Putin replaces general in charge of war in Ukraine after three months in postRussia’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, was appointed as the new commander of the combined forces group for Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine by defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, Reuters reports.
Gerasimov will be replacing Sergei Surovikin, a notorious general who opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in the 1990s. He was appointed Russia’s first overall commander for the war in Ukraine on the same day Vladimir Putin was dealt a humiliating blow after an explosion on the Kerch bridge sank a section of the motorway into the Kerch Strait and caused a major fire on the railway.
Surovikin is a veteran commander who led the Russian military expedition in Syria in 2017, where he was accused of using “controversial” tactics including indiscriminate bombing against anti-government fighters.
Surovikin also has a checkered history that includes two stints in jail for allegedly selling weapons and for leading a military column against protesters during the 1991 coup. He has also previously served in Tajikistan and Chechnya.
The top Russian military commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, left, and Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, centre. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/APAnnouncing the appointment on Wednesday, the defence ministry said the changes were designed to increase the effectiveness of managing military operations in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Surovikin will now stay on as a deputy of Gerasimov, the defence ministry said.
The ministry statement said:
The increase in the level of leadership of the special military operation is connected with the expansion in the scale of tasks … the need to organise closer contact between different branches of the armed forces and improve the quality … and effectiveness of the management of Russian forces.
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Zelenskiy says fighting in Soledar still ongoingThe Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, mocked Russian claims to have taken over parts of the eastern city of Soledar, saying that fighting was still going on in a video address on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Here are the latest images coming out of Ukraine:
Ukrainian soldiers in their position on the Donbas frontline. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesPeople walk through the heavily damaged town of Izium. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesVolodymyr Zelenskiy paying tribute to fallen soldiers at the Field of Mars of Lychakiv cemetery in the western city of Lviv. Photograph: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople receive aid in the heavily damaged town of Izium. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesUkrainian soldiers on a tank on the Donbas frontline. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesSummaryWelcome, if you’re joining us now, to our continuing live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war – day 322 of the conflict. It is 7pm in Kyiv. Here’s the latest:
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Nato to do more than just promise Ukraine its open doors, saying Kyiv needs “powerful steps” as it tries to join the military alliance. Kyiv requested fast-track NATO membership last September, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine’s military has denied that Russian forces have encircled and captured Soledar, after claims by the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that the eastern town had fallen. Serhiy Cherevatyi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: “Russians say that it is under their control, it is not true”.
Russia’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, was appointed as the new commander of the combined forces group for Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. Russia’s defence ministry said the changes were designed to increase the effectiveness of managing military operations in Ukraine.
The British government is planning to provide tanks to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion, the Financial Times reports. A spokesperson for Number 10 said that prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has asked defence secretary, Ben Wallace, to “work with partners” and to provide further support to Ukraine “including the provision of tanks”.
Poland plans to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition, the Polish president has said, according to reports. Kyiv has been requesting heavy military vehicles such as the German-made Leopard 2, which would represent a significant step up in western support to Ukraine.
The European Union is “prepared for a long war” in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia’s aggression for “as long as it takes”, said Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU’s presidency. He also said the EU would continue working on more sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces are trying ‘without success’ to capture Soledar, a Ukrainian official said. “The enemy has again replaced its units after sustaining losses, has increased the number of Wagner (Russian mercenaries),” Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.
The German government said they are not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine. The statement from a government spokesperson on Wednesday comes after Germany’s foreign minister visited the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv Tuesday. The spokesperson said Germany was coordinating closely with the United States, France, Britain and elsewhere on military support for Ukraine.
The Russian president said the situation in Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed was “difficult in places”. Vladimir Putin, speaking at a televised meeting with officials, also said Russia had all the resources it needed to improve life in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow unilaterally claimed to have annexed in September.
Ukraine must “be ready” at its border with Russian ally Belarus even though it sees only “powerful statements” coming from its neighbour, Zelenskiy said on Wednesday. Kyiv has warned that Russia may try to use Belarus to launch a new ground invasion of Ukraine from the north.
