January 4, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below. 

A Ukrainian soldier is seen on the Bakhmut frontline, on Wednesday.

Over 60% of Bakhmut is now destroyed as Russian forces attempt an advance on the city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian official said Wednesday. 

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region military administration, said two civilians died in the city on Wednesday due to shelling.

Some background: Bakhmut is regularly referred to as the most contested and kinetic part of the 1,300km (800 mile) front line in Ukraine. The Russian advance has left the city in ruins, a smoking shell of its former self. This fate has burnished Bakhmut’s power as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance – in the face of devastating Russian attacks, it is still holding on.

In his historic address to Congress last month, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky dedicated six minutes of his 25-minute speech to the situation around Bakhmut.

“Last year, 70,000 people lived here in Bakhmut in this city,” he said. “Now only a few civilians stay. Every inch of that land is soaked in blood, roaring guns sound every hour… the fight for Bakhmut will change the tragic story of our war for independence and of freedom.”

Members of congress stood and applauded four times, as Zelensky recounted the city’s fate.

The influential editor-in-chief of state-run network RT (formerly Russia Today) on Wednesday welcomed the Russian Defense Ministry’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deadly Ukrainian attack on servicemen in Makiivka, in eastern Ukraine.

“It is high time to understand that impunity does not lead to social harmony. Impunity leads to more crimes. And, as a consequence, public dissent,” she added.

Last month, Simonyan was one of the people to receive a state award from President Vladimir Putin. As part of a short acceptance speech, Simonyan told Putin “thank you for wasting the cannibals.” At the ceremony, held in the Kremlin, Putin also presented awards to the four acting governors of Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow in September.

Ukrainian servicemen set up a mortar on the outskirts of Bakhmut, Ukraine, to be fired toward Russian troop positions on December 30.

Russia is focusing its offensive action in the directions of Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its situational update Wednesday.

“It is trying to improve the tactical situation at the Kupyansk direction,” the General Staff added.

“In the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, 15 settlements were shelled with tanks and the entire range of artillery,” the General Staff said.

Kupyansk, in Kharkiv region, and Lyman, in Donetsk region, were liberated by Ukrainian forces at the end of September.

“In the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions, areas of more than 30 settlements were shelled,” it added.

Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service said it had repelled assaults and captured Russian positions in the Bakhmut direction, in an update on Wednesday. 

Other impacted areas: Meanwhile, in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, more than 40 settlements were fired on in the past day, the General Staff said.

“They do not stop terrorizing the civilian population of cities and towns along the west bank of the Dnipro river,” it added.

CNN is unable to verify these battlefield claims.

President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media in February 2022 in Berlin.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday and said France would deliver light armored combat vehicles.

Zelensky thanked Macron on Telegram and said both presidents “agreed on further cooperation to significantly strengthen our air defense and other defense capabilities.”

The call lasted just over an hour, according to the Elysee Palace.

The exact number of light armored combat vehicles is not known, and no delivery date was mentioned. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday urged Western countries to continue to provide weapons to Ukraine to fight against Russia, saying that weakening support to Kyiv means “encouraging Putin to carry on.”  

“As bitter as it is, every sign of weakening support means encouraging Putin to carry on,” Baerbock said at a news conference in Lisbon.   

The foreign minister stressed that continuing to provide air defense systems to Ukraine is “fundamental.”   

“This goes hand in hand with the continued financing of the reconstruction and the supply of materials with which to reactivate its energy, heating and water supplies, while at the same time avoiding further destruction,” she continued.   

Parts of drones used by Russia against Ukraine are seen during a media briefing of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 15 December.

The Ukrainian Military said Wednesday it has downed more than 540 Shahed drones since September last year and around 500 cruise missiles.

“During the first two hours of the night this year, Ukrainian air defense shot down 100% of drones, namely 84 units,” according to Ukraine’s Military Media Center.  

CNN cannot independently verify these figures.

CNN on Wednesday reported how, according to a Ukrainian intelligence assessment, parts made by more than a dozen US and Western companies were found inside a single Iranian Shahed-136 drone downed in Ukraine last fall.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russia is planning a prolonged campaign of attacks with Shahed drones to exhaust Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military said Wednesday the use of cell phones by Russian troops was not the main reason their position was located in Makiivka, leading to a devastating strike in the eastern Donetsk region.

“Of course, using phones with geolocation is a mistake. But it is clear that this version looks a bit ridiculous,” according to the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhii Cherevatyi.

The Russian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday appeared to blame the soldiers themselves for the Ukrainian strike, saying that “the main cause” of the incident was the widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers “contrary to the ban,” allowing Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations.” Russia also revised its estimate of soldiers killed, from 63 to 89.

Cherevatyi said “to deploy such large batches of newly mobilized — which means not very trained, not very coordinated — people in large rooms unsuitable for sheltering in case of danger, is a very weak excuse.” 

“Of course, this is a mistake [of the Russians], and I think that now they are engaged in [searching for] who is to blame. They are putting the blame on each other,” he continued.

Four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers were used in the strike in Makiivka, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Ukrainian military has claimed up to around 400 Russian soldiers died in the strike, but later added the number was “being clarified.”

CNN cannot independently verify either figure.

The Russian navy's guided missile frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" arrives in the port city of Qingdao, in east China's Shandong province, on April 21, 2019.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a frigate, the “Admiral Gorshkov,” to be sent into combat service on Wednesday.

The ship will undertake a long-range sea voyage across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, reported Russian state media outlet TASS, citing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The frigate is equipped with “the latest Zircon hypersonic missile system, which has no analogs - a sea-based hypersonic system - as well as other weapons of the latest generations,” Putin said, speaking via video link with Shoigu and the ship’s commander, Igor Krokhmal.

“I am sure that such powerful weapons will make it possible to reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country,” Putin added.

According to Shoigu, the frigate will “conduct exercises” with Zircon hypersonic missiles.

“I am very happy, congratulations! This is great joint work, which ended with a good, expected result,” Putin said before ordering the frigate to “start completing the tasks.”

Dmitry Azarov, the acting governor of Samara region, speaks inside the Samara Arena stadium in Samara, Russia, on May 6, 2018.

The governor of Russia’s southwestern Samara region held talks in Moscow on Tuesday with the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry, after dozens of Russian military deaths in the city of Makiivka in the Donetsk region, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Some of the servicemen, who died in the strike that took place just after midnight on Sunday at a vocational school housing Russian conscripts, were mobilized from Samara region, according to RIA Novosti, quoting the Samara region Gov. Dmitry Azarov. 

The Russian Defense Ministry has said 89 servicemen were killed in the strike. The Ukrainian military initially claimed up to around 400 Russian soldiers were killed, later adding that the number was “being clarified.”

CNN cannot independently verify either side’s reported death toll. In either case, the strike marks one of the deadliest episodes of the conflict for Moscow’s forces.

Azarov agreed on “full coordination with the actions of the Ministry of Defense and the region,” the agency reported. 

Issues related to medical care for servicemen mobilized from the territory of Samara region, additional uniforms and other issues “have been worked out,” according to RIA Novosti. 

“Verified official data is very important now. As information becomes available on each serviceman, we will bring information to relatives and friends,” Azarov said, according to RIA Novosti, quoting the regional press service. 

On Wednesday, Azarov plans to visit wounded servicemen from Samara at a regional hospital in the city of Rostov-on-Don, the state media agency said. 

Ceremonies for the dead: Residents in the city of Samara held a mourning ceremony on Tuesday for the Russian servicemen killed in Makiivka. Residents gathered at Glory Square in Samara attended a memorial service and observed a moment of silence in memory of the soldiers, after which they laid flowers at the eternal flame, the agency said.

A memorial ceremony also took place in the neighboring city of Togliatti, where members of the military, representatives of veteran and public organizations, and residents had gathered in the city’s Victory Park, the agency reported. 

Ukraine’s defense intelligence chief has predicted that there will be attacks “deeper and deeper” inside Russia, without acknowledging whether Kyiv has played a role in such attacks up to this point.

In an interview broadcast on ABC News on Wednesday, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency, said that he was “very glad to see” attacks inside Russia, but that he was unable to “give you [an] answer” about whether Ukraine has played a role in such strikes until after the war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that three Russian servicemen were killed last month when a Ukrainian drone crashed near Engels-2 military airfield, hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

“Do you think there will be more?” the reporter asked Budanov.

“I think so,” he replied.

“Inside Russia? Deep inside Russia?” the reporter asked.

“Deeper and deeper,” said Budanov.

Recriminations over an attack which killed at least dozens of Russian troops in occupied Makiivka continue Wednesday. Russia’s Ministry of Defense blames soldiers’ use of personal cellphones for the attack, but a prominent Russian blogger has called the official line “not convincing.”

Meanwhile, the leader of Russia’s Wagner private military company has said its forces have failed to take the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine because there is “a fortress in every house.”

