Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 329

Here is the situation as it stands on Wednesday, January 18, 2023:

Fighting:

• More than 9,000 civilians, including 453 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February, according to a senior Ukrainian presidential aide.
• Search and rescue efforts have ended in Ukraine’s central city of Dnipro, where a missile attack on an apartment block on Saturday killed at least 45 civilians in one of the war’s deadliest attacks.
• A senior Ukrainian official has blamed Russia for carrying out the bulk of more than 2,000 cyberattacks on Ukraine in 2022.
• Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from the outskirts of Bakhmut, said the situation for civilians remaining in the eastern Ukrainian city was “horrifying” as Russian shelling intensified.
• A man claiming to be a former commander of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who had fought in Ukraine said he fled to Norway and was seeking asylum after deserting in fear for his life.
• Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said they were in control of Soledar, repeating their earlier claim about the salt-mining town.

Military:

• NATO surveillance planes were due to arrive in Romania on Tuesday to bolster the military alliance’s eastern flank and help monitor Russian military activity.
• Pressure is mounting on Germany to supply Ukraine with battle tanks as Kyiv’s Western allies prepare for a military aid meeting on Friday at a United States airbase in Germany.
• The Netherlands will send a Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine, Dutch news agency ANP reported, citing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Diplomacy:

• Top US General Mark Milley for the first time held face-to-face talks with his Ukrainian counterpart near the Ukraine-Poland border.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of carrying out “atrocious war crimes” in Ukraine and called for a special tribunal to be formed to investigate and prosecute them.
• Ukraine’s first lady told the World Economic Forum in Davos that some states were failing to use their influence to end Russia’s war against her country.
• Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called on Russia to crack down on alleged efforts by the Wagner Group to recruit Serbians to fight in Ukraine.
• Suspicion has fallen on Russia over a series of confirmed or apparent acts of sabotage and espionage that took place late last year in Western Europe, experts said, with European countries increasingly taking measures in response.