The essential
The Kremlin judges that the deliveries of Western tanks will "prolong the suffering" of the Ukrainians.
The United Kingdom plans to supply kyiv with Challenger 2 heavy armored vehicles.
The EU and NATO will step up their cooperation against Moscow.
A joint statement is to be signed today.
The day after the Orthodox Christmas "truce", Moscow claimed responsibility for an offensive in the East, notably on the city of Kramatorsk, ensuring that its army had killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers.
kyiv, for its part, denounces a Russian "communication operation" in the face of Ukrainian successes.
06:45
Kyiv claims to take a step towards EU membership
While the European Union and NATO are due to sign a joint declaration on Tuesday strengthening their cooperation, President Zelensky announced to the Ukrainians last night that the EU-Ukraine summit to be held on 3 February has as its objectives "the continuation of the institutional rapprochement of our State” with the EU and “the start of accession negotiations” to the Union.
06:35
Two Britons missing near Soledar
Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry, two British citizens helping to evacuate civilians in the Donetsk region, are officially missing.
They were last seen leaving Kramatorsk for Soledar at 8am last Friday, and contact was then lost around 5.15pm on Saturday.
06:25
Elsewhere in Ukraine
"Russian strikes on Kherson and Ochakiv, cities of the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, constant terror against the border communities of the Sumy region", detailed Volodymyr Zelensky, denouncing that "every day of Russian presence on Ukrainian soil means deaths, injuries, pain and suffering”.
06:15
Moscow will not give the names of the dead of Makïïvka
On New Year's Eve, Ukrainian forces bombed a building intended to house a school in Makïvka, which served as a cantonment for Russian troops and their ammunition.
Moscow has acknowledged the death of 89 of its soldiers, in the last balance sheet dating from a week which has not been updated despite the number of missing.
Yesterday evening, on Telegram, the organizers of "Protocol Samara", a movement which relays the opposition to the war, denounced the fact that the military commissioner of the Samara region, Alexei Vdovin, had refused to publish the list of soldiers deceased.
It "may be used by foreign secret services", he said, adding that "all information available in military police stations is communicated personally to the families of the military".
"The absurd explanation proves once again that the military is afraid to tell people the truth, and the exact number of victims is much higher than that declared by the authorities," said Protocol Samara.
06:05
On the eastern front
The village of Bakhmoutské and the town of Soledar are the scene of heavy fighting, near Bakhmout, while Moscow has been trying for months to seize this town at the crossroads of logistics.
“I thank all our soldiers who protect Bakhmout (…) and the fighters in Soledar, who resist new, even more violent assaults from the invaders”, greeted last night, in his daily address, Volodymyr Zelensky, assuring that his troops had “gained extra time (…) for Ukraine”.
06:00
Hello everyone !
Welcome to this live on the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
