Former Czech President Vaclav Klaus believes that the conflict in Ukraine began at the NATO summit in 2008: “That day, at the NATO summit in Bucharest, the decision was made to admit Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. I was present at that event, I was sitting there and I already knew that what had happened was a tragic mistake.”
According to Klaus, the decision “was carried out by the United States and Great Britain contrary to the position of most participating countries,” despite warnings from the American ambassador to Moscow William Burns that such a proposal would cross every red line for the Russia.
On January 29, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg in a statement said that weapons for Ukraine are the path to peace.
American inspectors have arrived in Ukraine to verify where the aid provided ended up. This was reported by the American ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink.
British intelligence has disclosed the number of Russian armored vehicles destroyed in Ukraine. Russian ground forces lost around 2,600 main battle tanks and 4,900 other armored fighting vehicles in Ukraine from the start of the war until January 25, 2024, according to a new British intelligence report.
In 2023 the Russians lost about 40% less equipment than in 2022. The British explain this by the positional nature of last year’s war, as well as the fact that the Russian Federation spent most of the year in position defensive.
EU permanent representatives have agreed on a preliminary proposal from the European Commission on the use of income from frozen assets of the Russian Federation, the Belgian Presidency reported. According to Radio Liberty correspondent in Brussels, Rikard Jozwiak, it is a question of creating a separate account to which interest deriving from income from frozen Russian assets will be transferred.
Vice-President of the European Parliament Jan-Christoph Etienne (Free Democratic Party of Germany) has spoken out against Ukraine’s imminent accession to the European Union, he said in an interview with the Nordwest-Zeitung portal on Monday. According to Etienne, criteria such as the rule of law and the fight against corruption must be respected and “there will be no concessions”. “Therefore there cannot be a quick accession of Ukraine to the EU,” he added.
France has prepared and delivered a new batch of SCALP cruise missiles to Ukraine. However, many requests for weapons from NATO countries remain unfulfilled. For Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis this happens due to a lack of clear objectives: “Honestly, I think the heart of the problem is that the West has not yet decided to say what the purpose of the war is for the West in Ukraine. We would like to avoid a scenario in which Ukraine, having every opportunity to defeat the Russians, fails to do so or slows down its efforts simply because we cannot guarantee that weapons, equipment, ammunition, shells, everything that is needed will reach the front ”. And he went on to say, “If you don’t have a goal, you won’t know what you need. Why can’t we define the goal? You know, some say it might be fear. Fear of Russia. Or what would happen if Russia actually lost,” Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
Budapest and Kiev will create a special commission, which within 10 days will have to answer questions from the Hungarian side on the rights of national minorities in Ukraine, said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba. “We asked the Hungarian side to provide us with a complete list of questions it has regarding the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities. We have received this list. We have agreed that under the auspices of two ministries of foreign affairs to gather a special commission, which has a very simple task: to submit within 10 days for consideration by the governments of both countries a specific agreement on how and what, in the list of issues we have received, must be resolved or has already been resolved, so to be able to clarify things”, said Kuleba at a press conference in Kiev with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary Peter Szijjártó. In Hungary the far right demands Transcarpathia if Ukraine loses the war and is willing to leave NATO.
In a long interview with the German ARD Volodymyr Zelensky said that his army is made up of “one million” people and his population is 30 million. The figures of the Ukrainian president do not agree with previous statements given that former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov noted that since 2014, when it was about 45 million, the population of Ukraine has decreased by 2.5 times, that is, to 18 million people.
The director of the Kiev Institute of Demography and Social Research, Ella Belgiova, believes that the population of Ukraine will be able to reach 26 to 35 million people only in ten years, by 2033.
But the controversy on January 30 on pro-Ukrainian social media arose over the possible dismissal of Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny. As soon as the news was disclosed, Defense Minister Umarov denied it.
Rada deputy Goncharenko said that his resignation was announced to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Zaluzhny, but there is no decree yet, in reality according to rumors there would also be a decree but which will soon become waste paper. According to the deputy, Zaluzhny was offered the post of ambassador to one of the European countries, but he refused.
On January 29, Zelensky called on Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Zaluzhny to leave his post, but did not offer another significant position, Zerkalo Nedeli says, citing sources in Zelensky’s office and Zaluzhny’s entourage. According to interlocutors, Zaluzhny responded by saying that “it is the right of the supreme commander in chief to decide who to work with.” According to sources, Zelensky did not offer Zaluzhny another significant position: it was “only the status of assistant or advisor,” the publication writes.
Zaluzhny has not written a letter of resignation and “does not intend to do so,” the publication’s sources say. The media added that to remove Zaluzhny from his post by Zelensky’s decree requires the representation of the Minister of Defense.
