Ukraine/Russland/NATO – der Sammler am 14. Januar 2023 (Update)

Erneut hat eine Welle russischer Luftangriffe ukrainische Städte getroffen. Und Großbritannien hat die – bereits erwartete – Ankündigung von Panzerlieferungen an die Ukraine offiziell bekanntgemacht. Zum andauernden russischen Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine der Sammler am 14. Januar 2023:

• Der (heutige) Samstag war gekennzeichnet durch erneute massive russische Luftangriffe auf ukrainische Städte. Bei Treffern von Wohnhäusern kamen zahlreiche Zivilisten ums Leben (s. dazu auch das ukrainische Abendbriefing unten). Der ukrainische Präsident Wolodymyr Selenskyj stellte diese Angriffe in den Mittelpunkt seiner regelmäßigen Videoansprache und forderte den Westen dringend zur Lieferung weiterer Waffen auf:

I will begin this address without a greeting. And I want to be heard by those people – not only political leaders – who are still hesitating whether it is worth providing Ukraine with the weapons that will help us defeat the terrorist state this year.
Russia has launched another heavy missile attack on Ukrainian cities. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Kryvy Rih, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Ladyzhyn, Burshtyn, Lviv region, Khmelnytsky and other cities were targets of terrorists. Civilian objects are everywhere!
In the city of Dnipro, a residential building has been destroyed in this Russian strike. An ordinary nine-story panel building, of which there are quite a few in various cities of Eastern and Central Europe. All floors of this building – from the second to the ninth – were smashed in the explosion of a Russian missile.
It was possible to save dozens of people – wounded, traumatized, treatment is being provided to them. Among them are children, the youngest girl is three years old. And these are figures for now.
Debris clearance is still ongoing and will continue throughout the night. It’s not yet known how many people are under the rubble. Unfortunately, the death toll is growing every hour… My condolences to relatives and friends.
Can Russian terror be stopped? Yes.
Is it possible to do it somehow differently than on the battlefield in Ukraine? Unfortunately no. This can and must be done on our land, in our sky, in our sea.
What is needed for this? Those weapons that are in the warehouses of our partners and that our troops are so waiting for.
No amount of persuasion or just passing the time will stop the terrorists who are methodically killing our people with missiles, drones bought in Iran, their own artillery, tanks and mortars. The whole world knows what can stop and how it’s possible to stop those who sow death.
This apartment block in Dnipro was on a street called Naberezhna Peremohy. When they gave this name to this street, they had in mind the victory over the Nazis in the Second World War. Ruscists took over everything from that enemy of the free world. It’s obvious. And we must do everything we can to stop ruscism, just as the free world once stopped Nazism.
And I thank everyone who helps us in this!
I spoke today with the Prime Minister of the UK about some very important things for our defense. Details will come later. But it’s important. It’s really what is needed. And I believe that similar decisions will still be made by other partners – those who understand why such evil cannot be given a single chance. Because such evil knows no boundaries.

• Bereits seit einigen Tagen hatte sich in der Debatte über Panzerlieferungen an die Ukraine abgezeichnet, dass Großbritannien zur Abgabe von Kampfpanzern des Typs Challenger 2 bereit ist. Am (heutigen) Samstag bestätigte Premierminister Rishi Sunak im Telefonat mit dem ukrainischen Präsidenten Wolodymyr Selenskyj, dass sein Land als erstes westliche Kampfpanzer liefern werde. Aus der Meldung der BBC:

The UK is to send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine to bolster the country’s war effort, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.
He spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a call on Saturday, during which he confirmed he would send the equipment and additional artillery systems, No 10 said. (…)
The BBC understands the initial commitment is for about a dozen tanks.
President Zelensky has thanked the UK, saying that the decision to send the tanks „will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners“.

Die Mitteilung von No.10 Downing Street, dem Amtssitz des britischen Premiers:

The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy today.
The leaders reflected on the current state of Russia’s war in Ukraine, with successive Ukrainian victories pushing Russian troops back and compounding their military and morale issues.
They agreed on the need to seize on this moment with an acceleration of global military and diplomatic support to Ukraine.
The Prime Minister outlined the UK’s ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine, including through the provision of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems.
The Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy welcomed other international commitments in this vein, including Poland’s offer to provide a company of Leopard tanks.
The Prime Minister stressed that he and the whole UK Government would be working intensively with international partners to deliver rapidly the kind of support which will allow Ukraine to press their advantage, win this war and secure a lasting peace.

und aus einer ergänzenden Mitteilung:

UK defence and security officials believe a window has opened up where Russia is on the backfoot due to resupply issues and plummeting morale. The Prime Minister is therefore encouraging allies to deploy their planned support for 2023 as soon as possible to have maximum impact.
Sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is the start of a gear change in the UK’s support. A squadron of 14 tanks will go into the country in the coming weeks after the Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that the UK would provide additional support to aid Ukraine’s land war. Around 30 AS90s, which are large, self-propelled guns, operated by five gunners, are expected to follow. The Defence Secretary will set out further details of this support in the House of Commons on Monday.
The UK will begin training the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use the tanks and guns in the coming days, as part of wider UK efforts which have seen thousands of Ukrainian troops trained in the UK over the last six months.
The Prime Minister has tasked the Defence Secretary with bringing together European allies to ensure the surge of global military support is as strategic and coordinated as possible. The Defence Secretary will travel to Estonia and Germany this week to work with NATO allies and other international partners to this end.

• Nachgetragen vom (gestrigen) Freitagabend: Die russischen Meldungen über eine Einnahme der ostukrainischen Stadt Soledar waren nicht nur von der Ukraine dementiert worden – in Russland selbst führte das zu einem Streit, ob die regulären russischen Streitkräfte oder die Kreml-nahe Söldnerfirma Wagner diesen Erfolg errungen hätten. Das russische Verteidigungsministerium nahm, ein ungewöhnlicher Vorgang, dazu Stellung:

Due to the requests from the mass media regarding the composition and participation of various units of the Russian Group of Forces in the liberation of Soledar (Donetsk People’s Republic) from the Armed Force of Ukraine, it is necessary to clarify the following.
A combined-arms grouping of Russian troops (forces) carried out the offensive operations in this tactical direction that resulted in the defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and the seizure of Soledar in accordance with a single concept and plan that stipulated a number of combat missions.
These missions included, as previously reported, blocking the town from the north and south, isolating the area of operations, preventing the enemy from moving reserves into the town from neighbouring areas, and preventing the withdrawal of the AFU units from Soledar, as well as fire support of the offensive by ground-attack aircraft and artillery.
As for the assault on the urban areas of Soledar occupied by the AFU, this combat mission was successfully accomplished by the courageous and selfless actions of the volunteer assault units of the Wagner private military company.

• Ebenfalls nachgetragen vom Freitagabend: Die Internationale Atomenergieagentur (IAEA) will Überwachungsteams in allen ukrainischen Atomkraftwerken stationieren, um die Gefahr eines nuklearen Unfalls inmitten des Krieges zu verringern.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will be in Ukraine next week to establish a continuous presence of nuclear safety and security experts at all the country’s nuclear power facilities, significantly stepping up the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help prevent a nuclear accident during the current military conflict.
The Director General will travel to the South Ukraine and Rivne Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) as well as to the Chornobyl site to launch the missions consisting of two IAEA experts at each of the facilities. The IAEA already has a permanent presence of up to four experts at Ukraine’s largest NPP, Zaporizhzhya, and a two-member team will also be stationed at the Khmelnitsky NPP in the coming days.
“As this tragic war enters its second year, we must continue to do everything we can to avert the danger of a serious nuclear accident that would cause even more suffering and destruction for the people of Ukraine and beyond,” Director General Grossi said.
“Soon the IAEA will be permanently present at all of Ukraine’s nuclear power facilities, including Chornobyl. This is an important step in our work to help Ukraine during these immensely difficult and challenging times. Our nuclear safety and security experts will monitor the situation at the plants, assess their equipment and other needs, provide technical support and advice, and report their findings to IAEA headquarters,” he said.
With these new missions at Ukraine’s NPPs – established at the country’s request and agreed in a meeting between Director General Grossi and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal last month – the IAEA will have around 11-12 experts present in the country at any given time. Although IAEA missions have been at these sites previously during the conflict, the continuous deployment of teams marks a major expansion.
Director General Grossi will also meet next week senior Ukrainian government officials in the capital Kyiv on his proposal to set up a nuclear safety and security protection zone around Zaporizhzhya (ZNPP), where the IAEA has been present for more than four months.
“I remain determined to make the much-needed protection zone a reality as soon as possible. My consultations with Ukraine and Russia are making progress, albeit not as fast as they should. I remain hopeful that we will be able to agree and implement the zone soon,” Director General Grossi said. (…)
Separately today, Director General Grossi reiterated his serious concerns about the pressure that ZNPP staff are facing, with potential consequences for nuclear safety and security.
“The reduced ZNPP staffing levels combined with psychological stress due to the on-going military conflict and the absence of family members who fled the area have created an unprecedented situation that no NPP staff should have to endure,” he said.
ZNPP staff also continue to be urged to accept new labour contracts with the Russian state company Rosatom, while the national Ukrainian operator Energoatom is urging them not to do so.
The ISAMZ team has been informed that despite all the challenges, the ZNPP still has adequate operational staff to maintain the safe operation of all units at the plant’s current level of functioning.

