RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Macron speaks of ‘Putin’s paradox’
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not an “unpleasant” man, Emmanuel Macron has said, but that cannot be an excuse for launching a “war” on Ukraine. The French president made the bizarre remark during an appearance on Saturday at Les Rencontres du Papotin, a TV program hosted by a group of journalists with autism.
Macron was grilled by the journalists on assorted issues, including his ties with Putin.
“When you meet him like that, he’s not unpleasant. That’s the paradox,” Macron stated, adding that “there is nothing to justify starting a war.”
The French president also expressed his view of the roots of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, alleging that the true goal of Putin was the restoration of the Russian “empire.” Macron, however, did not elaborate on how exactly the ongoing hostilities might help achieve this alleged goal.
“Basically, he launched this war to recover territories and to extend Russia’s perimeter to the empire that once existed. He took a very heavy responsibility for himself, his people, obviously for the people of Ukraine, and for us all. This is how I see things,” Macron said.
The president also warned about giving in to the misconception that the Russian troops were somehow on the verge of defeat in Ukraine. While those forces have sustained certain casualties, Macron asserted, Kiev’s forces were nowhere near achieving a battlefield victory.
Macron has taken a somewhat ambiguous stance over the course of the ongoing conflict. He himself has repeatedly underscored the need to engage in talks with Russia. At the same time, Paris has followed the collective West's anti-Russian stance and has actively supported Kiev, just last week pledging a new batch of wheeled tanks for Ukrainian troop forces.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
Shortly before the hostilities broke out, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Last September, Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, were incorporated into Russia following referendums.
** Russian troops destroy 200 combat helicopters in Ukraine operation
Russian forces have destroyed 200 Ukrainian combat helicopters since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.
"In all, the following targets have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation: 367 warplanes, 200 helicopters, 2,856 unmanned aerial vehicles, 400 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,460 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 972 multiple rocket launchers, 3,793 field artillery guns and mortars and 7,978 special military motor vehicles," the spokesman said.
Russian forces struck amassed Ukrainian manpower and military hardware in the Kupyansk area, eliminating over 50 militants in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk area, Russian forces inflicted damage by firepower on the amassed Ukrainian military personnel and equipment in the areas of the communities of Sinkovka, Kislovka and Berestovoye in the Kharkov Region and Novosyolovskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
In the area of the settlement of Dvurechnaya in the Kharkov Region, Russian forces also destroyed an enemy subversive/reconnaissance group, the general added.
"The Ukrainian army’s irretrievable losses in that area amounted to over 50 Ukrainian servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles and three motor vehicles," he said.
Russian forces delivered air and artillery strikes, eliminating over 60 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Krasny Liman area, air strikes and artillery fire inflicted damage on the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Stelmakhovka and Nevskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Serebryanka and Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lozovaya in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.
As a result, Russian forces eliminated over 60 Ukrainian servicemen, three combat armored vehicles and three pickup trucks, the general specified.
Russian forces continued their advance in the Donetsk area, inflicting damage on Ukrainian army units by combined firepower along the entire engagement line, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Donetsk area, Russian forces continue offensive operations, inflicting damage on Ukrainian army units by combined firepower along the entire line of engagement," the spokesman said.
During the last 24-hour period, the enemy’s losses in that area amounted to over 80 Ukrainian troops, three infantry fighting vehicles, an armored personnel carrier and four motor vehicles, the general specified.
Russian forces destroyed over 40 Ukrainian troops in the southern Donetsk area in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the southern Donetsk area, Russian units inflicted damage by firepower on the amassed manpower and equipment near the community of Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
During the battles in the past 24 hours, Russian forces destroyed over 40 Ukrainian military personnel, two combat armored vehicles and three pickup trucks, the general specified.
Russian forces eliminated two Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Two Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups were eliminated north of the settlements of Pavlovka and Shevchenko in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian troops destroyed two US-made counter-battery radars in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Two US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar stations were destroyed in the counter-battery warfare in areas near the settlements of Verkhnekamenskoye and Shevchenko in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian fighter aircraft shot down a Su-25 ground attack plane, a MiG-29 fighter and a Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 and MiG-29 planes in areas near the settlements of Rovnoye and Grodovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. In addition, a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down near the community of Verolyubovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian troops destroyed three Ukrainian ammunition depots in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Kharkov Region over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile troops and artillery struck 89 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, enemy manpower and military hardware in 126 areas. Three Ukrainian ammunition and missile/artillery armament depots were destroyed in areas near the settlements of Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lozovaya in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed a US-made M777 howitzer at a firing position in the Lugansk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the area of the community of Ivanovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, an M777 artillery system of US manufacture was destroyed at a firing position," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed two Polish-made Krab artillery systems, two Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers and a D-30 howitzer over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In areas near the settlements of Zvanovka and Serebryanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and also Novodanilovka and Stepnoye in the Zaporozhye Region, two Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery systems, two Ukrainian Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers and also a D-30 howitzer were obliterated at firing positions," the spokesman said.
