RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Putin emphasizes need to prevent Ukrainian forces from shelling Russian border regions
Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a priority to make sure that Ukrainian forces don’t have an opportunity to bombard Russian border regions.
"Of course, the priority is to eliminate the possibility of bombardments, but that’s up to the defense ministry," he said in his opening remarks at a meeting dedicated to rebuilding the housing infrastructure in the country’s border regions that had been ruined in emergencies.
He said the meeting will focus on "supporting the residents of Crimea, the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, whose homes and apartments in border territories have suffered damage or been ruined because of shelling by neo-Nazi formations."
Putin said that on January 24 he had met with Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who had provided a detailed report on the situation in the region and described the assistance that’s provided to people by the regional government.
"Following the meeting, specific instructions were given to take additional measures in this regard, as well as with respect to a whole range of other areas. I’m asking you to make sure that everything that has been planned will be executed," the president said.
** Russia issues warning to Israel
Anyone so much as speculating about sending weapons to Ukraine is escalating the conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he did not rule out the possibility of sending Iron Dome missile defense systems to Kiev – something his predecessor rejected outright.
“All countries that supply weapons [to Ukraine] should understand that we will consider these [weapons] to be legitimate targets for Russian armed forces,”Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.
“Any attempts – implemented or even unrealized but announced, for the supply of additional, new or some other weapons – have led and will lead to an escalation of this crisis. And everyone should be aware of this,” she added.
Zakharova was responding to claims by multiple media outlets that Netanyahu was “certainly looking into” the possibility of dispatching Iron Dome systems to Ukraine. The quote does not appear in CNN’s writeup of the interview, or the two video segments posted online, however.
Netanyahu, who recently returned as prime minister after 18 months out of power, sat down for an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. The network did quote him on the possibility of mediating the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, and the cryptic answer about the recent drone attack on Iranian military industry.
“I never talk about specific operations … and every time some explosion takes place in the Middle East, Israel is blamed or given responsibility – sometimes we are, sometimes we’re not,” Netanyahu told Tapper.
Tehran has unofficially blamed Tel Aviv – and Kiev – for the attack on Isfahan over the weekend. While the top aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky cheered the attack, the foreign ministry in Kiev claimed ignorance of it.
Iron Dome is a short-range system Israel has used against rockets launched by Hezbollah and Hamas. The previous government rejected Ukraine’s demand to send them over last October. Defense Minister Benny Gantz explained in November that Israel doesn’t have “a large enough production base” to satisfy Ukraine’s needs, while a senior military adviser said the country was loath to antagonize Russia, which has a large military presence in neighboring Syria.
Israel’s hypothetical change of course might have something to do with the US, which funds the Iron Dome to the tune of $1 billion a year. Washington recently announced it would raid the stockpile of artillery ammunition intended for Israel in order to supply Ukraine instead, which Netanyahu told CNN he was perfectly fine with.
** NATO’s entire military infrastructure, satellites working against Russia — Kremlin
Moscow sees that all of NATO’s military infrastructure, even its satellites, are working against Russia for Ukraine’s sake around the clock, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"We see how NATO’s entire military infrastructure is working against Russia, and we see how NATO’s entire intelligence infrastructure, including reconnaissance aviation, and satellite groupings are working in the interests of Ukraine in a 24/7 mode," the Kremlin official said.
According to Peskov, such actions create "very peculiar, hostile" conditions for Russia which Moscow cannot help but notice.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, strike on apartments kills civilians
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a senior defence official issued dire accounts of Russian forces shelling and advancing in Ukraine's eastern province of Donetsk, the main focal point of the 11-month-long war.
Fierce fighting was unabated in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are trying to gain ground near the strategic logistics hub of Lyman, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Wednesday evening.
Bakhmut town and 10 communities around it came under Russian artillery and tank fire, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Wednesday night. Bakhmut has suffered relentless bombardment for months by Russian troops.
Separately, Avdiivka, another major target, and the nearby contested town of Maryinka and other settlements were also hit, the statement said.
"A definite increase has been noted in the offensive operations of the occupiers on the front in the east of our country. The situation has become tougher," Zelenskiy said in a Wednesday evening video address.
The Russian forces were trying to make gains that they could show on the anniversary of their Feb 24, 2022 invasion, Zelenskiy said.
ROCKET HITS KRAMATORSK
At least three people were killed and 20 wounded on Wednesday night after a Russian strike destroyed a residential building in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, police said, which is about 55 km (34 miles) northwest of Bakhmut town. Local authorities initially said Russia had fired a rocket but the police force later said an Iskander-K tactical missile had struck at 9:45 p.m. (1945 GMT).
"At least eight apartment buildings were damaged. One of them was completely destroyed," police said in a Facebook post. "People may remain under the rubble."
Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko posted a picture that appeared to show a four-storey building in Kramatorsk that had suffered major damage. Radio Free Europe's Ukrainian outlet published a brief video clip that showed rescuers working under floodlights as snow fell on the rubble.
At least 44 people were killed in January when a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the city of Dnipro. In April 2022, Ukraine said 57 people died when a Russian missile hit the train station in Kramatorsk. Moscow denied responsibility, saying the missile was Ukrainian.
Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of war crimes and targeting civilians, charges Russia rejects.
RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE
After a failed advance on the capital Kyiv early in the campaign, Russia said it was reorienting its military drive to secure control of the industrial eastern region known as the Donbas.
It is made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, which were declared annexed by Moscow in September following sham referendums denounced by most countries. Moscow-aligned fighters seized large areas of both in 2014, and in recent months after a slow advance south and east, Russian forces control most of Luhansk region. Local proxies say Russian forces have captured about half of Donetsk region.
"Fierce fighting rages in the east. The enemy is trying to expand the area of its offensive in the Lyman sector," the deputy minister Mylar said on the Telegram messaging app. "It is making powerful attempts to break through our defences."
Ukrainian troops drove Russian forces out of Lyman in October, a significant setback for a military with more troops and weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered what he called a "special military operation" to protect Russian security and Russian speakers nearly a year ago. The invasion has killed thousands of civilians, uprooted millions and reduced cities to rubble.
More recently Russia has characterized the conflict as confronting what it says is an aggressive and expansionist U.S.-led NATO military alliance. Ukraine and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to grab territory.
A former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group who fled to Norway in January told Reuters he wanted to apologise for fighting in Ukraine. The group has been locked in battle in Donetsk region.
"Many consider me to be a scoundrel, a criminal, a murderer," Andrei Medvedev, 26, said in an interview. "First of all, repeatedly, and again, I would like to apologise, and although I don't know how it would be received, I want to say I'm sorry."
Medvedev said he wanted to speak out about his experiences so "the perpetrators are punished" for their crimes in Ukraine.
ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy is cracking down on corruption in his government, a campaign that appears to reflect determination to demonstrate that it can be a steward of billions of dollars in Western aid and shed a reputation for endemic graft.
Security services searched the home of one of Ukraine's most influential businessmen, Ihor Kolomoiskiy, two days before senior European Union officials visit Kyiv on Friday. Ukraine sees the meeting as important to its hopes of one day joining the EU, a process that can take years.
A Ukrainian political shake-up has led to more than a dozen officials quitting or being dismissed.
Zelenskiy said he is prepared to make more personnel changes to fight corruption.
RT/TASS/Reuters
