January 23, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Diplomatic tensions are simmering as Western allies continue to pressure Germany to authorize the delivery of its modern Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.?

Poland said it will send the tanks if a “small coalition” of countries agrees to do the same, while Berlin claims it hasn’t yet received a request for permission to transfer the German-made tanks.?

Germany’s defense minister said there will be a decision soon on the tanks, and the country’s foreign minister said Sunday that it would not stop Poland from sending its Leopards if asked.?

Meanwhile, Russia has warned that Ukraine will bear the consequences if other countries supply it with tanks.

If you’re just reading in now, here are the latest updates:

Volodymyr Zelensky during the tripartite meeting on January 11, in Lviv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday signaled there would be changes to “personnel” within the Ukrainian government, without naming specifically affected people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that he had signed a decree banning officials from traveling abroad on anything but official business.

“Officials will no longer be able to travel abroad for vacation or any other non-governmental purpose,” Zelensky said during his daily evening address.

“This applies to all government officials, as well as to various other levels of local government. This applies to law enforcement officers, members of parliament, prosecutors, and all those who have to work for the country and within the country.

“If they want to have a rest now, they will have a rest out of the state service.”

Zelensky said that the cabinet would develop a procedure for ensuring that any officials leaving Ukraine were doing so for “a real business trip.”

Toys and books are seen inside a bomb shelter in a public school in Kyiv on August 29, 2022.

In Ukraine’s Kyiv region, 86% of schools and kindergartens now have bomb shelters, the head of that region said on Telegram Monday.

“A total of 1,085 shelters have already been set up in educational facilities in Kyiv region,” said Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration.

“That’s 86% of the region’s schools and kindergartens that can operate in full-time or mixed formats,” Kuleba added.

Russian reservists recruited during a partial mobilization of troops — aimed to support the country's military campaign in Ukraine — walk toward a banner with a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a ceremony before their departure in Omsk, Russia, on January 6.

Russia?has?sent?tens?of?thousands?of?new?troops?to?reinforce?the?front?lines?in Ukraine over the last few months, a?senior?US?military?official?said Monday.

The?troops?have made little difference in the conflict, the?official?said, arriving on the?front?lines?“ill-equipped, ill-trained” and “rushed?to?the battlefield.”

Russia?has?sent?the?troops?in as replacements or?reinforcements for existing units instead?of?newly organized and cohesive units.?The?troops?began arriving on the battlefield following?Russia’s stated mobilization?of?300,000?new?personnel in October, the?official?later said.

On Friday, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley said?Russia?had suffered “significantly well over 100,000 [casualties] now,” including killed in action and wounded in action.?

Ukrainian troops participate in exercises in Pripyat, Ukraine, on January 20.

A few kilometers from the?Belarus?border, Ukrainian forces are training for what they expect to be a brutal spring.

Aging T-72 tanks – some twice the age of their crews – fire off rounds into the mist, while ground troops practice storming abandoned buildings. Some of the training takes place in the eerily quiet town of Pripyat, deserted since the?Chernobyl nuclear disaster?in 1986.

As the troops are put through their paces, Lt. Gen. Serhiy Naiev takes delivery of a dozen pick-up trucks armed with heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, a crowd-funded initiative to help Ukraine repel Iranian-made Shahed drones, which have caused so much damage to Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

But Naiev, a stocky and affable commander, believes the next phase of this war will be about tanks. And that means not his ancient T-72s but more modern machines such as German Leopard 2s and British Challengers. Ukrainian officials say they need several hundred main battle tanks – not only to defend their present positions but also to take the fight to the enemy in the coming months.

Chief among their requests is the?Leopard 2, which is relatively easy to maintain and operate, and in service with many NATO nations. Both the military and political leadership in Ukraine were hoping that the Ramstein meeting of Ukraine’s partners on Friday would greenlight their delivery, but Germany held back.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, speaking after the meeting, said he and German counterpart Boris Pistorius “had a frank discussion on Leopard 2s … to be continued.”

Read more about how Kyiv’s forces are preparing here.

The past 12 months has forced?European leaders?to seriously rethink their approach to national security.

If?Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?has confirmed one thing, it’s that peace on the continent cannot be taken for granted. The status quo – decades of low spending and defense not being a policy priority – cannot continue.

This is especially true in Germany, which has for years has spent far less on its military than many of its Western allies but is now reconsidering its approach to defense at home and abroad.

Days after the invasion began last February,?German Chancellor Olaf Scholz?delivered a head-turning speech to parliament in which he committed to spending 100 billion euros ($108 billion) to modernize Germany’s military capacity.

He also vowed that Germany would lift its defense spending to 2% of GDP – meeting a target set by NATO that it had missed for years – and end its deep reliance on Russian energy, particularly gas.

However, nearly a year on, critics say Scholz’s vision has failed to become reality. And Germany has been accused of dragging its feet when it comes to sending its more powerful weapons to Ukraine.

The criticism has grown in recent days as US and European leaders have piled pressure on Berlin to send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or at least allow other countries to do so.

Experts estimate there are around 2,000 Leopard tanks in use by 13 countries across Europe, and they are increasingly being seen as vital to Ukraine’s war effort as the conflict grinds into a second year. But Berlin must grant these nations approval to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine, and it has so far resisted calls to do so.

Scholz has insisted that any such plan would need to be fully coordinated with the whole of the Western alliance, and German officials have indicated they won’t approve the transfer of Leopards unless the US also agrees to send some of its tanks to Kyiv.

On Friday, a key meeting of Western allies in Germany broke up without a wider agreement on sending tanks to Ukraine, after the country’s new defense minister Boris Pistorius said no decision had yet been made by his government.

Pistorius rebuffed claims that Germany has been “standing in the way” of a “united coalition” of countries in favor of the plan. “There are good reasons for the delivery and there are good reasons against it … all the pros and cons have to be weighed very carefully, and that assessment is explicitly shared by many allies,” he added.

Germany’s decision to dig in on sending tanks will likely go down badly with its allies, both in the immediate and long-term.

Read the full analysis here.

John Kirby, US national security council coordinator for strategic communications, on Monday downplayed the notion that Germany’s indecision on providing advanced military tanks to Ukraine is dividing NATO.

Some Western allies continue to pressure Germany to authorize the delivery of its modern Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

No decisions have been made “one way or another,” Kirby told CNN.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier on Monday that a decision would be taken “soon,” as EU Foreign Ministers meet in Brussels for talks on Monday.?

Kirby affirmed that “NATO has never been more staunchly united than it has been over the last year with this war in Ukraine,” but acknowledged the alliance is “not going to ever agree on every single aspect of every decision”.?

“What’s really important to remember is that these are national decisions, they’re sovereign decisions,” he said.?

“I certainly can’t speak for the Germans on what’s going into their calculus about the Leopard tanks. The Leopards are very good and there [are] a lot of them on the European continent, and certainly, they could be effective on the battlefield. But again, what Germany does, they’ve got to decide,” Kirby added. “They have to work through this in a sovereign way.”

The?European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell talks to the press in Brussels on January 23.

The?European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell?on Monday outlined the bloc’s plans to?continue supporting Ukraine, saying it reached an agreement to?provide an additional 500 million euros ($543.03 million)?and?additional military training assistance worth 45 million euros ($48.87 billion), dedicated to a military training mission for Ukrainian forces.?

That brings the EU’s total amount of military support for Ukraine, coming via the European Union’s intergovernmental fund, to 3.6 billion euros ($3.9 billion), Borrell told reporters in Brussels on Monday.?

Borrell added that the total figure of the bloc’s support to Ukraine, including military, financial, economic and humanitarian aid, now stands at 49 billion euros ($53.21 billion).?

“Russia continues its systematic barbaric attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructures,” Borrell said. “We have not seen any genuine willingness from Russia regarding a fair and sustainable peace.”?

Correction: This story has been updated to show that the total figure of EU support for Ukraine is $53.21 billion.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, dismissed the Russian threat that Ukraine “will pay” if Germany sends tanks, saying they’ve heard that threat before.

“The actions of the Russians are inexplicably aggressive, and I think that they should totally expect that we would answer with these kinds of weapons systems,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said in an interview with CNN.

Asked what is driving the United States’ hesitancy to send its tanks – which Germany demanded in exchange for it doing the same –?Houlahan said, “It really does sound as though there is some work to be done in terms of the conversations between those allies, both the United States and Germany.”

She added that she’s “heartened” by House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul, a Texan Republican, who said the United States must answer Ukraine’s call for everything it needs, and she echoed McCaul’s call for greater education of Congress, the administration, and the Department of Defense “to make it possible for us to be able to do that.”?

“And then I believe that Germany will follow along or follow suit. That has been sort of the pattern since the beginning of the war,” she said.

Houlahan praised McCaul’s leadership on the House Foreign Affairs committee and said she was hopeful, now that a Republican was chair of the panel and holds the majority in the House, that Republicans “will start really listening to the chairman, as he articulates, I think very, very well, what’s at stake here.”

Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau speaks during a round table meting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels on January 23.

Poland is “more than determined” to send Western battle tanks to Ukraine whether or not other countries join in the scheme, the Polish foreign minister said in Brussels on Monday evening.

Rau had been asked whether Poland would send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and whether there are “any other states in the EU” that would join Poland.

The foreign minister said that “regardless of the decisions of other countries, we are more than determined, as we promised the Ukrainian side, to send the tanks.”

That appeared to contradict a statement earlier Monday by Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who said that a “condition” for Poland was the assembly of a “small coalition” of states willing to send battle tanks to Ukraine.

Rau said Monday that it “remains to be determined” whether other countries will join Poland in sending Western battle tanks to Ukraine, and that “there are negotiations underway.”

What Germany is saying: A spokesperson for the German government, Steffen Hebestreit, told journalists Monday that Germany had not received a request from Poland or any other country for permission to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine – as would be required, because it is German-manufactured.

When asked whether Poland would seek such permission, Rau said “we will do it, certainly.”

When asked for his opinion on the German government’s approach to the issue, the Polish foreign minister said: “The German reactions could be more determined and more dynamic.”

CNN’s Jo Shelley in London, Claudia Otto and?Inke?Kappeler in Berlin contributed reporting to this post.

A Leopard 2 A7 main battle tank drives through the mud at a military training area in Munster, Germany, in 2017.

Pressure is growing on Germany to send?Leopard 2 tanks?to Ukraine, with Kyiv stepping up its pleas and a spat brewing between Berlin and some of its NATO allies.

The German-made Leopard 2 tanks are seen as a vital, modern military vehicle that would bolster Kyiv’s forces as the war with Russia approaches the one-year mark.

On Friday, Germany failed to reach an agreement with its key Western partners on sending the vehicles, ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive in Ukraine.

But countries are continuing to press the issue this week, while Poland is seeking to build its own coalition to help bolster Ukraine’s military with all-important Leopards.

Here’s what you need to know about the Leopard 2 tanks —?and why they’re so important to the war in Ukraine:

?CNN’s Mick Krever contributed reporting to this post.

A Tanzanian national has died while fighting with the mercenary group Wagner in Ukraine, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has reported.?

RIA Novosti cited a fellow fighter as saying that 31-year-old Nemes Tarimo had come to Russia to study at the Russian Technological University MIREA. He had later been jailed. “While serving in the colony, he wished to volunteer in the special operation zone,” the report, published on Wednesday, said.?

Last Monday, Russian media outlet RIA FAN,?part of a media holdings company run by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, published what it said was video of a memorial service for Tarimo in Goryachiy Klyuch, a town in the Krasnodar region of Russia.?

CNN cannot independently verify the video’s authenticity.?

The accompanying article on RIA FAN said that Tarimo “fought near Bakhmut as part of the Wagner PMC and died while performing a combat mission” on Oct. 24.

Tarimo’s cousin, Rehema Makrene Kigoga, told CNN that he had got a scholarship to study abroad. She confirmed that he had died but said the family had “no idea that he was ever arrested” and did not know whether or not he had fought in Ukraine.?

