Ukraine Daily

Tuesday, January 17

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Maryna Kozachenko, 86, comes to help her daughter’s apartment in the central-eastern city of Dnipro on Jan. 15, 2023, a day after Russia’s missile hit the building. (Asami Terajima/The Kyiv Independent)

Intelligence: Putin orders new commander to seize Donbas by March. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the new commander of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Valeriy Gerasimov, to seize Donbas, comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, reported the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate spokesperson Andriy Yusov.

Governor: Russian forces shell school in Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces shelled a school in Chasiv Yar, a community five kilometers west of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Jan. 16. No casualties were reported, but the school’s windows and sports facility were damaged.

General Staff: Russia offers citizenship to foreigners in exchange for enlisting in army. Russian authorities have been offering foreigners in Russia Russian citizenship in exchange for enlisting in the country’s armed forces, the General Staff reported on Jan. 16.

AP: Norway says Wagner Groups’ ex-commander sought asylum. The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) said on Jan. 16 that Andrey Medvedev, reportedly a former platoon commander of the Kremlin-controlled mercenary group Wagner, has sought asylum in Norway, Associated Press reported.

OSCE chief visits Borodianka in Kyiv Oblast. North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani visited Borodianka, Kyiv Oblast, at the start of his term as chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Infrastructure ministry: 6 cargo ships carrying grain leave Ukraine over weekend. Six ships carrying 153,000 metric tons of grain bound for African, Asian, and European nations left Odesa Oblast on Jan. 14 and 15, the Infrastructure Ministry said.

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What we know about the missile that destroyed Dnipro apartment block

Russia brought down a section of a large residential building in Dnipro on Jan. 14, burying people under the rubble. At least 40 civilians were killed and 76 were wounded. Thirty remain missing, as of publication time.

Photo: hat Suckr verlassen

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Ukraine war latest: Death toll in Russian strike on apartment building in Dnipro rises to 40

Two days after a Russian missile attack destroyed a section of an apartment building in Dnipro, the death toll of the strike rose to 40 people, including three children, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration reported on Jan. 16.

Photo: Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Death toll in Russian missile attack on Dnipro rises to 40. A Russian missile attack that destroyed a section of an apartment building in Dnipro killed at least 40 people on Jan. 14, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Jan. 16, citing the regional military administration.

Official: Collaborator killed in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Oleksii Kichyhin, the head of the illegal Russian-installed occupying authorities in Ukraine’s Berdiansk, was killed in an explosion, the head of Berdiansk’s city military administration, Viktoria Halitsyna, told Suspilne media outlet.

Russia heavily shells Donetsk Oblast, kills 1 in Soledar. According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, Russian attacks killed one civilian and injured seven civilians in Donetsk Oblast over the past day.

Governor: Russia attacks Kherson, kills 1 in the morning of Jan. 16. Russian troops shelled Kherson with artillery, hitting residential houses, a children’s hospital, and an orphanage in the morning of Jan. 16, Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych reported.

International response

Bloomberg: Allies have provided Ukraine with over 4,000 weapon systems since Feb. 24, 2022. So far, Ukraine has received 410 Soviet-era tanks; 300 infantry fighting vehicles, of which 250 are Soviet designed; 1,100 armored personnel carriers; 925 mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles; over 1,540 infantry mobility vehicles; 300 towed howitzers; 95 multiple rocket launchers, and over 59 air defense systems, according to Bloomberg.

Polish PM calls on Germany to deliver ‘all kinds of weapons to Ukraine.’ Since the beginning of Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022, the German government has been criticized for delaying and blocking arms supplies to Ukraine. Amid pressure from the media, the public and NATO allies, Germany has increased its arms supplies to Ukraine but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is still accused of being reluctant to antagonize Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Canadian minister: NASAMS will be shipped to Ukraine as soon as possible. The delivery “will occur as soon as possible, may involve multiple shipments and will be delivered as soon as possible…. We are not contemplating years at this point,” Anand said.

BBC: UK Army chief says military donations to Ukraine come at a cost but ‘make us safer.’ The U.K.’s Chief of General Staff Patrick Sanders said that British military donations to Ukraine will be put to “good use” in the fight with Russia, but might leave the British Army weaker. Sanders also told his troops that ensuring Russia’s defeat in Ukraine “makes us safer,” BBC reported.

Official: Ukraine to get first tranche of 18 billion euro aid package this week. Ukraine is to receive the first, 3 billion euro payment of an 18 billion euro macro-financial assistance package from the EU this week, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

NYT: The US begins training in Germany and Oklahoma for Ukrainian soldiers. The U.S. has stepped up its training of Ukrainian soldiers to teach military tactics at an American base in Germany and instruction on how to operate a complex air defense system in Oklahoma, military officials said on Jan. 16. The training and weapons are intended to strengthen Ukraine’s offensive and defensive capabilities amid Russia’s war.

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