Russia-Ukraine updates: Pressure grows on Germany to supply tanks
All the updates from January 17, as they happened.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Tuesday, January 17.
This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Tuesday, January 17.
- Pressure is mounting on Germany to supply Ukraine with battle tanks as Kyiv’s Western allies prepare for a military aid meeting on Friday at a United States airbase in Germany.
- More than 9,000 civilians, including 453 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide says.
- Search and rescue efforts have ended in Ukraine’s central city of Dnipro, where a missile strike on an apartment block on Saturday killed at least 45 civilians in one of the war’s deadliest attacks.
- Serbia’s president calls on Moscow to crack down on alleged efforts by the Wagner Group to recruit Serbians to fight in Ukraine.
Kissinger says Russia’s war validates Ukraine’s NATO membership bid
Henry Kissinger has said Russia’s invasion shows there is no longer a point in keeping Ukraine out of NATO, Kyiv’s long-held aspiration he had previously opposed.
The 99-year-old former US secretary of state has for months advocated a ceasefire in the Ukraine war that would in effect accept some military gains by Russia.
But speaking virtually to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Kissinger said that NATO membership for Ukraine would be an “appropriate outcome”.
“Before this war, I was opposed to membership of Ukraine in NATO because I feared that it would start exactly the process that we have seen now,” Kissinger said.
“Now that this process has reached this level,” he said, “the idea of a neutral Ukraine under these conditions is no longer meaningful.”
On second anniversary of his incarceration, Alexey Navalny promises to keep up opposition
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny has used the second anniversary of his incarceration to reinforce his promise to keep up his opposition, as his family and allies started a campaign to free him.
Navalny, 46, was arrested exactly two years ago as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for poisoning with a deadly Soviet-era nerve agent in what he and some Western nations said was a Russian state assassination attempt. The Kremlin denied involvement.
“I’m not going to surrender my country to them, and I believe that the darkness will eventually fade away,” Navalny wrote on Twitter via his lawyers.
Navalny is the highest-profile of the few remaining opposition voices in Russia.
The lawyer-turned-activist has been sentenced to a combined 11-1/2 years in jail in two separate fraud cases, which he said had been trumped up to silence him, and his anti-corruption organisation has been banned as “extremist”.
Dasha Navalnaya, his daughter, appeared in a video clip on Tuesday to launch a campaign to free her father, who she said was being repeatedly and unjustly put in solitary confinement in prison for his fierce opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukraine blames Russia for bulk of cyberattacks
A senior Ukrainian official has blamed Russia for carrying out the bulk of more than 2,000 cyberattacks on Ukraine in 2022, speaking at a news conference that he said was itself delayed because of a cyberattack.
The official, Yuriy Schygol, told reporters that his livestreamed conference was forced to start 15 minutes late because of a Russian hack, though he did not elaborate or present evidence for his assertion.
During the news briefing, Schygol, head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, said Ukraine had been hit by 2,194 cyberattacks in 2022, with 1,655 of those coming after Moscow’s February 24 invasion.
“Essentially all hackers who work with Russia, most of them don’t even hide their affiliation … they are all funded by the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service], are on military service, or are in the employ of those agencies,” he said.
There was no immediate comment on his allegations from Moscow.
Dnipro death toll rises to 45 as another child’s body is found
The death toll from Saturday’s Russian missile attack on a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 45, according to the Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko.
Another child was found among the dead, Reznichenko wrote on Facebook and on Telegram, bringing the number of children killed by the attack to six.
The head of the police, Igor Klimenko, said 20 people remain missing, including four children, according to the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
UK refutes Russian claims on deadly Dnipro strike
An intelligence update by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence has refuted Russian claims that a Ukrainian air defence missile was responsible for the destruction of an apartment block in the city of Dnipro, which resulted in the death of more than 40 people.
“An AS-4 KITCHEN large anti-ship missile, launched from a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber, highly likely struck a block of flats in Dnipro city which resulted in the death of at least 40 people,” the Ministry of Defence assessment found.
“KITCHEN is notoriously inaccurate when used against ground targets as its radar guidance system is poor at differentiating targets in urban areas,” it added.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 17 January 2023
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/cJMPkLSUgH
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/cOHXJS6j6E
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 17, 2023
UK foreign minister shores up Ukraine support on US trip
The UK’s foreign minister James Cleverly has said NATO allies are boosting arms supplies to Kyiv to demonstrate their determination to see Ukraine prevail against Russia, which should end the war now and open negotiations “in good faith”.
“The message we’re sending to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and frankly to anyone else that cares to be watching is that we made a commitment to support Ukrainians until they are victorious,” Cleverly told a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.
