January 9, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Smoke rises after shelling in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region, on Sunday.

Russia is focused on capturing the mining town of Soledar in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Monday. 

The Russians, “have concentrated their greatest efforts on Soledar,” he said. “It is extremely difficult — there are almost no undamaged walls left.” 

Ukrainian troops have repelled a previous Russian attempt to capture the town, Zelensky’s deputy defense minister said earlier Monday. Zelensky said his men’s “resilience” had “won additional time” for Ukraine. 

Zelensky said that his administration was working to get the military equipment promised by Ukraine’s allies to the frontline as soon as possible: “We are doing everything to ensure that there is as little time as possible between the agreement on additional support and the application of this support on the battlefield.” 

Two people have been killed in a missile strike on the city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region late on Monday, a government official said on Telegram.

The missile hit a road and killed two people in a car, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

Earlier Monday, two people died when a missile struck a village in the neighboring Kharkiv region, and another person died after shelling in the southern city of Kherson.

Two British nationals have gone missing in Ukraine, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement to CNN Monday.  

The spokesperson didn’t provide further details about the two British nationals or their last known location.   

An aerial view shows a local market heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, on Monday.

The number of people killed in Monday’s missile strike on the Kharkiv region has risen to two, the head of the regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Telegram.

The village of Shevchenkove was liberated in September after more than six months of Russian occupation. 

Commander of the Ukrainian army, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, gives instructions in a shelter in Soledar, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Sunday, January 8.

Russian troops are making another attempt to advance on the small town of Soledar near Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram Monday.

“After an unsuccessful [previous] attempt to capture Soledar and retreat, the enemy regrouped, restored losses, deployed additional assault units, changed tactics and launched a powerful assault,” Maliar said. “At the moment, the enemy has engaged a large number of assault groups formed from the best reserves of the Wagner’s troops. The enemy is advancing literally on the corpses of their own soldiers, massively using artillery, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, covering even their own fighters with fire.”

Earlier on Monday, Serhii Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, told Ukrainian TV that Russia had “managed to concentrate more of its units” around Soledar and was deploying both “regular” troops and mercenaries working for the private sector group Wagner there.

The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Sunday that one of the reasons he wanted to take over Bakhmut and Soledar in order to control the system of mines in that area, which he described as “a network of underground cities.”

Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said they were trying to evacuate civilians from Soledar but not everyone was willing to leave.

“Soledar is actually destroyed,” he said. “There are residents there. Everything is being done to evacuate them. It is difficult to talk about the numbers now. There is a part of people, especially the older generation, who have a great fear of change, of leaving their homes and to move somewhere. We are communicating with them, but not always everyone agrees [to leave].”

On Sunday night, President Volodymr Zelensky said that Soledar was “holding out” but it was “extremely hard.”

Russian forces claimed to have taken the village of Bakhmuts’ke in Donetsk region on Monday, according to a statement published by the headquarters of the Territorial Defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on its Telegram channel. 

The village of Bakhmuts’ke is located near Soledar and Bakhmut — the area which has been the site of intense fighting for months. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called Bakhmut and Soledar “one of the bloodiest places on the frontline.” 

CNN has not been able to independently confirm DPR’s claims. 

Local residents look through items at a site of the local market heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Monday, January 9.

Shelling has continued in northeastern and southeastern Ukraine, according to local regional heads. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has said that it has “absolute trust” in the information from the Russian Defense Ministry on carrying out a “retaliation” strike against Ukraine’s Armed Forces in Kramatorsk.

Here are the latest developments:

American soldiers drive a Bradley fighting vehicle during a joint exercise with Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Ezzor in northeastern Syria, on December 8, 2021.

The supplies of Western weapons to Ukraine will “add pain” and “prolong suffering” for Ukrainians, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

Commenting on France’s decision to deliver armored combat vehicles to Ukraine, Peskov said it hardly makes sense to speak only of the French supplies, since “Collective Europe, the US and NATO pumped tens of billions of dollars into Ukraine through the supply of weapons.”

“These supplies are not capable of disrupting the achievement of the goals of the special military operation,” he added. Moscow has continuously referred to its invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.”

