Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian attacks hit cities across Ukraine
Five dead in Dnipro apartment attack, local official says, as missiles target infrastructure in Kharkiv, Lviv and Kyiv.
This live blog is closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday, January 14.
This live blog is closed, thank you for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Saturday, January 14.
- Russian missile salvos targeted critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv on Saturday, according to officials.
- A Russian attack also hit a residential building in the east-central city of Dnipro, according to officials, killing five and wounding at least 60.
- The United Kingdom has said it will provide 12 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, as pressure mounts on other European allies to provide heavy artillery.
- Russia has claimed control of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, its first claim of victory in months of battlefield setbacks, but Ukraine says fierce fighting is still under way.
Turkey says Nordic NATO expansion unlikely before June
Sweden and Finland are unlikely to be able to join NATO before June, a senior Turkish official has said.
The Nordic countries applied to join alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but their membership must be approved by all 30 NATO states. Only Turkey and Hungary have yet to approve the deal, with Ankara linking accession to several demands that Sweden and Finland tighten laws to rein in the activities of supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
“In principle, we would like to see them [Sweden and Finland] in NATO,” Kalin told foreign journalists in Istanbul. “Stockholm is fully committed to implementing the agreement that was signed last year in Madrid, but the country needs six more months to write new laws that would allow the judicial system to implement the new definitions of terrorism.”
Sweden’s prime minister said Sunday that Turkey is asking too much in its demands, but that Stockholm was confident Ankara would eventually approve their accession.
Read more here.
Estonia acquires more howitzers
Estonia will acquire 12 more self-propelled howitzers from South Korea as boosts its military capacity in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Estonia’s Centre for Defence Investment announced the deal worth $39m. The K9 Thunder self-propelled weapon systems made by South Korean arms manufacturer Hanwha Techwin are to be delivered by 2026.
Estonia has responded to Russia’s war on Ukraine as a direct security threat and has increased military spending and is massively upgrading its armed forces.
“In light of the lessons learned from Ukraine, we have made quick decisions to equip both infantry brigades with additional K9 mobile howitzers,” Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said in a statement.
Zelenskyy calls for more weapons after wave of attacks
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has called for more weapons from Western allies following the latest wave of missile attacks across the country that targeted critical infrastructure.
“Those weapons which are in the depots of our partners and which our soldiers are waiting for so much,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address following the attacks, which included a missile attack on a residential building in Dnipro that killed at least five.
“Is it possible to stop the Russian terror?” Zelenskyy added. “Yes, it is. Can it be done in any other way than on the battlefield in Ukraine? Unfortunately, no.”
Ukraine shot down 21 out of 33 Russian missiles in latest attack: Military official
Ukraine shot down 21 out of 33 incoming missiles fired by Russia on Saturday at targets across the country, Ukraine’s top commander Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has said.
Ukraine shot down 18 of 28 inbound cruise missiles and three out of five guided air-to-surface missiles, he posted on Telegram. Officials reported attacks across the country, including near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Dnipro.
Emergency blackouts in most regions due to shelling: Ukrainian energy minister
Emergency blackouts have been applied in “most regions” of Ukraine due to a new barrage of Russian attacks, energy minister German Galushchenko has said.
“Today the enemy attacked the country’s energy generation facilities and power grid again. There are attacks in Kharkiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions,” he said.
“Due to the shelling, emergency blackouts have been introduced in most regions,” Galushchenko said on Facebook.
Japan’s Kishida says G7 should show strong will on Russia’s Ukraine invasion
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May should demonstrate a strong will to uphold international order and rule of law after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kishida made the comment during a news conference in Washington, DC a day after a summit with US President Joe Biden.
“The lesson of Ukraine has taught us that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable,” Kishida said.
Ukraine energy minister says ‘difficult’ days ahead after latest Russian attacks
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko says the coming days will be “difficult” on the energy front after Russia’s latest missile attacks hit critical infrastructure in several regions.
“Due to the shelling in the majority of the regions, emergency cut-offs are being introduced,” Galushchenko wrote on Facebook. “The coming days will be difficult.”
Officials reported strikes near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Dnipro on Saturday.
Governor: Five people dead, 27 wounded in Russian strike on Dnipro
A Russian missile has struck an apartment building in the east-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing five people, Governor Valentyn Reznichenko has said, according to the Reuters news agency.
“Twenty-seven people are injured. Six children are among them. All are in hospital,” he said.
