Here is the current situation as of Tuesday, January 17, 2023:
Fight
- Number of people killed by Russian missiles Attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 40, with dozens more missing, making it the deadliest civilian incident in Moscow’s three-month campaign of rocket fire into cities far from the front lines.
- Dnipro city official Gennadiy Korban said 30 people were still missing after the rocket hit the nine-storey apartment complex, with 75 people injured, including 14 children.
- A three-story shopping center in Russian-controlled Donetsk was partially destroyed by shelling, according to Reuters news agency. At least three people were injured, a rescue worker told reporters. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack.
- The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol in Crimea said air defenses shot down 10 drones over the city in what he called a “failed Ukrainian attack”.
- Russia has produced the first set of Poseidon nuclear-capable super torpedoes that are being developed for deployment on the Belgorod nuclear submarine, TASS news agency quoted an unnamed defense source as saying.
- Russia is increasing its use of S-300 and S-400 air defense systems to launch attacks on targets on the ground, indicating that Russia’s ballistic missile arsenal is dwindling, a spokesman for the force said. Ukrainian Air Force said.
Politics, diplomacy, military aid
- Turkish Inspector General Seref Malkoc said Russia and Ukraine are working on a large-scale prisoner exchange agreement, involving a total of 1,000 people.
- The German government said Chancellor Olaf Scholz accept the resignation of the Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht and will soon appoint a replacement, the culmination of growing skepticism about her ability to bring the German army into shape amid the Ukraine war.
- Great Britain calls on ally Germany permission to supply Leopard tanks to Kievstressed that such a move could receive similar support from other countries and that Berlin would not act alone.
- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to be in Berlin on Thursday and will attend a conference on Friday at the US military base in Ramstein to discuss further assistance to Ukraine.
- German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for the creation of a special international court to prosecute Russian leaders for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
- On the side of the World Economic Forum, Latvian President Egils Levits calling on Western countries to step up military support for Ukraine to counter a new potential Russian attack in February.
Belarusian exercises
- Belarus start air exercises with Russia which it says is defensive in nature. However, the move comes amid growing concerns that Moscow is pushing Minsk to join the war in Ukraine.
