Is the Ukrainian army withdrawing from Bakhmut?
The Wagnder boss now contradicts such reports in the Russian media.
The news ticker.
Battle
of
Bachmut
: Secret service sees strategically important city "increasingly isolated"
Main battle tanks
from the
west
: Canada flies its first Leopard-2 in Ukraine
Russian Navy
in the
Black Sea
: Putin's fleet appears to be increasing reconnaissance activity
This
news ticker on military events in the Ukraine war
is constantly updated.
Update from February 5, 8:41 p.m
.: According to information from Kiev, several civilians were killed and wounded in Russian attacks on Sunday in the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson.
The Ukrainian General Staff did not provide more detailed information on the victims in its situation report on Sunday evening.
The city was fired at least 40 times from rocket launchers, damaging numerous residential buildings.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was also the target of Russian attacks using multiple rocket launchers.
At least five people were injured in hits in a residential building.
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A man stands in his apartment in Kherson after a Russian shelling.
© -/LIBKOS/AP/dpa
Update from February 5, 4:37 p.m
.: According to British military experts, the contested Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been increasingly encircled by Russian troops.
In focus: fighters of the “Wagner” mercenary army.
According to its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ("Putin's cook"), "every street" is currently being fought for.
"I want to clarify the situation.
Ukrainian forces are not retreating.
They fight to the last ditch.
In the northern quarters of Artemovsk (Russian name for Bakhmut), every street, every house, every stairwell is fought over," he said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
There is currently no Ukrainian withdrawal, as previously rumored in several Russian media.
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Wagner fighters in particular have been attacking the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for weeks.
(archive photo)
© Andriy Andriyenko/imago-images.de
Update from February 5, 3:37 p.m
.: In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov, a university building was severely damaged on Sunday, according to authorities, when a Russian missile hit it.
A security guard was injured there, the prosecutor's office in Kharkiv said.
When another rocket hit near a residential building, four people were injured, it said.
The investigators published images that reportedly showed destruction at the university.
They announced that a war crimes case had been launched.
Accordingly, there were no military installations nearby.
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Rescue workers work on a house in Kharkiv that was hit by a Russian missile.
(photo from February 5)
© Andrii Marienko/dpa/picture alliance
The authorities also reported new shelling from the Russian side in the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson.
A school building caught fire.
The Russians did not stop destroying educational institutions, the military administration said.
So there were no injuries there.
There were also reports of Russian shelling from the Sumy regions and from Donetsk.
Action in Luhansk region: Russian military apparently burn Ukrainian books
Update February 5, 12:09 p.m
.: Russian military burn Ukrainian books in the Luhansk region.
This is reported by the Belarusian portal
Nexta
, citing the Ukrainian military.
The soldiers burn the printing works in heating systems.
The information could not be checked independently.
Luhansk is one of the Ukrainian regions that Russia has partially occupied and annexed last year.
A rumor had previously circulated on the Internet that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had ordered the burning of "all Russian-language books".
However, this was refuted by a fact check by the dpa news agency in the summer of 2022.
Battle of Bachmut: Secret service sees strategically important city "increasingly isolated"
Update from February 5, 10:13 a.m
.: Bad news from the latest public update: The British secret service estimates that the Russian troops are increasingly circling Bakhmut.
The city in the Donetsk region is "increasingly isolated" although the Ukrainian troops have "several alternative overland routes" for supplies.
In the meantime, the two most important access roads are directly threatened by shelling, and another road is controlled by Wagner mercenaries.
Find out why the city has become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance in this background piece on Bakhmut.
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Photo from February 1: People on a destroyed bridge in Bakhmut
© Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP
Main battle tanks from the west: Canada flies its first Leopard 2 in Ukraine
Update from February 5, 9:02 a.m
.: A Leopard 2 tank is on its way to Ukraine – it is the first from Canada.
There should be four in total.
A Canadian Air Force plane has taken off, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand tweeted, also posting a video showing the plane taking off with the weapon "they need to win."
You can find an overview of who supplied which weapons to Kyiv in the Ukraine war here.
