LUHANSK-DONETSK LINE
The Izyum-Severodonetsk-Bakhmut triangle continues to be the focus of Russian fierce military aggression, with some analysts estimating that half of deployed enemy forces are stationed around the Donbas pocket in western Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
War watchers fear that Russian forces could take Lyman this week, drawing closer to Slovyansk. The enemy has pounded Lyman to ash and ruins including the use of prohibited thermobaric bombs. Ukraine rail services are still working heroically through the carnage, racing to evacuate civilians ahead of the enemy hordes. Link.
SOUTHERN UKRAINE
Partisan resistance in the occupied territories of the south coastal plains continues to be effective. Guerillas near Melitopol blew up rail tracks that serve on resupply routes for enemy forces in the south.
Despite brutal crackdowns, local journalists estimate that the vast majority of residents in southern Ukraine are ready to resist occupation, in contrast to eastern Donbas and Crimea that had plenty of cooperative residents in 2014.
ALLIES
Ukraine and Poland will set up joint border operations to facilitate the movement of people and goods. President Zelensky announced that his administration is preparing a bill to grant Polish citizens special legal status mirroring rights granted to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Link
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that as the result of the second Ramstein Ukraine Defense Contact Group, twenty countries are sending new weapons to Ukraine. At a news conference at the Pentagon, Mr Lloyd called out Denmark for sending Harpoon missiles and the Czech Republic for helicopters, tanks and rocket systems. Link Tweet
Russian Accountability
Independent Russian media project Proekt is investigating the officers and soldiers fighting in Ukraine. On their project website, they published demographic data on 160 officers involved in the Ukraine war. According to Proekt, all the combat-ready forces that Russia has are taking part in the war. Link
New Satellite images show Russia loading Ukrainian grain into ships in Crimea. The enemy is stealing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grain from farmers in the southern steppes, then transporting them to Crimea for shipment to Russia allied countries. So far, the West has provided little help in breaking the Russian blockade of the Black Sea which makes this large-scale theft possible. Link
GERMANY
The German government continues to block handing over weapons to Ukraine. In an attempt to distance itself from armaments supplies, the German government has said it would give permits to private companies to export their manufactured goods. However, Bild reports that applications for export of Rheinmetall tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles are not moving forward. Link
Germany’s Minister of Energy Robert Habeck stated at an interview at Davos that he is confident that a deal will be struck this week with EU countries on a plan to impose a Russian oil embargo. Link
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