Former Supreme Commander of NATO Forces Europe, General Philip Breedlove, called on the West to help Ukraine strike in Crimea. According to him, quoted by The Hill, “if we give Ukraine the opportunity to strike Crimea (…) Russia will be forced to reconsider its position there (…) Hit them (Russian forces) all at once, hit them more times and eliminate them piece by piece,” Breedlove told the US newspaper.
The current NATO Military Committee presenter, Admiral Rob Bauer, told allied countries to prepare for war with Russia and mass mobilization. The Alliance must also start producing weapons and ammunition “quickly enough to continue the conflict”, says the head of NATO’s military committee. “We must understand that the world we find ourselves in now is not a given. And that is why we must prepare for a conflict with Russia (…) We must have a system that allows us to mobilize many people in the event of war, regardless of whether it happens or not.”
Regarding economic support, the Hungarian government is not confident that it will be possible to reach an agreement on financial aid to Ukraine by the European Union summit to be held in Brussels on February 1, according to the head of the cabinet of the Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Gulyas in a meeting with journalists.
“We are negotiating with the European Commission, but the positions of the parties are distant from each other, so we are not sure that an agreement will be reached,” Gulyas said. A December 19 press note said EU countries are discussing the creation of a new fund for military support for Ukraine, but have failed to reach an agreement on its annual budget of around 5 billion euros.
Cedric Perrin, head of the French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces stated that: “France produces as many 155 caliber NATO shells in a year as Ukraine produces in a few days, he said. According to him, the Ukrainian armed forces produce 5-8 thousand shells of this caliber every day, while France produces only 20 thousand a year.”
According to the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba: “The first aerial victories of the F-16s in Ukraine will be this year (…) Preparations for the first air attack, which will be carried out by the F-16s in the Ukrainian skies , continue as planned. Pilots, engineers and infrastructure are being prepared.” And again he stated that, “after the results of the American presidential elections, Kiev is ready to“ work with any reality ””.
Also on Ukrainian soil, the Strana news agency reports that Ukrainian men of military age are now being refused medical treatment without a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office. In particular, there is talk of planned hospitalizations in public hospitals. The list of documents that a patient needs to collect before going to the clinic increasingly includes a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office regarding military registration. And if there is no such certificate, doctors refuse hospitalization under any pretext, for example, they can cite the lack of beds in the wards.
Sergei Lavrov in a meeting with the press responded to the question whether it is true that Russia refuses negotiations with Ukraine: “We do not refuse negotiations, but those who refuse do not understand: the longer they wait, the more difficult it will be to negotiate.”
In response to the fear of possible Russian attacks in the Baltics, German military experts now consider the threat of an attack against the Western countries of the Russian Federation unlikely; from their point of view, something like this could happen no earlier than 5-8 years, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.
Tensions are brewing between France and Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry reported on January 17 that as a result of a high-precision strike in Kharkov, more than 60 foreign mercenaries were killed, most of them French militants. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied this information. “France has no mercenaries in Ukraine or elsewhere,” the French Foreign Ministry said.
State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that in connection with the situation with the mercenaries, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador to Moscow. “In France, mercenary activity is prohibited by law. Taking this into account, the topic deserves the deputies of the State Duma to address the National Assembly of the French Republic. It is important for us to know if they are aware that someone is violating the law, sends militants to fight in Ukraine,” the speaker said. At the next meeting of the lower house the deputies will consider an appeal to the French parliament in relation to the situation with the mercenaries.
And now a look at the front line.
“Ukrainian formations attacked an oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk region. Fuel tanks caught fire at the plant. Firefighters continue to battle the aftermath of the raid. According to preliminary data there were no victims. Furthermore, two more UAVs were intercepted by air defense systems over the Pogarsky and Unechsky districts,” social media sources reported.
A Russian social media channel reported another attempt to attack Russian targets. Thus, “the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a drone against the Tambov plant in the city of Kotovsk. The Ukrainian drone did not reach the object, crashing nearby.”
Front line updated at 5.30pm on January 19th. Battle for Avdiivka. Although it was not possible for the Russians to surround Avdiivka before the New Year, no one stopped the fighting in the area. The main attention is paid to massive attacks on the positions of Ukrainian units by Russian aviation and artillery.
But despite the Russian fire control on the routes of advance of the Ukrainian formations, the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces still maintain the possibility of carrying out rotation in positions: a couple of days ago groups of the 110th Infantry Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred to Avdiivka. On the north-eastern outskirts of Petrovskoye (Stepove) clashes are still ongoing, the village is located in the gray zone. The Russian armed forces are focusing on expanding the control zone east of the Avdiivska coking plant.
There has been no assault on the metallurgical plant yet, but Russian armed forces are advancing along the sedimentation basins southeast of the processing plants and in the fields towards the Avdiivska “Blue Lakes” sand quarry. Russian reinforcements were deployed from Kamenka to strengthen the assault: on January 18 the Russians managed to reach the outskirts of Kolosov and Levanevsky streets. Fighting continues west of the Donetsk filter station and the industrial zone in Dukhovnost Park.
From Novoavdeevsky the Russian armed forces advance along the north-eastern outskirts of Pervomaisky. North of Opytne, the Russian armed forces do not abandon attempts to occupy the gray zone under the Khimik microdistrict. No one has revoked the task of blocking the fortified area along the Stepovoye – Lastochkino – Severnoye line, but so far it has not been implemented.
Apparently, the Russian command has decided to concentrate its efforts on clearing the dacha sector around Avdiika and “eliminating” the gray zones.
Svatove sector of the front: offensive of the Russian armed forces from Vladimirovka. In recent months, on the Svatove sector of the front and in the eastern part of the Kharkov region, all military operations have been reduced to failed attempts to take Sinkovka by the Russians, or to a positional struggle beyond the left bank of the Zherebets River. Since January 18, clashes have intensified in this area. On January 18, after launching a massive artillery attack, Russian troops launched an offensive from Vladimirovka towards Krakhmalny and Tabaevka.
After crossing the railway, units of the Russian Armed Forces managed to advance half a kilometer westward, taking control of the firefighting on the N-26 highway. In this area, the forces of the 103rd Territorial Defense Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are defending, Russian troops did not encounter significant resistance. According to social sources, the objective of the offensive in this area is not only a positional struggle, but access to the Oskol River to further facilitate the advance both near Kupyansk and along the Zherebets River.
In the village of Novoselovskoye, Russian troops still control the western end of the destroyed settlement, without moving west. There are no active offensive operations in the east of Borovaya yet; Russian troops are on the outskirts of Nadiya.
In the Seversky direction, military operations continue east and southeast of Belogorovka (L) and in the Spornoye area. In turn, the ridge recognizes the loss of Vesely, while the advance of the Russian troops was 4 km along the front and almost 1 km deep. Vesele is a purely local advantage for the Russians and does not affect the tactical and strategic success of the troops.
No significant change in direction at Bachmut.
In the Kurakhovsky direction, Russian troops try to improve tactical positions in the eastern part of Georgievka and along the forest belt northwest of Maryinka. No significant changes.
In the direction of Yuzhnodonetsk, Russian active military operations continue northeast, east, south and southwest of Novomikhailovka. The situation remains dynamic.
Graziella Giangiulio
