Political strategic level
Britain may transfer fighter jets to Ukraine, but only on one condition: that Russian troops withdraw from the occupied territories. This was reported in The Telegraph. A senior Royal Air Force source has said that the issue is not a priority at the moment. The paper's interlocutors said that the planes could be handed over "once Russia has been expelled from Ukraine and the Ukrainians need to carry out an air control mission to protect their airspace".
Ah, there is some misunderstanding. The fighter jets are needed to get the Russians out of the occupied territories in the first place, not after they have somehow miraculously moved out of there. Are the interlocutors not going to be students of Ostap Bender?
At the same time, another senior UK defence source was concerned that the air force and navy were not doing enough to support Ukraine. It was noted that "the Ukrainians need all branches of the armed forces to be involved".
However, interlocutors from the Navy and the Marine Corps explained that their weapons are more difficult to use and require more time for training. In addition, the UK Navy is training Ukrainians to operate two Sandown-class minesweepers from summer 2022.
According to Politico, Ukraine, having received the tanks, is now asking for Western fighters and may receive them, counting on the support of the Baltic States in this regard. US President Joe Biden's administration has already announced that it will "thoroughly discuss" with its allies the possibility of supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.
Ukraine needs 300-500 Western tanks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The President said yesterday that he will only be relieved when these war machines are operational on the battlefield. 25 January. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces that Germany will hand over Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The Ukrainian army will be trained in Germany and training will start as soon as possible. Germany will also provide logistics, ammunition and maintenance services for the Leopard 2.
Germany has allowed the Allies to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks they have. It is reported that Ukraine may receive up to 100 tanks in total in the first phase. It later emerged that Germany plans to deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine around the end of March.
Warsaw has already stated that Poland needs several weeks to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The Canadian government also intends to support Ukraine by delivering four Leopard 2 tanks. 25 January 2023 US President Joe Biden formally announces the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. One tank battalion will be formed from them.
V. Zelensky urged the West to accelerate the delivery of tanks for the war against the Russian Federation. Referring to the deadline for the delivery of Abrams from the US, the President noted that the tanks might be delivered too late.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said in an interview with the French television channel BFM that the West had jointly promised a total of 321 tanks to Ukraine. "Delivery conditions vary from case to case and we need this assistance as soon as possible", he added.
Very good. Three hundred plus Western tanks can already make a significant difference on the front line and we have no doubt that the Ukrainian General Staff is or has been drawing up plans on how and where to deploy them in order to deliver the most effective crushing blow possible to the Russians.
It is too bad that the Kremlin's marauders know almost exactly how much time they have been given and what they have to do in those two months. Unfortunately, that is what they will do. Firstly, to get those tanks to Ukraine as slowly as possible, either not to reach Ukraine at all or to disrupt their supply chains. Secondly, they will rush to produce, buy, steal all possible military equipment from their allies - Iran, Shakorea and the Taliban. Thirdly, without counting the losses, they will try to occupy Zaporizhia and the Donbas, to dig in and establish defences there.
It was Shakoreya, in particular, that yesterday condemned the United States' decision to supply Ukraine with advanced battle tanks to help repel the Russian invasion, and said that Washington was escalating a sinister 'proxy war' aimed at destroying Moscow. These comments were made by the sister of the fat dictator Kim Jong Un. She blamed the war in Ukraine on the United States, claiming that the West's 'hegemonic policy' had forced Russia to take military action to protect its security interests.
For its part, the United States accuses this communist starving utopia of sending large stocks of artillery shells and other munitions to Russia so that it can continue its offensive in Ukraine, although North Korea has repeatedly denied this claim.
Kim Yo Jong's comments, reported by the official Korean Central News Agency, came after US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The black sister of the dictator said the Biden administration was "further crossing the red line" by sending its tanks to Ukraine. The US is a fierce offender, posing a serious threat and challenge to Russia's strategic security and pushing the situation in the region into its current difficult phase", she said.
Shekora is the only country, apart from terrorist Russia itself and Syria, that has recognised the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and has hinted at plans to send workers to help rebuild the territory.
So far, we have heard only statements. Can they become reality? Perhaps. It all depends on China, which is keeping the nuclear dog of a poor country on a short leash.
A senior EU official said on Friday that Russia had moved into the next phase of the war against Ukraine by carrying out indiscriminate attacks against civilians and non-military targets, and criticised Moscow for encouraging Germany and the United States to send modern tanks to Ukraine.
Stefano Sannino, Secretary General of the European Union's European External Action Service, defended the provision of military equipment to Ukraine by Germany and the US and criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for going to war with NATO and the West. Mr Sannino, speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, said that Mr Putin had "moved from the concept of special operations to the concept of war against NATO and the West".
"I think that this latest change in the supply of arms is just an evolution of the situation and the way Russia has started to take the war to the next stage," Sannino said. He added that Russia is carrying out "indiscriminate attacks" against civilians and cities, and no longer against military targets.
And that took Stefan years to understand. We have nothing more to say.
The French and Dutch foreign ministers visited a NATO battle group at a base in Romania on Friday and later agreed to strengthen their ties in the face of the Russian war in Ukraine.