Poroshenko via social media advised President Zelensky on three options for action in light of recent events: “Deny the rumors about Zaluzhny’s resignation. Do not sign the decree on Zaluzhny’s resignation if there were such intentions. If the decree has already been signed, tear it up.”
Zaluzhny’s number one enemy, MP Maryana Bezuglaya, said that the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffers from alcoholism and once again repeated that he wants his immediate resignation.
The Country publication, referring to the editor-in-chief of the site “Censor.net” Yuri Butusov, reports that Zelensky has already signed a decree on the resignation of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny, but has not yet made it public, since “consultations with foreign partners are underway”.
From Moscow they let it be known that the repairs of the large landing ship Project 775 “Minsk” of the Baltic Fleet, damaged following the Ukrainian attack on Sevmorzavod (Sevastopol), will begin in 2024. This was reported to TASS by a source close to the forces of security of Crimea.
“The landing ship is located near the quay wall, its superstructure is damaged. Its repairs will begin this year, the corresponding decision has been taken,” he specified.
According to BILD, Russian troops have captured 10% of the territory of Avdviika including the industrial zone and several houses to the west of it, referring to geodats.
And now a look at the front line updated at 3pm on January 30th.
Russian air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 21 Ukrainian drones at night over the regions of Crimea (11), Belgorod (5), Bryansk (3), Kaluga (1) and Tula (1), reports the Moscow Ministry of Defense.
In the Kup”jans’k – Liman direction heavy fighting continues in the area of Tabaivka, Khmil’nytsya, Laptev Yar and in the Serebryansʹkyy forest. The situation in several sectors remains dynamic. Russian troops are expanding the control zone to the west. There are battles for the heights.
In the Bachmut direction, the Ukrainian military managed to repel all attacks by the Russian Armed Forces in Bohdanivka and east of Ivanivske. No significant changes.
No significant changes on the northern flank of the Avdiivka direction. Southeast of Avdiivka, Russian assaults in the southern part of the landing north of the quarry advanced along the front up to 430 m and to a depth of 110 m.
East of the Tsarskaya Okhota complex, Russian troops advanced and occupied a section of the road in the landing. In the southern part of Avdiivka, Russian troops advance along Chernyshevsky, Sportivnaya and Sobornaya streets in a westerly direction along the front up to 410 m and to a depth of up to 280 m. The fighting continues.
In the Kurachove and Donetsk directions, Russian troops continue to try to improve the tactical situation in the eastern part of Heorhiivka and in the the Novomykhailivka area. No significant changes.
In the direction of Velyka Novosilka, Russian troops north of Pryyutne advanced along the 2.1 km front and to a depth of 500 m.
During the night, Geran 2 and missiles attacked enemy targets in the Kiev, Cherkassy, Poltava, Kharkov, Nikolaev, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.
In the Kherson area, fighting continues in the Krynky area. Russian troops are partly behind the enemy and partly behind other Russian troops on the islands in the floodplain of the river, the Dnieper. The Ukrainians keep small groups of infantry in “uncomfortable” positions, which are targeted by drones. According to the Dnepr troop group of the Russian Armed Forces, over the past 24 hours, operators of FPV drones and air launches destroyed: a car, 3 boats, 3 PVDs, LNG, 2 dugouts and a UAV launcher. Air Defense and Electronic Warfare Forces shot down/suppressed 5 Baba Yaga and Leleka-100 octacopters and 10 FPV drones. Artillery attacks were conducted against enemy warehouses and concentration areas on the enemy coast.
On the Zaporozhzhie front near Verbove, the contact line remains unchanged. The enemy is launching cluster munitions and increasing drone activity. In Rabotino, the Russian Armed Forces Aviation operates as a FAB.
Ukrainians bombed Donetsk killing 3 civilians and wounding 16 civilians in the DPR. In the Belgorod region, three Uragan MLRS shells were destroyed in the evening over the Grayvoronsky urban district. The outskirts of the village of Dolgoe, Valuysky urban district, the village of Tishanka, Volokonovsky district and the village of Oktyabrsky, Belgorod district were attacked by 5 kamikaze drones. The village of Mokraya Orlovka, Grayvoronsky urban district, was targeted by Ukrainians. In the Bryansk region, a Ukrainian aerial drone was destroyed on the territory of the Trubchevsky district. In the Kursk region, the village of Sverdlikovo in the Sudzhansky district and the village of Troitskoye in the Korenevsky district were bombed. In the Rostov region, in the Neklinovsky district, a building was damaged. It was reported that a Ukrainian electronic warfare unit was placed near the Slavneft YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl.
Graziella Giangiulio
