Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, January 20, 2023:
Fighting:
- The Russian army launched a “local offensive” near Orikhiv in southern Ukraine, a Russian-installed official said.
- The Kremlin warned that any Ukrainian attacks on Crimea would be “extremely dangerous” after The New York Times reported that US officials were warming to the idea of helping Kyiv attack the Black Sea peninsula.
- Kremlin also said the sooner Ukraine accepts Russia’s demands, namely Moscow’s claims to Ukrainian territory in the country’s east and south, the sooner war can end.
- Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the “defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war”, referring to Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Military:
- Germany’s new defence minister, Boris Pistorius, confirmed that Berlin will not take unilateral action when it comes to providing Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
- Several countries will announce plans to send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine on Friday at a meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Lithuania’s defence minister said.
- Denmark will donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Ukraine, the country’s defence minister said.
- The United Kingdom will send 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine to support the country in its fight against Russia, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
- Senior NATO commander Christopher Cavoli warned that Western tanks will not be a “silver bullet” for Ukraine in its fight with Russia, despite Kyiv’s new arsenal outperforming Moscow’s weaponry.
Diplomacy:
- The European Parliament approved a non-binding resolution backing the creation of a special court to judge Russia “for the crime of aggression against Ukraine”.
- Serbian and pro-Ukraine activists filed criminal complaints against Russia’s private military Wagner Group and its supporters, accusing it of recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian authorities said they were investigating the circumstances surrounding a helicopter crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 others.
