Apparently, Russia has significantly strengthened its army around Mariupol.
Terrorist alert was declared in the border region of Belgorod.
News ticker on the Ukraine war.
Thousands of soldiers
for a new
offensive
?
Ukraine announces reinforcements of Putin's army near Mariupol
Wagner group
recruits fewer
prisoners
: Ukrainian soldiers are apparently observing a change in tactics.
Putin
warns of attacks in the
border area
: Experts believe in diversionary maneuvers
This
news ticker on military events in the Ukraine war
is constantly updated.
Update from February 4, 8:03 a.m .:
Incident in the Ukraine war?
Russia claims Ukraine shelled a factory in the Russian border region of Belgorod near Ukraine.
The authorities have declared an indefinite terror alert because of the alleged shelling.
"In Borisovka at night, a civilian industrial building was attacked by the Ukrainian armed forces," Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
It is therefore necessary to extend the yellow alert - increased danger of terrorism - indefinitely.
Ukraine war: Major fire in border region triggers terror alert in Russia
The trigger in the Belgorod region was a major fire in a factory in Borisovka, around 30 kilometers west of the region's capital.
According to the authorities, the fire was caused by shelling from Ukrainian territory.
Fortunately, there were no dead or injured, said Governor Gladkow.
In social networks it is said that metal structures for bridge construction were manufactured in the factory - including for the construction of the bridge from the Russian mainland to the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
🔥🔥🔥Ukraine 🇺🇦 struck a metal factory in Belgorod, Russia 🇷🇺 which supplied 40% of the metal for the Kerch Bridge.
pic.twitter.com/iY0x6rv9cW
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) February 4, 2023
Previously, governors could only issue terror alerts for a maximum of 15 days in their region.
Earlier this week, however, Putin gave the governors the option of imposing the terror alert indefinitely by decree.
If there is an increased risk of terrorism, the yellow and red alert levels, the freedom rights of the local population are curtailed, for example through curfews or vehicle and person checks.
Ahead of Belgorod, the Kursk and Bryansk border regions have already imposed such an anti-terrorist regime this week.
Ukraine war: Thousands of soldiers for a new offensive?
Update from February 4th, 7.50 a.m .:
In the Ukraine war, Russia is apparently pulling more soldiers together in the area around the occupied city of Mariupol.
According to official information from Ukraine, Russia is said to have increased the number of soldiers stationed there by 10,000 to 15,000 in recent weeks.
There are now almost 30,000 Russian soldiers in the region, especially in the surrounding villages, where they probably served as a "human shield", said Petro Andriushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, on the news service Telegram on the current situation in the Ukraine war .
The politician suspects that the Russian army may form a kind of "blockade" for a new offensive.
"It gives the impression that reserves are being actively formed to continue the attack on Wuhledar," he writes.
Heavy fighting has broken out over the small town in Donetsk in the past few days.
Russia has occupied Mariupol for around two months, and most of the city of 450,000 is in ruins as a result of the Ukraine war.
Ukraine-News: Another rocket attack on infrastructure
Update from February 3, 8:55 p.m .:
The Ukrainian general staff reported on Friday a Russian rocket attack on the civilian infrastructure of the city of Barvinkove in the Kharkiv region, which had killed civilians.
There were also 20 attacks by rocket salvo systems.
"The danger of further Russian air and missile attacks on the entire territory of Ukraine is great," warned the General Staff of Ukraine.
In addition, there are offensive operations by Russia in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavliv areas, apparently with heavy losses in personnel and military equipment of the Russian armed forces.
Numerous border towns are still under fire.
More than 15 settlements were shelled in the Zaporizhia and Cherson regions.
The information could not be independently verified.
CIA boss William Burns sees the next six months as decisive for the outcome of the war
The head of the US foreign intelligence service CIA, William Burns, assumes that the next six months will decide the outcome of the Ukraine war, as the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported.
Burns believes Putin is "betting he can make time work for him" while political fatigue grips Europe and the United States is distracted.
The covert further partial mobilization in Russia, the conversion to the war economy and the personnel changes at the top of the Russian military need time to show their effects.
Military experts believe that a resurgent Russian armed forces could pose problems for Ukraine.
"We are very interested in the fact that Russia has no way of reviving its defense industry," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday with regard to further EU sanctions against Russia.
Ukraine War: Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine continues
Update from February 3, 7:01 p.m.:
The fierce fighting on the front sections in northern Ukraine and in the Donbass continues.
The city of Bakhmut is still hard fought over, and the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group is particularly active there.
"If arms deliveries are accelerated - especially longer-range weapons - not only will we not withdraw from Bakhmut, but we will also start to retake the occupied Donbass," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Kyiv on Friday in view of the ongoing fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine .
Ukraine said last week that Russian troops had stepped up their attacks in eastern Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian information, particularly massive attacks were reported in the two cities of Wuhledar and Bakhmut, around 150 kilometers to the north.
On Friday, Donetsk prosecutors reported a Russian attack on the city of Toretsk using Grad multiple rockets, injuring six people and killing one.
According to Ukrainian sources, two people were killed and eight others wounded by Russian attacks in the cities of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut the day before in the Donetsk region.
The information could not be independently verified.
Russia reports hits on two Ukrainian army brigades
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday that Russian troops in the Zaporizhia area hit two Ukrainian army brigades.
According to the general, "more than 20 Ukrainian soldiers, an M777 artillery system from US production, two D-20 howitzers and one D-30 howitzer" were hit.
Fighters from the Chechen commando unit Ahmat together with a brigade from the 2nd army corps are said to have seized a Ukrainian position near the settlement of Wessele, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov told the Russian state news agency TASS on Friday.
The information could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy calls embattled town of Bakhmut Ukrainian "fortress"
Update from February 3, 5:30 p.m .:
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine will not give up the embattled small town of Bakhmut in the east of the country.
"We will fight as long as we can," stressed Zelenskyj on Friday at the end of an EU/Ukraine summit in Kyiv.
Bachmut is a "fortress".
For months, Russian troops have been trying to conquer the small town in the Donetsk region, which had a population of around 70,000 before the war.
Since the beginning of the year, the Russian military has managed to advance north and south of Bakhmut.
A few weeks ago, Russian forces with the support of Wagner mercenaries captured the small town of Soledar in northeastern Bakhmut.
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian troops withdrew in order to avoid greater losses.
Soledar marked the first success of Russian troops in Ukraine since the capture of Lysychansk in June last year.
Wagner Group recruits fewer prisoners - changed tactics in the Ukraine war?
Update from February 3, 10:15 a.m .:
The Russian mercenary army group Wagner is apparently recruiting significantly fewer prisoners for use in Ukraine than a few months ago.
The British Ministry of Defense reported this in its daily Ukraine update on Friday.
According to official figures, the total number of Russian prisoners fell by 6,000 between November 2022 and January 2023.
In comparison, between September and November 2022 alone, 23,000 fewer prisoners were listed.
The recruitment of prisoners by the Wagner group is considered to be the main reason for the declining number of prisoners.
British intelligence also reports "anecdotal evidence" that the strategy of Russian forces in Ukraine has changed.
On the offensive, the Kremlin apparently relies less on overrunning enemy positions with “human waves” from Wagner fighters.
With this strategy, Moscow was able, among other things, to capture the embattled city of Soledar.
However, the losses in the ranks of the Wagner group were enormous.
The change in strategy can also be attributed to "significant tensions between Wagner and the Russian defense minister," the British Ministry of Defense continues.
+
A member of the Wagner private mercenary army in the streets of the conquered city of Soledar.
© imago-images
Ukraine war: Russia prepares 'covert mobilization' in Donetsk
Update from February 2, 10:18 p.m .:
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Russian armed forces are preparing for a “covert mobilization” in the eastern Donetsk region.
“In the temporarily occupied areas of the Donetsk region, Russia is preparing for a covert mobilization.
In the town of Horlivka in particular, all budgetary and communal institutions were instructed to submit lists of the required persons to the Military Commissariat of the Occupation.
All these people will be investigated by enemy special commissions and then drafted into the ranks of the enemy,” the statement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook read.
The Russian armed forces are "continuing active reconnaissance and preparing for an offensive in several directions," it said, adding that "offensive operations" are continuing in the direction of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiiv and Novopavliv.
War in Ukraine: Russian army attacks Kramatorsk
Update from February 2, 8:22 p.m .:
The Russian army attacked the city of Kramatorsk on Thursday, at least five people were injured in the rocket attacks, and several buildings, including a children’s clinic and a school, were damaged.
This was announced by Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the military administration of the Donetsk region.
Kramatosrk is located in the Donetsk region, around 35 kilometers from the battlefield town of Bakhmut.
On Wednesday, three people died in attacks by the Russian army in the city.
Update from February 2, 6:50 p.m
.: Because of the delivery of German "Leopard 2" and American "M1 Abrams" - a Russian energy company promised a cash bonus for the capture or destruction of western battle tanks in the Ukraine war.
The same applies after a possible delivery of fighter jets.
Update from February 2, 5:50 p.m
.: Germany and its NATO partners are delivering 90 “Leopard 2” to Ukraine.
But: The Russian army apparently has a missile system that can pose a threat to main battle tanks not only on the battlefields of Donbass.
Ukrainian secret service suspects that Russia wants to take the entire Donbass by March
Update from February 2, 4:50 p.m .:
According to Ukrainian information, Russia wants to have occupied the entire Donbass region by March.
This was announced by the spokesman for the Ukrainian secret service, Andriy Yusov, according to the Unian news agency.
Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov was given the task by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to take the Donbass region by March.
Heavy fighting is therefore expected in the area in February and March.
Despite the losses in soldiers and equipment, Russian soldiers would try "to fulfill the duties of the Russian dictator".
Ukraine war: Experts suspect new offensive by Putin's military
Update from February 2, 1:56 p.m
.: "You could start a two-front offensive": Many experts and the Ukrainian government suspect that the Russian military is planning a new major offensive close to the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
As Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov explained in an interview broadcast on French television, "Given that (the Russians) live by symbols, we think they'll try something around February 24."
He again demanded further deliveries of arms in order to be able to meet the enemy.
According to Reznikov, the Ukrainian government estimates that Russia has mobilized around half a million soldiers for the operation in Ukraine - far more than the 300,000 that Moscow officially states.
Ukraine-News: Black Sea Fleet movements worry Zelenskyy's forces
Update from February 2, 12:03 p.m .:
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia is preparing a new massive missile attack on Ukraine.
Most of the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet have returned to their bases, which indicates that a new strike is being prepared, spokeswoman for the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Natalya Humenyuk said on TV.
Russia fires its cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure mostly from ships in the Black or Caspian Seas.
According to the Ukraine spokeswoman, there are currently only ten ships on the open sea, most of them submarines.
Usually there are significantly more.
This suggests an impending attack.
Ukraine News: Putin warns of attacks in the border area - experts believe in diversionary maneuvers
Update from February 2, 11:25 a.m .:
In view of Russian-Belarusian military exercises on the border with Ukraine, the question arises as to whether Belarus soon wants to join Putin militarily in the Ukraine war.
The analysts of the US Institute for the Study on War (ISW) consider this unlikely, but believe in a strategic diversionary maneuver by Russia.
In its current status report on the Ukraine war, the institute writes that Putin is currently making a conscious attempt to focus on possible dangers on Ukraine's northeastern border.
In doing so, he might want to get Ukraine to withdraw some of its soldiers to the north-east.
He hopes that the Russian army will meet less solid resistance in its expected major offensive.
According to the ISW, Putin has repeatedly warned against Ukrainian attacks on the Russian border area.
"Putin's focus on the alleged danger of a Ukrainian shelling" probably also serves to portray Ukraine as an existential threat to the Russian people, writes the ISW.
Ukraine-News: Russia bombs residential buildings in Kramatorsk - dead and injured
Update from February 2, 10:45 a.m .:
In the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, at least three people were killed and around 20 others injured in a Russian missile attack.
A residential building was hit, the Ukrainian police said on Wednesday evening (February 1).
It is feared that there are other victims under the rubble of the house.
"Peaceful people were killed and buried under rubble," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the attack.
"This is the daily reality of life in our country." Reporters from the AFP news agency saw two bodies recovered from the rubble.
During the night, rescue workers searched the rubble for survivors and other possible victims.
Kramatorsk is located in the Donetsk region.
This has been fiercely contested for months, and its complete capture is one of Russia's key war goals in the Ukraine war.
Belarus and Russia are rehearsing airstrikes on the border - fears about the Ukraine war are increasing
Moscow/Minsk - Will Belarus soon join the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine?
Current military exercises along the Belarusian borders are fueling these fears.
According to Belarus, units of a joint Belarusian-Russian force conducted exercises that “imitate the conflict with an enemy force”.
This was stated by Alexander Wolfowitch, State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council, on Tuesday (January 31) in a video message published by the Belarusian military.
This is reported by the Russian state news agency Tass.
The joint task force of Russia and Belarus was formed in autumn 2022.
Around 9,000 Russian soldiers are stationed in Belarus for this purpose - officially to protect the external borders of the Russian-Belarusian Union.
Ukraine-News: Russia and Belarus rehearse airstrikes against simulated enemy
Russia and Belarus have rehearsed airstrikes against simulated enemy formations on the border.
Officially, it is said that the military exercises served to be able to react if, for example, an "illegal armed group" crossed the state border with Belarus, or if offensive bases were set up near the border.
The exercises were "defensive in nature," it was emphasized.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also spoken out in favor of establishing joint military training centers with Belarus.
Putin on Tuesday (January 31) instructed the defense and foreign ministers to start talks and sign an agreement.
Ukraine-News: Fears rise - will Lukashenko join the war?
In light of these developments, fears are growing that Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko could enter the Ukraine war and fight on Moscow's side.
Belarus has already allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a launch pad for last year's Ukraine offensive.
Despite increased military cooperation with the Russian government, Lukashenko has always insisted that he would not send his soldiers to Ukraine.
(smu/dpa)
List of rubrics: © Vadim Belikov/AP/dpa
