January 31, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

The US will likely announce further security assistance for Ukraine "soon," according to White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton.  

"I expect we're going to have more security assistance to announce soon," Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One. 

Asked about whether the US would send F16 jets to Ukraine, Dalton reiterated President Joe Biden's comments on Monday and pointed to the billions of dollars in aid provided so far.

Biden said "no" when asked by a reporter Monday on whether he would send the jets to Ukraine. His answer comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought fighter jets to help sustain his war effort against Russia. Biden has consistently said the planes aren't on the table, even as he has given aid in other areas, including providing Abrams tanks.

Dalton also emphasized that the US remains in "regular contact" with Ukrainian officials about their needs. 

More on US aid to Ukraine: As of Jan. 19, the United States has committed $26.7 billion to Ukraine in security aid since the beginning of the war nearly a year ago.

The UK said Tuesday it believes it's "not practical" to send its fighter jets to Ukraine. 

The fighter jets are "extremely sophisticated and take months to learn how to fly," a Downing Street spokesperson told journalists Tuesday, adding that given those conditions they “believe it is not practical to send those jets into Ukraine.”

The comments come as Ukrainian officials continue to pressure their Western allies for further resources. 

The spokesperson said the UK is committed to continuing to "discuss with our allies about what we think what is the right approach" when it comes to assisting Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that although France had not received any request from Ukraine to send fighter jets, “nothing is off limits in principle.”

Other nations saying no to jets for Kyiv: On Monday, US President Joe Biden responded "No," when asked by a reporter if he would send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. 

Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has also ruled out sending fighter jets to Ukraine, according to an interview with German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday. "This is out of the question," Pistorius was quoted as saying.

The key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut continues to be one of the main directions for Russian attacks and "everything is being done" to prevent Russian forces from blocking the movement of Ukrainian units, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said during an interview on Ukrainian television on Tuesday. 

"Bakhmut continues to be one of the main directions of the enemy's attack – they’ve hit our positions there with cannon and rocket artillery 197 times, and there were 42 combat encounters. The enemy got significant losses in personnel during the last 24 hours: 277 enemies were killed, 258 were injured to varying degrees," Cherevatyi said.

CNN is not able to independently confirm the number of sustained casualties. 

When asked whether the Russians have been able to cut off the transport artery to Bakhmut, Cherevatyi replied "not yet."

When asked to comment on reports about a Russian offensive north of Bakhmut in the Lyman direction, Cherevatyi said Russian forces "do counteroffensive in this direction from time to time" and that he "can’t say it’s a big offensive operation."

"They are moving there — their motorized rifle units and artillery — first of all, to hold the line there, and secondly, as I said, to regain an advantage. In particular, during the last 24 hours in Bilohorivka and Novoselivske the enemy did a counteroffensive, but they were repulsed and pulled back," he said. 

A farewell ceremony for American volunteer Daniel Swift who died fighting in Ukraine took place in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said in a message on his official Facebook page. 

"He fought with the International Legion and was awarded with [Ukrainian commander] Bohdan Khmelnitskiy award of the 3rd degree. The brave seal is now taking his last path home," Sadovyi said. 

Swift, a former US Navy SEAL, who deserted the military nearly four years ago, was killed fighting in Ukraine earlier in January, according to a statement by the US Navy.  

In his post, Sadovyi went on to say that Ukraine needs "powerful weapons to stop these deaths."

"We are calling on the whole world not to postpone what can save lives today. This year all of us have understood the war can be stopped with force only. So we are calling to give us tanks, give us fighter jets," he said. 

"Russia is a wounded bear at the moment. It needs to be put back into its cave. And this we can do only if we are unite all our resources," Sadovyi said. 

Russian troops are pummeling the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut into what the Donetsk region military administration head Pavlo Kyrylenko called a “total ruin.” 

Two people were killed in the last few hours, including one underage boy, Kyrylenko says on Telegram. Four civilians were wounded, he added. 

CNN reported in January that the US and Western officials are urging Ukraine to shift its focus from the brutal, months-long fight in the eastern city of Bakhmut and prioritize instead a potential offensive in the south, using a different style of fighting that takes advantage of the billions of dollars in new military hardware recently committed by Western allies.

Russia had to send home more than 9,000 people who were “illegally mobilized,” Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

“Through the efforts of [the Prosecutor General Office] supervision, more than 9,000 citizens who were illegally mobilized were returned home, including those who, due to their health condition, should not have been mobilized in any case,” Krasnov said at a televised meeting with Putin in the Kremlin.

Mobilization had not been carried out for a long time in Russia, he added, and it “revealed a lot of significant problems.”

In addition, most issues with supplying body armor and uniforms to the front “have been resolved,” according to Krasnov. 

“Now we control the supply of winter uniforms to mobilized military personnel, as well as the formation of appropriate warehouses and their safety,” he said.

Russian citizens had used crowdfunding to equip soldiers deployed to Ukraine as troops said they've been short of even basic equipment.

Some background: Putin announced a "partial mobilization" in late September 2022 after Russia suffered a series of major setbacks on the battlefields in Ukraine. The controversial draft sparked protests and an exodus of men from the country before it was suspended Nov. 1 after the target of 300,000 personnel was met.

The area around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is seeing fierce fighting as Russian forces mount an offensive intended to take a key highway.

Russian forces have also carried out strikes in Luhansk region and Kharkiv region, where one civilian was killed by shelling.

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Russian airborne units have joined Wagner mercenary fighters in the battle for the key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to Maksym Zhorin, a former co-commander of Ukraine's Azov regiment.

Zhorin is not fighting on the battlefield but is in contact with Ukrainian soldiers and helps with supplies. 

"Not only the Wagnerites are fighting in the Bakhmut sector on the Russian side," Zhorin said on his official Telegram channel Tuesday.

"Previously, the assaults were carried out first by convicts, followed by more 'elite' Wagner units, but now airborne units have also joined the fight," he said.

"First of all, this is notable because of the use of their regular equipment. Wagner's troops are forced to advance on foot, while Russian paratroopers have armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, which they actively use," added Zhorin. 

"Another difference is that for some reason regular troops are less willing to die than Wagner's men. That is why they act a little more cautiously. But they are still dying, just not in such huge numbers."

CNN is unable to independently verify those claims. 

Other Ukrainian military commanders have echoed Zhorin's assessment in recent days, saying that regular Russian military troops are now assisting Wagner private military contractors in the fight for Bakhmut. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Tuesday to strengthen ties, saying Beijing and Moscow are leading "an authoritarian pushback against the international rules-based order."

"If President Putin wins in Ukraine, this would send a message that authoritarian regimes can achieve their goals through brute force. This is dangerous. Beijing is watching closely and learning lessons that may influence its future decisions," said Stoltenberg.

During a visit Tuesday to Japan's Iruma Air Base, Stoltenberg said that "the war in Ukraine matters for all of us, and therefore we're also very grateful for the support that Japan is providing, also using the planes and the cargo capabilities."

Japan has provided nonlethal aid to Ukraine in the form of drones, bulletproof vests, helmets, tents and medical supplies. However, due to defense guidelines that effectively ban weapons exports, Tokyo has not delivered weapons.

Stoltenberg arrived in Tokyo on Monday from South Korea, where he had urged Seoul to increase its military support for Ukraine.

Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first leaders from their countries to attend a NATO summit last year, joining alliance leaders as observers.