Russia has had 'deadliest 24 hours since start of war', says Ukraine
Ukraine’s military has claimed that the last 24 hours were the deadliest of the war for Russian troops, increasing its tally of Russian military dead by 1,030 overnight to 133,190.
The figure, which could not be independently verified, marks the biggest increase in daily Russian military deaths since the war began last February.
Russia has also said it killed large numbers of Ukrainian troops in recent weeks, claiming it had inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in the month of January.
Tallies of enemy casualties from either side have typically been seen as unreliable, Reuters reports, and Ukraine offered few details of the latest battles.
But the assertion that the fighting was the deadliest so far fits descriptions from both sides of an escalating campaign of close-contact trench warfare, as Russia presses on with a winter assault in the east with tens of thousands of freshly mobilised troops.
Ukraine’s military claimed on Tuesday that the last 24 hours were the deadliest of the war for Russian troops. It increased its tally of Russian military dead by 1,030 overnight to 133,190, the biggest increase in daily Russian military deaths since the war began last February. Russia has also said it killed large numbers of Ukrainian troops in recent weeks, claiming it had inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in the month of January. These figures could not be independently verified, but the assertion that the fighting was the deadliest so far fits descriptions from both sides of an escalating campaign of close-contact trench warfare.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have announced they plan to provide Ukraine with at least 100 refurbished Leopard 1 battle tanks. In a joint statement, the defence ministers of the three countries said the shipment of older Leopard 1 tanks was part of an effort “to support Ukraine in their endeavour to withstand Russian aggression”. The delivery of Leopard 1 tanks will occur “within the coming months” and include logistical support and training, it added.
Germany’s defence ministry has said Leopard 2A6 battle tanks will be available in Ukraine by the end of March. Meanwhile, Berlin has reportedly approved the delivery of 178 Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine. The head of the German arms maker Rheinmetall has also said it expects to send 20 to 25 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine this year. The news comes as Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s top national security official, Oleksiy Danilov, has said he is confident his country will eventually receive US-made F-16 fighter jets. It was “only a matter of time” before Kyiv gets the F-16s, Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, told CNN. He also suggested Ukraine may be capable of striking Russian on its own territory, beyond occupied Ukraine.
Ukraine has released extraordinary video footage that appears to show Russian fighters dragging their badly wounded commander awayfrom the battlefield, then beating him violently with what appear to be shovels. A Ukrainian drone captured the incident near the eastern city of Bakhmut, where intense fighting has been raging for months.
Ukraine releases footage of Wagner soldiers appearing to beat up their commander – video
Russia almost certainly now lacks the munitions and manoeuvre units required for successful offensives, theUK Ministry of Defence said. Its latest intelligence update stated that Moscow would continue to demand sweeping advances, but it remained unlikely that Russia could build up the forces needed to substantially affect the outcome of the war in the coming weeks.
Ukraine’s parliament has approved the appointment of Ihor Klymenko as the country’s new interior affairs minister and Vasily Malyuk as the new head of the country’s security services, known as the SBU. Klymenko, formerly the national police chief, was serving as acting interior minister after the former minister, Denys Monastyrsky, was killed last month in a helicopter crash on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Recriminations have broken out among EU officials after a possible visit to Brussels by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was leaked, raising concerns over his security. Zelenskiy was reported to be planning a trip to Brussels this Thursday to meet EU leaders in person at a summit and address the European parliament in an extraordinary session.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has warned that western arms supplies to Ukraine are effectively “dragging” Nato into the conflict, which could lead to an “unpredictable level of escalation”. In remarks during a conference call with military officials, quoted by state-owned Tass news agency, Shoigu accused the US and its allies of “trying to prolong the conflict as much as possible” by supplying Kyiv with what he described as “heavy offensive weapons”.
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has tweeted a photo of him and his brother, Wladimir, meeting the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, in Ukraine’s capital today.
Зустрілися в Києві з міністром оборони 🇩🇪 Борисом Пісторіусом. Німеччина продовжить підтримувати Україну - буде і озброєння, й економічна допомога, й політична підтримка. pic.twitter.com/120JnYINKA
Germany, Netherlands and Denmark to supply 100 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have announced they plan to provide Ukraine with at least 100 refurbished Leopard 1 battle tanks.
In a joint statement, the defence ministers of the three countries said the shipment of older Leopard 1 tanks was part of an effort “to support Ukraine in their endeavour to withstand Russian aggression”.
The supplies will “significantly enhance Ukraine’s military potential for the restoration of their violated territorial integrity”, the statement continued.
The delivery of Leopard 1 tanks will occur “within the coming months” and include logistical support and training, it added.
The Kremlin has ordered inspections and repairs on bomb shelters across Russia in a national drive to upgrade the country’s crumbling Soviet-era infrastructure, according to a report.
