January 31, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Intense fighting continues around Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, as Russian forces continue their offensive towards the key eastern city, the Ukrainian military said Tuesday.

Over the past 24 hours, a number of cities and towns in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have seen shelling by Russian forces, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said, adding that Russian forces "continue shelling settlements near the state border, causing civilian casualties and destruction of private property."

Donetsk region

Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military repelled attacks near Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Vuhledar and other towns in the region, where the situation remains "difficult," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and regional authorities said.

Chaotic isolated attacks continued along the defense line around the city of Avdiivka throughout the night, the regional military administration said Tuesday.

Shelling was also reported in several other towns and communities across the region causing damage to residential buildings. Three civilians were wounded across the region over the past 24 hours, the regional military administration said.

Luhansk region

The situation in Luhansk region also remains "difficult," the Luhansk regional military administration said Tuesday.

Over the past day, Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in the areas of Novoselivske and Bilohorivka, regional authorities said.

In the city of Luhansk, Russian forces are using the maternity wards of two hospitals to treat wounded servicemen, the Ukrainian military said.

"The enemy continues to suffer heavy losses and has begun to use additional civilian medical facilities to accommodate the wounded Russian invaders," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

"Due to the enemy's use of two maternity hospitals to treat wounded Russians in the city, it is possible to deliver babies only in the Luhansk Regional Perinatal Center, which is severely lacking in space and creates risks and unfavorable conditions for childbirth," it added.

Kharkiv region

A 62-year-old civilian man died in the town of Vovchansk as a result of shelling, the Kharkiv region military administration said Tuesday. An 83-year-old woman was wounded. Her condition is of moderate severity, regional authorities said.

The shelling also damaged the police department building, apartment buildings and warehouses.

In Kupyansk, a regional Ukrainian Railways building and private houses were damaged, regional authorities said.

There’s a growing rift at the top of the Russian government between President Vladimir Putin’s official military and the off-the-books mercenary force that has achieved some gains for Russia in Ukraine.

The oligarch figurehead of the private military company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been openly critical of Russia’s military and its bureaucracy.

Recruiting for tens of thousands of fighters in Russian jails, Wagner offers freedom and cash after a six-month tour.

Key points of the analysis include:

Read the full analysis here.

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic on Monday criticized moves by NATO allies to provide tanks to Ukraine, calling it "mad," as he railed against Western support for Kyiv in repelling Russia's nearly year-long invasion.

Milanovic, leader of the European Union's newest member nation, has repeatedly criticized the West's involvement in the war.

Last week, he reiterated his position that "Russia is settling accounts with the Americans via Ukraine," and that the war would be resolved between Washington and Moscow, CNN affiliate N1 reported.

His comments came after the United States and NATO allies including Germany last week said they would send modern tanks to Ukraine, unleashing powerful new tools in Kyiv's efforts to retake territory seized by Moscow.

In his defense as to why Zagreb would not provide military aid to Kyiv, Milanovic condemned Germany's decision to donate Leopard 2 tanks, telling reporters Monday: "German tanks in Russia — good luck with that." 

Crimea claim: Despite Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky's stated aim of returning Crimea to Kyiv's rule, Milanovic also said the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 would remain part of Russia.

The last remaining element of a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States could expire in three years without a replacement, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency RIA Novosti on Monday.

Asked if Moscow could envisage there being no nuclear arms control agreement between the two nations when the extension of the 2011 New START Treaty comes to an end after 2026, Ryabkov said: "This is a very possible scenario."

Ryabkov added that he believed Washington was betting on Moscow suffering a "strategic defeat" in its war with its neighbor, which is approaching the one-year mark.

Last week, the United States and NATO allies including Germany and the United Kingdom said they would send modern tanks to Ukraine, reversing their longstanding trepidation at providing Kyiv with offensive armored vehicles and unleashing powerful new tools in its efforts to retake territory seized by Moscow.

In his comments Monday, Ryabkov told RIA that recent US actions had violated the spirit of the bilateral arms control treaty in the "most flagrant and ridiculous way." 

Quoting from the preamble of the 2011 treaty, which calls for "mutual trust, openness, predictability and cooperation," Ryabkov claimed the US showed a disregard for the agreement by holding a "forwardly aggressive deterrence, teetering on the brink of a direct confrontation between the United States and NATO and Russia."

A military coup is becoming a possibility in Russia as the war in Ukraine continues, President Vladimir Putin’s former speechwriter said Monday.

Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett, speechwriter turned political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said that as Russian losses mount in Ukraine and the country experiences hardship brought by Western sanctions, Russians will look for someone to blame.