Russian air defense forces destroyed eight Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and 10 rockets of multiple launch rocket systems over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities destroyed eight Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Chervonopopovka, Golikovo and Poltava in the Lugansk People’s Republic, and also Velikiy Vyselok in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.
In addition, Russian air defense forces "intercepted 10 rockets of HIMARS and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems in areas near the settlements of Zugres and Dokuchayevsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Peremozhnoye in the Zaporozhye Region," the general said.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine fights Russian assault on salt mining town along eastern front
Russia has stepped up a powerful assault on Soledar in eastern Ukraine, officials in Kyiv said, forcing Ukrainian troops to repel waves of attacks led by the Wagner contract militia around the salt mining town and nearby fronts.
Soledar, in the industrial Donbas region, lies a few miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.
Ukrainian forces repelled an earlier attempt to take the town but a large number of Wagner Group units quickly returned, deploying new tactics and more soldiers under heavy artillery cover, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.
"The enemy literally step over the corpses of their own soldiers, using massed artillery, MLRS systems and mortars," Malyar said.
Russia's defence ministry did not mention either Soledar or Bakhmut in a regular media briefing on Monday, a day after facing criticism for an apparently false claimof a missile strike on a temporary Ukrainian barracks.
Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Drawing some recruits from Russia's prisons and known for uncompromising violence, it is active in conflicts in Africa and has taken a prominent role in Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
Prigozhin has been trying to capture Bakhmut and Soledar for months at the cost of many lives on both sides. He said on Saturday its significance lay in a network of cavernous mining tunnels below the ground, which can hold big groups of people as well as tanks and other war machines.
NO BUILDINGS INTACT
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in nightly video remarks on Monday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding on despite widespread destruction. He cited new and fiercer attacks in Soledar, where he said no walls have been left standing and the land is covered with Russian corpses.
"Thanks to the resilience of our soldiers in Soledar, we have won for Ukraine additional time and additional strength," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy did not spell out what he meant by gaining time or strength.
But Ukrainian officials, led by the commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy, have warned that Russia is preparing fresh troops for a new, major offensive on Ukraine, possibly on the capital Kyiv.
Zelenskiy also appears to be banking on securing more, sophisticated weapons from Ukraine's Western partners to beat off attacks and eventually expel Russian troops.
On Monday, he pressed on with diplomatic efforts, speaking to Peter Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, current chair of the 27-member European Union.
"I am certain that our soldiers at the front will get these weapons and equipment. Very soon," he said.
France, Germany and the United States all pledged last week to send armoured fighting vehicles, fulfilling a long-standing Ukrainian request. Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time, Sky News reported, citing a Western source. Britain's Defence Ministry did not comment.
Military analysts say the strategic military benefit for Russia of capturing Bakhmut and Soledar would be limited. A U.S. official has said Prigozhin is eyeing the salt and gypsum from the mines, believed to extend over 100 miles underground and contain auditorium-scale caverns.
Pro-Russian bloggers quoted Prigozhin as saying his forces were fighting for the administration building in Soledar.
The Ukrainian military said reinforcements had been sent to the town, where the low early Tuesday was minus 13 Celsius (8.6 F).
In an evacuee centre in nearby Kramatorsk, Olha, 60, said she had fled Soledar after moving from apartment to apartment as each was destroyed in tank battles.
"There isn't one house left intact. Apartments were burning, breaking in half," said Olha, who gave only her first name.
Two people were killed in a Russian rocket attack on Kramatorsk on Monday evening, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an aide to Zelenskiy, said on Telegram.
Some 25 miles (40 km) to the north in the town of Siversk, Ukrainian soldier Heorhil, 28, said Russian regular forces had replaced less well-trained fighters in the area.
"Unfortunately, both sides are suffering big losses, which means also our units have losses," he said, speaking near destroyed houses blanketed in snow.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield reports.
MARKETPLACE STRIKE
Farther north in the Kharkiv region, a Russian missile strike on a marketplace in the village of Shevchenkove killed two women and wounded four others, including a 10-year-old girl, regional prosecutors said.
Badly injured people lay on the ground and rescue workers sifted through piles of rubble, overturned and burning stalls, and a large crater, video footage from police and Ukraine's presidential office showed. A police officer carried a girl with blood on her face from the scene.
Moscow has not commented on the reports from the village, which Ukraine recaptured from Russian forces in September.
RT/TASS/Reuters