Recent developments: Germany does not currently have plans to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, but it is preparing to send up to 40 infantry fighting Marder tanks, its defense ministry spokesman said Monday.

The German army, the Bundeswehr, is ready to start training Ukrainian soldiers, Arne Collatz told journalists. And last week, US President Joe Biden affirmed that the United States would supply Ukraine with Bradley fighting vehicles as part of a new security assistance package to the country as it nears the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The nearly $3 billion package is among the largest packages of military equipment sent from the Pentagon to Ukraine since the war began. It comes as Ukraine prepares for intensive fighting in the spring as the weather warms.

Germany does not currently have plans to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, but it is preparing to send up to 40 infantry fighting Marder tanks, its defense ministry spokesman said Monday.

The German army, the Bundeswehr, is ready to start training Ukrainian soldiers, Arne Collatz told journalists.

All decisions were made with the view that NATO would not become party to the war in Ukraine, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit added.

On Sunday evening, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck told public broadcaster ARD the German government was not ruling out a possible future delivery of the Leopard 2 tanks, but said as a first step the Marders would be delivered.

US support reaches $3 billion: Last week, US President Joe Biden affirmed that the United States would supply Ukraine with Bradley fighting vehicles as part of a new security assistance package to the country as it nears the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The nearly $3 billion package is among the largest packages of military equipment sent from the Pentagon to Ukraine since the war began. It comes as Ukraine prepares for intensive fighting in the spring as the weather warms.

Russian reservists meet at a gathering point for mobilized troops in the town of Volzhsky in the Volgograd region, Russia, on September 28.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dismissed rumors of a possible second wave of mobilization in Russia.

“The primary source is the authorities headed by the President of the Russian Federation,” Peskov said on a conference call with reporters.

“One shouldn’t pay so much attention to Telegram channels,” he told journalists on Monday.

Moscow announced the end of conscription within the so-called “partial mobilization” late in October when, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the draft’s target of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been met.

The Kremlin said it has “absolute trust” in the information from the Russian Defense Ministry on carrying out a “retaliation” strike against Ukraine’s Armed Forces in Kramatorsk.

The defense ministry’s daily briefings are “the main and only legitimate source of information about what is happening in the course of the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call with journalists Monday.

“Special military operation” is the term used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to refer to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Some background: Ukrainian officials on Sunday dismissed Moscow’s claim that a large number of Kyiv’s soldiers were killed in a Russian attack last week in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense earlier claimed that 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed as a result of an operation of “retaliation” for the attack on a hostel in Makiivka.

A CNN team on the ground has not seen indications of massive casualties in the area.

A firefighter works at a site of a market hit by Russian missiles in the town of Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on January 9.

Ukraine’s Kharkiv region was targeted with a missile strike and shelling on Monday, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration said on Telegram.

“The enemy shelled the settlements of the Chuhuiv and Kupyansk districts with artillery, tanks and mortars,” Oleg Sinegubov said about the region in Ukraine’s east.

“In Kupyansk, as a result of enemy strikes, utility buildings were damaged, a fire broke out. In the village of Vovchansky Khutory, Chuhuiv district, a private residential building was destroyed due to shelling,” he added.

Sinegubov said that a missile strike from the S-300 air defense system hit a local market in the village of Shevchenkove, Kupyansk district.

“According to the Regional Center for Emergency Medical Care, 7 civilians were injured as a result of a missile strike on the village of Shevchenkove. Among them is a 13-year-old girl,” he said.

Sinegubov added that a 60-year-old woman had also died due to the missile strike and all other victims were hospitalized.

Pope Francis has likened the war in Ukraine to a “crime against God and against humanity,” calling once again for an end to the conflict. 

Speaking during an address to the diplomatic corps in the Vatican on Monday, the Pope said that conflicts such as the war in Ukraine with its “wake of death and destruction” and “attacks on civil infrastructures” are akin to crimes “against God and humanity.”

He also highlighted the impact of the war in Ukraine on the “most fragile – children, the elderly, the disabled,” saying it “leaves an indelible mark on families.”