Some context: The private military contractor has heavily recruited from Russian prisons over the last nine months. Previously it has deployed contingents to Syria and several African countries.?

The founder and head of?Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has visited Wagner fighters on the front line and met former convicts who have completed their six-month tour of duty with Wagner. Prigozhin had promised them that in return for fighting they would be pardoned and be able to return home, rather than to prison.

CNN’s Mariya Knight contributed reporting to this post.

Andrei?Medvedev, a former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, is seen in Oslo, Norway, in an image taken from video released January 15.

A former commander in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group,?who fled to Norway to seek asylum after crossing the country’s arctic border, has been arrested by Norwegian immigration authorities.?

Andrei Medvedev said he feared for his life after refusing to renew his service with Wagner, according to an interview with Vladimir Osechkin, head of?human rights advocacy group?Gulagu.net, earlier in January.?

Medvedev said he was afraid of being executed in the same manner of Yevgeny Nuzhin – a defector from Wagner who was killed on camera with a sledgehammer.

“Beyond that, we have no comments,”?Johansen said.?

On Monday,?Gulagu.net head?Osechkin said in a new statement posted on YouTube that Medvedev called him from the detention center and told him authorities arrested him on Sunday.?

Osechkin said Medvedev is appealing to?the prime minister of Norway and journalists for protection and to stop the deportation process.?

More on the Wagner group: The mercenary group is headed by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and has emerged as?a key player?in?Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?– recently doing much of the fighting in the small eastern town of?Soledar.

The group is often described as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014, and has been accused of war crimes in Africa,?Syria?and Ukraine.

Just last week, the US announced it would designate the Russian mercenary organization?as a “transnational criminal organization” and impose additional sanctions against the group and its support network across the world.

CNN’s Mick Krever and?Katharina Krebs contributed reporting to this post.

A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II jet belonging to the Netherlands Air Force at Graf Ignatievo Air Force Base near Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on April 14.

The Netherlands will send eight F-35 fighter jets to Poland at the end of this month, that country’s defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The defense ministry said that the warplanes would be able to respond within minutes to intercept an airplane.

“Two F-35s permanent guard NATO airspace, the other two are reserves,” the statement noted.

Poland is a NATO member and shares a border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The Netherlands has also stepped up its support for Ukraine, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announcing plans to join the US and Germany in sending a Patriot missile defense system to Kyiv during a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Latvia will downgrade its diplomatic ties with Russia, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter Monday.

This decision was made in solidarity with Estonia, and it will go into effect on Feb. 24, he added.

The move comes after Moscow downgraded its diplomatic relations?with Estonia and expelled the Estonian ambassador over allegations of “Russophobia.”

Pressure continues to mount on Germany to authorize the delivery of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, with Poland pushing for other countries to join it in a “small coalition” willing to transfer the German-made tanks to Kyiv.

Elsewhere, Russia has expelled the Estonian ambassador over accusations of “Russophobia,” and the Kremlin has refused to be drawn on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will run for re-election in 2024.

Here are the latest headlines:

Germany has not received a request from Poland or any other country for permission to transfer the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesman said Monday.

“To this hour we have not received a request,“ Steffen Hebestreit told a news conference.?“And if they ask, then there is a certain procedure. I can’t tell you whether that will take a few days or several months.“

He promised that any application would be “processed with the necessary speed that is required, but of course also with the necessary thoroughness that such procedures demand.”?

Poland is one of 13 European countries with German Leopard 2 tanks in its inventory,?according to the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

It has offered to send them to Ukraine and is trying to convince other countries to do the same, but Germany’s permission is typically required to re-export them.

On Sunday, the?Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieckic said that Europe was “wasting time” on the discussions.

However Hebestreit defended Berlin against such accusations.

“Maybe it’s good to weigh and consider a lot of things before you go recklessly into a step that you bitterly regret later,“ he said, adding that other countries, such as Spain, also have qualms about the potential tank transfer.

The German-made Leopard tanks used by the Polish army, at Poland's training ground in Nowa Deba on September 21.

