As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 335th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here is the situation as it stands on Tuesday, January 24, 2023:
Fighting:
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said Ukraine needs several hundred tanks from its Western allies to retake Russian-occupied territory.
- Russia’s foreign intelligence service accused Ukraine of storing Western-supplied arms at nuclear power stations.
Military:
- The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Germany is not blocking the export of Leopard 2 tanks, as Berlin faces mounting pressure to supply them to Ukraine.
- The EU ratified a new military aid package to Ukraine worth $544m as the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday.
- Kremlin said hesitancy over whether to provide German-made Leopard tanks to Kyiv showed increasing “nervousness” within NATO.
- Germany’s armed forces began moving the first two of three promised Patriot anti-aircraft missile squadrons to Poland.
Diplomacy:
- Russia said it is downgrading diplomatic relations with NATO member Estonia, accusing the Baltic nation of “total Russophobia”.
- Latvia’s foreign minister said he told Russia’s ambassador in its capital Riga to leave the country by February 24 in a decision taken in solidarity with Estonia.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said EU membership negotiations should start this year.