Ukraine was hit by a second wave of Russian air strikes Saturday afternoon, with air-raid sirens sounded across much of the country and air-defenses engaged in the south. Earlier, Vitaliy Kim, governor of the Mykolayiv region, warned that 17 Russian warplanes were in the air. Unconfirmed reports said missiles were targeted at Kyiv and Poltava, among others. Artillery shelling was also reported in and around Nikopol, southwest of Zaporizhzhia.
(Bloomberg) —
Ukraine was hit by a second wave of Russian air strikes Saturday afternoon, with air-raid sirens sounded across much of the country and air-defenses engaged in the south. Earlier, Vitaliy Kim, governor of the Mykolayiv region, warned that 17 Russian warplanes were in the air. Unconfirmed reports said missiles were targeted at Kyiv and Poltava, among others. Artillery shelling was also reported in and around Nikopol, southwest of Zaporizhzhia.
Earlier, missiles hit crucial infrastructure targets in Kyiv and Kharkhiv. Ukraine’s Air Defense said Kremlin forces launched the missiles, likely ballistic and undetectable by air defense, from the north. Emergency power cuts were announced across 11 regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he’s optimistic about the resolve of Western partners to pledge more arms support at the next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Senior military officials will attend the Jan. 20 gathering at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The UK will send battle tanks to Ukraine.
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Key Developments
- Ukraine Pushes Back on Russia’s Claim it Has Taken Soledar
- Russian Oil Turns to Russian Tankers as Sanctions Bite
- Germany Closes In on a Decision to Send Leopard Tanks to Ukraine
- How Europe Is Muddling Through Putin’s Energy War: QuickTake
- German Industry Moves Past Worst of Energy Crunch Battle
On the Ground
Russian troops continue to focus their main efforts on attempts to seize the eastern Donetsk region, advancing towards Bakhmut, according to Ukraine’s Military Staff. Kremlin troops continue to shell various Ukrainian regions, including the city of Kharkiv, where two S-300 missiles hit a residential district, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram. Russian forces carried out more than 95 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems, in particular on Kherson in the south, over the past 24 hours.
(All times CET)
Much of Ukraine Under Air Raid Alert (2 p.m.)
Ukraine was hit by a second wave of Russian air strikes Saturday afternoon, with air defense active in the Mykolayiv and Odesa regions. Air-raid sirens sounded across much of the country.
Earlier, Vitaliy Kim, governor of the Mykolayiv region in Ukraine’s south, had warned that 17 Russian fighter jets had launched from bases in Russia and warned of potential attacks. Artillery shelling was also reported in and around Nikopol, southwest of Zaporizhzhia, and explosions were reported in Vinnytsia Oblast in Ukraine’s southwest
Saturday marks Russia’s first major wave of air strikes since a brief, self-imposed “cease fire” over Orthodox Christmas a week ago, and the first since a new commander was named to Russian the Kremlin’s war effort.
Sunak, Zelenskiy Speak as UK Offers Challenger Tanks (12:30 p.m.)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke by phone Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, outlining the UK’s plan to provide Challenger 2 battle tanks and additional artillery systems to Ukraine, according to a UK readout.
The pair “welcomed other international commitments in this vein, including Poland’s offer to provide a company of Leopard tanks,” according to the readout.
The UK would become the first Western nation to send main battle tanks to Ukraine. Four British Army Challenger 2 tanks will be sent to eastern Europe immediately, with eight more to follow, according to a report Friday by the Sun newspaper in the UK.
Military Official Says Russian Missiles Likely Ballistic (10:30 a.m.)
Ukrainian specialists will study the wreckage of missiles fired by Russia on Saturday to determine the type of rockets used, Air Defence spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in a televised interview.
“It is obvious that these were either ballistic missiles or S-300 anti-aircraft missiles flying along a ballistic trajectory,” he said.
Kharkiv Region Also Hit, Power Cuts Possible (10 a.m.)
Electricity supplies could be cut in Kharkiv and the surrounding region on Saturday after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure and other industrial sites, said regional governor Oleh Synyehubov.
Oleksiy Kuleba, Kyiv regional governor, said 18 private houses were damaged in attacks on Saturday. Russia hit residential areas in the village of Kopyliv, about 50 km (31 miles) west of downtown Kyiv. There was no word on casualties. In the capital, a fire at what was termed a non-residential infrastructure target was extinguished.
Poland Says Russian Offensive From Belarus ‘Real Risk’ (9:30 a.m.)
A new Russian offensive on Ukraine and its capital launched from neighboring Belarus against Ukraine is a “real risk,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Saturday, echoing recent comments from Ukrainian officials.