The Polish government will send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine if it manages to “build at least… a small coalition of states” who would do the same, according to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.?

If that “condition” is met, Poland would be willing to transfer the German-made tanks with or without Berlin’s approval, Morawiecki told reporters.?Any transfer of Leopard 2 tanks would typically require permission from Germany.

“We will apply for such consent, but this is a secondary topic,” Morawiecki said.

“Even if we do not get this consent in the end, as part of a small coalition – (and even if) the Germans were not in this coalition – we will still hand over our tanks, together with others, to Ukraine,” he added.

“The condition for us at the moment is to build at least such a small coalition of states and on this issue… we are contacting our partners in Western Europe.”?

Ukraine’s repeated calls for more tanks have been the subject of high-level diplomatic talks in recent weeks, and Germany has so far resisted the increasing pressure to authorize a tank transfer.

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, right, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei?Lavrov?attend a media briefing, in Pretoria, South Africa, on January 23.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine with South African officials during a visit to the country, he said Monday.

“Upon the request from my colleagues, we have discussed in detail the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, which is aimed at saving civilians and preventing the creation of direct threats to Russian security near our border,” Lavrov said, using the Kremlin’s euphemism for the war in Ukraine.

“And that is something that the US and NATO allies have been doing for years,” Lavrov added during a joint news conference with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor in Pretoria?

Lavrov said he believes the talks with his South African colleagues “have been very fruitful,” without providing more details about the discussions on Ukraine.

Russia, South Africa and China are set to take part in joint naval drills which are scheduled for next month.?

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Obukhov State Plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, on January 18.

It is “too early” to talk about a potential 2024 election bid for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“The president has not made any statements in this regard,” Peskov told reporters Monday when asked whether Putin was seeking to run in the next election.

“Work continues as part of the president’s regular routine schedule,” he added.

Asked if the Kremlin has already started preparing for the campaign, Peskov said it is “too early” to talk about it as the Kremlin has “a lot of current affairs.”

Putin has “a very active schedule and a busy agenda,” he added.

In 2021, Putin signed constitutional amendments into law which would allow him to seek two more six-year terms when his current presidency ends in 2024.

Russia has downgraded its diplomatic relations with Estonia and expelled the country’s ambassador over allegations of “Russophobia.”?

The move comes after Estonia hosted a meeting of Western defense officials in its capital city Tallinn last week to pledge further military support to Ukraine.?

It accused Tallinn of elevating “blanket Russophobia” and the “cultivation of hostility” to the “level of state policy.”

Moscow also accused Estonia of forcing it to reduce the number of staff at the Russian embassy in Tallinn.?

Estonian ambassador Margus Laidre was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry on Monday, and “was presented with a statement of resolute protest against the actions of the Estonian authorities.”

Laidre is due to leave the Russian Federation on February 7.

“The Estonian side must bear full responsibility for this turn of events in the relations between Russia and Estonia,” said the ministry. “We will continue to respond to hostile actions on the part of the Estonian?leadership.” ?

Estonia has been part of a group of NATO allies arguing strongly for Germany to provide its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight off Russia’s invasion.?

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, left, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, second left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, center and Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, center right, pictured during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on January 20.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that each meeting at the US Ramstein Air Base develops the trust that Ukraine’s allies have in Kyiv, following the summit there on Friday.

“Back home after Ramstein 8. With each meeting, I see how our partners’ trust in Ukraine grows. This is all due to the hard work of our soldiers and representatives,” Reznikov tweeted.

“More trust means more weapons. To protect our land, sea… and sky,” he said, adding that the next meeting at the US base in Germany will take place in February.

Leaders failed to reach an agreement Friday on the issue of sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, despite growing pressure on Berlin from NATO and Kyiv to step up its military aid ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive.

The Kremlin has said that Ukraine will bear the consequences if third countries supply it with tanks, amid growing pressure on Germany to dispatch advanced weaponry to Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned the ongoing debate over sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine suggests that the “nervousness among the members of the alliance is constantly growing.”?

