Zelensky, once “Russian athletes appear at international competitions, it is only a matter of time before they start justifying Russia’s aggression and using the symbols of terror.” He called the IOC decision “an unprincipled flexibility.”

Intense fighting continues around Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as Russian forces continue their offensive towards the key eastern city, the Ukrainian military said Tuesday.

Over the past 24 hours, a number of cities and towns in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have seen shelling by Russian forces, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said, adding that Russian forces “continue shelling settlements near the state border, causing civilian casualties and destruction of private property.”

Donetsk region

Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military repelled attacks near Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Vuhledar and other towns in the region, where the situation remains “difficult,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and regional authorities said.

Chaotic isolated attacks continued along the defense line around the city of Avdiivka throughout the night, the regional military administration said Tuesday.

Shelling was also reported in several other towns and communities across the region causing damage to residential buildings. Three civilians were wounded across the region over the past 24 hours, the regional military administration said.

Luhansk region

The situation in Luhansk region also remains “difficult,” the Luhansk regional military administration said Tuesday.

Over the past day, Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in the areas of Novoselivske and Bilohorivka, regional authorities said.

In the city of Luhansk, Russian forces are using the maternity wards of two hospitals to treat wounded servicemen, the Ukrainian military said.

“The enemy continues to suffer heavy losses and has begun to use additional civilian medical facilities to accommodate the wounded Russian invaders,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

“Due to the enemy’s use of two maternity hospitals to treat wounded Russians in the city, it is possible to deliver babies only in the Luhansk Regional Perinatal Center, which is severely lacking in space and creates risks and unfavorable conditions for childbirth,” it added.

Kharkiv region

A 62-year-old civilian man died in the town of Vovchansk as a result of shelling, the Kharkiv region military administration said Tuesday. An 83-year-old woman was wounded. Her condition is of moderate severity, regional authorities said.

The shelling also damaged the police department building, apartment buildings and warehouses.

In Kupyansk, a regional Ukrainian Railways building and private houses were damaged, regional authorities said.

There’s a growing rift at the top of the Russian government between President Vladimir Putin’s official military and the off-the-books mercenary force that has achieved some gains for Russia in Ukraine.

The oligarch figurehead of the private military company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been openly critical of Russia’s military and its bureaucracy.

Recruiting for tens of thousands of fighters in Russian jails, Wagner offers freedom and cash after a six-month tour.

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Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Monday criticized moves by NATO allies to provide tanks to Ukraine, calling it “mad,” as he railed against Western support for Kyiv in repelling Russia’s nearly year-long invasion.

“I am against sending any lethal arms there. It prolongs the war,” Milanovic told reporters in the town of Petrinja.
“What is the goal? Disintegration of Russia, change of the government? There is also talk of tearing Russia apart. This is mad.”

Milanovic, leader of the European Union’s newest member nation, has repeatedly criticized the West’s involvement in the war.

Last week, he reiterated his position that “Russia is settling accounts with the Americans via Ukraine,” and that the war would be resolved between Washington and Moscow, CNN affiliate N1 reported.

His comments came after the United States and NATO allies including Germany last week said they would send modern tanks to Ukraine, unleashing powerful new tools in Kyiv’s efforts to retake territory seized by Moscow.

In his defense as to why Zagreb would not provide military aid to Kyiv, Milanovic condemned Germany’s decision to donate Leopard 2 tanks, telling reporters Monday: “German tanks in Russia — good luck with that.” 

Crimea claim: Despite Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky’s stated aim of returning Crimea to Kyiv’s rule, Milanovic also said the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 would remain part of Russia.

The last remaining element of a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States could expire in three years without a replacement, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency RIA Novosti on Monday.

Asked if Moscow could envisage there being no nuclear arms control agreement between the two nations when the extension of the 2011 New START Treaty comes to an end after 2026, Ryabkov said: “This is a very possible scenario.”

“The dialogue on strategic stability and arms control was stopped not by us, but by the Americans and their satellites,” he said, appearing to refer to Ukraine.

Ryabkov added that he believed Washington was betting on Moscow suffering a “strategic defeat” in its war with its neighbor, which is approaching the one-year mark.

Last week, the United States and NATO allies including Germany and the United Kingdom said they would send modern tanks to Ukraine, reversing their longstanding trepidation at providing Kyiv with offensive armored vehicles and unleashing powerful new tools in its efforts to retake territory seized by Moscow.

In his comments Monday, Ryabkov told RIA that recent US actions had violated the spirit of the bilateral arms control treaty in the “most flagrant and ridiculous way.” 

