January 31, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

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."

"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 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 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.

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.