“All the countries that directly or indirectly take part in the pumping [of Ukraine] with weapons and in raising their technological level, are all responsible for it,” Peskov said Monday.

Some context: Berlin has been under fire for failing to reach an agreement with its key Western allies to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Sunday that Germany would not stop Poland from sending Leopard 2 combat tanks to Ukraine if asked.

Russia previously warned of further escalation if more weapons were sent into Ukraine that will allow strikes on the Russian territory, saying it will “mean bringing the conflict to a new level.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov gestures during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 10, 2022

There is still no date set for discussions between the United States and Russia on the New START nuclear arms treaty, which is the only agreement left regulating the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters he blamed what he described as the “escalating trend in both actions and rhetoric on the part of the United States,” according to the TASS news agency.?

The?New START Treaty?limits all deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons by Russia and the US. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, during the first weeks of President Joe Biden’s term in office. It requires both countries to allow on-site inspections of its nuclear weapons-related facilities by the other.

Poland’s prime minister has said his government will build coalition of countries ready to donate modern tanks and other equipment to Ukraine, as he criticized Germany for “wasting time” on the issue of sending advanced weaponry to Kyiv.

“We will build a smaller coalition of states ready to donate some of their modern equipment, modern tanks to Ukraine. We will not passively watch Ukraine bleed to death,” he said Sunday.?

Morawiecki added that Berlin’s “attitude” towards transferring German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine was “unacceptable.”??

“Germany is a powerful country in terms of its economy and military strength… I will say it bluntly. Ukraine and Europe will win this war – with or without Germany. However, it is up to Germany whether they want to join the mission of stopping Russia’s barbarism, or whether they will watch it passively, dooming themselves to being recorded on the wrong side of history.”

Some context: Western leaders have put increased pressure on Germany to dispatch Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, after President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to help bolster Ukrainian defense against Russia’s invasion.

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Sunday “there will be a decision soon” on whether Berlin would transfer the tanks.?

Two Leopard 2 A6 heavy battle tanks and a Puma infantry fighting vehicle of the Bundeswehr's 9th Panzer Training Brigade participate in a demonstration at the Bundeswehr Army training grounds on February 7, in Munster, Germany.

Berlin says it will soon make a swift decision on the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, as Western leaders put increased pressure on Germany to send advanced weaponry to Kyiv following repeated requests from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said he anticipates a timely decision on the delivery of the tanks, adding he deems them necessary for a Ukrainian offensive in the eastern Luhansk and Donbas regions.?

“That tanks are needed, that an offensive movement is needed with regard to Donbas, with regard to Luhansk, that is absolutely clear, but how that will be equipped then has to be seen, but there are also other states that can make their contributions,” he told public broadcaster ARD Sunday.?

Though he described Germany as “a Leopard nation,” adding it has a “special responsibility that we have to live up to,” Pistorius stressed the importance of a decision on Leopard tanks “being closely coordinated,” with allies.?

“We are talking about heavy armored weapons that can and must be used for offensive purposes, and we have to weigh up very carefully when to bring them into the equation, and I think it is right to do so cautiously and carefully in the German and European interest and not hastily or recklessly,” Pistorius added.?

Weapons intended for warfare that are manufactured in the country cannot be re-exported without the federal government’s approval, according to German law.

Under the “War Weapons Control Act“ the German government must consent to any delivery of German-made weapons to a war zone.

Some context: Germany has so far?failed to reach an agreement?with its key Western allies on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, despite growing pressure from NATO and Kyiv to step up its military aid ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive.

Some Kyiv officials have expressed frustration at Berlin’s indecision over whether to dispatch its tanks to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk told CNN’s Isa Soares that Germany’s lack of action is a “huge disappointment for all Ukrainians.”

CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed reporting.

Ukrainian forces launched a HIMARS strike on a mechanical plant dispensary in occupied Luhansk Saturday, amid efforts from Kyiv to retake control of the eastern region.

The dispensary in Kadiivka was used as a “location” for Chechen fighters led by pro-Kremlin?Chechen?leader Ramzan?Kadyrov, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Center for Strategic Communication claimed.