Nato and the EU are launching a task force to bolster the protection of critical infrastructure in response to last year’s attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and Russia’s “weaponising of energy”, leaders said on Wednesday. The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the task force would initially come up with proposals on transport, energy, digital and space infrastructure.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stripped four political figures of their Ukrainian citizenship on Tuesday, including the pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who was transferred to Russia last year in a prisoner swap deal.
Ukraine needs ‘powerful steps’ from Nato, urges ZelenskiyPresident Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Nato on Wednesday to do more than just promise Ukraine its open doors, saying Kyiv needs “powerful steps” as it tries to join the military alliance, Reuters reports.
Kyiv requested fast-track Nato membership last September, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Nato says it has an open-door policy to Ukraine but has not said whether it will accelerate moves towards Kyiv’s possible accession.
Speaking in Lviv, Zelenskiy said:
For today, just support for Ukraine from colleagues in Nato and support in the form of rhetoric about open doors is not enough for Ukraine. Namely, not enough to motivate our state … our soldiers.
Ukraine military denies Russian forces have captured SoledarUkraine’s military has denied that Russian forces have encircled and captured Soledar, after claims by the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that the eastern town had fallen.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: “Russians say that it is under their control, it is not true.”
Russia’s capture of Soledar and its huge saltmines would have symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia. But the situation in and around Soledar appeared fluid and neither claim could be independently verified.
Prigozhin had released a photograph showing himself with a group of his fighters and a tank that he said was taken in one of the tunnels of a saltmine in the south-west of the town.
He also said only units of his paramilitary company – many of them convicts who had been offered a pardon if they fought for him – had been involved in fighting for the town.
Read more here:
Putin replaces general in charge of war in Ukraine after three months in postRussia’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, was appointed as the new commander of the combined forces group for Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine by defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, Reuters reports.
Gerasimov will be replacing Sergei Surovikin, a notorious general who opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in the 1990s. He was appointed Russia’s first overall commander for the war in Ukraine on the same day Vladimir Putin was dealt a humiliating blow after an explosion on the Kerch bridge sank a section of the motorway into the Kerch Strait and caused a major fire on the railway.
Surovikin is a veteran commander who led the Russian military expedition in Syria in 2017, where he was accused of using “controversial” tactics including indiscriminate bombing against anti-government fighters.
Surovikin also has a checkered history that includes two stints in jail for allegedly selling weapons and for leading a military column against protesters during the 1991 coup. He has also previously served in Tajikistan and Chechnya.
The top Russian military commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, left, and Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, centre. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/APAnnouncing the appointment on Wednesday, the defence ministry said the changes were designed to increase the effectiveness of managing military operations in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Surovikin will now stay on as a deputy of Gerasimov, the defence ministry said.
The ministry statement said:
The increase in the level of leadership of the special military operation is connected with the expansion in the scale of tasks … the need to organise closer contact between different branches of the armed forces and improve the quality … and effectiveness of the management of Russian forces.
Jennifer Rankin
Sweden’s bid to join Nato is proceeding “in a good way” the country’s prime minister has said despite “different opinions” with Turkey on what needs to be done for Stockholm to join the military alliance.
Since Sweden confirmed its intention to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in May – an historic shift from neutrality triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – 28 Nato countries have ratified its membership bid. But Turkey continues to demand further action from the Swedish government in tackling military groups it considers terrorists, before approving Sweden’s Nato membership.
Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said “we are proceeding in a good way on the trilateral memo” between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, which is also bidding to join Nato.
One of Sweden’s core tasks, he said, was to strengthen domestic terrorism legislation, adding that his government was “doing exactly what we promised to do”.
Turkey sometimes names people “they would like to have extradited” from Sweden, he said, a matter that was in the hands of Swedish judges, not the government. Turkey and Sweden sometimes had “different opinions” on that, but he insisted it should not overshadow that “things are going well”.