The overhaul of the country’s bomb shelter network comes amid Moscow’s nuclear sabre-rattling and growing militarisation of daily life, the Moscow Times reports.
Citing Russian officials, the paper writes that local authorities appear to be spending hundreds of millions of roubles to make Russia’s thousands of bunkers, reinforced cellars and other safe hideouts fit for habitation.
One official was quoted as saying:
A decision to inspect the network of bomb shelters was made by the government in the spring. The command for a large-scale inspection and to put things right was given by the emergency situations ministry, the defence ministry and [other] civilian ministries.
At least five people have died in a gas explosion that ripped through a five-floor building in the town of Yefremov south of Moscow, state-run Ria news agency reported, citing emergency services.
Ria quoted emergency services as saying:
So far, seven people have been rescued; unfortunately, five people died.
On the subject of German-made tanks, it is being reported that Berlin has approved the delivery of 178 Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine.
The delivery from industry stocks, reported by Spiegel and Reuters, is considerably more than previously announced.
A source told Reuters:
The export of 178 Leopard 1s is approved.
The news comes as Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, made a surprise visit to Kyiv after Berlin confirmed that it would deliver more modern Leopard 2 battle tanks from army stocks.
Earlier, the head of the German arms maker Rheinmetall said it expects to send 20 to 25 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine this year.
CEO Armin Papperger told a conference organised by several newspapers:
The rest of the 88 (Leopard 1 tanks) that we have will be delivered next year.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has posted to Twitter that the “first” Leopard 2 battle tank has arrived in Kyiv, alongside a photo of him and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, with a miniature model of the German-made battle tank.
BREAKING: The «first» Leopard 2 has arrived in Kyiv 🐆 There will be more of them.✊ Thank you to @Bundeskanzler my colleague Boris Pistorius and the German people. The tank coalition is marching... to victory! pic.twitter.com/4VY2YaovBi
Russia has had 'deadliest 24 hours since start of war', says Ukraine
Ukraine’s military has claimed that the last 24 hours were the deadliest of the war for Russian troops, increasing its tally of Russian military dead by 1,030 overnight to 133,190.
The figure, which could not be independently verified, marks the biggest increase in daily Russian military deaths since the war began last February.
Russia has also said it killed large numbers of Ukrainian troops in recent weeks, claiming it had inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in the month of January.
Tallies of enemy casualties from either side have typically been seen as unreliable, Reuters reports, and Ukraine offered few details of the latest battles.
But the assertion that the fighting was the deadliest so far fits descriptions from both sides of an escalating campaign of close-contact trench warfare, as Russia presses on with a winter assault in the east with tens of thousands of freshly mobilised troops.
Ukraine has released extraordinary video footage that appears to show Russian fighters dragging their badly wounded commander awayfrom the battlefield, and then beating him violently with what appear to be shovels. A Ukrainian drone captured the incident near the eastern city of Bakhmut, where intense fighting has been raging for months.
Recriminations have broken out among EU officials after a possible visit by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to Brussels was leaked, raising concerns over his security. Zelenskiy was reported to be planning a trip to Brussels this Thursday to meet EU leaders in person at a summit and address the European parliament in an extraordinary session.
Russia almost certainly now lacks the munitions and manoeuvre units required for successful offensives, theUK Ministry of Defence said. Its latest intelligence update stated that Moscow will continue to demand sweeping advances, but it remains unlikely that Russia can build up the forces needed to substantially affect the outcome of the war in the coming weeks.
Ukraine’s parliament has approved the appointment of Ihor Klymenko as the country’s new interior affairs minister and Vasily Malyuk as the new head of the country’s security services, known as the SBU. Klymenko, formerly Ukraine’s national police chief, was serving as acting interior minister after the former minister, Denis Monastyrsky, was killed last month in a helicopter crash on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy,said personnel changes on the border and frontline would bolster Ukraine’s military efforts amid uncertainty over the future of his defence minister. “We are bolstering our managerial positions,” Zelenskiy said in his Monday evening address. “In a number of regions, particularly those on the border or on the frontline, we will appoint leaders with military experience. Those who can show themselves to be the most effective in defending against existing threats.”
Loud explosions have been reported in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the exiled city’s mayor. “Five loud explosions in a row in the Prymorskyi district of Mariupol. Our people report that they rang out in the sea port area,” he posted to social media.