Six rockets were launched destroying the dispensary of the mechanical engineering plant according to the the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) mission to the Joint Centre of Control and Coordination on ceasefire and stabilization of the demarcation line (JCCC).

It is unclear whether the dispensary was used by pro-Russian forces, and for what purposes.

The dispensary may have been used as a hospital for soldiers, information from a local source shared by the JCCC alleged.

In June, Kadyrov shared a video on his Telegram channel of a delivery of medical supplies to a hospital in Kadiivka.?

The extent of casualties is still being clarified according to the JCCC, but Andrey Marochko, spokesperson of the LNR militia confirmed that there were no casualties among “the civilian population.”

In December, Russian state media TASS reported that a hotel in Kadiivka, said to be the headquarters of the Wagner Group, was destroyed in a HIMARS strike.?

Some background: The versatility of the US-made HIMARS system is clear from its name: the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. Its mobility makes it harder to target and it can be crewed by just eight soldiers. The rockets supplied to Ukraine have a range of 70 to 80 kilometers (about 50 miles). And their GPS guidance systems make them extremely accurate.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy?Josep?Borrell speaks to members of the media as he attends a EU Foreign Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on January 23.

The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Monday he hoped bloc members agree to another tranche of aid to support Ukraine, during a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.?

“I hope we will reach a political consensus,” Borrell told reporters ahead of the meeting.

He added no formal decision is expected to be taken Monday about the funds, which are part of the European Peace Facility (EPF).

The EPF has been operational since July 2021 and finances activities with military implications, supporting the armies of partner countries and EU member states with infrastructure, training and equipment.?

The funds were mobilized for the first time in EU history in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the delivery of military equipment, including lethal weaponry.

Annalena Baerbock speaks in Berlin on January 19.

Germany would not stop Poland from sending Leopard 2 combat tanks to Ukraine if asked, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told French news outlet LCI on Sunday.?

When asked for clarification by the interviewer if she meant Germany would not stop Poland from sending battle tanks to Ukraine, Baerbock said: “You have understood me correctly.“

“We have rules, the so-called end-use controls,“ Baerbock said of Germany’s hesitancy to send combat tanks into the war zone.?

According to Germany’s basic law, “weapons intended for warfare may be manufactured, transported, and marketed only with the authorization of the federal government.“?

Under the “War Weapons Control Act“ the German government must consent to any delivery of German-made weapons?to?a?war?zone.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz must consent and the final decision rests with him, according to German law.?

Scholz has been heavily criticized by his liberal coalition partner and?many?others for his stance on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.?

The provision of Western weapons?to Ukraine “will lead to a global catastrophe,” a senior Russian politician warned Sunday.

“Delivery of offensive?weapons?to the Kyiv regime will lead to a global catastrophe,” Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, wrote on his Telegram channel.?

Volodin said the delivery of?weapons?will lead to?Russian?retaliation “using more powerful?weapons.”?

His comments come after?NATO partners met at Ramstein air base?in Germany?Friday?to discuss more military aid for Ukraine.?

Volodin called on European parliaments to realize “their responsibility to humanity.”

The decisions Brussels and Washington make are leading the world to a “terrible war,” he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Presidential Administration, said Volodin’s comments were “politically inadequate.”?

“Russian Federation using Volodin threatens again that the supply of military equipment to Ukraine is a threat to the mythical cities of the Russian Federation, and therefore we should expect an escalation,” he tweeted?Sunday.?“This is after the Russian Federation has been bombing Ukraine?for 11 months, massively killing civilians, but?Ukraine?and the world have to silently endure it and not resist…”?

On Sunday, Dmitry Medvedev,?the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and key ally of President Vladimir Putin, said “things will be very difficult for Russia” following the Ramstein meeting.?

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, attends a news conference in the Capitol, Washington D.C, on February 2.

The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sought Sunday to tamp down speculation that the new GOP majority will be less likely to fund aid to?Ukraine in its war against Russia, though he did suggest some members of his party may need to be convinced about the need to continue US support.

