War in Ukraine. Fighting continues in Soledar, new strikes in Kherson… Evening renewal

At the start of the 327th day of the war in Ukraine, the search continues for survivors on the Dnipro after the bombing of a building on Saturday, which left thirty people dead and seventy-five injured.

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities wanted to clarify the situation on the Soledar front, after the Russian announcement about the capture of this city located in the Donetsk region.

We’re listing the events that marked the night of Sunday January 15 through Monday January 16, 2023.

The battle for Soledar continues according to Kyiv

While his troops appear to be struggling against Western-backed Ukrainian troops, Vladimir Putin assures that “ everything went according to plan”in an interview with Russian public television on Sunday. “The dynamics are positive and everything is going according to the plans of the Ministry of Defense and the general staff. I hope that our fighters will still delight us more than once with their military results.”he launched, after a question from a journalist from the Rossia-1 channel at “News from Soledar”which was claimed to have been captured by the Russian army on Friday.

The capture of this small Ukrainian town was presented in Moscow as a success, after several months of Russian setbacks, notably the withdrawal in the Kharkiv region (northeast) and the large city of Kherson (south) against Ukraine. counter-attack.

But Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar assured late Sunday that Ukrainian troops had maintained their positions in Soledar. they have “repelling the invasion of invaders” at several points of the front in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including Soledar, he said. “Simply put, the battle continues”according to Deputy Minister.

“The battle for Soledar, for Bakhmout, for the entire Donetsk region, for the Luhansk region continues”abounded in his daily speeches Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Moscow, the capture of Soledar was an important step toward besieging the nearby town of Bakhmout, which the Russian army and Wagner’s paramilitary group had been seeking for months.

Also read: BEFORE AFTER. War in Ukraine: Soledar, a scene of destruction

The final assessment reported 30 deaths on the Dnipro

A new wave of shelling hit several cities and locations across Ukraine on Saturday and Sunday, including a residential building on Saturday in Dnipro.

According to the latest report from the emergency services on Sunday night, 30 people died there, including a child (a 15-year-old girl, according to the Ukrainian president), and 75 people were injured, including 14 children. 45 people are still missing.

A video released by Ukrainian rescuers shows rescuers digging through the rubble of a building that was cut in half during the night, from which they managed to extract 39 survivors, including six children.

Greeting the Russian people in Russian in his evening speech, Volodymyr Zelensky launched, to them “who even now cannot utter a word to condemn this terror”that they “loose silence” will allow “that one day, the same terrorist will come for you”, because “crime is very sensitive to cowardice”.

The United States lashed out “a new example of the brutal and barbaric war waged by Russia against the Ukrainian people”. A spokesman for the National Security Council assured that they were “will continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself.”

New strike in Kherson, new power outage

Russian troops again shelled Kherson with intensity on Sunday, hitting Red Cross infrastructure and buildings and wounding seven people, including one seriously, according to regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevich.

“During the day, the enemy made eight attacks with multiple rocket launchers”the general staff of Ukraine announced on Sunday evening, noting in particular“(Russian) offensive actions near Bakhmout and Avdiivka”.

Power outages also affected large parts of the country after new attacks over the weekend, according to Ukrainian authorities.

“The generation deficit in the electrical system after the attack was huge. Some of the thermal power plants are no longer working”said on Facebook CEO of energy company YASNO, Serguiï Kovalenko, announcing restrictions on the supply of electricity throughout the country, in particular in kyiv.

“The damage is severe. All energy companies are doing repairs, but we have to be prepared for long-lasting outages”according to Mr. Kovalenko.

Russia and Belarus to conduct “defensive” air drills.

Belarus has indicated that the military air drills with Russia starting on Monday will be defensive in nature, to prepare for a potential combat situation, an announcement that comes amid growing fears that Moscow is pushing Minsk to join its offensive in Ukraine.

In a message posted on the Telegram account of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, a senior representative of the National Security Council assured that the maneuvers, which will last until February 1, are “purely defensive”. “This will be a series of steps to prepare our air force and the Russian air force to carry out relevant combat missions.”added Pavel Mouraveyko, indicating that the exercise will mainly include “air reconnaissance” and diversion of air strikes.

Ahead of its launch, on February 24, of what it calls“special military operations” in Ukraine, Russia has amassed troops in Belarus, where military activity is increasing. Moscow has used its allied countries as rear bases to launch attacks on Kyiv in particular, through northern Ukraine.

The situation has raised fears in Kyiv and the West that Russia is counting on Belarus to mount a new ground offensive in the region, a scenario Ukraine is preparing for, as claimed last week by its President Volodymyr Zelensky.