“I am afraid of that,” Morawiecki said in an interview with Radio RMF. He said this risk is being taken into account by Poland’s allies from the US, the UK and NATO. “That’s why we are boosting our military presence in eastern Poland,” the premier said.
Russian Missiles Strike Infrastructure in Kyiv, Officials Say (9 a.m.)
Kremlin forces attacked critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine’s capital with missiles on Saturday morning, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office. Air raid sirens were heard in Kyiv after a series of loud blasts. An air alert was also posted for the Chernihiv region.
The strike “seems to have been made with operational-tactical ballistic missiles of Iskander type,” potentially launched from Belarus, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, said on Twitter. There’s been no official confirmation of the type of weapon. Ukraine Air Defense said rockets were launched from the north, but didn’t specify from which airbase.
Explosions took place in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district on the east bank of the Dnipro River, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Buildings were also damaged in the Holosiyivskyi district, the mayor said.
Zelenskiy Sees Support From Europe to Deliver More Weapons (8 a.m.)
Talks this week helped Ukraine drum up more backing from Western partners on readiness to deliver more weapons, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. Ukraine’s president spoke on Friday with the leaders of Slovakia and Albania.
“Thanks to the negotiations this week, we managed to significantly strengthen the resoluteness of our partners to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said.
Kyiv hopes that resolve is reflected at the Jan. 20 meeting of senior defense and military officials from dozens of nations, known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
German Industry Moves Past Worst of Putin’s Energy Crunch (7 a.m.)
Germany industrial heavyweights fighting an unprecedented energy crunch engineered by Russian President Vladimir Putin are seeing signs the worst of the crisis has passed, and Germany’s move to wean itself of Russian gas is paying off.
Fears of gas rationing have dissipated for the country’s chemicals, metals and glass makers amid mild temperatures and Germany completing its first liquefied natural gas import terminal.
German Industry Moves Past Worst of Energy Crunch Battle
German Defense Minister May Quit (10 p.m.)
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, whose post surged in prominence after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, plans to resign after a series of missteps that caused consternation within the government, Bild reported.
Prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition has created a special fund worth €100 billion ($108 billion) to reverse a decline in the armed forces. Just as Lambrecht has come under pressure, Germany is closing in on a decision on providing Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.
Russia Says Says Wagner Group Led Assault on Soledar (6 p.m.)
The attack on the salt-mining town of Soledar was carried out by different groups of Russian forces, with the direct assault on Ukrainian troops holding the town conducted by the Kremlin-affiliated private mercenary group Wagner, Interfax reported, citing Russia’s defense ministry.
The “offensive actions” were carried out according to “a single concept and plan, which provided the solution of a complex of combat tasks,” according to the statement cited by Interfax which gave details of the assault plan.
The direct assault on the parts of town occupied by Ukraine’s armed forces “was successfully solved by the courageous and selfless actions of” Wagner forces, the ministry said.
Germany Close to Decision on Leopard Tanks to Ukraine (3:16 p.m.)
Germany is leaning toward supplying Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine and is likely to make a decision soon, according to two officials familiar with the government’s thinking.
Berlin will make a decision before a meeting of senior defense officials from allied nations at the American airbase in Ramstein in a week’s time, according to an official familiar with the plans.
Read more: Germany Closes In on a Decision to Send Leopard Tanks to Ukraine
Ukrainian Troops Pulling Back From Soledar: CNN (2:30 p.m.)
Although Ukraine’s armed forces have denied Russia’s claim that Kremlin troops have control of Soledar, Kyiv’s troops are being ferried out of area in “what appears to be a fairly organized pullback,” CNN reported from just outside the town in eastern Ukraine.
Mortar and rocket fire was ongoing on Friday, CNN said.
Ukraine’s 2023 Grain Corridor Shipments Hit 1 Million Tons (1:40 p.m.)
Shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea grain corridor have hit 1 million tons so far in 2023, the country’s infrastructure ministry said in an emailed statement.
Some 17 ships are currently being loaded in Greater Odesa ports, five are heading toward the area, and 104 are waiting in a queue in Bosphorus, Turkey, to be inspected. Total food shipments from unblocked Ukrainian ports have reached 17.3 million tons since Aug. 1 under the safe-transit initiative.
Russian Oil Turns to Russian Tankers as Sanctions Bite (12:48 P.M.)
Sweeping European sanctions on the purchase and transportation of Russian oil have prompted the country to transport more crude on its own tankers.
The EU banned almost all seaborne oil imports from Russia from Dec. 5, and joined with Group of Seven nations in capping the price at which Moscow can sell barrels. Since then, European-owned tankers have taken about 30% of the cargoes shipped from Russia’s key western oil ports, down from about half before. The share moving on Russian vessels has risen to 35%, up from 22% previously.
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