January 26, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The US Treasury Department on Thursday designated the Wagner Group, a Russian private mercenary organization heavily involved in the war in Ukraine, as a significant transnational criminal organization, and imposed a slew of sanctions on a transnational network that supports it.

The US Department of State concurrently announced a number of sanctions meant to “target a range of Wagner’s key infrastructure – including an aviation firm used by Wagner, a Wagner propaganda organization, and Wagner front companies,” according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Here are the actions taken by both US departments:

The State Department announced sanctions on the following:

The department also announced it will take steps to impose visa restrictions “on 531 members of the Russian Federation military" associated with the assault on Ukraine.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on the following:

The White House had previewed the significant transnational criminal organization designation and forthcoming sanctions against the Wagner group last week.

US President Joe Biden is considering making a trip to Europe around the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine next month, two senior administration officials tell CNN.

A trip is not yet confirmed, and details have yet to be finalized. But one of the officials said that one stop under consideration is Poland, a key NATO ally currently housing thousands of American troops that also serves as a hub for western weapons transfers to Ukraine. US service members are also training Ukrainian troops there. 

It is highly unlikely that Biden would travel to Ukraine as part of this trip, however, one of the officials said, given the ongoing security concerns.  

Some context: Biden's aides have been planning for several weeks on how they will mark the anniversary of the invasion, including potentially having the US president deliver a major address. They hope to emphasize the resilience of the Ukrainian people, noting that when the war began, many assumed Kyiv would fall within days.

NBC News first reported a trip to Europe was under consideration.

Russian state media Rossiya-24 on Wednesday mocked Western modern tanks as “toothless” and “battered” after Germany and the United States greenlit deliveries of advanced combat vehicles to Ukraine.  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement that he will send Leopard 2 tanks was coupled with a pledge from US President Joe Biden that he will provide 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing the allies’ longstanding trepidation at providing Kyiv with offensive armored vehicles and unleashing powerful new tools in Ukraine’s efforts to retake territory seized by Russia. 

The series of stories broadcast on the Russian channel downplayed the significance of the modern Western tanks, including segments titled “Toothless cats” and “Battered Abrams” – sarcastic references to US- and German-made armored vehicles.  

A presenter described the German tanks being "more primitive,” heavier and less effective compared to Russian T-90 tanks. In the “battered Abrams” segment, footage of the Abrams vehicles being hit in battles were shown and a blueprint of the tank was shown illustrating its “weak points.” 

Key context: While the state media has made claims about the superiority of Russian battle tanks, hundreds are thought to have been destroyed since Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine. Experts say a design flaw has caused problems for almost all of the armored vehicles Russia is using in Ukraine.

Biden yesterday called the Abrams "the most capable tanks in the world" while noting that Ukrainian troops will receive training to operate the "extremely complex" vehicles.

Previous military aid, like the American HIMARS rocket system, has been vital in helping Ukraine disrupt Russian advances and make a series of successful counteroffensives in recent months. Kyiv hopes that Western tanks will have a similar impact on the grinding ground war in Ukraine’s east.

Britain is aiming for its pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to arrive in Ukraine by the end of March, defense department procurement minister Alex Chalk said Thursday. 

The UK government announced earlier this month that it would send “a squadron of 14 tanks” to Ukraine after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak committed to providing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with additional support.

Germany followed suit on Wednesday when Chancellor Olaf Scholz committed to sending 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, adding that those could be operational in around three months.

At least 11 people were killed and another 11 were injured across Ukraine as a result of Russian missile strikes, the country’s State Emergency Services reported.

In a statement, the service’s spokesperson Oleksandr Khorunzhyi provided the following additional details:

The missiles caused damage in 11 regions throughout Ukraine, Khorunzhyi also said.

“Most of the damages to the housing are in Kyiv region,” he added. “We have connected 88 power generators in order to supply electricity to social facilities such as hospitals, etc.”

The Ukrainian capital and wider Kyiv region have returned to their previous schedule of power outages, the city administration and DTEK energy company said on Telegram.  

The schedule was changed briefly and an emergency power outage had been introduced in parts of Ukraine, including the Kyiv region and others, after Russian missiles targeted energy facilities on Thursday, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko had said earlier in a post on Facebook.

He had noted that the worst situation was in Kyiv region, Odesa region and Vinnytsia region.

In the Odesa region, supply to critical infrastructure like hospitals has been restored but emergency power outages are still in effect otherwise, DTEK said in a separate Telegram post.

Earlier, local officials in the Kyiv and Odesa regions reported that energy facilities there had been hit.

Remember: Since Russia has been regularly targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the country has been in an electricity deficit. This has forced suppliers and authorities to devise a limited power supply schedule and residents often see scheduled power outages. In the event of a missile strike, authorities often move from scheduled power outage to emergency power outage. The impact on Ukrainians is especially hard during the biting winter temperatures.

Ukrainian air defenses successfully shot down the majority of a barrage of missiles launched by Russia, but one man was killed by falling missile fragments in Kyiv.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is "not interested" in peace talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and Germany has confirmed that it will deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine by the end of March.

Here are the latest headlines:

Russia launched 55 missiles at Ukraine on Thursday morning, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram, adding that the salvo was aimed at the country’s “energy facilities” and that some power substations had been hit. 

Ukraine shot down 47 cruise missiles, including 20 over the capital city, according to General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The missiles were launched from Russian warplanes and ships in the Black Sea, he added in his Telegram post.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has met with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Odesa in southern Ukraine on Thursday.

“In Odessa! To mark France's support to Ukraine's sovereignty, today as ever,” Colonna said in a tweet. 

Kuleba shared a photograph of the pair in Odesa and welcomed Colonna to the city in the caption.  

“Thanks for your brave visit. Looking forward to discussing France’s role in the international tank coalition, Grain From Ukraine, and Peace Formula," he tweeted. "The Ukrainian-French partnership remains crucial to ending Russian aggression and restoring peace.”