As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 348th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here is the situation as it stands on Monday, February 6, 2023:
Fighting
Fierce battles being fought in Ukraine’s Donetsk region are making the situation “very difficult”, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Kyiv braced for a possible Russian offensive this month before the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told a news conference on Sunday that Russia will launch a major offensive in the coming weeks, but Ukraine has the soldiers and resources to repel such an attack.
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 in the Luhansk region, Governor Serhiy Haidai said on Sunday, adding that the situation there is tense, but under control. Bilohorivka is the last part of Luhansk held by Ukrainian forces.
Repair crews were working round the clock to restore power systems in the Black Sea port of Odesa following a fire that left hundreds of thousands of residents without electricity, Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a mortar on a front line amid Russia’s attack on Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine [File: Yan Dobronosov/Reuters]
Sanctions
Price caps on Russian oil likely hit Moscow’s revenues from oil and gas exports by nearly 30 percent in January, or about $8bn, from a year ago, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said on Sunday.
Ukraine has sent letters to companies that back the International Olympic Committee, urging them to keep Russian athletes out of the Paris Olympic Games, President Zelenskyy said.
Politics
Ukraine is set to replace Defence Minister Reznikov with the chief of its military spy agency, a close ally of Zelenskyy said on Sunday, in a reshuffle at the forefront of Ukraine’s war campaign.
Reznikov will be replaced by Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the GUR military intelligence agency, the head of Zelenskyy’s parliament bloc said.
The Ukraine president has fired many high-level officials this year in a purge aimed at rooting out corruption. Reznikov had been under pressure over a corruption scandal in the ministry.
