Summary of the day
Thank you for following the Russia-Ukraine war live blog today. It will be closed shortly but you can continue to follow the latest news here. Below is a closing summary of today’s key posts:
Protesters in Baymak, a small town in Russia’s central Bashkortostan region, clashed with riot police on Wednesday after a court sentenced eco-activist and campaigner for the protection of the Bashkir language, Fail Alsynov, to four years in prison for “inciting hatred”. Police used teargas to disperse the protests, according to OVD-Info, which monitors protests across Russia. The head of the local interior ministry, Rafail Divayev, urged demonstrators to back down on and said: “I advise you to come to your senses and not ruin your life.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba said his country’s priority for 2024 was to gain control over its skies. “In 2024, of course the priority is to throw Russia from the skies,” Kuleba said in an address to the World Economic Forum.
A new military doctrine that for the first time provides for the use of nuclear weapons will be put forward by Belarus, its defence minister, Viktor Khrenin, said at a meeting of Belarus’ security council on Tuesday.
A top Nato military officer said the war in Ukraine could “determine the fate of the world” and western armies and political leaders must drastically change the way they help Kyiv fend off invading Russian forces. The chair of the Nato military committee, Adm Rob Bauer also said, at a meeting of Nato’s senior officers at its headquarters in Brussels, that behind Putin’s rationale for the war is a fear of democracy.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he doesn’t think a ceasefire in Ukraine is near, but he could see a future where Ukraine stands strongly on its own two feet. Blinken was in conversation with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, and commentator Thomas Friedman in Davos.
One person has been killed and five people have been injured after Russian attacks on multiple settlements in Kherson oblast, according to regional authorities. Its governor, Oleksandr Prokudin shared a video of the damage to the area and said that Russian forces fired at the area for an hour. He added that a three people were injured in Russian attacks against Beryslav and an 81-year-old woman was injured an attack on the village of Romashkove.
British foreign secetary, David Cameron told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, that there is a clear case for frozen Russian assets to be used to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Russia is developing its relations with North Korea in all areas, including “sensitive” ones, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. North Korea’s foreign minister held rare talks in the Kremlin with Putin, who has been invited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit the reclusive nuclear-armed country.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “confident” of getting Hungary to drop its veto on a €50bn ($54bn) aid package for Ukraine at a crunch summit in two weeks. Hungary’s right wing prime minister, Viktor Orbán – Russia’s closest EU ally – refused in December to sign off on the assistance to Kyiv’s state spending over the next four years.
Russia will open polling stations for its March presidential election at three diplomatic missions in the US, its envoy in Washington said on Wednesday. Moscow said it had not yet decided if voting would take place in what it calls “unfriendly” European countries.
Ukraine downed 19 of 20 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russia at targets in southern Ukraine overnight, said Ukraine’s air force.
At least 17 people were injured after Russia fired two missiles at Kharkiv in north eastern Ukraine during the night, hitting apartment buildings and a medical centre, said officials on Wednesday. Three people were injured in the southern city of Odesa in a drone attack that forced the evacuation of about 130 people from an apartment building, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
The Russian defence ministry said Wednesday that two winged Ukrainian drones and four missiles were shot down over the Belgorod region overnight and another around noon local time on Wednesday. It provided no details about damage or injuries.
Authorities in Estonia have arrested Russian professor, Viacheslav Morozov, on espionage charges in a case that his university said shows Russia’s intent to “orchestrate anti-democratic action” in the Baltic country.
Germany delivered military supplies to Ukraine, including ammunition for Leopard 1 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, drones and helmets. It also includes 16 Zetros tanker trucks, eight armored personnel carriers, 50 mobile satellite terminals, 25 Heidrun reconnaissance drones and 1,840 helmets.
Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov will travel to New York next week for a meeting of the UN’s security council, confirmed foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
Western companies supplied Russia with critical components worth $2.9bn in the first 10 months of 2023, despite sanctions on Moscow, the Ukrainian president’s office said on Wednesday.
