Ukraine expects a possible major Russian offensive this month, but Kyiv has the reserves to hold back Moscow’s forces even though the latest Western military supplies will not all arrive in time, Ukraine’s defense minister said on Sunday.
FIGHTING IN THE EAST
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* “Not all of the Western weaponry will arrive in time. But we are ready. We have created our resources and reserves, which we are able to deploy and with which we are able to hold back the attack,” minister Oleksii Reznikov said.
* Reznikov also said Ukraine will not use longer-range weapons pledged by the United States to hit Russian territory and will only target Russian units in occupied Ukrainian territory.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday the situation on the front lines in the east was getting tougher and Russia was throwing more and more troops into battle.
* The head of Russia’s private Wagner militia said on Sunday that fierce fighting was ongoing in the northern parts of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the focus of Russian forces’ attention for weeks.
*Ukrainian forces remained in control of the village of Bilohorivka, the Luhansk region governor Serhiy Haidai said on Sunday, adding that the situation there is tense, but under control. Some Moscow-installed officials and pro-Russian military bloggers have recently claimed Russian advances in the direction of Bilohorivka, the last part of Luhansk held by Ukrainian forces.
* Two Russian missiles hit the center of Kharkiv, the administrative capital of the Kharkiv region in Ukraine’s northeast, with one of the missiles striking a residential building, local officials said on Sunday.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield accounts.
* Russia’s defense ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of preparing to blow up buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk and then accuse Moscow of carrying out war crimes and targeting civilians in a false flag operation. The defense ministry provided no evidence for the claims
OIL, DIPLOMACY, ARMS
* Price caps on Russian oil likely hit Moscow’s revenues from oil and gas exports by nearly 30% in January, or about $8 billion, from a year ago period, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said on Sunday.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss boosting bilateral relations and energy cooperation, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.
* British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Zelenskiy agreed on the importance of the international community speeding up assistance for Ukraine, Sunak’s office said after the two leaders spoke on Saturday.
* Zelenskiy revoked the citizenship of several former influential politicians on Saturday in the latest step to “cleanse” Ukraine of pro-Russian influences.
* The United States warned Turkey in recent days about the export to Russia of chemicals, microchips and other products that can be used in Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, and it could move to punish Turkish companies or banks contravening sanctions. (Compiled by Frances Kerry)