Quoting from the preamble of the 2011 treaty, which calls for “mutual trust, openness, predictability and cooperation,” Ryabkov claimed the US showed a disregard for the agreement by holding a “forwardly aggressive deterrence, teetering on the brink of a direct confrontation between the United States and NATO and Russia.”

A military coup is becoming a possibility in Russia as the war in Ukraine continues, President Vladimir Putin’s former speechwriter said Monday.

Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett, speechwriter turned political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said that as Russian losses mount in Ukraine and the country experiences hardship brought by Western sanctions, Russians will look for someone to blame.

“The Russian economy is deteriorating. The war is lost. There are more and more dead bodies returning to Russia, so Russians will be coming across more difficulties and they’ll be trying to find explanation why this is happening, looking around to the political process and they’ll be answering themselves: ‘Well, this is because our country is governed by an old tyrant, an old dictator,’” Gallyamov said, referring to Putin.

That moment may come in the next 12 months, he said.

“So in one year when the political situation changes and there’s a really hated unpopular president at the head of the country and the war is really unpopular, and they need to shed blood for this, at this moment, a coup becomes a real possibility,” he added.

Gallyamov also said he believes Putin may cancel presidential elections scheduled to be held in March 2024.

“Judging by his actions, when he is escalating on something without necessity, he might really cancel the elections. Without victory over Ukraine, he’ll face difficulty with the Russians. Russians don’t need him if he’s not strong. He might really declare the martial law and cancel the elections,” Gallyamov said.

A former Wagner mercenary says the brutality he witnessed in Ukraine ultimately pushed him to defect, in an exclusive CNN interview on Monday.

Wagner fighters were often sent into battle with little direction, and the company’s treatment of reluctant recruits was ruthless, Andrei Medvedev told CNN’s Anderson Cooper from Norway’s capital Oslo, where he is seeking asylum after crossing that country’s arctic border from Russia.

“They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of newcomers,” he alleges. “They brought two prisoners who refused to go fight and they shot them in front of everyone and buried them right in the trenches that were dug by the trainees.”

CNN has not been able to independently verify his account and Wagner has not replied to a request for comment.

The 26-year-old, who says he previously served in the Russian military, joined Wagner as a volunteer. He crossed into Ukraine less than 10 days after signing his contract in July 2021, serving near Bakhmut, the frontline city in the Donetsk region. The mercenary group has emerged as a key player in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Medvedev said he reported directly to the group’s founders, Dmitry Utkin and Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.

He refers to Prigozhin as “the devil.” If he was a Russian hero, he would have taken a gun and run with the soldiers,” Medvedev said.

Prigozhin responded Tuesday to CNN’s request for comment in a statement that was largely sarcastic in tone via his press service. He called the news organization an “open enemy” before insisting Wagner is an “exemplary military organization that complies with all the necessary laws and rules of modern wars.”

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Andrei Medvedev, a former Wagner commander, is photographed in Norway.

Related article Former Wagner commander describes brutality and incompetence on the frontline | CNN

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Monday defended the Biden administration’s decision not to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, pointing instead to the aid the US is providing, including Abrams tanks.

“What I can tell you is that there’s a lot of capability that is being sent, and will be sent in the coming weeks and months,” Kirby told CNN. “The kinds of capabilities that we know will be critical to helping Ukrainians again in the fighting now in the wintertime, as well as the kind of fighting that we expect that they’re going to be doing in the spring.”  

Kirby said he believes the decision,announced last week, to send Abrams tanks to the region wasn’t one that was made too late, even amid reports of Russia gaining territory in eastern Ukraine.

“The decision on the tanks — and it wasn’t just the US, it was the Germans as well, and the Brits before that — was really designed to help Ukraine get ahead of the fighting that we think … everybody’s going to see come spring,” he said. “So, this was actually one of those cases where we are trying to forecast the kinds of needs that Ukraine is going to require when the weather turns better — and we can expect that the Russians will try to go on the offensive then.”

Some background: President Joe Biden answered, “No,” when asked by a reporter whether he would send the jets to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought fighter jets to help sustain his war effort against Russia. Biden has consistently said the planes aren’t on the table, even as he has given aid in other areas.

A married couple in the southwestern Russian city of Krasnodar was arrested Sunday for professing anti-war sentiments during a private conversation in a restaurant, according to the independent Russian monitoring group OVD-Info.

OVD-Info told CNN that Aleksey Ovchinnikov was sentenced to 15 days in prison for petty hooliganism and his wife, Olesya Ovchinnikova, received a 1,000 rubles ($14) fine.

Olesya Ovchinnikova is also facing charges for discrediting the Russian army, according to reporting from local media 93.RU, citing her lawyer.