Belgium does not oppose the confiscation of €280bn worth of frozen Russian central bank assets, but there needs to be a clear mechanism such as using the assets as collateral for Ukraine, prime minister Alexander De Croo said
Ukraine needs financial support as well as military support in order to prevent the government in Kyiv resorting to printing money to keep the economy afloat, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Beata Javorcik, said in an interview at Davos.
Germany hands over ammunition, drones and vehicles to Ukraine, says its government
Germany handed over military supplies to Ukraine, including ammunition for Leopard 1 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, drones and helmets.
The German government published an update of its delivered military support for Ukraine on Wednesday, the Kyiv Independent reports. The delivery includes 16 Zetros tanker trucks, eight armored personnel carriers, five border protection vehicles, and three other vehicles. Also among the supplies were 50 mobile satellite terminals, 25 Heidrun reconnaissance drones and 1,840 helmets.
The news publication said that Germany also plans to deliver 15 Gepard anti-aircraft guns to assist Ukraine with air defence but due to security concerns, does not provide details on dates of its delivery.
Here is a video showing protesters clashing with riot police in a small town in the central Bashkortostan region in Russia. The protests occurred on Wednesday after a court sentenced an eco-activist and campaigner, Fail Alsynov, to four years in prison for inciting hatred. Alsynov was accused of making a racist comment in a speech to a village council meeting against gold-digging but he claims his words were mistranslated.
One person killed and five injured in Russian attacks on Kherson, say authorities
One person has been killed and five people have been injured after Russian attacks on multiple settlements in Kherson oblast, according to regional authorities.
The Kyiv Independent reports that a 37-year-old man was killed and an 81-year-old woman was injured after a Russian strike hit a garage in a residential area of Kherson. Medics treated the woman at the site of the attack.
The head of the city’s military administration, Roman Mrochko, said the man had been outside at the moment of the strike. According to the Kyiv Independent, Kherson oblast governor, Oleksandr Prokudin shared a video of the damage to the area and said that Russian forces fired at the area for an hour.
Prokudin also said that a 60-year-old woman, a 62-year-old man and a 54-year-old man were injured when Russian forces attacked Beryslav, a city 65 kilometers east of Kherson.
An attack on the village of Romashkove, a village 12 kilometers outside Kherson, was also reported on Wednesday afternoon by the Kherson regional military administration, says the Ukranian news outlet. Homes, farms, and a car were damaged, and an 81-year-old local woman was injured in the strike.
Russian professor arrested in Estonia on espionage charges
Authorities in Estonia have arrested a Russian professor on espionage charges in a case that his university said shows Russia’s intent to “orchestrate anti-democratic action” in the Baltic country. But some fellow academics have condemned the university for summarily cutting ties with him before a trial was held.
Viacheslav Morozov, a professor of international political theory at the University of Tartu was detained on 3 January by Estonia’s internal security service (ISS), public broadcaster ERR said. The arrest was only revealed on Tuesday.
Margo Palloson, the director general of the ISS, told the public broadcaster that Morozov had shared information with Russian intelligence services when he travelled back to the country with “a measure of regularity”.
Palloson did not say what information Morozov had shared, but warned Estonians against travelling to Russia because of pressure from the security services.
A veteran professor who had previously taught Russian-EU studies at the university, Morozov was well known for his research into Russian political identity and foreign policy. He had condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but had called on others not to “burn bridges” with Russians opposed to the invasion.
Here are some of the images of Ukraine coming through the newswires on Wednesday.
They show Kharkiv after Russian missile attacks overnight damaged apartment buildings and a medical centre, injuring at least 17 people. There is also a photograph showing people taking shelter in a metro station during an air raid alarm in Kyiv and Ukrainian volunteers unloading bags with fuel briquettes at the home of civilians in Donetsk.
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Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov will travel to New York next week for a meeting of the UN’s security council, reports AFP.
Asked whether Lavrov would attend the 23 January security council debate on the Middle East in person, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said “yes,” Tass news agency reported on Wednesday.
Ukraine's priority is to 'throw Russia from the skies', says foreign minister
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba said his country’s priority for 2024 was to gain control over its skies. “In 2024, of course the priority is to throw Russia from the skies,” Kuleba said in an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, reports AFP.
