Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 332

ukraine
Kremlin says Western countries supplying tanks to Ukraine will not change the course of the conflict but will add to the problems of the Ukrainian people [Daniel Cole/AP Photo]

Here is the situation as it stands on Saturday, January 21, 2023:

Fighting:

  • US General Mark Milley expressed strong doubt that Ukraine would succeed in driving Russian troops out of its territory this year.
  • Senior US officials urged Ukraine to hold off on launching a major offensive against Russian forces until the latest supply of weaponry is in place and training has been provided.
  • Russian-backed forces in Donetsk said Russian troops had taken control of Klishchiivka, a small settlement south of Bakhmut.

INTERACTIVE-WHO CONTROLS WHAT IN BAKHMUT

Military:

  • Germany’s defence minister said no decision was reached at the US-hosted meeting at the Ramstein Air Base on whether to deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. He said Berlin was not alone among Ukraine’s allies in its concerns about the delivery.
  • Addressing the meeting, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said partners needed “not to bargain about different numbers of tanks but to open that principal supply that will stop evil”.
  • NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said countries backing Ukraine need to focus not only on sending new weapons to Kyiv but also on providing ammunition for older systems.
  • The Kremlin said Western countries supplying tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict but would add to the problems of the Ukrainian people.

Diplomacy:

  • The US has designated Russia’s Wagner Group as a “transnational criminal organisation”, raising pressure on the private Russian army fighting in Ukraine.
  • The paramilitary group has denied it was recruiting Serbians, a day after activists filed criminal complaints against the organisation in Belgrade.
  • The Kremlin said its relations with the US were at an all-time low halfway through President Joe Biden’s term and there was no hope of improvement.

Humanitarian aid:

  • For the first time since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, a United Nations humanitarian convoy arrived in the eastern region of Donetsk with aid for civilians.

 

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies