Here’s what it looks like on Thursday, January 26, 2023:
Weapons
- The United States and Germany have announced plans to send large numbers of modern tanks to Ukraine, which Kyiv has hailed as an option in its fight against Russian aggression but has been criticized by Moscow as a “very dangerous” step.
- The key to supplying the tanks was speed and sufficient numbers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He said he also spoke with NATO top brass and called for long-range missiles and advanced aircraft to increase the commitment of US and German tanks.
- Germany’s decision paves the way for other countries such as Poland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway to provide some of their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, going the other way by providing hundreds of tanks that Ukraine says it needs.
- It could take months for the US military tanks that President Joe Biden agreed to send to Ukraine to reach their destination, the White House said.
- Russia was outraged by Germany’s decision to accept the supply of Leopard 2 tanks, saying that Berlin was abandoning its “old responsibility towards Russia” because of Nazi atrocities during World War II.
Fighting
- The head of the Russian-controlled region of Ukraine’s Donetsk region said Wagner’s forces were advancing in the town of Bakhmut and another Ukrainian official said fighting there and in a second town was intensifying.
- Ukraine acknowledged that its troops had withdrawn from Soledar, a salt mining town near Bakhmut that Russia said it captured more than a week ago, its biggest gain for six months.
Diplomacy
- The European Court of Human Rights allowed charges brought against Russia by Ukraine and the Netherlands for human rights violations in the refugee camps of Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine, and the bombing of the MH-17 flight.
- The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO designated the historic capital of Odesa, on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine, a World Heritage in Danger site.
- Zelenskyy urged the UN chief to help find a solution to what Ukrainian officials say is the worst consequence of 11 months of war – the deportation to Russia of thousands of adults and children.
