Monday, January 30

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Parents with children visit an exhibition of military equipment in central Kyiv, Ukraine on January 29, 2023. The military museum in Kyiv displays Soviet equipment from the Second World War and Russian military equipment destroyed or captured since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Oleksii Chumachenko/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Zelensky: Russia ‘hopes to drag out war,’ exhaust Ukrainian forces. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address that it is essential for Ukraine to continue receiving military support from partners at the same pace, as Russia seeks to “prolong the war, exhaust our forces.” “Speed of (military assistance) supply was and will be one of the key factors in this war,” Zelensky said.

Wagner forces claim Russian capture of Blahodatne near Bakhmut, Ukraine denies. Russia has claimed to have captured the village of Blahodatne in Donetsk Oblast, implying a successful crossing of a strategic river and a significant step towards the encirclement of the embattled city of Bakhmut. Photos circulated on social media on Jan. 29 showing Wagner mercenaries in front of a sign reading Blahodatne.

Defense Ministry to allocate over $500 million to buy drones in 2023. The mass use of drones will make it possible to advance more quickly during offensive actions, significantly reduce Russia’s combat potential and stop the enemy from conducting its own offensives, Commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine Serhii Naev said.

US officials meet with deputy PM, check aid spending. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, head of Ukraine’s infrastructure projects, said on Jan. 29 that Ukraine proposed creating an aid audit mechanism to “ensure transparency in the use of partners’ aid.” The funds that Ukraine receives for infrastructure repairs and post-war reconstruction should be monitored jointly with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, according to Kubrakov.

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BBC: Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike in run-up to Russia’s invasion. Boris Johnson has said Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened him with a missile strike after he warned the war would be an “utter catastrophe” during a “very long” call in February 2022.

Intelligence: Prigozhin doesn’t command Wagner Group’s military operations. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian state-backed mercenary Wagner Group, doesn’t command combat units fighting in the war against Ukraine, according to Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Intelligence.

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NOS investigation: Dutch-made microchips found in Russian weapons. Millions of microchips made by Dutch companies reportedly have ended up in Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, despite heavy sanctions on technological goods, an investigation by Dutch newspaper Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) showed.

Russian governor claims Ukraine shelled Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Russia’s Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoit claimed on Jan. 29 that the Ukrainian forces had shelled the bordering region with mortars, damaging power lines in the area.

Ban on leaving Ukraine extends to officials unfit for service. The recently passed ban on the exit from the country of Ukrainian civil servants, in addition to business trips, also applies to persons who are unfit for military service, Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson of the State Border Service, said on Jan. 29. The ban concerns both men and women.

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Ukraine war latest: Russia claims advance north of Bakhmut, Ukraine denies

Ukraine denied on Jan. 29 that Russian forces had made gains near Bakhmut, dismissing Moscow’s earlier claim that it captured a village that could serve as a crucial step for the city’s encirclement.

Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Governor: 1 killed, 3 injured in Russia’s missile attack on Kharkiv. Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that Russia targeted the regional capital Kharkiv late on Jan. 29 with what he called an S-300 missile.

At least 3 killed, 5 injured in Russian shelling of Kherson. According to the Kherson Oblast Military Administration, the Jan. 29 attack damaged a hospital, school, bus station, post office, bank, and multiple residential buildings.

General Staff: Russia has lost 126,160 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. According to the report, Russia has also lost 3,197 tanks, 6,366 armored fighting vehicles, 5,037 vehicles and fuel tanks, 2,195 artillery systems, 453 multiple launch rocket systems, 221 air defense systems, 293 airplanes, 284 helicopters, 1,947 drones, and 18 boats.

International response

WSJ: Military aid to Ukraine accelerates as Western allies worry ‘time might be on Russia’s side.’ Worries in some Western countries that time in Russia’s war against Ukraine might be on Moscow’s side are behind the recent decision to step up military hardware aid, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed Western officials.

Reuters: Stoltenberg urges South Korea to step up military support for Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea to increase military support to Ukraine, citing other countries that have changed their policy of not providing weapons to countries at war after Russia’s invasion.

UK Defense Ministry: Ukrainian tank crews arrive to begin training on Challengers. “Ukrainian tank crews have arrived in the U.K. to begin training for their continued fight against Russia,” the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote on Jan. 29.

Estonian Prime Minister calls to strengthen Russia’s isolation over Olympics. Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas criticized the Olympic Committee’s suggestion to lift the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, calling it “politically and morally wrong.”

Reuters: German weapon manufacturer Rheinmetall ready to boost arms production, build HIMARS. Rheinmetall is reportedly in talks with Lockheed Martin, the U.S. company manufacturing the HIMARS, to kick off their production in Germany, the company’s CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters.

In other news

Dmytro Pavlychko, famous Ukrainian poet, co-author of country’s sovereignty declaration, dies at 93. Dmytro Pavlychko, Ukrainian poet, politician, translator, and literary critic, died on Jan. 29. President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote that people would remember Pavlychko as one of the authors of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine and as one of the founders of the People’s Movement of Ukraine. “And, of course, as an outstanding poet,” Zelensky added.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Francis Farrell, Alexander Query, Toma Istomina, Alexander Khrebet, Oleksiy Sorokin, Natalia Datskevych, Olena Goncharova, and Brad LaFoy.

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