“Because the one who controls the skies will define when and how the war will end,” he added.
Kuleba continued:
We are fighting a powerful enemy, a very big enemy that doesn’t sleep. It takes time. We defeated them on the land in 2022. We defeated them in the sea in 2023 and we are completely focused on defeating them in the air in 2024.”
His comments echo remarks by Zelenskiy, who on Tuesday said that Ukraine “must gain air superiority” to enable “progress on the ground”.
Kuleba called for patience among Ukraine’s key western backers, and said that with the right support, Ukraine could be victorious.
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Cameron: working very hard on using Russian assets for Ukrainian reconstruction
My colleague Graeme Wearden is in Davos for the Guardian. He has been reporting on the latest from the second day of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting for this live blog. British foreign secetary, David Cameron has been speaking on a panel discussion on the Ukraine war, reports Wearden:
Lord Cameron has told delegates in Davos that there is a clear case for frozen Russian assets to be used to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
David Cameron is speaking on a panel discussion on the Ukraine war, as it moves towards its third year.
The UK foreign secretary points out that the countries backing Ukraine have a combined GDP 25 times larger than Russia.
We just need to make our support count, Cameron says.
And he argues that if you zoom out and look at the big picture, the Ukraine war has been a catastrophic disaster for Putin.
Russia has lost half the territory it captured early in the war, and has been sanctioned by a large swathe of the global economy.
Cameron also points to Ukraine’s progress in the Black Sea; with the Black Sea open, Ukraine is trading through its ports again.
Cameron says “Ukraine has done well, is doing well”, so the priority is to help Ukraine through this winter, and set up a system so that Ukraine can win in what will be a longer war.
Cameron is then asked about whether using Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction would be legal.
He points out that the assets have already been frozen; the question is what we do next.
Legally, Cameron says there is growing support for the idea that these resources can be used in some way.
As a moral issue, he says Russia will have to pay reparations when the war is over, so why not use the assets now?
And the political angle, is that when Putin launched this illegal invasion, the world changed, and we need to change with it, Lord Cameron says.
We are now in a more uncertain world, so we need innovative thinking, Cameron says.
He adds that he is “certainly working very hard” on the issue, the rest of the G7 are too, and he’s confidence there will be progress.
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Protesters clash with Russian police after activist jailed
Protesters in a small town in Russia’s central Bashkortostan region clashed with riot police on Wednesday after a court sentenced eco-activist and campaigner for the protection of the Bashkir language, Fail Alsynov, to four years in prison for “inciting hatred”.
Crowds of men in the town of Baymak fought with riot police in temperatures hovering around -20 celsius (-4 fahrenheit), social media footage showed, with some showing police violently detaining a man lying on the ground, reports AFP.
Police later used teargas to disperse the protests, according to OVD-Info, which monitors protests across Russia. Videos shared on social media showed men washing their eyes with water in freezing temperatures outside.
Alsynov’s case had already sparked protests of several hundred people in Baymak earlier this week. The local interior ministry said it had opened a criminal case into Wednesday’s “mass rioting” – a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Alsynov was accused of making a racist comment in a speech to a village council meeting against gold digging. He said his words were mistranslated from the Bashkir language.
Sota, an online outlet that is independent of the state and publishes mostly on the Telegram messaging app, showed a video of a handcuffed Alsynov in the courtroom after the verdict on Wednesday. He said: “I do not admit my guilt. I always fought for justice, for my nation, for my republic.” He also vowed to appeal against the ruling.
According to Sota, the clashes started after protesters blocked the court building in a bid to try to stop Alsynov from being taken away. Anticipating a public response, police had on the eve of the verdict warned people not to take part in “illegal public gatherings”.
The head of the local interior ministry, Rafail Divayev, urged demonstrators to back down on Wednesday. “Mass riots threaten our country’s national security, therefore the punishment under this article is quite serious,” the state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying. “I advise you to come to your senses and not ruin your life.”
The protests are some of the country’s biggest demonstrations since Russia sent troops into Ukraine and escalated a decade-long crackdown on opposition to the Kremlin.