Catherine Colonna of France and Wopke Hoekstra of the Netherlands, together with their Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu, visited the military base in Cincu in central Romania. France and the Netherlands have troops in the battle group, which was reinforced after Moscow's invasion of Romania's neighbour Ukraine.
In the afternoon, the two ministers and the minister held talks in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, where they signed an agreement on strengthening ties between the three NATO member states. Following the signing of the agreement, Mr Colonna said that France would support Ukraine "as much as necessary".
Wow, how unexpected!
Petr Pavel, the former Czech army chief, a pro-Western candidate who supports aid to Ukraine, hopes to win the presidential elections today in the second round. Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general with a white beard, is campaigning as an independent candidate and has the backing of the centre-right government that ousted Babiš from power in the 2021 parliamentary elections.
What Europe needs at the moment are leaders who are capable of taking decisions in war and not in peace. We wish the Czechs well in the elections.
The EU is discussing the extension of sanctions against Belarus, with a view to adapting the sanctions to those imposed on Russia. Proposals include restrictions on imports of oil, coal and gold from Belarus, as well as restrictions on the export of certain machinery and technology that could be used by the army, officials said. An EU official said discussions between EU countries would continue and an agreement was likely to be reached next week.
The official said the bloc was trying to strike a balance and make it clear that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's support for Moscow was unacceptable, while at the same time trying not to cause too much hardship for civilians. "This is a difficult action. We are trying to tighten the screws, but not too much," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
We believe that the sanctions against both Russia and its de facto annexation of Belarus must be even more stringent, and certainly the same. Lukashenko is as much a war criminal as Führer Putin.
Operational level
No change.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that the situation on the front line remains "extremely acute", especially in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is intensifying its offensive. Mr Zelensky also reported heavy fighting on Vuhledar south-west of Donetsk and Bakhmut to the north-east. Bakhmut is largely destroyed by repeated Russian attacks.
"The occupiers are not only storming our positions, they are deliberately and methodically destroying the surrounding towns and villages using artillery, air strikes, rockets," he said in a video address yesterday. "The Russian army does not lack lethal means and can only be stopped by force".
Yesterday, the Ukrainian President's Office reported that at least 10 Ukrainian civilians were killed and 20 others injured in a day of new Russian shelling, before the country had recovered from the previous wave of Russian missile and drone strikes.
Regional officials said that towns and villages in the east and south, which are within range of Russian artillery, were the worst hit. Six people were killed in Donetsk region, two in Kherson and two in Kharkiv. A day earlier, missiles and drones fired by Russian forces hit targets deep inside Ukrainian territory, killing at least 11 people.
On Friday, Ukraine announced that it is setting up unmanned aerial vehicle assault companies in its armed forces, which will be equipped with Starlink satellite communications, as it continues to pursue the idea of creating an "army of unmanned aerial vehicles". General Zaluzhnyj has signed an order for the creation of these units, which will involve several ministries and agencies, the General Staff said.
"The "most professional military officers" have already been selected to lead the companies, each of which will receive unmanned aerial vehicles and ammunition, Starlink terminals and other equipment, according to a statement on Facebook.
We are very impressed by the Ukrainians' ability to adapt quickly and flexibly to the situation and to defend their country with smart warfare.
Russian President Putin is prepared to continue a large-scale war against Ukraine for another six months, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) who analysed information provided by Bloomberg. They also pointed out that Putin is likely to seek to regain the initiative in the Luhansk region and thwart the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The more we go on, the more we are amazed by these so-called analysts who repeat trivial statements that have been known for at least six months. And there is no Ukrainian counter-attack. A counter-attack, or counter-attack, is a simultaneous attack by the attacking forces. For a long time, the Drisksis in Ukraine were not attacking, but defending, so the Ukrainians were simply attacking, which stopped.
Tactical level
Over the past day, the Russian occupiers have carried out 26 air and 10 missile strikes, including once on civilian infrastructure in Zaporizhzhya. In addition, Russian forces fired 81 salvoes, including attacks on civilian objects in Ochakov. These attacks have caused civilian casualties.
The threat of enemy air and missile strikes remains high throughout Ukraine.
The enemy continues to conduct offensive operations on the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka axes. On the Kupyansk, Lyman, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson axes, Russian forces remain on the defensive.
During the past day, the Ukrainian Air Force conducted 8 air strikes on Russian troop, weapons and equipment sites and once on a Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
Ukrainian forces shot down an Su-25 fighter jet, a Mi-8 transport helicopter and 2 Superkam unmanned aerial vehicles.
During the day, Ukrainian rocket and artillery forces attacked 2 command posts, 2 positions of Russian anti-aircraft systems and 5 enemy concentrations.
Russian marauders are massing large forces near the Kremlin. The number of cave rapists deployed in its vicinity may reach 10 to 15 thousand. This means that we may see even more activity on this eastern front in the near future.
At Soledar, the Ukrainians appear to have lost control of Blahodatne and have retreated behind a railway crossing to the west. It is not clear whether the 05-13 section is still in Ukrainian hands. We have already mentioned earlier that the loss of this road, as well as the retreat from Blahodatne and Krasna Hora, opens up a direct route from the north to Bakhmut for the Drisks.
Unfortunately, we have to say that, in our estimation, Bakhmut is becoming a second Mariupol.
Photo: an apartment block, or rather what is left of it after the Russian marauders brought peace to Mariupol.
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