War in Ukraine: London to send Challenger 2 tanks to kyiv

In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the “liberation of the town of Soledar” had been completed “on January 12 in the evening”. In a rare sign of recognition between these two structures which have often entered into rivalry on the ground in Ukraine, the Russian army then hailed in a message the “courageous actions” of the fighters of the Wagner mercenary group, whose men led “the direct assault on the residential areas of Soledar”.

The spokesman for the Eastern Command of the Ukrainian army, Sergiy Tcherevaty, said during the day that his troops were keeping the situation “under control in difficult conditions” in the face of “the best units (of the Russian mercenary group) Wagner and ‘other Russian special forces’.

At least five dead and 27 injured in strike on apartment building in eastern Ukraine

At least five people were killed and 27 injured in a Russian strike on an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, local authorities have learned. “There are already five dead, 27 people have been injured and hospitalized, including six children,” Dnipro Governor Valentin Reznitchenko said on Telegram messaging, where he posted a photo of a building reduced to ruins.

London to send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine

Britain will supply Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks, becoming the first country to send Western-built heavy tanks to help kyiv in the face of the Russian invasion, Downing Street announced on Saturday. In an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stressed “the UK’s willingness to step up its support to Ukraine, including by providing Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems” , Downing Street said in a statement.

Mr Zelensky thanked the UK on Twitter for taking decisions which “not only will strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners”. The British government does not specify how many tanks it intends to send to kyiv but several British media mentions the number of 12 Challenger 2: four would be sent immediately and eight others should follow in the short term.

The two British and Ukrainian leaders stressed during their conversation the “need to take advantage” of recent Ukrainian victories which have “repelled Russian troops”. Since the start of the Russian invasion almost a year ago, kyiv’s European allies have already delivered nearly 300 modernized Soviet tanks, but never yet Western-built heavy tanks, despite repeated requests from the Ukraine.

The British announcement comes after Poland said it was ready on Wednesday to provide 14 Leopard 2, German-designed heavy tanks considered to be among the most efficient in the world, an announcement welcomed on Saturday by MM. Sunak and Zelensky. Last week, France, Germany and the United States had promised to send armored vehicles carrying infantry or reconnaissance tanks – 40 German Marders, 50 American Bradleys and French AMX-10 RCs. New announcements could come on January 20, on the occasion of the next meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Ramstein (Germany).

Strikes on key infrastructure in kyiv this Saturday morning

Several explosions sounded Saturday morning in kyiv, AFP journalists found, with Ukrainian officials saying strikes targeted key infrastructure in Ukraine’s capital.

“A missile attack on critical infrastructure” is underway in Kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram while the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Dniprovskiy district, calling on residents to “stay in the shelters”.

The administrative services of the capital indicated that one of the infrastructures of the city had been reached. Fragments of a missile fell in the Golosiivsky district, without causing any injuries, Vitali Klitschko said. Since October and a series of setbacks in Ukraine, Moscow has methodically bombarded the country’s vital infrastructure. Electricity companies are working to restore the network as quickly as possible as the country sinks into winter.

Russian attacks hit energy infrastructure in Kharkiv and Lviv

Russian strikes targeted Ukrainian strategic energy infrastructure in Kharkiv (northeast) and Lviv (west) on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

“Emergency power cuts have been implemented” after two strikes against infrastructure, said the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegoubov. In Lviv, the authorities warned of interruptions in the supply of water and electricity.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry describes ‘difficult phase’ of conflict

“This is a difficult phase of the war,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar, recognizing “a high-intensity (Russian) offensive”.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based body, the capture of Soledar, a small town of around 10,000 before the conflict, is however “unlikely to portend an imminent encirclement of Bakhmout”, the main target of the Russian army, located 15 kilometers south-west of Soledar.

It “will not allow Russian forces to exercise control over the important Ukrainian land lines of communication to Bakhmout”, he noted in his daily bulletin. The fighting in and around Soledar has been raging for several months, but its intensity has increased sharply in recent days.

On Wednesday, the head of Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, had already claimed the capture of Soledar with his men, before being contradicted not only by kyiv, but also by the Russian army. In its daily bulletin, the ISW had indicated that it believed that “Russian forces (in reality) probably captured Soledar on January 11”, or Wednesday.

To support its remarks, the ISW referred in particular to “geotagged photos published on January 11 and 12” which “indicate that Russian forces probably control most if not all of Soledar and have probably pushed Ukrainian forces out of the western outskirts of the locality”.

In Siversk, 25 km north of Soledar, the sounds of artillery echoed Friday. In the streets covered with a fine layer of snow, only a few inhabitants and soldiers were strolling, by an icy wind. “We are scared but where can we go?” asks Oleksandre Sirenko, 55, busy recovering pieces of windows to use as firewood. “We just hope that (the Ukrainian army) won’t back down,” he told AFP.

kyiv again calls on its allies to provide arms

To face the Russian army, kyiv has again called on its Western allies to provide it with more weapons and high-performance military equipment. “To win this war, we need more military equipment, heavy equipment,” Andriy Iermak, chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency, urged on Telegram, as Ukraine tirelessly calls for heavy tanks as well as long-range missiles.

Ukraine said on Friday that it had become a “de facto” member of NATO. “It’s true. It’s a fact,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the BBC. “I am sure that in the near future we will become a member of NATO, de jure,” he continued, echoing kyiv’s formal request on this subject.

The Alliance announced on Friday the deployment of Awacs surveillance planes to Romania from Tuesday to support its reinforced presence in the region and “monitor Russian military activity”. Visiting the United States, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida assured Friday that his country’s participation in the measures against Russia had “renewed the fight against Russian aggression in Ukraine, moving it from a transatlantic struggle to a world struggle”.

The UN Security Council met again to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Friday, nearly eleven months after the start of the Russian invasion. “Ukraine, Russia, the world cannot afford for this war to continue,” said UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo. But “it is military logic that dominates, with very little space for dialogue at the moment, if there is any,” she added, seeing “no sign of an end to the fighting”.