Russian forces are launching a series of attacks on Bakhmut and other towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, but Ukrainian troops are managing to halt their advance, officials in Kyiv said on Monday.
In a daily report, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Moscow’s forces had carried out seven rocket attacks, 31 airstrikes and 73 rocket launcher attacks in the past day.
It said Ukrainian forces managed to hold off attacks on 14 settlements, including Bakhmut, which has become a hotbed of fierce fighting in recent weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that Bakhmut “persevered despite everything”.
“And although most of the city has been destroyed by Russian attacks, our soldiers are repelling constant Russian advance attempts,” he said in a late-night video address on Sunday.
Zelenskyy added that Ukrainian forces also successfully defended the nearby town of Soledar “although there is more destruction and things are very difficult”.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also described the situation of Ukrainian soldiers near Soledar, around 14 kilometers from Bakhmut, as “difficult” on her Telegram channel on Sunday.
She said Russian attacks were carried out not only by the regular army but also by troops from the Wagner mercenary group.
Ukraine must keep both cities to protect Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, two large Donbass cities that are still under Kiev’s control. The fall of these cities would mean that Russia would have captured virtually the entire Donbass region, one of the goals Moscow publicly set itself at the start of its invasion last February.
German logistics center coordinates aid to Ukraine
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Here are other related developments regarding the war in Ukraine on January 9:
Zelenskyy says Ukraine is resisting “stronger attacks” in Soledar
In his late-night address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops had withstood “new and even tougher attacks” on Soledar, near the eastern town of Bakhmut, which Moscow has been attempting to capture for months.
“I thank all our soldiers who protect our Bakhmut,” said Zelenskyy, noting: “All the fighters in Soledar who withstand the new and even fiercer attacks of the invaders!”
Soledar is in the Donetsk region about 15 kilometers from Bakhmut, a pre-war town of 70,000 that is now an epicenter of fighting.
“Thanks to the resilience of our soldiers there in Soledar, we gained additional time and forces for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy added.
“Everything is completely destroyed,” Zelenskyy said. “The whole land of Soledar is covered with the corpses of the invaders and scarred by the explosions.”
Earlier Monday, Ukrainian forces said they repelled an attempt to capture Soledar but fighting had resumed.
Russia says more tanks would prolong the war and not change the outcome
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said sending tanks to Ukraine would only prolong the suffering of the Ukrainian people and would not change the outcome of the war, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
“Basically, these deliveries cannot and will not change anything in Ukraine,” said Peskov.
The Russian spokesman said it was not just about the French light tanks AMX-10 RC, but about all western arms deliveries.
Peskov was referring to France’s decision last week to send the light battle tanks to Ukraine. After France’s announcement, Germany and the US said they would also send armored vehicles, albeit of different types, to Ukraine.
Germany currently has no plans to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
The federal government currently has no plans to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesman said.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said over the weekend that decisions about sending more tanks to Ukraine had yet to be made.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Monday he was unaware of requests from NATO partners to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, but said they were not “impossible”.
Berlin announced last week that it would be supplying Marder armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, but has repeatedly stressed that it will not act alone when it comes to sending armored vehicles.
Poland brings up a possible coalition for the supply of tanks to Ukraine
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told Polish National Radio he was considering forming a broad coalition of countries to supply Ukraine with tanks.
A security adviser to Polish President Andrzej Duda also told Radio Zet that the matter is “in flux” and that we first need to find out “what our allies in western countries are going to do”.
Jakub Kumoch told Radio Zet that Poland can be part of the coalition but cannot act alone.
He dismissed reports that Warsaw was preparing to hand over Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, calling them “disinformation”.
Doubts about the alleged Russian attack on Ukrainian troops are growing
Russian claims that 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a missile attack in Kramatorsk are increasingly being questioned by a number of officials.
Moscow said Sunday it was targeting the soldiers in revenge for a New Year’s attack by Ukraine that killed scores of Russian soldiers and sparked an outcry in Russia.
But a Ukrainian military spokesman for the eastern region, Serhii Cherevatyi, said the Russian claims were an attempt to show Moscow was able to respond in kind to the Ukrainian attack.
Even pro-Kremlin military bloggers have cast doubt on Moscow’s claims.
Portal news agency said its reporters found no obvious signs of casualties in the two student dormitories where Moscow said the killed Ukrainian staff were temporarily housed.
Both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries have often exaggerated enemy casualties while minimizing their own. The Kremlin on Monday reiterated its belief in the truth of the Defense Ministry’s claims about the Kramatorsk attack.
rm, tj/rs (Portal, AP, dpa)