Summary of the day
That’s it from this live blog for today. Thanks for following along. You can continue to follow the latest news from Russia’s war on Ukraine here. Below is a closing summary of today’s key posts.
Russian authorities are attempting to quell dissent from the wives of soldiers deployed in Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said. The MoD said in its daily intelligence briefing that some were being paid off while others have been discredited online.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told the Associated Press that “winter as a whole is a new phase of war” and acknowledged that “we did not achieve the desired results” with the summer counteroffensive. He added that “we already can see the consequences of the international community shifting [attention] because of the tragedy in the Middle East”.
Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by nearly 170,000, as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its 22nd month.
Ukraine has become progressively stronger over the past year and will soon be able to reopen Kyiv’s international airport, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak said.
Russia said its troops were advancing in every section of the Ukrainian front, despite observers seeing little movement. The frontlines have barely shifted this year but fighting has remained intense. “Our servicemen are acting competently and decisively, occupying a more favourable position and expanding their zones of control in all directions,” Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said on Friday.
The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its power supply after the last remaining line to it from Ukrainian-controlled territory was disrupted, but it has since been repaired. Ukraine’s energy ministry said the blackout could have led to “nuclear catastrophe”.
Zelenskiy has said Ukraine needs to improve its mobilisation system, with the issue of recruitment under public discussion for some time. Questions of corruption in the military, particularly in procurement and recruiting, have periodically seized public attention as Ukraine tries to press on with a counteroffensive that has so far produced only incremental gains.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow saw no signs that Kyiv was ready to move towards a political resolution and that there was no reason for Russia to change the goals of its “special military operation”. He also accused western diplomats of cowardice in refusing to meet with him at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference in North Macedonia.
OSCE Conference participants have accused Moscow of undermining the Vienna-based organisation. Latvia’s representative, Katrina Kaktina, accused Russia of obstructing the OSCE agenda and of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Ukraine is developing plans to allow spectators to attend sports stadiums. Its sports ministry is developing a system that will allow fans to attend stadiums and watch games which have been off limits to the public since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border remained tense, with Ukrainian truckers stuck on the border saying they planned to launch a hunger strike if their demands were not met. Polish and Ukrainian officials agreed on measures designed to help ease the situation at border crossings blocked by Polish truckers, but did not address the protesting Polish truckers’ main demands. Slovak truckers said they would start blocking a border crossing with Ukraine.
A court in Russia has extended the detention of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until 5 February.
Updated
The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its power supply after the last remaining line to it from Ukrainian-controlled territory was disrupted, but it has since been repaired, reports Reuters.
According to a statement published by Ukraine’s energy ministry on Telegram, one power line to the plant was disrupted late on Friday, while the last 750 kW line was broken at 2.31 am (00.31 GMT) on Saturday. In its statement, the energy ministry stated that it was the eight blackout at the nuclear power plant, which was captured by Russia in early March 2022. The ministry warned that this latest incident could have led to “nuclear catastrophe”.
Greenpeace have previously expressed concerns over the safety of the Zaporizhzhia power station, saying international regulators are incapable of properly monitoring its safety.
Updated