Cleverly spoke to the US think-tank ahead of meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top US officials on increasing support for Ukraine.
Cheverly’s trip follows the UK’s announcement during the weekend that it will supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks – the first modern Western tanks to be promised to Kyiv – and other heavy weaponry.
Netherlands to send Patriot system to Ukraine
The Netherlands will send a Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine, Dutch news agency ANP has reported, citing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Rutte is in Washington, DC to meet US President Joe Biden.
ANP quoted Rutte as saying, during a fireside chat between the two leaders, that the Netherlands would participate in a US-German initiative to send the defence systems to Ukraine.
Rutte said he had earlier spoken by telephone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the decision.
President Biden meets with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (@MinPres) in the Oval Office. https://t.co/3PmbdvpVgk pic.twitter.com/sg04IPT628
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 17, 2023
Ukraine’s first lady delivers letter from Zelenskyy to world leaders at Davos
Ukraine’s first lady has told the World Economic Forum some states are failing to use their influence to end Russia’s war against her country.
“What can life be in a world where tanks are allowed to strike at nuclear power stations? What will happen to inflation when state borders start to collapse and the integrity of countries is trampled?” Olena Zelenska asked.
“This war can go further and make crises wider if the aggressor does not lose,” she added.
Urging her audience to make greater use of their influence to end the fighting, she said global cooperation was needed to prevent the collapse of the lives to which people across the world have become accustomed.
“You all know that Russian aggression was never intended to stop at Ukrainian borders. This war can move forward and ignite wider crises if Ukraine loses.”
Zelenska delivered a letter to China’s delegation setting out her husband’s proposals for ending Russia’s war against his country.
China, like Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is an important partner for Moscow and has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenska said she also had letters for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Alain Berset.
US, Ukraine top military chiefs hold face-to-face talks
Top US General Mark Milley has held face-to-face talks with his Ukrainian counterpart for the first time as Russia’s offensive nears the one-year mark.
Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, travelled to an undisclosed site near the Ukraine-Poland border for the meeting with General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
The two leaders have talked frequently about Ukraine’s military needs and the state of the war over the past year but had never met.
Their meeting came as Kyiv’s Western allies prepare to hold key talks on military aid for Ukraine on Friday at a US airbase in Germany.
Calls mount for special tribunal for Russia’s ‘war crimes’ in Ukraine
Ursula von der Leyen has accused Russia of carrying out “atrocious war crimes” in Ukraine and called for a special tribunal to be formed to investigate and prosecute them.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, von der Leyen said Russia’s offensive requires a “strong reaction” from the “global community”.
Read more here.
Finland’s PM pledges to support Ukraine for as ‘long as needed’
Finland is prepared to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia for as long as necessary, the country’s prime minister has said
“I think the only message that we need to send is that we will support Ukraine as long as needed. One year, two years, five years, 10 years, 15 years,” Sanna Marin said at the World Economic Forum.
Finland’s government spent approximately 300 million euros ($325m) on support for Ukraine last year, about 190 million euros ($206m) of which was accounted for by military equipment.
Who controls what?
Here are three maps that we update daily to chart the latest war developments:
Zelenskky, German president hold talks on military aid
Zelenskyy says he discussed the need to increase military support for Ukraine during talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that the pair had also spoken about the situation on the front line in Ukraine and the 10-point peace Kyiv put forward during their video conference.
Moscow has rejected Zelenskyy’s proposal, which calls for Russia to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and withdraw all of its troops from the country.
Kazakhstan ends indefinite stays for Russians
Kazakhstan will no longer allow Russian citizens to stay in the Central Asian country indefinitely by doing so-called visa runs every three months, according to a government directive published this week.
The Kazakh government will discontinue the practice from January 26 and will require Russians and citizens of other members of the Eurasian Economic Union, a post-Soviet bloc, to leave the country for at least 90 days after the permitted three-month stay.
Tens of thousands of Russians, mostly young and middle-aged men, relocated to Kazakhstan last year as Moscow, embroiled in the Ukraine conflict, launched its first conscription campaign since World War II.
US imposes visa restrictions on Belarusian nationals
The US has imposed visa restrictions on 25 Belarusian nationals for what it says is President Alexander Lukashenko’s “repression” of the country’s people and their “democratic aspirations”.
“We will not stand by as this regime continues to harass and repress peaceful protesters, the democratic opposition, journalists, unionists, activists, human rights defenders and everyday Belarusians,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
The department cited the “politically motivated trial in absentia” of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and “other democratic activists on baseless charges” as evidence of Lukashenko’s curtailing of freedoms for the country’s citizens.