“If Ukraine falls, Chairman Xi in China’s going to invade Taiwan. It’s Russia, China. Iran is putting drones in Crimea, and North Korea that is putting artillery into Russia. They have to understand the case. And they talk about the border, not mutually exclusive at all. We can do both. We’re a great country. We can walk and chew gum at the same time,” McCaul said.

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An unofficial delegation from the United States has visited the eastern Ukrainian city of?Izium, which was liberated from Russian occupation last September.

The delegation included retired US Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and was accompanied by Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.?

Johnson returns: The visit to Izium came as?former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson?returned to Kyiv on Sunday — Ukrainian Unity Day. Johnson also traveled to Bucha and Borodianka with the?head of the Kyiv regional military administration, Oleksii Kuleba.

In September, CNN became the first international television crew to enter Izium since the Ukrainians retook it.

The recapturing of the city by Ukraine marked a huge strategic loss for the Russian military, which used it as a key base and resupply route for its forces in eastern Ukraine. It highlighted the speed and scale of Ukraine’s lightning-fast counteroffensive in the northeast last year.

A senior Ukrainian official in the east of the country says the?armed forces?are in control of current positions but “moving forward is very difficult” because the Russians have brought up substantial reserves.

“Very fierce fighting continues in our Luhansk region. It is difficult. But the situation is absolutely stable and controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, told Ukrainian television Sunday.

Referring to the north-south frontline running between Svatove and Kreminna, Hayday said: “Moving forward there is very difficult because the occupiers have brought up huge reserves. And as I have said many times before — everything is very thoroughly mined there.”

But he added: “No matter how difficult it is, the Luhansk region is being de-occupied step by step, meter by meter.”

Hayday said Russian forces had several layers of defensive lines in the region. “The first line is mostly [held by] recently mobilized, either from Russia or the so-called LDPR [Luhansk People’s Republic].”

He said that Chechen forces were in the area as well as Russian regular forces.

Hayday claimed that militia from Luhansk and Donetsk fighting with the Russians had low morale. “They see a huge number of overcrowded hospitals. They see a huge number of corpses, which they have to pass when they are sent on the offensive. They see that those they talked to yesterday are just lying there, and no one is taking their corpses,” he said.

Ukrainian forces have been trying to advance toward Kreminna, which would allow them to threaten the Russian-held cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, for weeks. But they are still thought to be several kilometers outside the town.

A Ukrainian deputy minister has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling $400,000 from funds intended for rebuilding the country’s damaged infrastructure.

An investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine found that public funds put aside for alternative energy sources during the winter months had been misappropriated.

It said that Lozynskyy, who has not commented on the allegations, will be dismissed from his position.

NABU said on its website that it had “exposed and stopped the embezzlement of budget funds,” and “detectives detained [Lozyynskyy] for receiving $400,000 in unlawful benefits. The deputy minister received the money for facilitating the signing of contracts for the purchase of overpriced equipment and machinery.”

A few kilometers from the?Belarus?border, Ukrainian forces are training for what they expect to be a brutal spring.

Ageing T-72 tanks — some twice the age of their crews — fire off rounds into the mist, while ground troops practice storming abandoned buildings. Some of the training takes place in the eerily quiet town of Pripyat, deserted since the?Chernobyl nuclear disaster?in 1986.

As the troops are put through their paces, Lt. Gen. Serhiy Naiev takes delivery of a dozen pick-up trucks armed with heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, a crowd-funded initiative to help Ukraine repel Iranian-made Shahed drones, which have caused so much damage to Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

But Naiev, a stocky and affable commander, believes the next phase of this war will be about tanks. And that means not his ancient T-72s but more modern machines such as German Leopard 2s and British Challengers. Ukrainian officials say they need several hundred main battle tanks — not only to defend their present positions but also to take the fight to the enemy in the coming months.

Chief among their requests is the?Leopard 2, which is relatively easy to maintain and operate, and in service with many NATO nations. Both the military and political leadership in Ukraine were hoping that the Ramstein meeting of Ukraine’s partners on Friday would greenlight their delivery, but Germany held back.

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