Because the Russia-Ukraine warfare enters its 349th day, we check out the principle developments.
Right here is the scenario because it stands on Tuesday, February 7, 2023:
Preventing
- Serhiy Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of the primarily Russian-occupied Luhansk province, stated Russia is pouring in reinforcements for an offensive that would start as quickly as subsequent week.
- Fierce battles in Ukraine’s Donetsk area “are very tough”, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated, as Ukraine braced for a attainable Russian offensive this month earlier than the primary anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
- Russia’s defence ministry stated its forces had taken management of Mykolaivka, a village in Ukraine’s jap Donetsk area, state media reported.
- Russia’s state Investigative Committee stated it was analyzing the alleged use of chemical weapons by Ukrainian forces close to the jap cities of Soledar and Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces stated they’d by no means used chemical weapons wherever at any time. Russia’s claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Ukraine’s defence minister
- Ukraine despatched combined messages in regards to the destiny of defence minister Oleksii Reznikov, leaving a key publish doubtful. The questions over Reznikov had been the primary public signal of disarray in Ukraine’s wartime management.
- Zelenskyy has fired a collection of high-level officers this 12 months in a purge geared toward clamping down on corruption. Reznikov had been underneath strain over a corruption scandal within the ministry.
- Kyrylo Budanov, who has been tipped to turn into Ukraine’s subsequent defence minister, is a younger officer who loved a meteoric rise to turn into army intelligence chief, embellished for his function in operations that largely stay secret.
Diplomacy
- Zelenskyy has been invited to participate in a summit of European Union leaders, the EU stated, amid experiences he may very well be in Brussels as quickly as this week.
- United States Vice President Kamala Harris is anticipated to debate US assist for Ukraine when she travels to a serious European safety convention in Germany subsequent week, as Russia’s invasion nears the one-year mark.
- The top of the UN nuclear company, the IAEA, will go to Moscow this week, however the Kremlin stated he won’t meet President Vladimir Putin.
- Ukraine’s principal Catholic church stated it will transfer to a brand new calendar that might see Christmas celebrated on December 25 reasonably than January 7, amid an effort by Ukrainian establishments to interrupt cultural hyperlinks to Russia. The choice by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which counts simply lower than a tenth of Ukrainians as worshippers, was welcomed by tradition minister Oleksandr Tkachenko.
