January 26, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his quarter final match against Russia’s Andrey Rublev on Wednesday, January 25, in Melbourne.

Kyiv’s ambassador to Australia has called on Novak Djokovic to state his position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after the tennis player’s father was pictured at a demonstration with fans holding Russian flags.

Footage shows Srdjan Djokovic posing behind a Russian flag superimposed with Putin’s face at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Speaking to CNN Friday, Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said the incident amounted to a provocation and “shines a negative light on Novak himself as he prepares for his semi-final.”

Tennis Australia told CNN that four people were ejected from the tournament on Wednesday for displaying pro-war imagery. 

CNN has reached out to both Srdjan Djokovic and Novak Djokovic for comment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the West for further weapons supplies after another wave of Russian missile strikes targeted Kyiv and other cities across the country.

Ukraine said it was able to shoot down most of the 55 missiles fired by Russia, a feat Zelensky attributed to Western-donated air defense systems. 

“Today, thanks to the air defense systems provided to Ukraine and the professionalism of our warriors, we managed to shoot down most of the Russian missiles and Shaheds,” he said, referring to Iranian-made drones.

“These are at least hundreds of lives saved and dozens of infrastructure facilities preserved,” the Ukrainian president said.

Update on the eastern front: Zelensky then shifted focus to the eastern Donbas region, where fighting remains the fiercest. Ukrainian troops are suffering heavy attrition in the east.

“The more Russia loses in this battle for Donbas, the less its overall potential will be,” he added.

Zelensky said his government is aware of Russian plans for future operations in Ukraine and assured his countrymen they were working to counter Moscow’s moves.

The Swedish government on Thursday pledged $1,947,000 (20 million Swedish krona) to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to support its nuclear safety mission in Ukraine. 

“Strengthening the IAEA’s important work to maintain and improve the safety of Ukrainian nuclear power plants is a matter of urgency,” Forssell added. 

Ukrainian officials claim Russia is intensifying hostilities in the southeastern part of Donetsk region, around the towns of Avdiivka and Vuhledar. 

Although Bakhmut remains the area where the fighting is the most vicious, Avdiivka has become almost as contentious, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration.

“Now it is also very hot in Avdiivka,” he said.

Why this territory matters: The southeastern area of Donetsk is seen as strategic territory by Russia to deter a potential offensive by Ukrainian forces towards Crimea.

Ukraine says Russia is employing similar tactics to those it has employed around Bakhmut, which is located further north in the Donetsk region.

Moscow’s armies are relying heavily on artillery and committing large numbers of men on doomed offensives, said Serhii Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson.

Targeting several communities, Russian forces “conducted 28 attacks in one day, fired 264 times, losing 141 people … and 165 wounded, but failed to achieve any results,” Cherevatyi claimed in a military briefing.

Cherevatyi said fighting around the entire eastern front line continues to be relentless.

“The enemy is trying to succeed in breaking through our defense, in particular in the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Lyman directions,” Cherevatyi said. “In total, 199 attacks and 35 combat engagements took place in the Bakhmut sector (on Thursday). The enemy fired from all types of artillery and multiple rocket launchers.”

“However, our defense forces did not allow the enemy to succeed,” he added.

US-owned M1A2 Abrams tanks in Germany.

The US will send the M1A2 Abrams tank to Ukraine, which has significantly upgraded capabilities compared to the earlier M1A1 model.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed Thursday that the M1A2 would be the version of the Abrams provided to the Ukrainians. She said that the US does not “have these tanks available in excess in our US stocks,” and it will take “months to transfer” the tanks to Ukraine.

The M1A2 is a significant upgrade from the older M1A1, mostly due to the fact that the A2 runs on a digital system, as opposed to the analog system of the A1.

It’s “the difference between a plug-in phone – a rotary phone – and that iPhone you’ve got in your hand,” explained retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams, the former commander of US Forces Korea, whose father was the namesake for the 70-ton tank.