A Ukrainian soldier in his position on the Bakhmut frontline in Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 8.

A senior Ukrainian military commander has visited troops defending the embattled area of Bakhmut and Soledar, in eastern Ukraine.

Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi visited troops to work on organizing defense, the Ukrainian Military Media Center said.

“The enemy again made a desperate attempt to assault the city of Soledar from different directions and sent the most professional Wagner units into battle,” Syrskyi said.

This comes as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called the area around the eastern Ukrainian cities “one of the bloodiest places on the front line.”

However, the Ukrainian president said Sunday that the two cities were “holding out” and “the situation on the front line has not changed significantly in the first week of the year.”

Some background: Bakhmut has become perhaps the most contested and kinetic part of the 1,300- kilometer (800 mile) front line in Ukraine and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. 

The greater Donetsk region, where Bakhmut and Soledar are located, has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.

Shelling has continued overnight in different parts of the front line in southeastern Ukraine, the head of the Donetsk region military administration said on Telegram.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian units continued “shelling at different parts of the front line overnight” in the southeast Ukrainian region.

One person was wounded in one of several shelling incidents, which took place near Vuhledar, Soledar, Chasiv Yar and the direction of Lysychansk, Kyrylenko added.

The greater Donetsk region has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.

Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the US Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022.

The area around the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Soledar is “one of the bloodiest places on the front line,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Sunday.

Bakhmut has become perhaps the most contested and kinetic part of the 1,300- kilometer (800 mile) front line in Ukraine and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. 

The greater Donetsk region, where Bakhmut and Soledar are located, has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.

However, the Ukrainian President said Sunday that the two cities were “holding out” and “the situation on the front line has not changed significantly in the first week of the year.”

“Bakhmut is holding out against all odds. Although most of the city is destroyed by Russian strikes, our warriors repel constant attempts at Russian offensive there,” he said.

“Soledar is holding out. Although there is even more destruction there and it is extremely hard.”

Ukrainian officials on Sunday dismissed Moscow’s claim that a large number of Kyiv’s soldiers were killed in a Russian attack last week in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.

A CNN team on the ground has seen no indication of any massive casualties in the area. There is no unusual activity in and around Kramatorsk, including in the vicinity of the city morgue, the team reported.

A Reuters reporter in Kramtorsk also reported no signs of a significant Russian strike on two college dormitories that Russia claimed had been housing hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers. “There were no obvious signs that soldiers had been living there and no sign of bodies or traces of blood,” the Reuters report said.

Kramatorsk’s mayor said there had been no casualties, according to Reuters.

Some background: Earlier, Russia claimed that more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a Russian strike in Kramatorsk carried out in “retaliation” over the Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied Makiivka last week, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

Read more here.

Russia and Belarus will hold joint air force exercises in Belarus from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced Sunday. 

A Russian air division team arrived in Belarus Sunday, the ministry said. 

“During the tactical flight exercise, all airfields and training grounds of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus will be involved,” it added. 

The ministry said Thursday that it is continuing to increase its joint military grouping with Russia in Belarus. 

“Personnel, weapons, military and special equipment of the armed forces of the Russian Federation will continue to arrive to the Republic of Belarus,” the ministry said. 

More background: Some Russian forces are based in Belarus and used its territory in the initial invasion of Ukraine in February. But President Alexander Lukashenko has gone to some lengths to ensure that Belarusian troops do not become involved in Russia’s so-called “special military operation.” 

Last month, Ukraine said it “did not rule out” a “deliberate provocation” from Russia was behind Belarusian reports that wreckage of a Ukrainian missile landed on its territory.

Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange Sunday with a total of 100 soldiers returning home, according to authorities from both countries.  

As a result of the negotiation process, 50 Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine were returned to Russia, Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. 

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office confirmed the exchange, saying that 50 Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia returned home.  

“We returned the people who were captured at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as the defenders of Mariupol, the guys from the Donetsk direction, from near Bakhmut, as well as from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and other regions,” Yermak said in a statement. 

This is the 36th exchange between Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, with 1,646 people — military and civilians — returned home to Ukraine, according to the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Kyiv.