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Russian forces are mounting “round-the-clock” attacks on Ukrainian positions in the east of the country, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar has said. “The enemy’s offensive continues in the east, (with) round-the-clock attacks. The situation is tense. Yes, it is difficult for us,” Maliar posted to Telegram.
Ukrainian forces claim to have repelled some Russian attacks in the eastern region of Luhansk but the situation there remains difficult, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said on Wednesday.
Russia said earlier on Wednesday that its troops had broken through two fortified lines of Ukrainian defences on the eastern front. The Russian defence ministry said Ukrainian forces had retreated in a disorganised fashion, leaving behind equipment in the face of Russian attacks in the Luhansk region. Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said claims that Ukrainian troops had pulled back “does not correspond to reality”. Neither sets of claims have been independently verified.
At least 6,000 children from Ukraine have attended Russian “re-education” camps in the past year, with several hundred held there for weeks or months beyond their scheduled return date, according to a new report published in the US. Russia has also unnecessarily expedited the adoption and fostering of children from Ukraine in what could constitute a war crime, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab report found. The report was funded by the US state department.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has said that Zelenskiy has asked him to remain in his current post, after a corruption scandal beset his ministry and put his role in doubt.
Russia’s army is estimated to have lost nearly 40% of its prewar fleet of tanks after nine months of fighting in Ukraine, according to a count by the specialist thinktank the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that his mercenary group is facing difficulties in Ukraine and will soon “decrease” in size. “The number of Wagner units will decrease, and we will also not be able to carry out the scope of tasks that we would like to,” Prigozhin said, amid growing evidence that his political influence in the Kremlin is waning.
The European Commission has called for a ban on the export of vital technology to Russia worth €11bn to further weaken the Kremlin’s war effort, cementing what EU officials have called the bloc’s toughest ever sanctions. Unveiling the EU’s 10th round of sanctions against Russia since last February’s invasion, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU was targeting industrial goods that Russia needs, such as electronic components for drones and helicopters; spare parts for trucks and jet engines; construction equipment such as antennas or cranes that could be turned to military uses. For the first time the EU will also impose a ban on seven Iranian companies selling high-tech goods to Russia, although it was not immediately clear how this would be enforced.
Nato defence ministers met in Brussels, where the alliance’s head Jens Stoltenberg urged Western countries to boost supplies to Ukraine. Nato countries should spend a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defence, said the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, ahead of the meeting, while the UK’s defence minister Ben Wallace again ruled out sending jet fighters to Ukraine in the short term.
Ukraine’s allies have said it is unlikely they will be able to supply the number of tanks they previously promised. After a meeting in Brussels of western defence ministers, the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said they would not be able reach the size of a battalion. The bad news comes just after the Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that Russia had begun a renewed offensive in the east in an attempt to take more territory before new western equipment arrives in the spring.
Nato countries are increasing the production of 155mm artillery rounds and need to ramp up that production even further to help Ukraine, Stoltenberg has said. Speaking at a news conference after a meeting of defence ministers at the military alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Stoltenberg said allies have not reached conclusions on a new pledge for defence spending, but it was “obvious that we need to spend more”.
Ukraine will receive a package of support worth £200m from the UK and other European nations for military equipment, including spare parts for tanks and artillery ammunition, the British government has announced. Britain has agreed with the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Lithuania to send an initial package of support to Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The Netherlands has said it has not changed its stance on the possible delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, following a report that it had rolled back on its support. The Dutch do not own any of the tanks, but lease 18 from Germany. Prime minister Mark Rutte last month said his country was willing to deliver those to Ukraine.
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