It is day 315 of the war in Ukraine. Follow the latest news about the war and all its aftermath in this live blog.
Russia is on the attack
20:01 | Russia has launched dozens of missile and airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Kramatorsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian sources said. This makes the call for even greater support from the West louder.
French armored cars in Ukraine
5:45 pm | French President Emmanuel Macron has told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that France will send AMX-10 RC light armored fighting vehicles to help in the war against Russia, an Elysée official said after a phone call between the two leaders, reports Reuters. Speaking to reporters, the official did not provide details on the volume or timing of the expected shipments.
“Ukrainian oligarchs are also having a hard time”
5.40pm | Not only Russian but also Ukrainian oligarchs are suffering from the war. They appear to be becoming an “extinct species” before long, says Eastern European expert Floris Akkerman. Putin’s bombings threaten their business and assets.
EU: lots of gas stored
5pm | The European Union says plenty of natural gas is being stored, despite Russian attempts to block supplies to Europe, the AP news agency reports.
Last year, the 27 EU countries stockpiled gas in case of a winter shortage. The European Commission estimated collective gas storage was nearly 84% as of Wednesday. He said December levels were 13% above the 2016-2018 average.
European Commission spokesman Tim McPhiem: “It’s a pretty good position.” Before Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February, Russia’s pipeline accounted for 40% of all gas imported from Europe, but now it’s down to about 9%. Energy prices have also fallen, partly due to mild winter weather in Europe.
Because Putin manages to avoid any internal criticism
3:30 pm | The Russian military has come under increasing criticism after an attack that killed many Russian soldiers. But for now, President Putin manages to emerge from this battle unscathed. “More often he shrugs off responsibility for important decisions.”
Russia has acknowledged that dozens of soldiers were killed in the Ukrainian attack on a barracks in Makiivka. Next to the barracks was an ammunition depot next door. According to the Russians, the reason why the ammunition depot was tracked down and attacked is due to the excessive use of the telephone by the Russian troops.
Condominium
As a result of the attack, a storm of criticism arose against the command of the Russian army. Both from politicians and pro-Russian bloggers. But for now everything is slipping away from Putin. “We get signals of criticism through channels like Telegram about military leadership,” says Dick Berlin, former chief of the military. ‘This makes the army command a kind of lightning distraction from Putin, the unrest among the people is aimed at them. As a result, a number of generals are fired, and sometimes someone falls off an apartment building. This is Putin’s way of working.
Small sign that Putin is slowing down
12:30 | German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees few signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin will end his war against Ukraine any time soon. “The Russian president started this brutal war and only he can end it,” Baerbock said in an interview. “If Russia stops bombing and withdraws its soldiers, we will have peace.”
Putin speaks today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov told the Interfax news agency. Erdogan has often tried to play the role of intermediary between Moscow and Kiev.
Putin sends frigate with hypersonic cruise missile
12:10 | Vladimir Putin sent a frigate to the Atlantic armed with Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles. This was stated by the Russian president during a video conference with Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and the commander of the frigate, Reuters news agency reports.
“The vessel is equipped with the latest Zircon hypersonic missile system,” the Russian leader said. The frigate Admiral Gorshkov goes to the Atlantic and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.
‘Ukraine benefited from Russia’s big mistakes’
10:15 am | Russia has acknowledged that more than 89 soldiers have been killed in a Ukrainian attack on a makeshift barracks in Makiivka. The barracks was located next to an ammunition depot, and therefore caused a huge stir on New Year’s Eve. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported 64 dead, while the Ukrainians speak of more than 400 victims.
According to the Russians, the reason why the ammunition depot was tracked down and attacked is due to the excessive use of the telephone by the Russian troops. “Using telephones, the owners of the telephone network – in this case a Ukrainian telephone company – can trace which masts are being used to make calls,” says defense specialist Peter Wijninga of the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague. “And if a conversation is picked up by multiple antennas, you can be located very precisely.”
Russia increases death toll from missile attacks
06:00 | Russia has revised the number of dead in the Ukrainian rocket attack on the Makiivka temporary military base in Donetsk from 63 to 89. Ukraine says about 400 Russian soldiers have been killed in the attack.
Even Russia’s Defense Ministry now claims that this attack may have occurred due to “the unauthorized use of mobile phones by Russian troops”. The ministry speaks of unauthorized mass use of mobile phones in an area within enemy weapons range.
In Russia, meanwhile, its own command of the army is criticized. Pro-Russian bloggers criticized, among other things, the soldiers’ bivouac next to an ammunition depot, which proved fatal in Makiivka. Russian politician Igor Strelkov writes that the Russian military “is unable to learn from its mistakes.”
‘Forcing defense companies to produce more in an emergency’
05:00 | In times of crisis and war, the Dutch state must be able to force defense companies to produce more. Armed Forces Commander Onno Eichelsheim claims this in NRC. He wants to research how to change (emergency) legislation to prevent the Netherlands from running out of ammunition in wartime.
According to Eichelsheim, the Netherlands is heavily dependent on foreign countries for the production of weapons and munitions. The armed forces chief, 56, stresses to NRC that if production stagnates, it will be difficult to go to war. “So we have to sit around the table to update the state emergency law in the Netherlands in case production delays to the detriment of safety,” he tells the newspaper. According to the commander, consideration should be given to “if and when” such a measure should be adopted.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
