by Marta Serafini, sent to Kyiv, and Redazione Online
The War News of Friday 13 January live. The battle continues in Soledar. Zelenskyy: We will do everything necessary to support the troops
• The war in Ukraine reached the 324th day.
• New meeting of the European political community in Moldova in June.
• In Russian hands for Wagner Soledar’s head, but the Ukrainians deny: We’re advancing.
• Lavrov will visit Belarus on January 19.
• Why Putin demoted Sergei Surovikin, the Armageddon general who led operations in Ukraine.
• Cratered Ukraine: Satellite photos show destruction.
10:52 am – Air raid alert in 4 regions
The air alert was triggered in four regions of Ukraine, the authorities in Kyiv said. These are the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where the sirens sounded at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time. Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure began on October 10.
10:44 am – Defense Minister Kyiv: Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO
Ukraine is now a de facto member of NATO and will soon receive weapons such as tanks and fighter jets, which the Atlantic Alliance has so far refused to supply for fear of an escalation with Moscow. This was stated by Ukrainian Defense Minister Olekskii Reznikov in an interview with the BBC. For me, those concerns about escalation are just a matter of etiquette, he added.
10:29 am – Kyiv: Moscow wants to raise an army of 2 million soldiers
Moscow plans to create an army of 2 million soldiers: based on the scale of ongoing mobilization in Russia, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service (GUR). 300,000 people were hired in the first recruitment, the Kiev secret service recalled, as reported by Rbc-Ukraine. The GUR now does not rule out that Moscow will announce another mobilization in the coming days and expects that this time another 500,000 Russians will join the armed forces. The scale of these measures points to Moscow’s plans to create an army of about two million people, compared to the previous goal of 1.5 million soldiers.
10:07 am – More than 200 Kiev soldiers in Spain for training
More than two hundred Ukrainian soldiers have come to Spain to take part in training at the Torrejon de Ardoz airbase. During training, they learn how to heal people injured in battle and how to use certain devices on the battlefield.
09:40 – Secret Service GB, Russians use prisoners to make weapons
The Russian Defense Ministry is resorting to the use of prison workers to try to meet demands for war material to be used in the conflict. The British Secret Service says so in its daily update on Twitter. The prisoners – so it is explained – are used for the production of low-tech weapons. Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), Russia’s largest tank manufacturer, said last November it would take 250 prisoners.
09:18 – Defense Minister Kyiv, we are already a de facto member of NATO
Ukraine is already a de facto, not de jure, member of NATO. This was stated by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in an interview with the BBC. We have the weapons and we know how to use them, he added. Reznikov also said he was confident that Kyiv would receive the necessary weapons, including tanks and fighter jets, given the likely spring offensive.
08:34 – Kyiv, we are resisting the high-intensity Russian offensive at Soledar
Ukrainian forces are resisting a high-intensity Russian offensive in Soledar, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said today. The enemy has sent almost all of its main forces towards the Donetsk region and is maintaining a high-intensity offensive, Maliar said on Telegram. This is a difficult phase of the war, he added, noting that fighting continues.
08:25 – Soledar photos of destruction: Homes and schools lie in ruins and fields have become cratered areas
(Marta Serafini) FROM OUR ODESSA REPORTER – The satellite images released by Maxar of the cities of Soledar and Bakhmut and other localities around the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine are chilling. Comparing the same areas a few months apart between August 2022 and January 2023 reveals the fury of the struggle.
Craters in fields and along roads, and destroyed homes, schools, and buildings. The Russians walked over the bodies of their own soldiers and burned everything in their path, said the head of Donetsk regional administration Pavlo Kyrylenko. Russian forces use mortars and rockets to shell Soledar in a relentless assault, fighting for a breakthrough in an 11-month war. Civilians are trying to survive amidst this carnage as the Russians advance their attacks, Kyrylenko said. According to the governor, too, there were 523 trapped civilians, mostly elderly, whose evacuation is now unthinkable.
Here is the full article
08:25 – Zelensky, everything needed to defend Soledar
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to provide what is needed for soldiers resisting Russian attacks on Soledar and Bakhmut, two eastern cities that Russia is trying to capture at all costs in a bid to change the course of the war. I would like to emphasize that the units defending these cities will be supplied with ammunition and all necessary supplies quickly and without interruption, Zelenskyy said on Facebook yesterday after a meeting with his associates. The United Nations Security Council will meet today at 8 p.m. to discuss the situation in Ukraine. The situation in Soledar has been difficult for the Ukrainian army in recent days and the fiercest and most violent fighting continues today, Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said.
January 13, 2023 (change January 13, 2023 | 11:01)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED