Russia shells Sumy Oblast with mortars and rockets

Created: 01/13/2023 06:42

By: Caspar Felix Hoffmann, Moritz Serif, Johanna Soll, Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Daniel Dillmann, Nadja Austel, Christian Stör, Lucas Maier

Ukraine passes law on military service for non-Ukrainians.

Satellite images confirm Russian base in Belarus.

The news ticker.

• Ukrainian Parliament:

  Legislative amendment for military service of non-Ukrainians passed

• Satellite images:

  Russian base in Belarus confirmed

• Editor's note: 

  Read the latest developments from the Ukraine conflict in our new ticker.

  The information on the Ukraine war processed here comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine.

  They can therefore not be independently checked in part.

Update from Friday January 13, 2023 6:35 am:

The Russian military shelled several communities near the Russian border 21 times on Thursday (January 12), according to Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi in a post on Telegram .

According to Zhyvytskyi, Russian forces fired mortars on the municipalities of Esman and Seredyna-Buda.

No injuries were reported.

Sumy Oblast, located on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia, is the target of daily Russian shelling and frequent rocket hits.

Russia has repeatedly shelled Sumy Oblast in Ukraine.

(Archive image) © Genya Savilov/afp

News in the Ukraine war: Amendment to the law for the military service of non-Ukrainians passed

+++ 10:50 p.m .:

The Ukrainian parliament has passed an amendment to the law for the military service of non-Ukrainians in the armed forces of Ukraine.

This is reported by the Ukrainian news portal

.

The law will come into force the day after its publication.

The Presidential Decree allows foreigners to voluntarily join the Ukrainian army as contract soldiers.

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News in the Ukraine war: Russian base in Belarus confirmed

+++ 9.30 p.m .:

, an independent Belarusian military observation medium, publishes satellite images from the analysis center Rochan Consulting via Telegram.

According to the report, these show a detachment of nine units of the S-300/400 missile systems, the Pantsir missile system and other military equipment at the Belarusian Syabrovka military airfield in the Gomel region, near the Ukrainian border. 

, the images of the airfield were taken

on January 7 by an Airbus satellite.

They would confirm that there is a Russian military base there.

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News in the Ukraine war: 91 Russian attacks on Soledar

+++ 9:04 p.m .:

As the Ukrainian military spokesman Serhii Cherevatyi reports, the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region has been attacked 91 times by the Russian armed forces in the past few days.

However, they still would not have gained control of the city.

The fierce fighting is still going on.

Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar stated that Ukrainian troops were "valiantly holding their positions" and inflicting "significant casualties" on Moscow troops.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had promised that the units defending Bakhmut and Soledar would be supplied with ammunition and everything they needed "immediately and without interruption".

Soledar is just above the city of Bakhmut, which is also under Russian siege.

The goal of Putin's forces is to take the cities in order to gain control of the entire Donetsk region, which Russia has partially occupied since 2014. 

News in the Ukraine war: Russian troops disguise themselves as Ukrainian forces

+++ 19:20:

Russian stormtroopers in the military uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were sighted in the Luhansk region.

This is reported by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine.

The Russian occupiers could therefore prepare provocations and crimes under "false flags".

Among other things, "demonstrative acts of violence against the civilian population" are feared.

However, the occupiers wore red, white or blue bands on their legs to distinguish themselves from the Ukrainian military.

+++ 4.30 p.m .:

According to Russian information, Russia and Ukraine did not agree on a new exchange of prisoners during talks in Turkey.

News Agency on Wednesday

, refers to the number of people that both sides have already exchanged in the past.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkov told the

.

News in the Ukraine war: Bundeswehr soldiers are to arrive in Poland

+++ 15:11:

Several hundred Bundeswehr soldiers to operate the Patriot anti-aircraft systems are expected to arrive in Poland next week.

President Andrzej Duda signed a corresponding document, reported the news agency of the Polish public broadcaster.

The German teams for the Patriots will therefore be relocated to the Lublin Voivodeship in the south-east of the country

News in the Ukraine war: fighting for Soledar in eastern Ukraine

+++ 2.30 p.m .:

Heavy fighting is apparently still going on in the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.

According to their own statements, the Ukrainian military is continuing to withstand the onslaught of Russian soldiers on the heavily contested city.

Both sides spoke of numerous deaths.

The streets of the town are said to be strewn with corpses.

+++ 1:00 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, the Russian army is increasing its armed forces.

The number of Russian military units in Ukraine has risen to 280 from 250 in the previous week, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said at a press conference.

Moscow would "move the mobilized from the military training areas in Belarus and Russia to the war and border areas," she added to Telegram.

The focus of the fighting continues to be the Donetsk region.

However, the Ukrainian military held out in the fighting for the city of Soledar.

“Russia is killing its own people by the thousands.

But we will persevere," said Maljar.

News in the Ukraine war: "500 people killed" - A bloody battle is raging around Soledar 

+++ 11.05 a.m .:

According to information from Moscow and Kiev, the bloody battles for the Ukrainian city of Soledar in the Donetsk region are continuing (see update from 9.30 a.m.).

Ukraine has denied Russian claims that Soledar has already been taken.

The Kremlin in Moscow, in turn, had declared that it would wait for official confirmation that Soledar would be taken.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, on the other hand, claimed that the city had been conquered.

“The civilians were brought out, the fighters of the Ukrainian armed forces who did not want to go into captivity were destroyed.

About 500 people were killed,” Prigozhin claimed.

However, according to Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, 559 civilians are still holding out in Soledar.

Among them are 15 children.

Because of the fierce fighting, it was impossible to evacuate them from the city.

Before the war, 10,500 people lived in the town in eastern Ukraine.

News in the Ukraine war: Soledar under Russia's control?

Ukrainian soldier disagrees

+++ 9.30 a.m .:

Soledar is not occupied by Russian troops, according to a Ukrainian soldier who until recently was involved in the fighting for the key strategic city.

In an interview with

, he reports on the situation on site.

In the interview, he vehemently rejects the Russian claim that Soledar is in the hands of troops loyal to Moscow.

"It sometimes happens that Wagner mercenaries can enter a building in the industrial area and record a video before we smoke them out."

However, according to Oleksandr, the Ukrainian forces "have the situation under control".

The information has not yet been independently confirmed.

News in the Ukraine war: Russia changes procedure - elite units again "rapid reaction force"

+++ 8.50 a.m .:

Russia could adjust its troop structure, at least that’s what the British secret service assumes.

So far, Russia has used its paratrooper units as ground forces.

Now the elite units are to be used again "more in line with their actual role as a relatively elite rapid reaction force".

In his book "ZOV" the deserted paratrooper Pawel Filatev reported last year on catastrophic conditions among Russian paratroopers.

News in the Ukraine war: Over 2000 cyber attacks in 2022

+++ 7.25 a.m .:

The Ukraine war is not only fought on the battlefields.

Attacks also occur in cyberspace.

Last year (2022) more than 2000 cyber attacks targeted organizations in Ukraine.

This is reported by the news portal

, citing the cyber security team of Ukraine.

Targeted cyber attacks on critical and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine could constitute war crimes, Victor Zhora, one of Ukraine's top cyber officials, told the American daily.

News in the Ukraine war: Russia exchanges generals again – attack on Zaporizhia

Update from Thursday, January 12, 2023, 5:45 a.m.:

Another attack on the city of Zaporizhia.

On Wednesday evening (January 11), Russia shelled the Ukrainian city, Zaporizhia acting mayor Anatoly Kurtev said.

The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located in the city of Zaporizhia.

According to initial information, the latest attack only caused damage to infrastructure and civilian buildings.

A fire also broke out, but it was not reported whether the power plant was directly affected.

The information has not yet been independently verified.

News in the Ukraine war: Russia has a new commander

+++ 9:43 p.m .:

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has appointed Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov as the new commander of Russian troops in Ukraine.

Ten and a half months after the start of the war in Ukraine, there was a change in leadership in the Russian army.

Sergey Surovikin, who had only been commander of the invasion forces since October, is being demoted and, according to Russian sources, is to become Gerasimov's deputy.

Shoigu appointed two more deputies for Gerasimov.

Moscow justified the realignment with an "expansion of the scope of the tasks to be solved" and the need for the individual parts of the army to work more closely together.

+++ 6.10 p.m .:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke to NATO in a speech in Lviv and asked them to do more.: “For today, the mere support of Ukraine by NATO and support in the form of rhetoric is enough open doors to Ukraine.” Zelenskyy said Kyiv needed “strong steps” to join the military alliance, Reuters reports.

In September last year, Kyiv applied for so-called fast-track NATO membership, seven months after Russia started the war.

Although NATO emphasized its open-door policy towards Ukraine, it did not go into detail and has not yet mentioned any concrete steps that could accelerate Ukraine's possible accession to NATO.

News in the Ukraine war: Hard-fought Soledar not entirely in Russian hands

+++ 4.30 p.m .:

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar has dismissed claims of complete Russian control over the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.

"Heavy fighting in Soledar continues," quoted the US broadcaster

Maliar from a contribution in the short message service Telegram.

After heavy losses, the Russian military exchanged units in the area and also increased the number of Wagner mercenaries.

So Moscow aims to break through the Ukrainian defense line and take the city completely.

However, these attempts were unsuccessful, Maliar said.

News in the Ukraine war: ex-US general in Europe expects Crimea to be liberated

+++ 14.00:

The former commander of the American forces in Europe Ben Hodges, Lieutenant General a.

D., expects Ukraine to recapture Crimea by the end of August.

"Ukraine will never be safe and will be able to rebuild its economy while Russia controls Crimea," he told Ukrainian news agency

.

It is therefore "important to liberate Crimea".

According to Hodges, the probability that Russia will use nuclear weapons is very small.

After all, this does not give Moscow an advantage on the battlefield.

In addition, Moscow takes the warnings from the United States

News in the Ukraine war: Kyiv denies Russian claims about Soledar

+++ 12.25 p.m .:

The Ukrainian military has rejected Russian information about the situation in the embattled town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.

“The Russians say that Soledar is under their control.

That's not true," spokesman for the Eastern Group of Ukrainian Armed Forces Serhiy Cherevatyy said, according to media reports in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian general staff will provide information on the current situation.

News in the Ukraine war: Kyiv expects a new major attack and even gives a possible date

+++ 11.30 a.m .:

Massive Russian attacks on Ukraine with ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones are repeated again and again.

According to the Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich, Kyiv is expecting another such blow against the whole of Ukraine in the near future.

"Sooner or later this will happen," he said, according to the Unian news agency, in an interview with former Russian politician and human rights activist Mark Feigin.

As an approximate date, he gave the period between January 12th and 15th.

Admittedly, this does not necessarily have to be the case.

However, the assumption is based on the timing of previous attacks.

News in the Ukraine war: Bakhmut surrounded?

US experts disagree with Putin's troops

+++ 11.06 a.m .:

The Russian mercenary group Wagner claims to have taken Soledar.

Russian sources also say that the heavily contested town of Bakhmut is on the verge of being surrounded.

However, the latest situation report by the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shows that the Russian statements about Bakhmut do not correspond to reality.

"Even considering the most generous of Russian claims, a capture of Soledar would not mean immediate encirclement of Bakhmut," the paper reads.

In addition, the capture of Soledar does not necessarily grant Russian troops control of Ukrainian communication lines to Bakhmut.

The Russian military has been trying to take Bakhmut for months, but so far without success.

The front reports show high losses and sometimes horrific news.

News about the Ukraine war: Russian mercenary troops probably take Soledar – “almost no life left”

First report from Wednesday, January 11:

Kiev - There is "almost no life left" in the city of Soledar, announced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.

"Everything is completely destroyed." After several weeks of heavy fighting, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigoshin, reported the capture of the city in eastern Ukraine during the Ukraine war.

"Wagner units have taken the entire Soledar area under their control," the Russian news

quoted the businessman, who is considered a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as saying.

The city of Soledar is located in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, only around 20 kilometers from the still fiercely contested city of Bakhmut.

The British secret service confirmed the report by the Wagner group.

According to a report from London, after several tactical advances, the Russian troops "probably controlled most of the settlement" at the cost of high casualties.

News about the Ukraine war: Russia reports capture of Soledar

According to British intelligence, the fighting in Soledar was concentrated in the area of ​​a salt mine, which is said to have tunnels over 200 kilometers long.

Both Russia and Ukraine fear that their respective opponents could use these tunnel systems to organize attacks behind their own ranks.

Fierce battles are said to have recently raged, especially at the entrances to the salt mine.

However, the Russian army seems to have won this now.

But Russia's victory in Soledar is likely to be symbolic above all.

According to military experts, the city plays a subordinate role in the further course of the Ukraine war.

The benefits of capturing the settlements are "limited," William Reno, a professor of political science at Northwestern University, told

.

"This battle is part of the larger struggle for Bachmut," Reno said.

While conquest could shift the front lines in the Ukraine war in Russia's favour, it "would not represent a significant victory or improve their long-term prospects elsewhere in Ukraine."

The Battle of Soledar is primarily of political importance.

It would be about gaining control of the Donbass.

But because Kyiv also repeatedly emphasizes the importance of Soledar and Bakhmut, the battle for the Orste makes it "important despite the relatively low strategic importance of these places".

(dil)