CNN has sought comment from the couple’s lawyer. The restaurant where the incident is said to have taken place, “Na Drovoh,” would not comment to CNN.

Crackdown on anti-war sentiments: OVD-Info said at least 61 cases related to expressing anti-war views were initiated in Russia in 2022 on the charges of justification of terrorism on the internet, with 26 leading to sentencing so far.

In another notable case, 19-year-old Olesya Krivtsova was charged over social media posts that authorities say discredit the Russian army and justify terrorism. She posted an Instagram story about the explosion on the Crimean bridge in October that also criticized Russia for invading Ukraine, according to Russian officials.

US President Joe Biden said Monday he wouldn’t send American fighter jets to Ukraine, even as the United States ramps up military assistance in the form of artillery and tanks. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought fighter jets to help sustain his war effort against Russia. Biden has consistently said the planes aren’t on the table, even as he has given aid in other areas.

Last week, for example, Biden announced he would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, despite top US officials saying previously the heavy-duty vehicles were a poor fit for the country’s military.

Speaking on the White House South Lawn, Biden also said he wasn’t sure whether he would visit Europe next month for the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

In response to a separate question, Biden said he was planning to visit Poland, but wasn’t sure when.

CNN reported last week the White House was exploring the possibility of a Biden visit to Europe to mark 12 months since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Some background: Ukrainian leaders have renewed their appeals for Western fighter jets. “I sent a wish list card to Santa Claus last year, and fighter jets also [were] including in this wish list,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told CNN last week.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged Friday that Zelensky had asked for fighter jets. “We are constantly talking to the Ukrainians about their needs, and want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can to meet them — and if we can’t, that some of our allies and partners can,” Kirby said.

The pine forests near the city of Kreminna have become one of the hottest combat zones in the war in eastern Ukraine. Almost every weapon seems to be at work here, artillery, howitzers, tanks and mortars. But perhaps the most important is the smallest: The reconnaissance drone.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been fighting here for nearly two months. If the Ukrainians can break through Russian lines and reach Kreminna, they can disrupt Russian supply routes.

But it’s a much tougher proposition than it was at the end of last year. Russia’s defensive lines have been reinforced with heavy weapons and long-range artillery.

CNN accompanied two Ukrainian drone operators from the Dnipro-1 battalion deep into the forest to see how they operate. The journey was along tracks of soft sand amid a thin canopy of pine trees, through an eerie landscape dotted with streams and bogs.

Read the full story here.

France and Australia said Monday they would collaborate on a multi-million dollar project to produce “several thousand” artillery shells for Ukraine.

The announcement came as foreign and defense ministers of both countries met in Paris.

“Several thousand 155-millimeter shells are going to be manufactured in common, with an unprecedented partnership between Australia and France,” French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu told a news conference.

Lecornu said French arms company Nexter would partner with Australian companies, which would provide the powder for the shells.

“This forms part of the ongoing level of support that both France and Australia is providing Ukraine to make sure that Ukraine is able to stay in this conflict and be able to see it concluded on its own terms,” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said.

Neither minister would specify quantities beyond “several thousand” artillery shells but they indicated this would be a long-term collaboration.

More on artillery to Ukraine: CNN reported in early January that the United States had moved some of the 300,000 155-millimeter shells the US and Israel agreed would be transferred to Ukraine. In November, a US official told CNN the US intended to buy 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition from South Korean arms manufacturers to provide to Kyiv.

The “constant” fighting in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been “a living hell” as Russian forces try to take control of the Kostiantynivka-Bakhmut highway, a Ukrainian commander said in an interview on Ukrainian television Monday.  

“Because for five or six months, near Bakhmut has been a living hell. The enemy is constantly attacking. And we can observe more about how the weather is changing, which, by the way, has a great impact on the combat capability, morale, and living conditions of each soldier,” said Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of the “Svoboda” battalion of the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard.

He said he couldn’t say for certain whether Russian forces are making a full-scale offensive and whether their tactics have changed, but that it seems Wagner fighters have been replaced by Russian paratroopers. 

Nazarenko went on to say the Ukrainian fighters “are doing an incredible job” and are “real heroes.”

“The enemy is trying to take control of the Kostiantynivka-Bakhmut highway. They are not successful in it. Our fighters are doing their best: The Armed Forces and the National Guard are doing an incredible job; they are real heroes. And the enemy is suffering huge, huge losses,” he said.

CNN has not been able to independently verify the claims about the losses. 

“What we see is that Wagner is almost completely destroyed. They have now been replaced by paratroopers, who also suffer losses almost every day, not only in manpower but also in armored vehicles,” he added.