US officials announced this week that 31 Abrams tanks would be sent to Ukraine after days of back and forth between the US and its allies. Officials had not yet disclosed which tank variant they would choose, and Army acquisitions chief Doug Bush told reporters on Tuesday that the decision was still being deliberated.

More on the tanks: US President Joe Biden said from the White House on Wednesday that the tanks would “enhance Ukraine’s capacity to defend its territory and achieve its strategic objectives.”

When it comes down to it, Abrams said, the M1A2 is “far superior in lethality and survivability and mobility” to anything that Russia has on the battlefield.

It’s unclear which variant of the A2 tank, of which there are three, will be chosen. Singh declined to say during the Pentagon briefing Thursday, and Bush declined to say Wednesday.

Bush added that concerns over logistics and maintenance for each variant – which had frequently been cited as a reason the US was hesitant to send the Abrams at all – would not weigh heavily on the decision.

He also explained that the Army does not produce brand new tanks from scratch and has instead been modifying existing older models. “That doesn’t mean it’s easy or fast necessarily,” he added, but they don’t currently have to be built from scratch.

CNN’s Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a tank near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on January 26.

Heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces continues around Bakhmut in the east, a CNN team on the ground witnessed. 

CNN saw intense indirect fire from Ukrainian positions on the hillsides west of Bakhmut, with most of the fire apparently directed against Russian units to the south and north of the city.

Units from Russia’s mercenary organization Wagner Group are reported to be trying to advance from both flanks, in an effort to encircle the city where 6,000 civilians remain.

Bakhmut remains a major focal point of the conflict, with the Ukrainian president and his staff paying special attention to the situation at the front. 

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has voted unanimously to demand the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders “for the crime of aggression in Ukraine,” according to a statement published Thursday.

PACE, composed of members appointed by the national parliaments of the Council’s 46 member states, proposes a tribunal in The Hague “to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders who planned, prepared, initiated or executed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” 

PACE recommends policies for adoption, which are then submitted to national governments for action.

More background: The demand for an international tribunal echoes a similar call from UK lawmakers who last week expressed support for “the creation of a special tribunal with a limited focus on the crime of aggression” to complement the investigation being carried out by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. 

The UN has defined aggression as “the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations.” 

“No other international criminal tribunal is competent to prosecute and punish the crime of aggression against Ukraine, the Assembly pointed out,” the PACE statement added. 

The ICC is unable to probe the crime of aggression unless the UN Security Council refers the matter to it, which is “highly implausible,” as Russia would likely use its status as a Security Council member to veto a referral. Russia was excluded from the Council of Europe — founded after World War II to uphold human rights — in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

In December, a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Bill Keating, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, to call for creation of a special tribunal on the crime of aggression. Administration officials have neither committed to nor rejected the idea.

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand speaks to the press on January 20, in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

Canada will be sending four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced on Thursday.

The donation will provide soldiers with a tactical advantage due to their “excellent mobility, firepower, and survivability” and that they would allow Ukraine to retake even more of its territory, the defense minister added.

The tanks are combat-ready and will be deployed over the coming weeks, Anand said, adding that a number of Canadian Armed Forces members will be deployed to train Ukrainian soldiers with the skills they need to operate the equipment.

The defense minister also noted that the number of tanks pledged may increase “as we coordinate donation and sustainment plans with our allies,” and work together to pool ammunition and spare parts.

Canada will discuss how to ensure “long term success of our donations,” with Germany, Finland, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, she added.

Ukraine’s defense minister thanked Canada for the commitment in a tweet.

“Thank you to my great friend & colleague Anita Anand who announced this decision today,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov wrote. “Thank you to (Prime Minister) JustinTrudeau and all Canadian people.”

The US State Department is “looking for an appropriate candidate, a career candidate” to serve as special envoy for Belarus, an official said Thursday.

The United States no longer has a presence in Belarus after suspending operations at its embassy in Minsk shortly after the war in Ukraine broke out last February.

Former US envoy Julie Fisher departed her role in June 2022, and was blocked from serving as ambassador in Minsk by the Lukashenko regime.

Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for Political Affairs, said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that the envoy job is a “complex one,” in part because you have to work out of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. 

She added, “I would not say that we’ve had manifest success. But also working intensively with the Belarusian opposition and Madame (Sviatlana) Tsikhanouskaya and the secretary has seen her regularly. So we’re continuing to work on this and I hope we’ll have somebody to talk to you about in the not too distant future.”

The US has auditors in Kyiv this week alongside the World Bank and Deloitte consultants to ensure “that no aid or weapons are diverted,” according to State Department Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

Her comments come as Republican members of Congress have signaled a desire to conduct additional oversight efforts when it comes to US support for Ukraine. The administration has said that there are oversight efforts in place. 

This week the State Department said that they are “not aware that any US assistance was involved” in the corruption scandal within the Ukrainian government that led to the resignation of the nation’s deputy defense minister.

The auditor’s arrival in Kyiv comes as US President Biden announced Wednesday he plans to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine and the Pentagon unveiled last week a $2.5 billion Ukraine security package, including for the first time Stryker armored vehicles and more Bradley fighting vehicles.

Lynne M. Tracy testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be Ambassador to the Russian Federation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., November 30.

US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy has arrived in Moscow, according to a tweet from the US Embassy. 

Tracy, who has previously served as the deputy chief of mission in Moscow, was overwhelmingly confirmed as ambassador in December.

Prior to her departure for Moscow, Tracy met with Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov. 

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.

The ambassador’s arrival comes a day after US President Biden announced he plans to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine and as Russia launched another round of missile strikes against Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday Moscow sees the delivery of modern Western battle tanks to Ukraine as “direct involvement” in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

This general view shows the 'PMC Wagner Centre', in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 4.

The US Treasury Department on Thursday designated the Wagner Group, a Russian private mercenary organization heavily involved in the war in Ukraine, as a significant transnational criminal organization, and imposed a slew of sanctions on a transnational network that supports it.

The US Department of State concurrently announced a number of sanctions meant to “target a range of Wagner’s key infrastructure – including an aviation firm used by Wagner, a Wagner propaganda organization, and Wagner front companies,” according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Here are the actions taken by both US departments:

The State Department announced sanctions on the following:

The department also announced it will take steps to impose visa restrictions “on 531 members of the Russian Federation military” associated with the assault on Ukraine.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on the following:

The White House had previewed the significant transnational criminal organization designation and forthcoming sanctions against the Wagner group last week.

US President Joe Biden is considering making a trip to Europe around the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine next month, two senior administration officials tell CNN.

A trip is not yet confirmed, and details have yet to be finalized. But one of the officials said that one stop under consideration is Poland, a key NATO ally currently housing thousands of American troops that also serves as a hub for western weapons transfers to Ukraine. US service members are also training Ukrainian troops there. 

It is highly unlikely that Biden would travel to Ukraine as part of this trip, however, one of the officials said, given the ongoing security concerns.  

Some context: Biden’s aides have been planning for several weeks on how they will mark the anniversary of the invasion, including potentially having the US president deliver a major address. They hope to emphasize the resilience of the Ukrainian people, noting that when the war began, many assumed Kyiv would fall within days.

NBC News first reported a trip to Europe was under consideration.

Russian state media Rossiya-24 on Wednesday mocked Western modern tanks as “toothless” and “battered” after Germany and the United States greenlit deliveries of advanced combat vehicles to Ukraine.  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement that he will send Leopard 2 tanks was coupled with a pledge from US President Joe Biden that he will provide 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing the allies’ longstanding trepidation at providing Kyiv with offensive armored vehicles and unleashing powerful new tools in Ukraine’s efforts to retake territory seized by Russia. 

