As the Russian-Ukrainian war enters its 339th day, we take a look at the main events.
Here is the situation on Saturday, January 28, 2023:
Fight
- Ukrainian troops have been in a “fierce” clash with Russian fighters for control of the town of Vuhledar, southwest of Donetsk.
- In the latest wave of Russian shelling, at least 10 Ukrainians were killed and 20 others were wounded, the Ukrainian president’s office said.
Diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a provocative invitation to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to visit the first city of Bakhmut after the sports body said it needed to explore a “path” to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
- Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, condemned the United States’ decision to supply Ukraine with advanced battle tanks to help fight Russian forces, accusing Washington of crossing a “red line” and escalating a “proxy war” designed to destroy Moscow. .
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara as part of his African tour aimed at bolstering international support for Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
- European Union ambassadors discussed expanding sanctions on Belarus, Moscow’s ally, to crack down on Russian companies that ship banned products through their neighbors.
- Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor said it had blocked the websites of the CIA and the FBI, accusing the US government agencies of spreading false information, state news agency TASS reported.
- Russia is violating “fundamental principles of child protection” in wartime conditions by giving Ukrainian children Russian passports and putting them up for adoption, the head of the UN refugee agency told the Reuters news agency.
- Japan has tightened sanctions against Russia following the latest wave of missile attacks in Ukraine, adding goods to a list of banned exports and freezing the assets of Russian officials and entities.
Military
- Several countries have promised Ukraine a total of 321 heavy tanks, its ambassador to France said.
- Ukraine has said it is establishing drone strike companies within its armed forces as part of an idea to build a “drone army” equipped with Starlink satellite communications.
- Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine on top of the 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has already promised, Poland’s prime minister said in an interview with Canadian television on Thursday.