"The Russian economy is deteriorating. The war is lost. There are more and more dead bodies returning to Russia, so Russians will be coming across more difficulties and they'll be trying to find explanation why this is happening, looking around to the political process and they'll be answering themselves: 'Well, this is because our country is governed by an old tyrant, an old dictator,'" Gallyamov said, referring to Putin.

That moment may come in the next 12 months, he said.

“So in one year when the political situation changes and there's a really hated unpopular president at the head of the country and the war is really unpopular, and they need to shed blood for this, at this moment, a coup becomes a real possibility,” he added.

Gallyamov also said he believes Putin may cancel presidential elections scheduled to be held in March 2024.

A former Wagner mercenary says the brutality he witnessed in Ukraine ultimately pushed him to defect, in an exclusive CNN interview on Monday.

Wagner fighters were often sent into battle with little direction, and the company’s treatment of reluctant recruits was ruthless, Andrei Medvedev told CNN’s Anderson Cooper from Norway’s capital Oslo, where he is seeking asylum after crossing that country’s arctic border from Russia.

CNN has not been able to independently verify his account and Wagner has not replied to a request for comment.

The 26-year-old, who says he previously served in the Russian military, joined Wagner as a volunteer. He crossed into Ukraine less than 10 days after signing his contract in July 2021, serving near Bakhmut, the frontline city in the Donetsk region. The mercenary group has emerged as a key player in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Medvedev said he reported directly to the group’s founders, Dmitry Utkin and Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.

He refers to Prigozhin as “the devil.” If he was a Russian hero, he would have taken a gun and run with the soldiers,” Medvedev said.

Prigozhin responded Tuesday to CNN's request for comment in a statement that was largely sarcastic in tone via his press service. He called the news organization an "open enemy" before insisting Wagner is an "exemplary military organization that complies with all the necessary laws and rules of modern wars."

Read more:

RELATED

Former Wagner commander describes brutality and incompetence on the frontline | CNN

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Monday defended the Biden administration’s decision not to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, pointing instead to the aid the US is providing, including Abrams tanks.

“What I can tell you is that there's a lot of capability that is being sent, and will be sent in the coming weeks and months," Kirby told CNN. “The kinds of capabilities that we know will be critical to helping Ukrainians again in the fighting now in the wintertime, as well as the kind of fighting that we expect that they're going to be doing in the spring.”  

Kirby said he believes the decision,announced last week, to send Abrams tanks to the region wasn’t one that was made too late, even amid reports of Russia gaining territory in eastern Ukraine.

Some background: President Joe Biden answered, "No," when asked by a reporter whether he would send the jets to Ukraine.

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.

A married couple in the southwestern Russian city of Krasnodar was arrested Sunday for professing anti-war sentiments during a private conversation in a restaurant, according to the independent Russian monitoring group OVD-Info.

OVD-Info told CNN that Aleksey Ovchinnikov was sentenced to 15 days in prison for petty hooliganism and his wife, Olesya Ovchinnikova, received a 1,000 rubles ($14) fine.

Olesya Ovchinnikova is also facing charges for discrediting the Russian army, according to reporting from local media 93.RU, citing her lawyer.

CNN has sought comment from the couple’s lawyer. The restaurant where the incident is said to have taken place, “Na Drovoh,” would not comment to CNN.

Crackdown on anti-war sentiments: OVD-Info said at least 61 cases related to expressing anti-war views were initiated in Russia in 2022 on the charges of justification of terrorism on the internet, with 26 leading to sentencing so far.

In another notable case, 19-year-old Olesya Krivtsova was charged over social media posts that authorities say discredit the Russian army and justify terrorism. She posted an Instagram story about the explosion on the Crimean bridge in October that also criticized Russia for invading Ukraine, according to Russian officials.

US President Joe Biden said Monday he wouldn't send American fighter jets to Ukraine, even as the United States ramps up military assistance in the form of artillery and tanks. 

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.

Last week, for example, Biden announced he would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, despite top US officials saying previously the heavy-duty vehicles were a poor fit for the country's military.

Speaking on the White House South Lawn, Biden also said he wasn't sure whether he would visit Europe next month for the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

In response to a separate question, Biden said he was planning to visit Poland, but wasn't sure when.

CNN reported last week the White House was exploring the possibility of a Biden visit to Europe to mark 12 months since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Some background: Ukrainian leaders have renewed their appeals for Western fighter jets. “I sent a wish list card to Santa Claus last year, and fighter jets also [were] including in this wish list,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told CNN last week.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged Friday that Zelensky had asked for fighter jets. “We are constantly talking to the Ukrainians about their needs, and want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can to meet them — and if we can’t, that some of our allies and partners can,” Kirby said.