WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
A drone believed to be Ukrainian penetrated hundreds of kilometers through Russian airspace, causing a deadly explosion at the main base for Moscow's strategic bombers in the latest attack to expose gaps in its air defences.
Moscow on Monday said it had shot the drone down causing it to crash at the Engels air base, where three service members were killed. Under its usual policy on incidents inside Russia, Ukraine did not comment.
The base, the main airfield for the bombers that Kyiv says Moscow has used in recent months to attack Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, is hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian frontier. The same planes are also designed to launch nuclear-capable missiles as part of Russia's long-term strategic deterrent.
A suspected drone already struck it on Dec. 5, exposing what was widely described at the time as a humiliating hole in Russia's air defences that the latest attack suggests Moscow has yet to plug.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement no planes were damaged, but Russian and Ukrainian social media accounts said several had been destroyed. Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.
As the war entered its 11th month, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted leaders of other former Soviet states in St Petersburg on Monday for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States group, which Ukraine has long since quit.
In televised remarks, Putin made no direct reference to the war, while saying threats to the security and stability of the Eurasian region were increasing.
"Unfortunately challenges and threats in this area, especially from the outside, are only growing each year," he said. "We also have to acknowledge unfortunately that disagreements also arise between member states of the commonwealth."
TEST OF AUTHORITY
The invasion of Ukraine has been a test of Russia's longstanding authority among other ex-Soviet states. Fighting has surged in recent months between CIS members Armenia and Azerbaijan in a conflict where Russia has peacemakers, while a border dispute has flared between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Putin said such disagreements should be resolved through "comradely help and mediating action".
On Sunday, Putin said he was open to negotiations over Ukraine, blaming Kyiv and its Western allies for failing to engage in talks. He has shown no sign of stepping back from his demand that Ukraine recognise Moscow's armed conquest of a fifth of the country. Kyiv says it will fight until Russia withdraws.
"We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them - we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are," Putin said in an interview on Rossiya 1 state television.
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the remarks: "Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens," Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. "Russia doesn't want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that
Moscow's proposals for "demilitarisation" and "denazification" of Ukraine are well known to Kyiv and it is up to Ukrainian authorities to fulfil them, citing Russian objectives that Ukraine and its Western supporters have dismissed as propaganda.
Otherwise, "the issue will be decided by the Russian army," Lavrov was quoted by the Russian state news agency TASS as saying, despite Moscow's embarrassing battlefield setbacks to its original Ukraine invasion plans.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that the situation at the front in the Donbas region was "difficult and painful" and required all of the country's "strength and concentration".
He also said that as a result of Russia's targeting of Ukraine's energy infrastructure nearly nine million people were without electricity. That figure amounts to about a quarter of Ukraine's population.
Since the invasion, Ukraine has driven Russian forces from the north, defeated them on the outskirts of the capital and forced Russian retreats in the east and south. But Moscow still controls swathes of eastern and southern land Putin claims to have annexed.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have died in cities Russia razed to the ground, and thousands of troops on both sides have been killed, forcing Putin to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists for the first time since World War Two.
The Ukrainian military said early on Monday that Moscow had shelled dozens of towns in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzia regions, along the front line.
Since October, Russia has been deliberately striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure with drones and missiles. Moscow says the aim is to degrade Kyiv's ability to fight. Ukraine says the attacks have no military purpose and are intended to harm civilians as winter sets in, a war crime.
Ukraine's energy grid operator said power was still significantly lacking on Monday, with emergency consumption restrictions introduced in five Ukrainian regions and the capital.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ex-Russian president issues ‘nuclear catastrophe’ warning
Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia and current deputy chair of the country's Security Council, has issued a reminder of the dangers of nuclear brinkmanship amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a lengthy article in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, he summarized his thoughts on how the year 2022 has changed the world order forever.
“The only thing that stops our enemies today is the understanding that Russia will be guided by [the doctrine] on nuclear deterrence. And if there is a real threat, we will act,” Medvedev wrote in the article published on Sunday. In such a grim scenario there will be nobody left to argue about whether that was “a retaliatory strike or a preventive one.”
“Therefore, the Western world is balancing between a burning desire to maximally humiliate, dismember and destroy Russia, on the one hand, and the desire to avoid a nuclear apocalypse, on the other,” he explained.
Until Russia receives the security guarantees it has demanded, the world “will continue to teeter on the brink of World War III and nuclear catastrophe,”Medvedev wrote, noting that Moscow is doing “everything we can to prevent it.”
Is the West ready, through Kiev proxies, to unleash a full-fledged war against us, including a nuclear war?
Russia presented a list of security proposals to the US and NATO last December, including urging the West to impose a ban on Ukraine entering the military bloc, while insisting that NATO should retreat to its borders of 1997.
After the US and NATO flatly refused, saying they would only be interested in limited strategic arms-control talks, it became obvious that Moscow had “no one to talk and nothing to negotiate about” Medvedev argued.
And when in February “Ukrainian junkies announced their desire to revive their nuclear arsenal,” Moscow had no other choice but to act, he claimed.
“Our world has changed, forever. And the main question remains… what kind of future begins today?” he wrote.
“New disarmament agreements are currently unrealistic and unnecessary,”Medvedev reiterated. “The sooner the guarantees of maximum security that suit our country are received, the sooner the situation will normalize.”
Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow is willing to discuss the subject of security guarantees again, if the West is serious about it, but until then Russia will continue to respond appropriately to any further NATO expansion. Since the conflict in Ukraine erupted in February, the bloc has moved to welcome Sweden and Finland into its ranks, though the expansion has yet to be finalized.
** Ukraine calls for UN-brokered ‘peace summit’
Kiev has proposed holding a so-called "peace summit" by the end of February to mark the anniversary of Russia's military operation against Ukraine. The initiative was announced by Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, who also set out Ukraine's conditions for inviting Moscow to the event.
In an interview with AP published on Monday, Kuleba admitted that while Ukraine will do whatever it can to win its ongoing military conflict with Russia in 2023, diplomacy will play an important role. "Every war ends in a diplomatic way,"Kuleba said, adding that "every war ends as a result of the actions taken on the battlefield and at the negotiating table."
The minister added that the UN was "the best venue for holding this summit, because it is not about making a favor to a certain country" and suggested UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as mediator for the event.
"He has proven himself to be an efficient mediator and an efficient negotiator, and most importantly, as a man of principle and integrity. So we would welcome his active participation," Kuleba said about Guterres.
Asked about the matter of inviting Russia to this "peace summit," Kuleba insisted Moscow must first face an "international court" and be prosecuted for supposed war crimes. He also dismissed Putin’s recent calls for negotiations, stating that everything Russia does on the battlefield "proves" that Moscow does not want to talk.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky addressed G20 leaders in Indonesia and laid out a ten-point "peace formula," which includes the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, an "all for all" prisoner swap, and a tribunal for those Kiev accuses of aggression.
Russia, meanwhile, has insisted that Kiev must "recognize the reality on the ground" as a prerequisite for any peace negotiations, including the new status of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye as parts of Russia.
** Russian forces wipe out US-made M777 howitzer that shelled Donetsk
Russian troops destroyed a US-made M777 howitzer used by the Ukrainian military to shell Donetsk residential areas, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.
"In the area of the settlement of Georgiyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a position was uncovered and a US-made M777 artillery system that shelled Donetsk residential areas was destroyed," the spokesman told a briefing on the special military operation in Ukraine.
In the counter-battery warfare, Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket launchers in areas near the settlements of Pervomaiskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Kamyshevakha in the Zaporozhye Region, the general specified.
Russian forces delivered a strike on amassed Ukrainian manpower and equipment in the Kharkov Region, eliminating about 20 militants in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk area, a concentrated strike on amassed Ukrainian manpower and equipment in the area of the settlement of Kislovka in the Kharkov Region eliminated as many as 20 Ukrainian troops, an infantry fighting vehicle and two motor vehicles," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group and a mortar team in the Lugansk People’s Republic in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Krasny Liman area, Russian artillery fire inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Makeyevka and Nevskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic. In addition, near the communities of Stelmakhovka and Chervonaya Dibrova, a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group and a mortar team were eliminated," the spokesman said.
During the last 24-hour period, the enemy lost over 30 troops, two combat armored vehicles and two pickup trucks in that area, the general specified.
Russian troops delivered a strike on the command post of the Ukrainian army’s 80th air assault brigade near Kramatorsk, inflicting about 100 casualties on the enemy in the Donetsk area in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
Russian forces continued their advance in the Donetsk area, taking advantageous positions, the spokesman said.
"The enemy’s total losses in that area in the past 24 hours amounted to 100 servicemen, four infantry fighting vehicles and eight motor vehicles," the general specified.
In particular, "the strikes against the command post of the Ukrainian army’s 80th air assault brigade in the area of the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic eliminated over 35 Ukrainian servicemen, including five senior officers," Konashenkov reported.
Russian forces delivered an artillery strike on Ukrainian army units in the southern Donetsk area, eliminating over 40 militants in the past day, he said.
"In the southern Donetsk area, artillery fire and active operations of Russian forces inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units near the settlements of Vladimirovka, Ugledar, Novodonetskoye and Novosyolka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed over 40 Ukrainian troops, two combat armored vehicles and three pickup trucks in that area in the past day, the general specified.
Russian missile troops and artillery delivered strikes on the deployment sites of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd mechanized brigade and foreign mercenaries in the Donetsk People’s Republic in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Missile troops and artillery struck 63 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military hardware in 79 areas. In the areas of the settlements of Yelizavetovka and Slavyansk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the temporary deployment sites of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd mechanized brigade and also foreign mercenaries were struck," the spokesman said.
Russian troops wiped out a Ukrainian armament repair base with two HIMARS rocket launchers, two Gvozdika and five D-30 howitzers near Kramatorsk in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the area of the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Ukrainian armament repair and recovery point with two US-made HIMARS rocket launchers, two self-propelled Gvozdika and five D-30 howitzers and three special motor vehicles was destroyed," the spokesman said.
Russian air defense forces intercepted two HIMARS rockets in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities intercepted two rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system in areas near the settlements of Rubezhnoye and Krasnorechenskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic, and also two HARM anti-radar missiles near the community of Bairak in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
In addition, Russian air defense systems destroyed seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Chervonoye, Kuteinikovo and Kropovnitskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Zmiyevka in the Kherson Region, the general added.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 352 Ukrainian warplanes, 192 helicopters, 2,731 unmanned aerial vehicles, 399 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,249 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 944 multiple rocket launchers, 3,719 field artillery guns and mortars and 7,765 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
Reuters/RT/TASS
