Almost a year after its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is seeking to take control of the entire Donetsk region, which it has already declared an integral part of Russia. kyiv said this week that Russian troops had intensified their attacks in the east, notably on the towns of Vougledar and Bakhmout. On the front, the situation is extremely difficult underlined Volodymyr Zelensky, Friday. The Ukrainian army and the Russian private paramilitary group Wagner both claim to control the Blahodatne area in the eastern part of the Donetsk region.
Three people were killed and at least fourteen injured in a Russian strike on Konstantynivka, a town in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian president denounced on Saturday evening. “Unfortunately, such bombardments occur every day on our territories, which the Russian army reaches with such missiles. Donbass, Kharkiv region, southern part of the country… It would be possible to stop this Russian terror if we could provide our military with adequate missiles. So that the terrorists do not have a feeling of impunity”, he continued.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia is seeking to “disperse” Ukrainian forces in order to “create the conditions for a decisive offensive operation”. Russian soldiers and men from the paramilitary group Wagner recently took Soledar, north of Bakhmout, a first success for many months and after a series of setbacks for the Kremlin.
kyiv imposes new sanctions on Russian and Belarusian companies
Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 182 Russian and Belarusian companies, and three individuals, to block Moscow and Minsk’s connections to its country. “Their assets in Ukraine are blocked, their properties will be used for our defense,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address.
The sanctioned companies are mainly active in freight transport, vehicle rental and chemical production, according to the list published by the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council. Ukraine has sanctioned hundreds of Russian and Belarusian people and businesses since the invasion began in February 2022.
North Korea denies supplying arms to Russia
On Sunday, North Korea denied supplying arms to Moscow after Washington accused it of delivering rockets and missiles to the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, engaged in Ukraine. Last week, White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby released US intelligence footage showing alleged Russian train cars returning from North Korea loaded with military equipment, including rockets for Wagner. In the process, the United States designated Wagner as a “criminal organization” and declared to transmit these recordings to the UN as part of the sanctions aimed at Pyongyang.
A senior representative of the North Korean government denounced, this Sunday, January 29, “a stupid attempt to justify” future shipments of weapons to Ukraine by Washington, which promised Thursday 31 Abrams tanks to kyiv. Quoted by the official KCNA news agency, the director general of the North Korean American affairs department, Kwon Jong Gun, dismissed this “rumour created from scratch” and warned the United States that they would expose themselves to a “really undesirable outcome” if they keep spreading it.
Iran hit by drone attack on military site
A drone attack targeted a military site in Iran overnight from Saturday to Sunday, which condemned “a cowardly act”, in a tense context against the backdrop of a protest movement in the country after the death of Mahsa Amini in September, persistent differences on the nuclear file and accusations of supplies by Tehran of drones to the Russian army for the war in Ukraine.
The authorities remained very discreet on Sunday after claiming overnight that they had repelled this attack, which has similarities to clandestine operations that have targeted nuclear facilities in recent years. In recent years, the Iranian authorities have implicated Israel in several secret actions carried out on its soil in the form of campaigns of cyberattacks, sabotage or targeted assassinations of scientists. Israel has never acknowledged such acts.
Germany assumes its position on tank deliveries to kyiv
Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced widespread criticism from international and domestic partners over the decision to supply Ukraine with German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks which require permission from Berlin to be re-exported from other countries. On Wednesday, the country thus ended an eleven-month taboo on sending modern combat tanks to Ukraine.
Over the weekend, the German government maintained that its approach to arms delivery was the best way to support Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s allies accuse his critics of being “determined” to scapegoat him and are calling for close internal coordination so as not to lose public support. Polls show that German public opinion is evenly divided on the issue of sending combat tanks to support Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky tries to prevent Russian athletes from participating in the 2024 Olympics
The Ukrainian president denounced the “hypocrisy” of the International Olympic Committee which, despite repeated calls from kyiv to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics scheduled for Paris, declared on Wednesday “studying” the possibility of authorizing them to participate under neutral banner. He invited IOC chief Thomas Bach to visit Bakhmout, one of the hottest spots in the war with Russia “to see with his own eyes that neutrality does not exist”, promising to work to “cleanse the hypocrisy of the management of international Olympic structures”.
A series of behind-the-scenes maneuvers were also undertaken in the fall to bring Russians and Belarusians back into the Olympic fold, excluded from most international competitions since the invasion of Ukraine. These proposals aroused the ire of the Ukrainians. Already Thursday, the Ukrainian Minister of Sports threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics. “If we are not heard, I do not exclude the possibility that we boycott and refuse to participate in the Olympic Games”, warned Vadym Goutzaït on Facebook.
“But we will do everything so that the world protects sport from any influence of the terrorist state, which is simply inevitable if Russian sportsmen take part. […] at the Paris Olympics, added Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. Russia must stop its aggression and its terror. And only then will it be possible to discuss Russian participation in the context of Olympism.”