Hungary is the only other member of the transatlantic military alliance that has failed to ratify Sweden’s Nato bid, but sources expressed optimism the Hungarian parliament would do so in February. All 30 Nato countries must approve Sweden and Finland’s membership application.
Kristersson declined to name a date when Sweden might join Nato.
Sweden’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, said a decisive change in Swedish public opinion on Nato came in December 2021 when Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, outlined plans for a new security architecture for Europe that would bar Sweden and Finland from ever joining the alliance. “That was a wake-up call,” Jonson said, adding that Russia’s plans for legally binding restrictions on Sweden’s sovereignty “did not go down well in Stockholm”.
Here are the latest images from Ukraine:
Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/APA man in military uniform walks past a makeshift memorial in the rubble of a vocational school that Russian servicemen used as barracks, in Makiivka, Donetsk region. Photograph: Alessandro Guerra/EPAA Ukrainian serviceman smokes a cigarette at his position on the frontline near Bakhmut. Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/APA woman walks a dog in the snow, Kyiv. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty ImagesUkrainian servicemen attend a joint drill of armed forces near the border with Belarus. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/ReutersBritish government planning to provide tanks to UkraineDowning Street has confirmed that the British government is planning to provide tanks to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion, the Financial Times reports.
Journalists were told by a spokesperson for Number 10 that prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has asked defence secretary, Ben Wallace, to “work with partners” and to provide further support to Ukraine “including the provision of tanks”.
Ukraine has been asking for British tanks “since summer”, a source previously told the Guardian. But the reality is that the UK, with a total fleet of 227, has a small supply compared with Germany and the US.
Should the British government supply Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks, it would be the first time a western country has provided Ukraine with modern heavy battle tanks, according to the FT.
Poland plans to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition, the Polish president has said, according to reports.
Kyiv has been requesting heavy military vehicles such as the German-made Leopard 2, which would represent a significant step up in western support to Ukraine.
On a visit to Lviv, Andrzej Duda said:
A company of Leopard tanks will be handed over as part of coalition building … We want it to be an international coalition.
On Saturday, Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said the country did not intend to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine without the formation of a wider coalition.
Earlier today, a German government spokesperson said that it was not aware of any requests from its allies to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy and Poland’s President Duda attend a joint news briefing with Lithuanian president Nauseda in Lviv. Photograph: Pavlo Palamarchuk/ReutersEstonia has demanded that the Russian government reduce the number of its embassy within the country, according to reports.
According to the press release of the ministry of foreign affairs, the Russian embassy was warned on Wednesday 11 January that the diplomatic staff should be reduced by half by 1 February.
The press release reportedly said: “Estonia considers the principle of parity very important in our relations with Russia. Considering that, in light of this war of aggression, the Russian embassy is not engaged in promoting Estonian-Russian relations, we believe that its (current) size is not justified. Now we have set a limit for the number of diplomats working in Estonia in order to achieve parity”.
Currently, eight diplomats and 15 other officials work in the Estonian embassy in Moscow, while 21 Russian diplomats and 23 other officials are located in Tallinn.
Jennifer Rankin
Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said he expects decisions later this month on further military support for Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Stockholm, Kristersson said he had recently told Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that “we want to do more” adding that he expects “decision making in January”.
He declined to specify whether EU nations should be supplying Ukraine with tanks, a key demand of Zelenskiy’s, backed by France and Poland.
Germany, manufacturer and supplier of Leopard 2 tanks to other European nations, is coming under growing pressure to supply the vehicles to Ukraine and allow other European nations to do so the same. Sweden is one of 13 European countries that uses the powerful Leopard 2 tanks, which number some 2,000 at different states of readiness.
Speaking separately, Sweden’s supreme commander, Micael Bydén, said Ukraine had impressed allies with its willingness to fight and courage but will “probably need even more [western support] to win the war
Some pictures from the conflict today:
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Andrzej Duda of Poland attend a press conference in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Photograph: Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty ImagesUkrainian soldiers at a joint drills of armed forces, national guard and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) near the border with Belarus. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters