January 28, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here, or scroll through the updates below.

The Ukrainian military reported more fighting and Russian missile strikes along the eastern front of the conflict this week.

Moscow’s forces pounded the town of Vuhledar, located in the Donetsk region, with nearly 300 rockets and artillery shells in one day, according to a Ukrainian military spokesperson.

Ukraine also said its troops were engaged in “fierce fighting” around the eastern city of Bakhmut this week, and that its military has withdrawn from the nearby town of Soledar.

This map shows the latest:

Local residents stand at a site of a Russian missile strike in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, on Saturday, January 28.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the supply of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, “vital” in his nightly address Saturday.

The surface-to-surface missiles can fly around 200 miles, about four times the distance of the rockets used by the HIMARS mobile systems the US began sending to Ukraine four months ago.

Zelensky said an attack on the city of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region earlier Saturday left three people dead and 14 others wounded. He called the shelling “a daily occurrence” on Ukraine’s territories and said, “there can be no taboos in the supply of weapons to protect against Russian terror.”

The US has refused to send ATACMS to Ukraine out of concern they could be used to attack targets inside Russia.

New sanctions: Zelensky also mentioned that he put into effect new sanctions on “185 legal entities and individuals that Russia uses to transport personnel and military equipment by railroad.”

Pressure on Olympic Committee: The Ukrainian president wrote a letter to the presidents of the International Sports Federations with a call to reconsider the decision of the International Olympic Committee to allow the return of Russian athletes at international competitions.

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,” Zelensky argued.

He called the International Olympic Committee decision “an unprincipled flexibility.”

Armin Papperger, CEO of German defense and automotive group Rheinmetall, is pictured during a Reuters interview in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Friday, January 27.

The leader of one of Germany’s largest arms manufacturers said the country’s increased military budget of 100 billion euros (around $108 billion) is “too low” to meet the government’s goal of modernizing Germany’s military capacity.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the bolstered budget days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Many people talk about the fact that the defense budget is too low, and I can confirm that,” Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters this week in a video interview. 

“Last year, for example, we were not able to deliver trucks or ammunition because there was no budget, because there was no money,” the CEO said. 

In the interview, Papperger praised newly appointed German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius for the “absolute record” time it took the two to have a conversation.

Germany’s special defense fund, which was set up last year, is no longer enough to cover its requirements, Pistorius said in an interview with German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published on Friday.

He also said sending fighter jets to Ukraine was “out of the question” after the country agreed to provide Leopard 2 tanks earlier in the week.

The Rheinmetall CEO said in the interview his company could increase its production of tank rounds to over 100,000 “today,” and that the arms manufacturer has a total capacity of over 240,000 rounds, but for a bottleneck of gunpowder. 

He added that the gunpowder shortage was being compounded by the demand to produce both tank and artillery shells.

The CEO said his company would need financial assistance from the German government if it wanted to build another ammunitions factory to meet that potential demand. 

“It would be a relatively large plant as we would need to build a specialized chemical plant that would carry an estimated cost of between 700 and 800 million euros (between about $761 million and $871 million),” Papperger said. 

A Rheinmetall spokesman told CNN on Tuesday that even though it has 139 Leopard tanks in stock, only 29 modern Leopard 2 combat tanks could be ready for delivery as early as April or May, as they are being prepared for a weapons ring exchange. Rheinmetall would need about a year to prepare another 22 Leopard 2 vehicles that it has in stock, he added.

CNN’s Inke Kappeler and Claudia Otto in Berlin contributed reporting to this post.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto speaks at a press conference on January 25.

The Finnish foreign minister does not expect progress on the NATO membership bids of his country and Sweden before Turkey’s elections in May, but believes the Scandinavian nations remain on course for eventually joining the military alliance, Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported Saturday.

Finland and Sweden are seeking to join NATO after Moscow’s assault on Ukraine sparked renewed security concern across the region. But Turkey has previously raised objections — and under NATO rules, just one member state can veto a new applicant’s membership.

Haavisto’s remarks come days after Ankara called for a three-way meeting in February between Turkey, Sweden and Finland to be postponed, according to Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber, which cited unnamed diplomatic sources. 

How it got to this point: Turkish-Swedish relations suffered a major blow last week after Stockholm Police authorized a protest outside Stockholm’s Turkish Embassy last Saturday, in which anti-immigration politician Rasmus Paludan set a copy of the Quran on fire. Protesters quickly took to the streets in the Turkish capital, where some burned the Sweden’s flag outside its embassy in response.   

Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu reported Thursday that the meeting around Sweden and Finland’s NATO applications was postponed in light of the current “unhealthy political environment.” 

The three countries have met in the past under the “trilateral memorandum” to discuss Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership requests.  

An upcoming visit by the Swedish defense minister to Turkey was also canceled by Ankara in the immediate wake of the incident last Saturday. 

Speaking to CNN’s Isa Soares on Tuesday, the Finnish foreign minister said “there is some kind of delay because of recent events,” adding “of course, this is not good news.” 

Haavisto indicated there are no plans for Finland to proceed with its NATO membership bid without its Nordic neighbor. “We are not in a hurry, we have time to go together with Sweden,” he told CNN. 

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy and Amy Cassidy contributed reporting to this post.

Damaged buildings are seen in Vuhledar, Ukraine, on Friday, January 27.

Russia is pounding the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar with missile strikes, according to a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military.

The Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Serhii Cherevatyi said that in the past day, Russian forces had fired some 299 rockets and artillery shells at the town, which is about 40 kilometers (approximately 25 miles) southwest of the city of Donetsk.

Some more context: Military analysts believe Russia may have an additional reason for stepping up its activities around Vuhledar: To tie up Ukrainian forces defending the town in order to weaken Ukraine’s defenses to the north. Russia may also be planning an offensive in the neighboring Luhansk region, experts say, as well as continuing efforts to capture Bakhmut.

Who has promised what, when it comes to tanks for Ukraine?

Several countries have offered to send the fighting vehicles, but not all have confirmed how many they plan to send. Here’s what we know:

Leopard 2 - 32 tanks total

M1 Abrams - 31 tanks total

Challenger 2 - 14 tanks total

In addition to the 14 Leopard 2 tanks pledged, Poland said on Friday that it will send 60 more modern battles tanks to Ukraine.

Spain has is “willing to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” according to its defense minister.

Norway is reportedly considering whether to send some Leopard 2 tanks.

The Netherlands would “seriously consider” purchasing 18 Leopard 2 tanks it leases from Germany and sending them to Ukraine, the prime minister said. It doesn’t own any of the tanks.

The Japanese government approved additional sanctions on Russia at a cabinet meeting Friday, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

NHK reported that the new sanctions include:

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara spoke to reporters after the meeting and said Japan will continue to work with the international community and support Ukraine. 

Local residents stand at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, on January 28.

Three civilians were killed and at least two wounded Saturday morning by a Russian strike on the town of Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, according to a local official.

A residential area was struck, damaging four high-rise buildings, a hotel, garages and cars, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region military administration.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during a press conference in 2022.

Poland plans to send 60 more modern battle tanks to Ukraine in addition to the 14 Leopard 2 tanks it has already pledged, according to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.  

Morawiecki is glad Poland could “convince our allies and partners from Western Europe that they should be much more active in supporting Ukraine,” the prime minister told Canadian broadcaster CTV on Friday.

Germany’s decided earlier this week to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after much diplomatic discussion.

Morawiecki said Poland likes to “lead by example,” and touted the country’s decision to send 250 tanks to Ukraine last year, adding that they were first country to do so.

“Right now, we are ready to send 60 of our modernized tanks, 30 of them PT-91,” the prime minister said, referencing the country’s main battle tank, PT-91 Twardy. “And on top of those tanks, 14 tanks, Leopard 2 tanks, from in our possession.”

Poland, he said, has made a habit of telling its partners “how many tanks we’ve already delivered.”   

Poland last week harshly criticized Germany’s initial hesitancy to approve Warsaw’s request to transfer some of its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.  

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has ruled out Germany sending fighter jets to Ukraine, according to an interview with German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday.

”This is out of the question,” Pistorius is quoted as saying when asked whether Germany would send fighter jets to Kyiv.

It follows renewed public appeals by Ukraine’s government for Western fighter jets after Germany approved the delivery of Leopard 2 battle tanks earlier this week.

Pistorius, who took office last week following his predecessor’s resignation, also told the newspaper that Germany’s 100 billion euro ($108 billion) special defense fund, which was set up last year, is no longer enough to cover its requirements. 

“The 100 billion will not be enough,” Pistorius said, adding that he believes Germany would also need to increase its annual regular defense budget, which is currently set at around 50 billion euros (about $54 billion).

Pistorius also said that Germany’s decision to suspend compulsory military service in 2011 “was a mistake,” adding that he was open to discussing a new model to strengthen the relationship between citizens and the state.

Two of the 70 missiles fired by Russia toward Ukraine on Thursday were Kinzhal-type hypersonic missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said, calling on the West to provide them with advance air defense systems that are capable of shooting these down.

“We need Patriot and SAMP/T systems to be able to (intercept these missiles),” Ukrainian Air Force Command spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said during a briefing.

SAMP/T systems are used for air defense primarily in Europe.

The United States has said it will send Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, but the systems do not appear to be operational in the country yet. Ukrainian troops were set to begin training on the Patriot system this month at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the US conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system.

France and Italy are finalizing an agreement to send SAMP/T systems to Ukraine, with an agreement expected in the coming weeks. 

A senior European Union official accused Russia on Friday of taking its war against Ukraine to a “different stage” by taking aim at civilians and non-military targets, prompting Germany and the US to supply military equipment to Ukraine in order for the country to better defend themselves.

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, the secretary general of the European Union’s European External Action Service, Stefano Sannino, said Russia had “moved from a concept of special operation to a concept now of a war against NATO and the West.”

“I think that this latest development in terms of armed supply is just an evolution of the situation and of the way Russia started moving the war into a different stage,” Sannino, said, adding that Putin was launching “indiscriminate attacks against civilians and against cities.”

The EU’s latest actions are aimed at “just giving the possibility of saving lives and allowing the Ukrainians to defend (themselves) from these barbaric attacks,” he added.

Tanks promised: The leaders of the United States and Germany each announced Wednesday they will send contingents of tanks to Ukraine, reversing their 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 announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he will send Leopard 2 tanks was coupled with an announcement from US President Joe Biden that he was providing 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing the administration’s longstanding resistance to requests from Kyiv for the highly sophisticated but maintenance-heavy vehicles.

The dual announcements made for a landmark moment that followed weeks of intense pressure on Berlin from some of its NATO allies. The decisions were the result of prolonged diplomacy between Germany, the United States and other European allies, and come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for a new Russian offensive this spring.