Ukraine’s top national security official, Oleksiy Danilov, has said he is confident his country will eventually receive American-made F-16 fighter jets. It was “only a matter of time” before Kyiv gets the F-16s, Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, told CNN. He also suggested Ukraine may be capable of striking Russian on its own territory, beyond occupied Ukraine.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has warned that western arms supplies to Ukraine are effectively “dragging” Nato into the conflict and that could lead to an “unpredictable level of escalation”. In remarks during a conference call with military officials, quoted by state-owned Tass news agency, Shoigu accused the US and its allies of “trying to prolong the conflict as much as possible” by supplying Kyiv with what he described as “heavy offensive weapons”.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has said Russian athletes should not be allowed to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics as long as the war in Ukraine is ongoing. “It is not conceivable (for Russian athletes) to march as if nothing had happened, to have a delegation come to Paris while the bombs are still raining down on Ukraine,” she said. Her remarks represent a change in position after she said last month that she believed Russian athletes could take part “under a neutral flag” to avoid “depriving athletes of competition”.
A plan for Volodymyr Zelenskiy to give a speech via video link during the last night of Italy’s Sanremo song festival has been scrappeddue to political controversy over his participation. Italian politicians from across the spectrum said the Ukrainian president’s appearance was inappropriate for the popular annual music competition, which is televised by the state broadcaster Rai.
Ukraine had withdrawn from its libraries 19m copies of books by last November that came either from the Soviet era or were in Russian, a senior lawmaker has said. After Russia moved to annex Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, Kyiv has increasingly restricted the use of Russian books.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong still here with all the latest from Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Klymenko, formerly Ukraine’s national police chief, was serving as acting interior minister after the former minister, Denys Monastyrskiy,was killed last month in a helicopter crash on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Monastyrskiy, his deputy and five other high-ranking officials were killed when their helicopter crashed into a nursery in Brovary, north-east of the capital. Another seven people were also killed, including a child.
As we reported earlier, Ukraine’s parliament also approved Vasily Malyuk as the new head of the country’s security services, known as the SBU.
Explosions reported in Russian-occupied Mariupol, says mayor's adviser
Loud explosions have been reported in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the exiled city’s mayor.
In a statement on Telegram, Andriushchenko said the explosions were heard in the Prymorskyi district. He wrote:
Five loud explosions in a row in the Prymorskyi district of Mariupol. Our people report that they rang out in the sea port area. That’s exactly where the occupiers recently deployed military hardware and anti-aircraft defence systems.
⚡️Official: Loud explosions reported in Russian-occupied Mariupol.
According to Petro Andriushchenko, an advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, 5 loud explosions likely occurred at the site where Russian occupiers had recently brought air defense systems and other military equipment.
Luke Harding reports that over the weekend sources inside Zelenskiy’s own Servant of the People party suggested Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, would be moved out of his job. This followed a corruption scandal which saw the ministry pay two or three times the supermarket price of food to supply frontline troops.
On Tuesday it appeared Reznikov was staying put. Ukraine’s national security and defence council, parliamentarians and some western allies argued it was the wrong time to remove him, ahead of an expected Russian counteroffensive. It is uncertain how long he might remain in post.
According to Reuters, the confusion followed a crackdown on alleged official wrongdoing as Zelenskiy seeks to show that Kyiv can be a safe steward of billions of dollars of western aid.
Reznikov had said earlier that he was “holding the line”, and showed no sign of stepping aside.
“Thank you all for your support, as well as constructive criticism. We draw conclusions. We continue the reforms. Even during the war. We are strengthening the defense and working for victory,” he wrote on Twitter.
A man takes photos of laid flowers in front of the Turkish embassy building in Kyiv after an earthquake hit the country. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A board with condolences for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is seen outside the the Turkish embassy in Kyiv. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Russia has accused the US embassy in Moscow of spreading “fake news” and threatened to expel US diplomats, state media is reporting.
State-run Tass news agency cited a senior Russian foreign ministry source as saying that an official note had been delivered to the US embassy, warning that US diplomats engaged in what it called “subversive activities” would be expelled.
Ukraine releases video appearing to show Russian troops beating own wounded officer
Luke Harding
Ukraine has released extraordinary video footage that appears to show Russian fighters dragging their badly wounded commander away from the battlefield, and then beating him violently with what appear to be shovels.
A Ukrainian drone captured the incident near the eastern city of Bakhmut, where intense fighting has been raging for months. Four soldiers from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group carry their colleague through a landscape of ruined houses, holding his arms and legs.
They then dump him next to a barn. A second video appears to show three men then hitting him repeatedly with shovels. The fate of the injured commander is unclear. But the episode tallies with persistent reports of low morale among Russian mercenary units.
Ukraine releases footage of Wagner soldiers appearing to beat up their commander – video
Ukrainian soldiers fighting in and around Bakhmut have described how Wagner troops attack in waves. They are reportedly threatened with execution if they fail to advance and are mown down in large numbers, their corpses littering the frontlines.
A drone unit from the Seneka special platoon shot the footage earlier this week. It was released on Ukrainian social media channels on Monday.