Alsynov was last year fined for criticising Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine online, saying it was not in Bashkortostan’s interests.According to local media, he called Russia’s mobilisation drive a “genocide of the Bashkir people” and said Moscow’s offensive “was not our war”.
Western companies supplied Russia with critical components worth $2.9bn in the first 10 months of 2023, despite sanctions on Moscow, the Ukrainian president’s office said on Wednesday.
Citing research by a working group run by the president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak and by Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, the office said:
The products of more than 250 western companies were found in samples of destroyed or captured Russian weapons.
The research focused on Russia’s attempts to circumvent export control sanctions on military goods, the president’s office said, Reuters reports.
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Belgium does not oppose the confiscation of €280bn worth of frozen Russian central bank assets, but there needs to be a clear mechanism such as using the assets as collateral for Ukraine, prime minister Alexander De Croo told Reuters.
After Russian president Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, the US and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, blocking around $300bn of sovereign Russian assets in the West, Reuters reports.
G7 countries are discussing possibly confiscating the frozen Russian assets, though some G7 members have concerns about the precedent, mechanism and potential impact of taking such a step against central bank assets.
De Croo told Reuters in Davos that Belgium was ready for a discussion about what to do with the interest on the frozen Russian assets and the actual assets themselves.
He said:
We don’t say no to asset confiscation. But we need to work on a mechanism. For example, they can be used as collateral for raising funds for Ukraine.
We are open to further discussion and are willing to participate in a solution of finding a legal basis for those transfers to Ukraine, without destabilising the global financial system.
De Croo said the risk was that financial stability could be undermined as central banks often deposit assets with each other.
The lion’s share of the assets – essentially securities in which the Russian Central Bank had invested – are frozen in Euroclear, a depository based in Brussels.
Some securities mature and hence are being converted into cash – a transaction that is taxed at 25%, he said.
“If there is any taxable revenue, we will isolate it so it can go to Ukraine,” De Croo told Reuters in Davos. He said tax on the frozen assets totalled about €1.3bn in 2023 and in 2024 would total about €1.7bn.
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My colleague, news picture editor Arnel Hecimovic has put together a picture gallery showing winter arriving at the Ukrainian frontline. Below are a selection of the images. You can view the full gallery here:
Military activity on frontlines, which until recently had been covered in mud, continues under difficult conditions. As temperatures drop below zero, Ukrainian forces from Kupyansk to Zaporizhzhia keep on active defence duty, according to Ukraine’s ground forces commander, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi. He added that Russian forces were continually attacking different parts of the front, with Ukrainian forces conducting small counterattacks. ‘This is active defence when we are not just sitting on the defensive but constantly counterattacking, and in some directions switching to the offensive,’ he said
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EBRD: Ukraine needs more financial support
My colleague Larry Elliott is in Davos for the Guardian. He has written the below for the Davos day two live blog:
Ukraine needs financial support as well as military support in order to prevent the government in Kyiv resorting to printing money to keep the economy afloat, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said.
Interviewed in Davos, Beata Javorcik said that Ukraine’s economic situation was challenging, despite growth of just short of 5% last year.
Javorcik says:
“The big risk is that if money doesn’t come in from abroad things could spiral and the government might have to resort to the printing press. The government has done a very good job in ensuring macro-economic stability but we don’t want to have a failed state on our hands.
We need to support Ukraine not only militarily but through budget support.”
Javorcik said the EBRD was planning to invest between €7.5bn and €15bn over the next five years in Ukraine, with the focus on supporting the private sector.
She said there was a “substantial risk”, given the likelihood of the war continuing, of the economy being derailed.
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Russian missiles have injured 17 people in Kharkiv, say officials
Russia fired two missiles at Kharkiv in north eastern Ukraine during the night, hitting apartment buildings and a medical centre, and injuring 17 people, officials said on Wednesday.
Kharkiv regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the S-300 missiles landed after dark on Tuesday, reports Associated Press citing an update on messaging service, Telegram.
The night-time attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, struck 20 residential buildings and a medical center, authorities said, stating that the missile attacks came from the Russian border region of Belgorod. Deeper inside the Kharkive region, areas close to the frontline came under artillery fire, according to officials.