• Das britische Intel Update:

On 11 January 2023, a group of at least 10 vessels of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) departed the Novorossiysk Naval Facility.
Given the type and number of vessels putting to sea at the same time, the activity is likely a fleet dispersal in response to a specific threat to Novorossiysk that Russia believes it has identified.
It is unlikely that the deployment signifies preparation for unusual maritime-launched cruise-missile strikes. It is highly unlikely that the fleet is preparing for amphibious assault operations.
The BSF largely remains fixed by perceived threats from Ukraine, and continues to prioritise force protection over offensive or patrol operations.

• Das Morgenbriefing des ukrainischen Generalstabs:

Situation update of General Staff of UAF as of 6.00 a.m., 14th January, 2023
The three hundred and twenty-fifth day of the heroic stand-off of the Ukrainian people against the russian military invasion began.
Attacking populated areas, the enemy continues to destroy the infrastructure and homes of the civilian population, thereby violating the norms of International Humanitarian Law, the laws and customs of warfare.
Over the past day, the enemy launched 15 air strikes and 5 missile strikes, 2 of them on the civilian infrastructure of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk Oblast. He carried out more than 95 attacks from MLRS, in particular on Kherson.
The danger of air and missile attacks has not disappeared anywhere in the entire territory of Ukraine. We urge you not to ignore air warning signals.
The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on attempts to seize Donetsk Oblast within the administrative border. Continues to advance in the direction of Bakhmut.
The adversary also conducts unsuccessful offensive actions in the Avdiiv direction. On Kupyansk and Lyman axes – does not stop trying to improve the tactical position.
Over the past 24 hours, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled the attacks of the occupiers in the areas of the settlements of Ploshanka, Bilogorivka and Chervonpopivka in the Luhansk Oblast and Rozdolivka, Sil’, Krasna Gora, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Vodyane, Kreminna, Pobyeda, Mayorsk, Maryinka and Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk Oblast.
Volyn, Polissya, Siversk and Slobozhansk axes: no enemy offensive groups were detected. At the same time, the areas of Mykhailivka and Yanzhulivka settlements of Chernihiv Oblast were subjected to enemy shelling; Popivka, Yastrubshchyna, Studenok and Pavlivka – Sumy and Ohirtseve, Vovchansk, Budarky, Mali Prohody, Zelene, Neskuchne, Strilecha, Ternova, Bily Kolodyaz, Bologhivka, Dvorichna and Hryhorivka in Kharkiv Oblast.
Kupyansk axis: the enemy shelled the areas of the settlements of Vilshan, Kupyansk, Orlyanka, Kyslivka, Petropavlivka, Krokhmalne, Tabaivka, and Berestov in the Kharkiv Oblast and Stel’makhivka in the Luhansk Oblast.
Lyman axis: Makiivka, Nevske and Chervonopopivka of the Luhansk Oblast were shelled.
Bakhmut axis: Spirne, Bilogorivka, Rozdolivka, Yakovlivka, Soledar, Krasna Gora, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Bila Gora, Verkhnokamianske, Vesele, Kurdyumivka, Druzhba and Pivnichne of Donetsk Oblast were damaged by fire.
Avdiivka axis: enemy fire was detected in Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Georgiivka, Mar’inka, Berdychy, Vodyane and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast.
Novopavlivka axis: Vugledar, Vremivka and Zolota Niva in the Donetsk Oblast were affected by enemy fire.
Zaporizhzhia axis: the enemy fired from tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery in the areas of Vil’ne Pole settlements of the Donetsk Oblast; Gulyaipil’ske, Dorozhnyanka, Zaliznychne, Gulyaipole, Shevchenko, Charivne, Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka, Orihiv, Kamianske, Zeleny Gai and Malynivka of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Kherson axis: Zolota Balka, Havrylivka, L’vove, Sadove and Kherson were shelled, in particular.
The occupiers are intensifying counter-sabotage and counter-intelligence measures in the temporarily occupied territories. In particular, in the settlement of Velyka Lepetykha, Kherson Oblast, random checks of the phones of local residents are carried out for the presence of photos and videos of russian military equipment. As of January 12, 2023, 3 civilians were detained and taken to an unknown destination.
The Ukrainian aviation carried out 9 strikes on the areas occupied by the occupiers, and units of missile and artillery troops of the Defense Forces of Ukraine hit 2 control points, 8 areas of concentration of manpower, an anti-aircraft missile complex, 3 ammunition depots, as well as 2 other important enemy objects over the past day.