The series of stories broadcast on the Russian channel downplayed the significance of the modern Western tanks, including segments titled “Toothless cats” and “Battered Abrams” – sarcastic references to US- and German-made armored vehicles.  

A presenter described the German tanks being “more primitive,” heavier and less effective compared to Russian T-90 tanks. In the “battered Abrams” segment, footage of the Abrams vehicles being hit in battles were shown and a blueprint of the tank was shown illustrating its “weak points.” 

Key context: While the state media has made claims about the superiority of Russian battle tanks, hundreds are thought to have been destroyed since Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine. Experts say a design flaw has caused problems for almost all of the armored vehicles Russia is using in Ukraine.

Biden yesterday called the Abrams “the most capable tanks in the world” while noting that Ukrainian troops will receive training to operate the “extremely complex” vehicles.

Previous military aid, like the American HIMARS rocket system, has been vital in helping Ukraine disrupt Russian advances and make a series of successful counteroffensives in recent months. Kyiv hopes that Western tanks will have a similar impact on the grinding ground war in Ukraine’s east.

Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank during a training exercise on Salisbury Plain Training Area on July 3, 2020 in Salisbury, England.

Britain is aiming for its pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to arrive in Ukraine by the end of March, defense department procurement minister Alex Chalk said Thursday. 

The UK government announced earlier this month that it would send “a squadron of 14 tanks” to Ukraine after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak committed to providing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with additional support.

Germany followed suit on Wednesday when Chancellor Olaf Scholz committed to sending 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, adding that those could be operational in around three months.

Policemen load the body of a civilian into a car following Russian missile strike on the industrial zone of Kyiv on January 26.

At least 11 people were killed and another 11 were injured across Ukraine as a result of Russian missile strikes, the country’s State Emergency Services reported.

In a statement, the service’s spokesperson Oleksandr Khorunzhyi provided the following additional details:

The missiles caused damage in 11 regions throughout Ukraine, Khorunzhyi also said.

“Most of the damages to the housing are in Kyiv region,” he added. “We have connected 88 power generators in order to supply electricity to social facilities such as hospitals, etc.”

Employees with an electric company work in an industrial area in Kyiv to restore electricity following a morning missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 26.

The Ukrainian capital and wider Kyiv region have returned to their previous schedule of power outages, the city administration and DTEK energy company said on Telegram.  

The schedule was changed briefly and an emergency power outage had been introduced in parts of Ukraine, including the Kyiv region and others, after Russian missiles targeted energy facilities on Thursday, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko had said earlier in a post on Facebook.

He had noted that the worst situation was in Kyiv region, Odesa region and Vinnytsia region.

In the Odesa region, supply to critical infrastructure like hospitals has been restored but emergency power outages are still in effect otherwise, DTEK said in a separate Telegram post.

Earlier, local officials in the Kyiv and Odesa regions reported that energy facilities there had been hit.

Remember: Since Russia has been regularly targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the country has been in an electricity deficit. This has forced suppliers and authorities to devise a limited power supply schedule and residents often see scheduled power outages. In the event of a missile strike, authorities often move from scheduled power outage to emergency power outage. The impact on Ukrainians is especially hard during the biting winter temperatures.

Police officers inspect a Russian cruise missile shot down by the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 26.

Ukrainian air defenses successfully shot down the majority of a barrage of missiles launched by Russia, but one man was killed by falling missile fragments in Kyiv.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is “not interested” in peace talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and Germany has confirmed that it will deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine by the end of March.

Here are the latest headlines:

Electrician workers walk next to a power plant after a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 26.

Russia launched 55 missiles at Ukraine on Thursday morning, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram, adding that the salvo was aimed at the country’s “energy facilities” and that some power substations had been hit. 

Ukraine shot down 47 cruise missiles, including 20 over the capital city, according to General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The missiles were launched from Russian warplanes and ships in the Black Sea, he added in his Telegram post.