The Russian defence ministry said Wednesday that two winged Ukrainian drones and four missiles were shot down over the Belgorod region overnight and another around noon local time on Wednesday. It provided no details about damage or injuries.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 19 out of 20 Shahed-type drones fired by Russia overnight, though regional officials reported that other drones made it through air defenses.
In the southern city of Odesa, three people were injured in a drone attack that forced the evacuation of about 130 people from an apartment building, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
In Kherson, another southern city, artillery fire injured three people and damaged residential districts overnight, according to its regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
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Senior Nato military officer urges allies and leaders to plan for the unexpected in Ukraine
A top Nato military officer said the war in Ukraine could “determine the fate of the world” and western armies and political leaders must drastically change the way they help Kyiv fend off invading Russian forces, reports Associated Press.
At a meeting of Nato’s senior officers at its headquarters in Brussels, the chair of the Nato military committee, Adm Rob Bauer also said that behind Putin’s rationale for the war is a fear of democracy.
“We need public and private actors to change their mindset for an era in which everything was plannable, foreseeable, controllable and focused on efficiency to an era in which anything can happen at any time. An era in which we need to expect the unexpected,” Bauer said as he opened the meeting. “In order to be fully effective, also in the future, we need a warfighting transformation of Nato,” he added.
Nato would continue to support Ukraine long-term said Bauer: “Today is the 693rd day of what Russia thought would be a three-day war. Ukraine will have our support for every day that is to come because the outcome of this war will determine the fate of the world.”
“This war has never been about any real security threat to Russia coming from either Ukraine or Nato,” Bauer added. “This war is about Russia fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth — democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights, then people in Russia will soon crave them too.”
Over two days of talks in Brussels, Nato’s top officers are expected to detail plans for what are expected to be the biggest military exercises in Europe since the cold war later this year.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has updated his X account with details of his numerous meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.
Zelenskiy said he met Polish president, Andrzej Duda to discuss their bilateral relations, including “cooperation on Ukraine’s path to EU membership”. He said the battlefield situation and further defence assistance for Ukraine was discussed. Zelenskiy added that the pair had acoordinated their positions ahead of the Nato summit in Washington.
Zelenskiy also met Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, where they “emphasised the potential for developing logistical hubs to supply Ukrainian agricultural goods to African countries”. Ways of strengthening ties between the two countries and the wider region were also discussed.
The Ukrainian president said he has also met Vietnam’s prime minister, Phạm Minh Chính, Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, King Philippe of Belgium and had his first ever meeting with Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, where he informed him of his peace formula.
I met with @AndrzejDuda to discuss our bilateral relations, including our cooperation on Ukraine's path to EU membership.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 16, 2024
We discussed the battlefield situation and further defense assistance for Ukraine.
We also coordinated our positions ahead of the NATO summit in Washington. pic.twitter.com/rtX1751qA0
Blinken says Ukraine ceasefire not near, during Davos speech
My colleague Graeme Wearden is in Davos for the Guardian, and has been watching US secretary of state Antony Blinken in conversation with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, and commentator Thomas Friedman:
Blinken is asked whether this is the worst time to be US secretary of state, or just in the top five.
Blinken argues, though, that the US is in a “renewed position of strength” under Joe Biden. He says Biden asked him to reengage with international partners, and that has happened. It means that when dealing with China, and Russia, the world has more convergence than before, he argues.
Asked if were anywhere near a ceasefire in Ukraine, Blinken says ‘I don’t think so’.
He says Putin is prepared to keep putting his young men into a meat grinder war, which is a profound tragedy.
But he can see a future where Ukraine stands strongly on its own two feet.
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Russia is developing its relations with North Korea in 'sensitive' areas, says Kremlin
Russia is developing its relations with North Korea in all areas, including “sensitive” ones, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
North Korea’s foreign minister lauded comradely ties with Russia on Tuesday before holding rare talks in the Kremlin with Putin, who has been invited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit the reclusive nuclear-armed country, reports Reuters.
