Moscow: «700 Ukrainian soldiers killed in three days in Soledar». Kiev denies the fall of the city

• The war in Ukraine reached the 324th day.
• Moscow announces that it conquered Soledar last night. Kiev denies it again.
• In June new meeting of the European political community in Moldova.
• Lavrov will visit Belarus on 19 January.
• Why Putin demoted SurovikinGeneral Armageddon.
• Cratered Ukraine: satellite photos show the destruction.

2.58 pm – Zelensky in the Lithuanian parliament: 2023 will be decisive, we will win

This decisive year is Ukraine on the path to victory over Russia. In video link with the Lithuanian Parliament, President Volodymyr Zelensky then stated that Moscow must be defeated on Ukrainian soil. They bring it back Ukrinform and the Kiev independent. I want to thank you for not betraying freedom even for a minute – said the leader of Kiev -. And not only during these 323 days of cruel and inhuman Russian war. Now we go towards the final victory. Russia will no longer be able to dictate anything to the peoples of Europe when we end this war with the unequivocal defeat of the aggressor.

2.48 pm – The Ukrainian Parliament revokes the powers of 4 pro-Russian deputies

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) has revoked the mandate of four MPs, including Viktor Medvedchuk, a friend of Vladimir Putin and opposed to Ukraine joining the EU. This was announced by deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak on Telegram, quoted by Ukrinform.

2.31 pm – Usa: The Russian victory at Soledar will not affect the war

Even if Bakhmut and Soledar should fall to the Russians, this will not have a strategic impact on the war itself. And it certainly won’t stop the Ukrainians or slow them down. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House. He brings it back Guardian.

13:51 – Reporter Cnn near Soledar: Ukrainian forces in retreat

A crew of the Cnn stationed near the city of Soledar in Ukraine reported an organized withdrawal of Ukrainian troops. The crew, positioned about 2.5 miles from the city, are attending what appears to be a fairly organized retreat, the US broadcaster wrote. The same reporters of the Cnn they also reported that there is no sense of panic among the Ukrainian troops. This morning Moscow announced that it has taken control of Soledar. A statement denied shortly after by the armed forces of Kiev.

12:40 – Kiev denies it: Soledar has not yet been conquered, it is being fought

The city of Soledar was not captured by Russian forces. This was stated to the Rbk Ukraine news agency by the spokesman of the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Kiev, Serhiy Cherevaty. No, I wasn’t. The fighting in the city continues, Cherevaty said, commenting on the statements by the Moscow Defense Ministry.

12:22 – Moscow: Soledar taken thanks to air raids and pincer maneuvers

The taking of Soledar was possible thanks to the constant artillery fire and air and missile attacks which prevented the transfer of reserves and the supply of ammunition of the Ukrainian troops. This was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry, as he writes Ria Novosti. To this must be added a sort of pincer maneuver with the airborne forces which successfully attacked the positions of the Ukrainian armed forces by occupying the dominant heights and blockading the city from the north and south sides.

The reconstruction of Wagner, which is credited with success, is different. Progozhin’s group on Thursday night, in a Telegram video quoted by Cnnhe had said that the regular Russian military forces did not participate in the assault on Soledar thus attributing full paternity of the operation.

12:07 – Moscow: 700 Ukrainian soldiers killed in three days in Soledar

Over the past three days, more than 700 Ukrainian soldiers and more than 300 weapons and weapon systems have been destroyed in Soledar. This was announced by the Russian Defense Ministry, as reported Ria Novosti.

11:40 am – Moscow: Captured the city of Soledar

The Moscow Defense Ministry has announced that Russian troops have captured the city of Soledar, in Ukraine. The agency reports tax. The ministry specified that Russia has been in control of Soledar since yesterday evening and that the conquest of the city allows the supply routes of the Ukrainian troops to be cut off also for the city of Bakhmut, 15 kilometers to the south.

10:52 am – Air raid alarm in 4 regions

the air alert went off in four regions of Ukraine, as explained by the Kiev authorities. These are the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions where the sirens sounded at 11:15 local time. Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure began on October 10.

10:44 am – Defense Minister Kiev: Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO

Ukraine is now a de facto member of NATO and will soon receive weapons such as tanks and fighter planes that the Atlantic Alliance has so far refused to supply for fear of an escalation with Moscow. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Olekskii Reznikov, in an interview with the BBC. These concerns about an escalation are just a matter of etiquette for me, he added.

10:43 am – Is Russia about to disintegrate like the USSR? Signals and unknowns

(Luca Angelini) At a time when, on Ukrainian soil, the Russian Army seems to be able to regain positions, in the Soledar and Bakhmut sector, in Donbass, to speak of possible dissolution of the Russian Federation It may seem like wishful thinking, mistaking one’s wishes for reality. Still, the theme recurs. We wrote about it in the Review of 23 November. Guido Santevecchi has reported that, according to what some Chinese sources revealed to the Financial Times, in Beijing they are convinced that “Putin is mad” and that his Russia will emerge from the Ukrainian quagmire reduced to “a minor power”. Federico Fubini, speaking of the thousands of Russian soldiers, above all from the regions furthest from Moscow, sent to die in Ukraine, he added that minorities are now starting to fight back. And Danilo Taino he recalled that power clashes and social protests in Russia according to the 540 experts contacted by the Center for Preventive Action, they were one of the seven most probable crises of 2023.
Read the full article here.

10:29 am – Kiev: Moscow wants to create an army of 2 million soldiers

Moscow plans to create an army of 2 million soldiers: according to the Ukrainian defense intelligence (GUR) based on the extent of the mobilization underway in Russia. 300,000 people were enlisted in the first recruitment, Kiev intelligence recalled, as reported by Rbc-Ukraine. The GUR now does not rule out the possibility of Moscow announcing another mobilization in the coming days and believes that this time another 500,000 Russians will join the armed forces. The scale of these measures points to Moscow’s plans to create an army of about two million people compared to the previous goal of 1.5 million soldiers.

10:07 am – More than 200 Kiev soldiers in Spain for training

More than two hundred Ukrainian servicemen have arrived in Spain to participate in training at the Torrejon de Ardoz air force base. During the training they will learn how to heal people who are injured in battle and how to use some specific devices on the battlefield.

09:40 – Intelligence GB, the Russians use prisoners to produce weapons

The Russian Defense Ministry resorts to the use of prison labor to try to meet the demands for war material to be used in the conflict. British intelligence says so in its daily update on twitter. The prisoners – it is explained – are used for the production of low-tech weapons. Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), Russia’s largest tank manufacturer, said last November it would take 250 prisoners.

Latest Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 13 January 2023

Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/Jr7a7koW8O

?? #StandWithUkraine ?? pic.twitter.com/s9NzHapWmK

— Ministry of Defense ?? (@DefenceHQ) January 13, 2023

08:34 – Kiev: we are resisting the high intensity Russian offensive in Soledar

Ukrainian forces are resisting a high-intensity Russian offensive in Soledar, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said today. The enemy has sent almost all of its main forces in the direction of the Donetsk region and is maintaining a high-intensity offensive, Maliar said on Telegram. This is a difficult phase of the war, she added, stressing that the fighting continues.

08:25 am – Soledar, photos of the destruction: houses and schools in rubble and fields reduced to expanses of craters

(Marta Serafini) FROM OUR ODESSA REPORTER – They make you shiver the satellite images released by Maxar of the cities of Soledar and Bakhmut and other localities surrounding the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Comparing the same areas a few months apart, between August 2022 and January 2023, the fury of battle evident.

Craters in fields and along roads, as well as destroyed houses, schools and buildings. The Russians walked over the corpses of their own soldiers, burning everything in their way, said the head of the Donetsk regional administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko. Russian forces are using mortars and rockets to bombard Soledar in a relentless assault, fighting for a breakthrough in a war that has been going on for 11 months. Civilians are trying to survive amidst that bloodbath while the Russians are pressing in with their attacks, Kyrylenko said. Also according to the governor there would be 523 trapped civilians, mostly elderly, whose evacuation is now unthinkable.

Herethe full article

08:25 – Zelensky, everything needed to defend Soledar

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised to provide all necessary supplies to resisting soldiers to Russian assaults a Soledar and Bakhmuttwo eastern cities that Russia is trying to conquer at all costs to change the course of the war. I want to emphasize that the units defending these cities will be supplied with ammunition and all necessary supplies quickly and without interruption, Zelensky said on Facebook yesterday after a meeting with his staff. The United Nations Security Council will meet today at 20:00 to discuss the situation in Ukraine. The situation in Soledar has been difficult for the Ukrainian army in recent days and the fiercest and most violent fighting continues today, Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said.