Closing summary
It’s nearly 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Lithuania’s defence minister, Arvydas Anušauskas, has said several countries will announce sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at Friday’s meeting of defence ministers at the Ramstein airbase in Germany. The total number of armoured vehicles pledged at tomorrow’s meeting would go into hundreds, Anušauskas told Reuters.
A group of 11 Nato countries have pledged a raft of new military aid for Ukraine, ahead of a crunch meeting on arms for Kyiv in Germany on Friday. The aid from countries including Britain, Estonia, Latvia and Poland will include tens of stinger air defence systems, S-60 anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and training, according to a statement.
Britain plans to send 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine to support the country in its fight against Russia, defence minister Ben Wallace has announced. Speaking at a meeting with other defence ministers at the Tapa army base in Estonia, Wallace outlined a previously announced package of military support for Ukraine, including sending Challenger tanks. “We’re in it for the long haul,” he said.
Sweden’s government has announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine that will include armoured infantry fighting vehicles and the Archer artillery system. Poland said it was sending S-60 anti-aircraft guns with 70,000 rounds of ammunition and was ready to donate a company of German-made Leopard 2 tanks, “pending (a) wider coalition” of Leopard donors. Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, announced his country will send military equipment to Ukraine worth €113m in its latest package of support. Denmark announced it will donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Kyiv.
The US and German defence ministers met today as Berlin faces pressure to allow the transfer of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The meeting between Lloyd Austin and Boris Pistorius came as a German government source told Reuters that Berlin would allow Leopard tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defence against Russia if the US agreed to send its own tanks. But US officials have publicly and privately insisted that Washington has no plans to send US-made tanks to Ukraine for now, arguing that they would be too difficult for Kyiv to maintain and would require a huge logistical effort to simply run.
A German government spokesperson has said it has yet to receive a request from any country for permission to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has signalled that it could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a wider coalition even without Germany’s approval. “Consent is of secondary importance here, we will either obtain this consent quickly, or we will do what is needed ourselves,” Morawiecki said. He later said he was “moderately pessimistic” about Germany giving other countries permission to send the tanks to Ukraine.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said the EU “must spare no effort” in helping Ukraine join the EU during a visit to Kyiv where he met Volodymyr Zelenskiy and members of his government. Michel delivered an address to Ukraine’s parliament, hailing the country’s resilience amid Russia’s invasion and saying “Ukraine is the EU and the EU is Ukraine”.
The Kremlin has said Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine “one way or another” and the sooner Kyiv accepts its demands, the sooner the conflict will end. The Kremlin has repeatedly said Russia is ready to halt military operations if Ukraine meets its demands, but Moscow has not publicly outlined details of its negotiating position or what it is seeking from Kyiv in order to end hostilities.
The Kremlin said Ukrainian strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea would be “extremely dangerous” after the New York Times reported that US officials were warming to the idea of helping Kyiv strike the peninsula. “This will mean raising the conflict to a new level that will not bode well for European security,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters at his daily briefing. Crimea, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish longtime ally of Vladimir Putin, has warned of a nuclear escalation if Russia is defeated in Ukraine, saying that western politicians “repeated like a mantra: ‘To achieve peace, Russia must lose’”, but “it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion from this: the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war”. Peskov later said the comments made by the deputy chairman of the security council of Russia were fully in accordance with Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, says he worries the world is becoming complacent about the dangers posed by the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Grossi, speaking to reporters in Kyiv, said a nuclear accident could happen any day and reiterated the situation at the plant was very precarious.
Moldova has requested air defence systems from its allies with the aim of strengthening its capabilities as the war in neighbouring Ukraine continues, its president, Maia Sandu, said. Moldova’s spy chief, Alexandru Musteata, warned last month of a “very high” risk of a new Russian offensive towards his country’s east and said Moscow still aimed to secure a land corridor through Ukraine to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria.
A Swedish court has sentenced two brothers to prison for spying for Russia and its military intelligence service GRU for a decade. Iranian-born Peyman Kia, 42, was sentenced to life, while his younger brother, Payam Kia, was sentenced to nine years and 10 months. Between 2014 and 2015, Peyman Kia worked for Sweden’s domestic intelligence agency, and worked with a top-secret unit within the agency that dealt with Swedish spies abroad, according to local media. The case is believed to be one of the most damaging instances of espionage in Sweden’s history.
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IAEA chief warns nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia plant ‘can happen any time’
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, says he worries the world is becoming complacent about the dangers posed by the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
The Soviet-era plant, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian forces in March and has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia facility.
Grossi, speaking to reporters in Kyiv, said a nuclear accident could happen any day and reiterated the situation at the plant was very precarious.
He said:
I worry that this is becoming routine, that people may believe that nothing has happened so far, so is the director general of the IAEA crying wolf?