Moldova says missile debris found in north of the country
Missile debris has been found in northern Moldova after the latest Russian air strikes on Ukraine, Moldova’s Ministry of Interior Affairs says.
“Following Russia’s massive bombardment of Ukraine, a border police patrol discovered … the remains of a missile originating from Russia’s air attacks on Ukraine,” the ministry said on Facebook.
Moldova sits on Ukraine’s southwestern border. Moldovan authorities have previously reported debris from Russian missiles falling in the country, including in October when the foreign ministry reported a missile shot down by Ukrainian air defences landed there.
At least 10 wounded in Dnipro apartment attack: Ukraine officials
At least 10 people, including two children, have been injured by a Russian attack on an apartment block in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor said.
An official from the Ukrainian President’s Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said 15 people had already been rescued from the rubble.
Russian missiles hit critical infrastructure in eastern, western Ukraine
Russian missiles have struck critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Lviv regions in the latest wave of attacks, according to local officials.
Critical infrastructure was targeted in Kharkiv in Ukraine’s east and Lviv in the country’s west, the officials said.
The mayor of Kyiv has also reported new explosions in the capital and said air defences were engaging targets.
The explosions followed a wave of Russian strikes against critical infrastructure in Kyiv hours earlier.
Russian embassy says UK tank delivery will escalate conflict
The Russian embassy in the United Kingdom has condemned London’s announcement that it will send 12 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.
“Bringing tanks to the conflict zone, far from drawing the hostilities to a close, will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population”, the statement said.
It added the announcement “fully conforms to London’s objectives of prolonging the conflict”.
Embassy comment on the #UK’s plans to provide #Challenger2 main battle tanks to Kiev.
🔗Read full comment: https://t.co/V4Y5ijCgnG pic.twitter.com/iAZR938PJB
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) January 14, 2023
Russian missile attack hit residential building in Dnipro: Ukraine official
A Russian missile attack has hit a residential building in the city of Dnipro in east-central Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian presidential official.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said people were trapped under rubble following the attack. He posted a picture of a building with smoke rising from it on his Telegram account.
“They [Russians] are just inhumans. At least one stairwell is gone. Under the rubble there are people who were at home for the holiday,” he said.
Polish PM plans talks with Germany over sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says he plans to discuss supplying Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine during a visit to Berlin on Monday.
Asked in an interview with the RMF FM broadcaster if he thought he could persuade Chancellor Olaf Scholz to provide such heavy weapons to Ukraine, Morawiecki said, “No idea.” He said he did not expect a decision on the issue in the coming days.
Pressure has increased on Berlin to provide the tanks to Ukraine, but Germany has been reluctant to involve itself directly with Ukraine’s use of heavy artillery.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that his country had already decided to provide Ukraine with Leopard battle tanks for one company as part of a coalition with allied states. Germany on Thursday signalled it would approve Poland’s transfer of the German-made tank.
The UK on Saturday announced it would send a dozen Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, and France has also said it plans to deliver light tanks to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
Turkey believes ‘local ceasefires’ possible between Ukraine, Russia
A Turkish official says Ankara is ready to push for “local ceasefires” in Ukraine, warning that neither Moscow nor Kyiv has the military means to “win the war”.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy adviser Ibrahim Kalin said it seemed unlikely that the warring sides would be ready to strike an “overarching peace deal” in the coming months, but he said the brutal cost of fighting might soon see them reconsider and accept localised truces in specific parts of the war zone.
“Turkey is willing to push for local ceasefires and small localised de-escalations,” Kalin told reporters. “Neither party is in a position to win the war militarily, on the ground.”
Erdogan has used his good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv to try to mediate an end to the nearly 11-month war. Turkey has hosted two early rounds of peace talks and helped to strike a UN-backed agreement that allowed Ukraine to resume grain deliveries across the Black Sea.
Zelenskyy says UK decision to provide tanks sends ‘the right signal’
Zelenskyy welcomes the UK’s decision to provide tanks to Ukraine, saying the move would “send the right signal” as Kyiv has been pressing allies for more heavy weapons.
“In a conversation with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, I thanked [him] for the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter.
Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready for challenges. In a conversation with the Prime Minister, @RishiSunak, I thanked for the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 14, 2023
Fight for Soledar lays bare divisions between Wagner Group, Kremlin
Ukraine and Russia are locked in an information war as well as a deadly struggle on the ground in Soledar.
