A summary of today's developments
Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published on Saturday. He said: “We strongly believe that we will succeed. I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”
Ukraine’s plans for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation remain on track, its deputy defence minister Volodymyr V Havrylov told Reuters on Saturday, despite an “unprecedented” wave of missile and drone attacks across the country in recent weeks.
Gen David Petraeus old BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Ukraine’s counteroffensive is “very impressive” and can succeed, adding that the Ukrainians are “determined to liberate their country”. Petraeus, who was director of the CIA and led international forces in Iraq and Afghanistan before that, has been in Kyiv recently, meeting President Zelenskiy and others.
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that Kremlin factions were destroying the state by trying to sow discord between him and Chechen fighters. Prigozhin said a dispute between him and Chechen forces had been resolved. But the Wagner chief blamed the discord on unidentified Kremlin factions - which he calls “Kremlin towers”.
Two people were killed and two injured by Ukrainian artillery fire on Russia’s Belgorod region on Saturday. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram: “Since this morning, settlements in the Shebekino urban district have been under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
Kyrgyzstan’s president said on Saturday that his ex-Soviet republic was ready to work with the EU. President Sadyr Japarov, whose country is an ally of Moscow, said: “Kyrgyzstan is ready to work hand in hand with the European Union to resolve shared problems, encourage dialogue and find lasting solutions.”
Indonesia’s defence minister Prabowo Subianto has proposed a peace plan for the war in Ukraine, calling for a demilitarised zone and a United Nations referendum in what he called disputed territory. However, the proposed plan was dismissed by Ukraine.
Kremlin has banned Western journalists from Russia’s ‘Davos’. The Kremlin said on Saturday that journalists from “unfriendly countries” would not be allowed into the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which President Vladimir Putin has used to showcase the Russian economy to global investors.
The forced deployment of once-elite Russian VDV troops to Bakhmut amid the withdrawal of Wagner mercenary forces means “the whole Russian force is likely to be less flexible in reacting to operational challenges”, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Saturday that he was ready to send fighters to the Russian Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine and has come under intense shelling. AFP reports that Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian interior ministry said through its press service that of the “over 4,800” shelters it inspected, 252 were locked, and a further 893 “unfit for use.” On Saturday, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that city authorities have received “more than a thousand” complaints regarding locked, dilapidated or insufficient air-raid shelters within a day of launching an online feedback service.
Russia will come back to full compliance with the New Start treaty if Washington abandons its “hostile stance” towards Moscow, Russian news agencies reported, citing deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Friday the US was working with Ukraine and other allies to build consensus around the core elements of a “just and lasting peace” to end the war with Russia.
Ukraine would be ready to continue exporting grain across the Black Sea as part of a “plan B” without Russian backing if Moscow pulled the plug on the current grain export deal and it collapsed, Ukraine’s farm minister has said.
Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, has released excerpts of his correspondence with prison administrators, detailing his sarcastic demands for things like a bottle of moonshine, a balalaika and even a kangaroo. His requests were denied.
A Russian-installed official in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said Ukrainian forces had shelled the Russian-controlled port city of Berdiansk, on the Sea of Azov. Footage showed a large cloud of grey smoke rising from near the port area.
The former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev has reacted to the imposition of sanctions on him by Ukraine and has defended his investments in occupied Crimea.
Three people were killed and four injured, including a three-year-old girl, by fire from Ukrainian armed forces, according to Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk region.
Britain supports Ukraine joining Nato, the defence minister, Ben Wallace, has said on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, saying the path is open to them. However, political realities may slow the process as it is not possible to add members in the middle of a war. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he understood Ukraine would not join Nato while at war with Russia.
Ukrainian-backed Russian rebel groups have said they are still fighting inside Russia’s Belgorod region, despite Moscow’s claims on Thursday to have repelled the incursion. The Freedom of Russia Legion posted videos on social media of combat apparently in the Belgorod village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, between the Ukrainian-Russian border and the town of Shebekino, the legion’s stated goal.
The top US military officer has said training for Ukrainian forces on advanced US Abrams tanks has started, but those weapons crucial over the long term in trying to expel Russia from occupied territory will not be ready in time for Kyiv’s imminent counteroffensive.