“We will continue to use all appropriate tools to hold to account those in Belarus standing in the way of their fellow citizens’ democratic aspirations,” it said.
Ukraine ends search for survivors at site of Dnipro missile attack
Ukraine has called off search and rescue operations at the block of flats in the central city of Dnipro where dozens of people were killed by a Russian missile attack.
The State Emergency Service said 20 people were still unaccounted for after Saturday’s attack and that the 44 confirmed dead included five children. Thirty-nine people had been rescued from the rubble and a total of 79 had been hurt, the service said.
“At 1:00pm [11:00 GMT] on January 17, search and rescue operations in the city of Dnipro at the site of the rocket attack were completed,” the emergency service wrote on the Telegram messaging app under a photograph from the scene.
Ukraine says the apartment building was hit by a Russian Kh-22 missile. Russia said its wave of missile attacks on Saturday did not target any residential buildings.
Australian Open bans Russian flag after Ukraine complaint
Australian Open organisers have banned Russian and Belarusian flags from the Melbourne Park precinct during the tennis tournament after a complaint from Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia.
Read more here.
Former Wagner Group fighter seeks asylum in Norway
A former fighter who says he fled from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group in July is seeking asylum in Norway, authorities say.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and Andrey Medvedev’s lawyer confirmed on Monday that the 26-year-old was seeking protection in the Nordic nation, which shares a 96km (122-mile) land border with Russia.
Read more here.
Serbian president denounces Wagner Group’s alleged efforts to recruit Serbs
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called on Russia to crack down on alleged efforts by the Wagner Group to recruit Serbians to fight in Ukraine.
Vucic criticised Russian websites and social media groups for publishing advertisements in the Serbian language in which the paramilitary group calls for volunteers to join its ranks.
“Why do you, from Wagner, call anyone from Serbia when you know that it is against our regulations?” Vucic said late on Monday in a broadcast by the Belgrade-based Happy TV.
Serbian law prohibits citizens from fighting in conflicts abroad.
Putin says Russian economy likely shrank 2.5 percent in 2022
Putin says the Russian economy likely contracted by 2.5 percent in 2022 but is performing better than most economists had predicted.
Speaking at a meeting with top officials, including his finance minister and the central bank chief, Putin also said real wage growth needed to be stimulated.
Ukraine war dominating World Economic Forum: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Davos, says the topic of Ukraine is taking centre stage at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
“[Ukraine] has economic ramifications around the world, including on the global food crisis and the global fuel crisis,” Bays said.
The main topic of discussion has centred on whether Ukraine’s Western allies would supply it with the battle tanks Kyiv has requested, Bays said.
“There is a lot of focus on Germany because it is the manufacturer of the Leopard 2 tank, which is not just a model that Germany has stocks of, [but] many other European countries do [too], … but they are not allowed to give those tanks to Ukraine without Germany’s permission,” he said.
Russia ‘terrorising’ Ukrainian civilians: Kyiv mayor
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says Russian forces are “terrorising” Ukrainian civilians as Moscow presses on with its nearly year-long offensive.
“The Russians are trying to attack critical infrastructure and destroy normal life [in Ukraine] by leaving people freezing cold in winter conditions,” Klitschko told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“This is terrorism and everyone who is involved in this senseless war [on the Russian side] must be held responsible [for it],” he said.
Germany appoints new defence minister
Germany has appointed Boris Pistorius as the country’s new defence minister a day after his scandal-hit predecessor resigned.
Olaf Scholz confirmed Pistorious, a fellow member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as Christine Lambrecht’s replacement and said the 62-year-old’s experience had marked him out as the right person for the job.
“Pistorius is an extremely experienced politician who has administrative experience, has been involved in security policy for years and, with his competence, assertiveness and big heart, is exactly the right person to lead the Bundeswehr [armed forces] through this era of change,” Scholz said.
Dnipro mayor puts missile attack death toll at 44
The death toll from a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in Dnipro has risen to 44, the central Ukrainian city’s mayor said.
“I am here. Already 44 dead,” Borys Filatov said in a Facebook post.
Regional authorities said earlier on Tuesday that a child’s body was among the latest retrieved from the rubble.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the death toll.
Second meeting between Russian, US spy chiefs would ‘make sense’: Kremlin
The Kremlin says it will “make sense” for Russian and US spy chiefs to meet again as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
“It can’t be ruled out, and of course this kind of dialogue makes sense,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, met CIA Director William Burns in Turkey in November.
Naryshkin said earlier on Tuesday that another such meeting was “possible”, according to a report by Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency.