Summary: Positional fighting continues all along the frontlines, but the only confirmed advance was a marginal advance by Russia towards the recapture of Klishchiivka. President Zelensky was attending the Davos World Economic Forum meeting with allies.
Human Cost Of The War
At least 23 Ukrainian civilians were injured in Russian attacks during the day.
- Russia conducted two missile strikes against the center of Kharkiv resulting in the injury of at least 17 civilians.
- Russia launched a drone attack against an apartment building in Odesa injuring three civilians.
- Russia conducted a strike against the village of Bilozerka, Kherson Oblast injuring a man in his yard.
- Russia conducted a strike against the village of Tiahynka, Kherson Oblast injuring a man and woman as they were walking down the street. They were hospitalized with shrapnel injuries.
Russian troops suffered an estimated 1100 casualties in fighting today according to the Ukraine General Staff.
Situation On The Ground And Air
There has been a noticeable reduction in Russian aviation presence over the Sea of Azov after Ukraine shot down an A50 Radar plane and heavily damaged an IL-22 Command Center plane over the weekend. Although they are expensive and limited planes, Russia will surely soon replace them and restore their air presence in the region.
Sloboda Front – Initiative Russia – Current Target: Recapture Kupyansk
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances in the sector.
Siversky Donets Front – Initiative Russia – Current Targets: Zherebets River, Siversk, & Chasiv Yar
Zherebets River – Russian sources claim that Russia forces advanced a mile closer to Makiivka (15.5 miles SW of Svatove) and marginally north of Dibrova (6 miles SW of Kreminna), but neither of these claims have been confirmed.
Around Bakhmut – Russian forces marginally advanced southwest of Bakhmut towards Klishchiivka (5 miles S of Bakhmut).
Donetsk Front – Initiative Russia – Current Targets: Avdiivka, Pervomaiske, Novomykhailivka, and to advance from occupied Marinka
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances in this sector.
Zaporizhia Front – Initiative Russia – Target: Recapture Robotyne
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances in the sector.
Left Bank Front – Initiative Russia – Current Target: Recapture Krynky
Positional fighting continues but there were no confirmed nor claimed advances in the sector.
Ukraine News
President Zelensky emphasized at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland that Russia will not change their maximalist goals towards Ukraine and thus it is imperative to defeat Russia. He claimed that Ukraine has been successful in holding Russia back from taking more significant territory, but that Ukraine is dependent on its world allies to continue this resistance. Zelensky held side meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about US-Ukraine defense cooperation, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about Russian airstrikes and NATO summit preparations, Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden about Ukraine’s defense needs, and Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to invite him to participate in the upcoming Ukraine Peace Summit.
The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on its second reading to digitalize military records which will improve the mobilization process. The Ukrainian military also changed their rules on conscription to exempt employees of companies critical to the defense industry.
Ukraine Ally Support
EU President Ursula von der Leyen vowed at the Davos World Economic Forum that the EU will approve a $50 billion military aid package to Ukraine with or without the support of Hungary. The European Parliament will convene on Thursday to vote on stripping Hungary of its voting rights.
The EU External Action Service has begun an audit of all military aid provided to Ukraine from member states in an investigation to determine if member states are providing the weaponry that they have promised.
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged 40 new long-range SCALP-EG missiles to Ukraine.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds reported that Latvia has created a coalition of nearly 20 unspecified countries to provide military drones to Ukraine.
Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev reported that Bulgaria continues to provide ammunition, small arms, and light infantry directly and indirectly to Ukraine.
The Estonian government announced that they will stop funding Russian-language education.
Polish truckers have ended all blockades of Polish-Ukrainian border checkpoints. The Romanian government also agreed to meet 13 of the demands by farmers blocking the Romania-Ukraine border. Neither side released a list of what was agreed upon but reports that the Romanian government would pay all excise taxes imposed by Ukraine until 2026 and compensate Romanian farmers for losses caused by the importation of cheaper Ukrainian agricultural products was reported to be part of the concessions made to the farmers. The farmers will not end their blockade though, until the government reaches an agreement with the truckers.
Russia News
President Putin held a meeting with city mayors and said that “Ukrainian statehood may suffer an irreparable, very serious blow” if the war continues. He also went on to say that the war will continue until Ukraine is “de-nazify” which is code for the current Ukrainian government to be replaced by a pro-Russian regime of Russia’s choice. He made it clear that any negotiations for the end of war must include Ukraine turning over all five regions of occupied Ukraine that Russia has illegally annexed – Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. This again shows that Russia has not given up on its maximalist objectives in Ukraine.
President Putin also claimed that Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are “throwing Russian people” out of their country and that Russia is obligated to protect the rights of their people wherever they are in the world. This is the same rhetoric that Putin said about Ukraine over the last decade prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Ally Support
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked North Korean Minister Choe Son-hui for North Korea’s support of Russia in its war with Ukraine. North Korea has supplied at least one million rounds of artillery ammunition and at least one North Korean ballistic missile was used against Ukraine.
At least two state-owned Chinese banks are reconsidering their involvement with Russian interests after the US threatened to impose sanctions on financial institutions that do business with Russian sanctioned entities. This is further evidence that China does not desire a “no limits partnership” with Russia.
Source Materials
Institute for the Study of War – understandingwar.org
The Kyiv Post – kyivpost.com
The Kyiv Independent – kyivindependent.com
Militaryland.net (maps)