Asked about the talks in Moscow, Peskov said the situation on the Korean peninsula was discussed, but that the main focus was on developing bilateral relations. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is our very important partner, and we are focused on the further development of our relations in all areas, including in sensitive areas,” Peskov told reporters.
Putin has deepened ties with North Korea since sending troops into Ukraine in 2022, and the US and its allies have condemned what they say have been significant North Korean missile deliveries to Russia to help its war effort.
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Britain’s foreign secretary, David Cameron is to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Ahead of the meeting, news agency PA, reports Cameron as saying:
The world has changed significantly since I first entered government, and we live in very unstable, uncertain and dangerous times. The global impact of conflicts, diseases and climate change is sadly growing. But as the challenges increase, so too must our efforts.
In my discussion with foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, I will make clear the UK will continue to be a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, so it not only wins the war, but emerges from it as a strong, sovereign, and free country.
Ukraine is standing up for the rules that keep us all safe. This is why the UK has provided almost £12bn in support to Ukraine. We will stand with them for as long as it takes to achieve victory.”
Cameron will also meet his US counterpart, Antony Blinken and Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates during his two-day visit.
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EU chief ‘confident’ of Hungary deal on Ukraine aid
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “confident” of getting Hungary to drop its veto on a €50bn ($54bn) aid package for Ukraine at a crunch summit in two weeks, reports AFP.
Hungary’s right wing prime minister, Viktor Orbán – Russia’s closest EU ally - refused in December to sign off on the assistance to Kyiv’s state spending over the next four years.
The EU’s 27 leaders agreed to reconvene for a new meeting in Brussels on 1 February to try to hammer out a deal with Budapest on the aid and a broader update to the bloc’s budget. “I am confident that a solution at 27 is possible,” von der Leyen told the European parliament.
Budapest has signalled it could be in the mood to compromise and mayy agree to the aid if it is given the chance each year to veto further payments. Other EU states have so far balked at that demand, and officials in Brussels are frantically trying to pitch a solution, says AFP.
The European Commission, headed by von der Leyen, has faced criticism for unlocking €10bn in frozen EU funds last month for Hungary as it sought to win over Orban. EU lawmakers at Wednesday’s debate urged von der Leyen not to cave into “blackmail” from Orbán and are threatening a possible lawsuit against the commission over the release of the funds.
Von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive arm, defended the decision to release the €10bn to Hungary, arguing that Budapest had passed a new law on judicial reform, something requested by Brussels, to get the funds.
“At the same time, around €10bn remain frozen. They are suspended for reasons that include concerns on LGTBIQ rights, academic freedom and asylum rights,” she said. Billions held up by Brussels “will remain blocked until Hungary fulfils all the necessary conditions,” she added.
Ukraine downed 19 Russian drones overnight, says its air force
Ukraine says it downed 19 of 20 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russia at targets in southern Ukraine overnight.
“The enemy struck with 20 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk region of Russia and with two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the Belgorod region of Russia from near Kharkiv,” Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on social media, reports AFP.
According to the statement, Ukraine used guided missiles and mobile air defence units in southern regions, including Dnipro.
The announcement came after authorities said 20 people had been injured in Russian attacks in the eastern city of Kharkiv and Odesa on the Black Sea.
Belarus will put forward a new military doctrine that provides for the use of nuclear weapons
A new military doctrine that for the first time provides for the use of nuclear weapons will be put forward by Belarus, its defence minister said on Tuesday according to the Associated Press.
“We clearly communicate Belarus’ views on the use of tactical nuclear weapons stationed on our territory,” defence minister, Viktor Khrenin, said at a meeting of Belarus’ security council. “A new chapter has appeared, where we clearly define our allied obligations to our allies.”
The doctrine is to be presented for approval to the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, a representative body that operates in Belarus in parallel with the parliament. Belarus, closely allied with Russia, had both tactical and long-range nuclear weapons when it was part of the Soviet Union, but transferred them to Russia after the USSR’s collapse.
Russia sent tactical nuclear weapons to be stationed in Belarus last year, although there are no details about how many. Russia has said it will maintain control over those weapons, which are intended for battlefield use and have short ranges and comparatively low yields. It’s not immediately clear how the new doctrine might be applied to the Russian weapons.
Russia used Belarus territory as a springboard to send its troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and has maintained its military bases and weapons there, although Belarusian troops have not taken part in the war.
Security council secretary, Alexander Volfovich, said that the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus is intended to deter aggression from Poland, a Nato member. “Unfortunately, statements by our neighbours, in particular Poland … forced us to strengthen” the military doctrine, he said.
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A rights activist in Bashkortostan, a republic in central Russia, was sentenced to four years in a prison colony on Wednesday after a court found him guilty of inciting ethnic hatred, reports Reuters citing information from independent Russian-language news outlets.
According to the news agency, a video circulating on social media showed helmeted riot police with shields and truncheons confronting a large crowd of people who had gathered in support of the activist, Fail Alsynov.
Alsynov was accused of insulting migrant workers in a speech he made in April 2023 at a protest over plans to mine for gold in an area of Bashkortostan.
Large protests in Russia are extremely rare because of the risk of arrest over any gatherings the authorities deem to have been unauthorised. Thousands of people have been detained in the past two years for opposing the war in Ukraine.
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Russia will open polling stations in US for presidential vote, says ambassador
Russia will open polling stations for its March presidential election at three diplomatic missions in the US, its envoy in Washington said on Wednesday, as relations dipped to an all-time low since the cold war over Ukraine.
The announcement, reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), came as Moscow said it had not yet decided if voting would take place in what it calls “unfriendly” European countries.
Russia’s ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, said in an interview published by his embassy: “In the US, we plan to open three polling stations: in our embassy in New York, as well as our consulates in New York and in Houston.”
Thousands of Russians have fled their country after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine, with many residing in EU countries, but Russia has not yet decided if it will open voting stations in Europe. “We are asking countries to ensure security,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said last week. She said a decision would be made by the end of January.
The vote on 17 March is expected to extend Russian president Vladimir Putin’s long rule until at least 2030. He has been in power since 2000 and is running for a fifth presidential term. Putin faces no real competition in the election, which will take place more than two years since Russia launched its Ukraine offensive.
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Summary
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war against Ukraine. Here are the main points:
At least 17 people were injured in a Russian strike, probably using two S-300 missiles, on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday evening, said the regional governor, Oleg Synegubov. Residential buildings were destroyed and there were no military targets in the area, said the Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekhov.
Earlier, authorities in the Kharkiv region in Ukraine’s north-east region urged residents of more than two dozen villages near the frontline to evacuate because of worsening Russian attacks.
Emmanuel Macron said he would go to Ukraine in February to finalise a bilateral security guarantee under which France would deliver more sophisticated weapons, including long-range cruise missiles. The French president said about 40 Scalp long-range missiles and hundreds of bombs would be delivered in the coming weeks. “We cannot let Russia win and we must not do that.”
North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, has held talks in the Kremlin with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The US and allies have condemned North Korean missile deliveries to Russia for use against Ukraine, in breach of international law.
Ukraine’s border authorities said Polish truck drivers who had been blocking three crossings on the Polish-Ukrainian border had lifted all blockades, allowing traffic to pass freely. Poland’s infrastructure minister said that truckers would suspend their protest until 1 March after signing an agreement with the government.
The French company TotalEnergies said that it had invoked force majeure over investment in Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project, which is under anti-war sanctions. Putin’s war against Ukraine has forced global energy companies to write off billions of dollars and leave Russia. Force majeure allows companies to abandon contractual obligations when there are factors beyond their control.
Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law creating an electronic registry for the purposes of mobilisation, according to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an MP.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Europe needed to continue backing Kyiv. “We must continue to empower their resistance. Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond.”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the west should show unity and called for more support for Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not prevail. In a speech in Davos, Zelenskiy said that the west’s fears about escalation had lost Kyiv time in its struggle against Russia.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said it was “impossible” to take away from Russia the military gains it had made in Ukraine.
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said that “if we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget”. At least 120 MEPs have signed a petition for Hungary’s voting rights to be suspended because of Orbán’s obstruction of EU processes including the approval of aid to Ukraine. Orbán is close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