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A Leopard tank in Ottawa, Canada (stock image)
© Michel Comte/AFP
Update from February 5, 7:01 a.m
.: The situation at the front remains difficult for Ukraine.
According to the Russian military, Ukrainian forces have been expelled from the village of Dvorichne in the Kharkiv region in the north of the country.
The information cannot be verified independently.
The Ukrainian armed forces had almost completely recaptured the Kharkiv region in the course of their autumn offensive.
The Ukrainian offensive in the direction of the Luhansk region has now also been halted - also due to the hasty transfer of Russian mobilized troops to the region.
Both sides are now fighting for the initiative in the sector of the front.
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Battles in eastern Ukraine: Selenskyj reports a "very difficult" situation
Update from February 4, 10:15 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj welcomed the start of training for Ukrainian crews on the British Challenger 2 main battle tank.
"It's a good vehicle and will be a serious reinforcement on the battlefield," said Zelenskyy in his nightly video address.
He thanked Great Britain for military aid.
The 45-year-old described the situation at the front as difficult.
Nevertheless, he was confident of victory.
“The enemy is always throwing in new forces to break through our defenses.
Now it's very hard in Bakhmut, in Wuhledar and in the direction of Lyman," Zelenskyy said.
Nonetheless, he was confident that Ukrainian "steadfastness" would ultimately prevail and thwart Russian plans for conquest.
The Ukrainian President also reported on the prisoner exchange that took place between Russians and Ukrainians on Saturday.
According to him, since the beginning of the war in 1762, Ukrainian citizens have been freed from captivity.
Kyiv is working to liberate all Ukrainians, Zelenskyy assured.
Ukraine War: Poland has started Leopard training for Ukrainian soldiers
Update from February 4, 7 p.m.:
Poland has already started training Ukrainian soldiers to use Leopard tanks.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said according to a report by the news portal
TVP.info
.
The pro-government portal reacted explicitly to German media reports, especially
Der Spiegel
, according to which several NATO countries were late in fulfilling their Leopard delivery promises to Ukraine and Poland wanted to deliver the tanks without the additional soldier training required for this.
The PAP news agency reported on Friday evening that Blaszczak had traveled to Kyiv to talk to government officials there about the so-called tank initiative to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
He announced that Ukrainian soldiers were already being trained in Leopards in Poland.
Although it is not yet possible to say exactly how much time is needed for this, it will in any case “not be a matter of days and not months”, but “a matter of weeks”.
According to PAP, Blaszczak explained in Kyiv that the exact delivery modalities for the tanks themselves will be discussed with the NATO allies at a meeting in mid-February.
Ukraine War: Russian ships attack from Black Sea
First report from February 4th:
Munich – The troops of the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin repeatedly attack the Ukrainian territory with rockets.
Cruise missiles fired from ships in the Black Sea are primarily used.
According to Ukrainian sources, there is still a risk of attacks.
Russian Navy in the Black Sea: Putin's fleet probably increases reconnaissance activity
Apparently, the Russian naval forces are stepping up their surveillance and reconnaissance activities with a view to the Ukrainian coast.
This was announced by the spokeswoman for the southern combat group of the Ukrainian army Nataliya Humenyuk.
"The enemy is gathering as much information as possible, while also intensifying the use of unmanned aerial vehicles," the military news portal
ArmyInform quoted
the spokeswoman as saying.
According to Humenyuk, the Ukrainian military is shooting down the drones.
However, drones would repeatedly emerge from the Black Sea and fly along the coast of Odesa and Mikolayiv.
Since there is currently a storm in the Black Sea, the Russian missile ships are in their ports, Humenyuk also explained.
"The weather is on our side," the spokeswoman said.
However, this does not mean that they would not attack: "They only need one and a half to two hours to get into combat position."
Russian battleships in the Black Sea: No ship with cruise missiles
The Ukrainian Navy stated in a message on Facebook that there are currently 9 combat ships of the Russian military in the Black Sea.
The Navy confirmed Humenyuk's statements that no ships with Kalibr cruise missiles are currently stationed in the Black Sea.
(bb)
List of rubrics: © -/LIBKOS/AP/dpa