Here are the latest headlines:

Preparations for the transfer of a Patriot air defense battery from the United States are already underway, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

“We look forward to the deployment of Patriot as soon as possible,” said Kuleba in a video posted to Facebook on Wednesday. “Preparations for the transfer of these systems have already begun.”

US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Volodymyr Zelensky, in the East Room of the White House in Washington D.C., on December 21.

President Joe Biden announced last month that the US would transfer a Patriot air defense battery, along with munitions, to Ukraine.

“Now President Zelensky and the entire diplomatic team are intensively working on new solutions for the supply of new types of Western weapons,” Kuleba said.

“First of all, we are talking about the supply of Western-style tanks and other armored vehicles. I have no doubt that the Ukrainian army will soon have additional armor and firepower.”

Continuing his criticism of Russian authorities, a top Russian military blogger has warned that apathy on the battlefield will lead to more “tragedies,” like the dozens and perhaps hundreds of Russian soldiers killed in a strike on occupied Makiivka over the weekend.

Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the alias WarGonzo, said: “If you ask me personally what is the most dangerous thing in war, I will answer unequivocally: not to bother.” 

“After ten months of the special military operation, it should be clear to even the most notorious slowpokes: this war cannot be won at random,” he said.

Since the invasion began in February, Moscow has referred to the war as a “special military operation.”

It was his second lengthy post on Wednesday reflecting on an apparent Ukrainian strike this weekend, which the Russian Defense Ministry has now admitted killed 89 soldiers – one of the most devastating single incidents for Moscow since its invasion.

In an earlier post on Wednesday, Pegov said that the lists of missing are “noticeably longer” than those already acknowledged by officials. Ukrainian authorities have claimed that up to 400 Russian soldiers were killed and 300 wounded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally awarded Pegov with the Order of Courage at the Kremlin on December 20.

Earlier Wednesday, Pegov warned that the “only cure” was to not lodge soldiers together in large buildings.

“The banal thing is not to settle 500 people in one place, but to scatter them over ten different locations,” he said. “Yes, that takes a lot of work. But it’s a matter of life and death.”

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends a funeral at the Beloostrovskoye cemetery outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 24.

The head of Russia’s Wagner private military company has attempted to explain his group’s failure to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which has for months been the scene of intense fighting.

During a New Year’s visit with fighters on the front line, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that there was “a fortress in every house” in Bakhmut, and that “only clowns that sit around and try to predict these things.”

“Sometimes it takes entire weeks to clear a house, right?” he asked soldiers in a video posted to a Wagner Telegram channel over the weekend.

“They say, ‘the combined forces have advanced into Artyomovsk and broken the defense,’” he said, referring to Bakhmut by its Soviet name. The name was changed back to Bakhmut in 2016.

“Then they say: ‘What does it mean to “break through the defense?”’ ‘Breaking through the defense’ means breaking through the defense of one house this morning, then you have to go break the defense of the next house, right?” he said.

“And it’s not just one line of defense. How many lines of defense are there in Artyomovsk? If we said 500, that would be about accurate, right?”

The fighters confirm that there is a Ukrainian line of defense “every 10 meters,” before Prigozhin continues.

“Therefore the question is: “Who is going to take Artyomovsk? Which combined forces? It’ll be the Wagner combined forces,” he said. “And who else? Other than Wagner PMC, who else is there?”

“No one else,” the soldiers said.

Prigozhin denied any affiliation with Wagner for years, but in September finally admitted to founding the group in 2014.

He has since appeared frequently on social media, attempting to fashion Wagner’s image as the most capable outfit in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“This year we will win! But first we will conquer our internal bureaucracy and corruption,” Prigozhin says in another video. 

“Once we conquer our internal bureaucracy and corruption, then we will conquer the Ukrainians and NATO, and then the whole world,” he adds.

“The problem now is that the bureaucrats and those engaging in corruption won’t listen to us because for New Year’s they are all drinking champagne.”

A top Russian military blogger has railed against the Russian Ministry of Defense’s explanation of how dozens of soldiers were targeted in eastern Ukraine, calling the official story “not convincing” and “a blatant attempt to smear blame.”

Semyon Pegov, who blogs under the alias WarGonzo and was personally awarded the Order of Courage by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on December 20, said that the death toll in Makiivka was likely far greater than the 89 now officially acknowledged by Russia.

“The lists of the missing are, unfortunately, noticeably longer,” he said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has appeared to blame the soldiers themselves for a Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied Makiivka.

It said the “main cause” of the incident was the widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers “contrary to the ban,” which allowed Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations.”

On Wednesday Pegov said that, while the use of mobile phones near the front lines was “obviously” not a good thing, “the story with ‘mobiles’ is not too convincing.”

“This is not a personal opinion, it is objective,” he said.

He questioned how the Ministry of Defense could be “so sure” that the location of soldiers lodging in a school building could not have been determined using drone surveillance, or a local informant.

“Coordinates of objects are being leaked, and important people’s movements are regularly ‘tipped off’ to the SBU,” the Security Service of Ukraine, he said.

“The network works, it does not sleep,” said Pegov.

“Neither do Ukrainian drones in the skies above Donetsk and Makiivka, which can provide not just information about the accumulation of subscribers, but also confirm it visually.”

He also argued that Ukraine’s military would not use American-made HIMARS missiles unless it were certain of its target.

“This is an expensive high-precision weapon. Before striking with HIMARS, the enemy obviously verifies the information,” he said. Ukraine does not fire “just for luck.”

Pegov once again questioned the official Russian death toll, which was increased from 63 to 89 early Wednesday, already making it one of the most devastating single attacks against Russia in the war.

“Unfortunately their number will still be growing,” he said. “The figures are most likely for those who were able to be identified immediately.”

“I cannot reveal my sources, but I think they are reliable,” added Pegov. “We double-checked them several times with the guys.”

Head of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin speaks during a news conference in Donetsk, Ukraine, on February 23.

The leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday praised the bravery of Russian soldiers killed in a Ukrainian strike on the occupied city of Makiivka, even as the Russian Defense Ministry appeared to blame their cell phone use as “the main cause” of the attack.

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier appeared to blame the soldiers themselves for the Ukrainian strike, saying “the main cause” of the incident was the widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers “contrary to the ban,” allowing Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ locations.”

Four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers were used in the strike, killing a total of 89 servicemen, according to the ministry. Among them was the regiment’s deputy commander, Lt. Col. Bachurin, the ministry said in a statement.

Pushilin claimed Wednesday that “most of them barely made it out of the building that had been damaged by the American HIMARS, then came to their senses and went back to get their comrades out.”

The “mass use” of cell phones by military personnel was the “main cause” of the strike that killed scores of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine on New Year’s Day, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said the use of cell phones by military personnel led to the detection of the location for the apparent Ukrainian strike.

“A committee is currently working to investigate the circumstances of the incident. But it is already clear now that the main cause of the incident was the inclusion and mass use, contrary to the ban, of cell phones by military personnel within the range of the enemy’s weapon systems,” the ministry’s statement said.

Four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers were used in the strike in Makiivka, Donetsk, killing a total of 89 servicemen, according to the ministry.

The Ukrainian military has claimed up to around 400 Russian soldiers died in the strike

CNN cannot independently verify either figure.

Workers remove debris of a destroyed building in Makiivka on January 3.

Four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers were used in the deadly New Year’s Day strike on Russian troops in the occupied city of Makiivka, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.  

Two other HIMARS rockets were intercepted by manned air defense assets, the ministry said. 

HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) is a multiple launch rocket launcher made in the United States.

Disputed death toll: The apparent Ukrainian strike took place just after midnight Sunday on a vocational school housing Russian conscripts in Makiivka, in the Donetsk region, according to both Ukrainian and pro-Russian accounts.

The Ukrainian military claimed up to around 400 Russian soldiers died in the strike, while Russia’s Defense Ministry has reported that 89 servicemen were killed.

Workers remove debris of a destroyed building following a Ukrainian missile strike in Makiivka, on January 3.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 89 servicemen were killed in the strike in eastern Ukraine that occurred on New Year’s Day. Among them was the regiment’s deputy commander, Lt. Col. Bachurin, the ministry said in a statement.

The apparent Ukrainian strike took place just after midnight on Sunday at a vocational school housing Russian conscripts in Makiivka in the Donetsk region, according to both Ukrainian and pro-Russian accounts.

On Monday, in a rare admission, the Russian Ministry of Defense said 63 servicemen had been killed in Makiivka when Ukraine used HIMARS rockets to attack a building where Russian soldiers were quartering. The Russian Defense Ministry updated the death toll after more bodies were found under the rubble.

The Ukrainian military had claimed up to around 400 Russian soldiers were killed and a further 300 wounded, and then said the exact number was “being clarified.”

In any case, it would represent one of the deadliest single losses of the war for Moscow’s forces.