The public quarrel between the Wagner Group and the Russian military has also highlighted an internal rift between the mercenary force and the Kremlin.
Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based analyst, told Al Jazeera that disagreements have existed since the Wagner Group got involved in the Syrian conflict but that the group’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has gone from being a “shadowy figure” to openly criticising the defence ministry.
UK pledges to supply tanks, artillery systems to Ukraine
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced the UK will provide Challenger 2 tanks and other artillery systems to support Ukraine.
Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement that he made the pledge after speaking to Zelenskyy on Saturday.
It did not say when the tanks were to be delivered or how many. British media have reported that four Challenger 2 main battle tanks will be sent to Eastern Europe immediately and eight more are to follow shortly thereafter.
Andriy Yermak, head of Zelenskyy’s office, thanked the UK for its “contribution to the defense of freedom and democracy in Europe”.
Thanks 🇬🇧 for providing 🇺🇦 with a new defence package to challenge the enemy. This is an important contribution to the defense of freedom and democracy in Europe. We are grateful to @RishiSunak and the 🇬🇧 people for their help.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) January 14, 2023
Ukraine refutes Moscow’s claims it captured Soledar
The front-line city of Soledar, which Russia says it has captured, is still controlled by Ukrainian troops, local authorities say.
“Soledar is controlled by Ukrainian authorities. Our military controls it,” Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on national television.
“Battles continue in and outside of the city,” he said, adding that Soledar and nearby Bakhmut were the “hottest” spots on the front line.
Zelenskyy made similar statements in a video address late on Friday, saying battles in the salt-mining town were continuing.
No sign of large-scale withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Soledar: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from the outskirts of the embattled cities of Bakhmut and Soledar, says there is no sign of a large-scale withdrawal of Ukrainian troops despite Russia claiming control of Soledar.
Fighting was most intense on the western outskirts of Soledar, Stratford said. Ukrainian soldiers said “Russian saboteurs” were moving in from the west of the city.
Stratford also reported from Bakhmut’s ravaged city centre, where blasts of exploding artillery and rockets are almost constant.
Turkey says more than 17 million tonnes of grain exported via Black Sea
More than 17 million tonnes of grain have been exported through the Black Sea grain corridor since shipments interrupted by the Russia-Ukraine war resumed on August 1, Turkey says.
The UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in July in Istanbul allowing Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilizers to be shipped around the world in an effort to check rising global food prices.
Since then, at least 643 grain ships have left Ukrainian ports, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.
Soledar would be ‘tactical’ victory for Russia, military analysts say
Russian Ministry of Defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov says Russian forces have “liberated” Soledar and insisted that the victory carried “important significance” in Russia’s push to capture the wider Donetsk region.
Ukraine has refuted Moscow’s claims of capturing the town.
Russian military analyst Victor Litovkin told Al Jazeera: “Soledar opens the way for Russian military units to Kramatorsk, the largest city of the Donetsk People’s Republic.”
“Only after the liberation of Bakhmut will an offensive operation be prepared to complete the liberation of Donetsk from Ukraine,” he said.
Moscow-based analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said capturing Soledar would be a “tactical victory”.
“Militarily, it doesn’t carry that much strategic weight, but it’s an important psychological victory for Russia,” he said.
Former Russian president says Japanese PM should disembowel himself
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of shameful subservience to the United States and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself.
The comment followed a meeting on Friday between Kishida and US President Joe Biden, after which the two leaders said any use of a nuclear weapon by Russia in Ukraine would be “an act of hostility against humanity”.
Medvedev, who was once seen as a Western-leaning reformer but has reinvented himself as a hawk since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, accused Kishida of having “betrayed the memory of hundreds of thousands of Japanese who were burned in the nuclear fire of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” after the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II.
He said such shame could only be washed away by committing seppuku – a form of suicide by disembowelment, also known as hara-kiri – at a meeting of the Japanese cabinet after Kishida’s return from Washington.
AJ correspondent: Multiple strikes hit Ukraine; alert ends in Kyiv
Al Jazeera’s Natasha Butler, reporting from Kyiv, says four explosions were heard about 9:30am (07:30 GMT) in the Ukrainian capital.
Air raid sirens were not heard prior to the blasts but were quickly triggered after the explosions. The alert has now ended, Butler said.
“It seems that there were also strikes in other parts of the country, in the north in Chernihiv and Sumy, in the east in Kharkiv and also in the south around Zaporizhzhia, Kherson,” she said.
No casualties have been reported.