• Das Briefing des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums:

Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine (14 January 2023)
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kupyansk direction, Army Aviation and artillery of the Western Military District have launched strikes at the units from 14th Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade near Pershotravnevoye, Berestovoye (Kharkov region), and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People’s Republic).
2 AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been eliminated near Tabayevka and Pershotravnevoye (Kharkov region).
Over 30 Ukrainian personnel, 2 tanks, 2 armoured fighting vehicles, and 3 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
In Krasny Liman direction, artillery units from the Central Military District and Airborne Troops have neutralised the units from 80th Airborne Assault and 71st Chaser Infantry brigades of the AFU near Grigorovka and Serebryanka (Donetsk People’s Republic).
1 AFU sabotage and reconnaissance group, that operated towards Shipilovka, has been eliminated.
The enemy has lost over 50 personnel, 4 armoured fighting vehicles, and 2 pickups.
In Donetsk direction, assault and airborne units, supported by Army Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Southern Military District, exploited success towards Sol (Donetsk People’s Republic).
Over 70 Ukrainian personnel, 1 tank, 5 armoured fighting vehicles, and 4 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
In South Donetsk direction, mechanised infantry units of the Eastern Military District, and Pacific Fleet’s marines launched strikes at AFU positions near Vodyanoye, Dobrovolye, and Prechistovka (Donetsk People’s Republic).
2 AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been eliminated near Novomikhaylovka and northward from Shevchenko.
Over 30 Ukrainian personnel, 2 armoured fighting vehicles, and 4 pickups have been eliminated.
Operational-Tactical and Army Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery have neutralised 2 ordnance depots near Gornyak (Donetsk People’s Republic), and Zelyony Gai (Zaporozhye region), as well as 118 AFU artillery units at their firing positions, manpower and hardware at 123 areas.
Couterbattery warfare operation has resulted in the destruction of:
▪️ 1 U.S.-manufactured M-777 artillery system near Volchansk (Kharkov region);
▪️ 3 D-20 howitzers near Shcherbakovka (Kharkov region), Orlovka and Dyleyevka (Donetsk People’s Republic);
▪️ 2 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers near Vasilyevka (Donetsk People’s Republic);
▪️ 1 D-30 howitzer and 1 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer near Novodmitrovka (Donetsk People’s Republic), and Gulyay Pole (Zaporozhye region).
U.S.-manufactured AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-50 counterbattery warfare stations have been destroyed near Kirovsk (Donetsk People’s Republic), and Uspenovka (Zaporozhye region).
Air defence facilities have shot down 4 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Berestovoye, Krasnorechenskoye, Zaliman (Lugansk People’s Republic), and Pavlovka (Donetsk People’s Republic).
7 rocket-propelled projectiles launched by HIMARS and Olkha multiple-launch rocket systems have been intercepted near Berdyansk (Zaporozhye region), and Novy Svet (Donetsk People’s Republic).
In total, 372 airplanes and 200 helicopters, 2,880 unmanned aerial vehicles, 400 air defence missile systems, 7,511 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 982 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 3,828 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 8,040 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

• Das Abendbriefing des ukrainischen Generalstabs:

Situation update as of 6 p.m., January 14, 2023
Day 325 of the russian full-scale invasion continues.
Having no success on the battlefield, russian occupants continue to destroy the infrastructure and civilian residences. The adversary launches strikes at settlements in violation of virtually all rules of International Humanitarian Law, the laws and principles of war. Thus, a russian missile hit an apartment building in the city of Dnipro today. At the moment, 5 civilians are reported dead and 39 wounded, including 7 children. The rescue operation continues.
During the day of January 14, the adversary launched a total of 3x air strikes and about 50x missile strikes. Today, the enemy launched massive missile attacks on Ukraine.
In the morning, the capital was attacked by S-400 (S-300) anti-aircraft guided missiles from the northern axis.
Later, the terrorist state used high-precision weapons: airborne cruise missiles Kh-101/Kh-555, Kh-22, seaborne cruise missiles Kalibr, guided aircraft missiles Kh-59 against the critical infrastructure of Ukraine.
The enemy launched a total of about 28x cruise missiles of various types and 5x guided aircraft missiles.
The forces and means of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in cooperation with the units of other elements of the Defense Forces destroyed 18x cruise missiles and 3x guided aircraft missiles. The updated figures are to follow.
In addition, the occupant forces launched 50x MLRS attacks.
The threat of air and missile strikes by the enemy across Ukraine remains high. Be careful!
The adversary does not abandon its intentions to completely capture Donetsk oblast. To do so, it focuses its main efforts on offensive operations on Bakhmut axis. Heavy battles for Soledar continue. Ukrainian forces repel enemy attacks round the clock. The occupants suffer heavy losses. The adversary is also advancing on Lyman, Avdiivka, and Novopavlivka axes. The invaders are trying to improve their tactical situation on Kup’yans’k axis, while defending on Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes.
Volyn, Polissya, Sivershchyna, and Slobozhanshchyna axes: no significant changes. No offensive groups of the adversary were found. The republic of belarus continues to participate in the russian aggression against Ukraine by allowing to use its territory and airspace for strikes, as well as ammunition and materiel.
The vicinities of settlements of Vovkivka, Kindrativka (Sumy oblast), Starytsya, Hatyshche, Vovchans’k, Strilecha, Ternova, Khatnje, and Topoli (Kharkiv oblast) were shelled with mortars and artillery.
Kup’yans’k axis: the vicinities of Dvorichna, Orlyanka, Kotlyarivka, Krokhmal’ne (Kharkiv oblast), Novoselivs’ke, and Stel’makhivka (Luhansk oblast) were shelled.
Lyman axis: the enemy fired at the vicinities of Makiivka, Nevs’ke, Kreminna, and Chervonopopivka (Luhansk oblast).
Bakhmut axis: Spirne, Vyimka, Bilohorivka, Soledar, Bakhmut, Druzhba, and Pivnichne (Donetsk oblast) were shelled.
Avdiivka axis: Krasnohorivka, Vesele, Avdiivka, Mar’inka, Vodyane, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast) came under enemy fire.
Novopavlivka axis: the adversary shelled Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Zolota Nyva, and Velyka Novosilka (Donetsk oblast).
Zaporizhzhia axis: attacks were reported near Malynivka, Hulyaipole, Dorozhnyanka, Zaliznychne, Charivne, Mala Tokmachka, Stepove, and Plavni (Zaporizhzhia oblast).
Kherson axis: Kherson and Dmytrivka (Mykolaiv oblast) were shelled with artillery and missile systems. There are civilian casualties.
Enemy redeployment on the left-bank Kherson oblast is aimed at strengthening the defense capabilities of its units. The movement of personnel, weapons, military equipment, and ammunition is reported.
The adversary continues to suffer casualties on a daily basis, and it shows. The manning level of certain units of the 3rd separate motorized rifle brigade of the 1st army corps located in the vicinity of Horlivka (Donetsk oblast) remains low, up to 40 percent. And this is despite the recent addition of mobilized and contract soldiers. It is noteworthy, that the personnel is forbidden to leave its location. This is the occupant forces’ attempt to at least somehow prevent desertion.
The russian occupation authorities are revising the categories of conscription-age citizens who previously had the so-called “exemption” in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk oblast. In particular, employees of emergency and utility services have already been warned about this.
During the day of January 14, Ukrainian Air Force launched 5x air strikes on the concentrations of the invaders, and missile and artillery forces hit 5x concentrations and 1x ammunition depot of the enemy.