He said it was his “duty to do everything I can to prevent” an accident from happening at the plant.
I confirmed to President @ZelenskyyUa the establishment of our support & assistance missions in all #Ukraine’s NPPs. We also continued our discussions on the #Zaporizhzhya safety & security protection zone. Work continues. The zone is essential to prevent a nuclear accident. pic.twitter.com/SDxGq85wSy
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) January 19, 2023
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A German government spokesperson has said it has yet to receive a request from any country for permission to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine.
The comment came as Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, told reporters he was “moderately pessimistic” about Germany giving other countries permission to re-export Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Morawiecki said:
I am moderately sceptical, moderately pessimistic because the Germans are defending themselves against this like a devil protects himself against holy water.
Updated
'Ukraine is the EU and the EU is Ukraine,' says European Council chief
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said the EU “must spare no effort” in helping Ukraine join the EU during a visit to Kyiv where he met Volodymyr Zelenskiy and members of his government.
Michel delivered an address to Ukraine’s parliament, hailing the country’s resilience amid Russia’s invasion and saying “Ukraine is the EU and the EU is Ukraine”.
He said:
I dream that one day, I hope soon, a Ukrainian will hold my job as president of the European Council, or as president of the European parliament, or the commission.”
I am proud that a few months ago we succeeded in convincing everyone to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) January 19, 2023
I am fully committed to continue working closely with you to advance this process. We must each do our part to ensure the process progresses as swiftly as possible. pic.twitter.com/ryjoPXv1Fl
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, tweeted a photo of him with Michel in the capital, and said the pair discussed the country’s path to EU membership and defence assistance.
Glad to welcome @CharlesMichel to Kyiv. Before the 24th 🇺🇦 -🇪🇺 Summit, we agreed on 🇺🇦's path to EU membership. We also discussed defence assistance to strengthen 🇺🇦 Armed Forces. Thanked for the financial support. We count on further joint efforts to increase pressure on russia. pic.twitter.com/7VaKEweRdH
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) January 19, 2023
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Here are some of the latest images we have received from Bakhmut, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.
Updated
Moldova has requested air defence systems from its allies with the aim of strengthening its capabilities as the war in neighbouring Ukraine continues, its president, Maia Sandu, said.
Moldova’s spy chief, Alexandru Musteata, warned last month of a “very high” risk of a new Russian offensive towards his country’s east and said Moscow still aimed to secure a land corridor through Ukraine to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria.
Moldova has long had Russian troops based in Transnistria, a predominantly Russian-speaking region in eastern Moldova. The area has been controlled by pro-Russia separatists since 1992, after a short war when Moscow intervened on the side of the rebels.
Russian efforts to destabilise Moldova have so far failed, Sandu told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Updated
Several countries ‘to announce sending hundreds of Leopard tanks to Ukraine’
Lithuania’s defence minister, Arvydas Anušauskas, has said several countries will announce sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at tomorrow’s meeting of defence ministers at the Ramstein airbase in Germany.
Anušauskas told Reuters:
Some of the countries will definitely send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, that is for sure.
The total number of armoured vehicles pledged at tomorrow’s meeting would go into hundreds, Anušauskas said.
Updated
Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to the Ukrainian president, has called on allies to “stop trembling at Putin and take the final step” to send tanks to Kyiv.
True leadership is about leading by example, not about looking up to others. There are no taboos. From Washington to London, from Paris to Warsaw, one thing is said: 🇺🇦 needs tanks; tanks — the key to end war properly. Time to stop trembling at Putin and take the final step.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) January 19, 2023
“True leadership is about leading by example, not about looking up to others,” he said in a tweet likely aimed at Germany, after a German government source said Berlin will send German-made tanks to Ukraine as long as the US agrees to do likewise.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
A group of 11 countries have pledged a raft of new military aid for Ukraine, ahead of a crunch meeting on arms for Kyiv in Germany on Friday. The aid from countries including Estonia, Latvia and Poland will include tens of stinger air defence systems, s-60 anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and training, according to a statement.
Britain plans to send 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine to support the country in its fight against Russia, defence minister Ben Wallace has announced. Speaking at a meeting with other defence ministers at the Tapa army base in Estonia, Wallace outlined a previously announced package of military support for Ukraine, including sending Challenger tanks. “We’re in it for the long haul,” he said.
Sweden’s government has announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine that will include armoured infantry fighting vehicles and the Archer artillery system. Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, announced his country will send military equipment to Ukraine worth €113m in its latest package of support. Denmark announced it will donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Kyiv.
The US and German defence ministers met today as Berlin faces pressure to allow the transfer of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The meeting between Lloyd Austin and Boris Pistorius came as a German government source told Reuters that Berlin would allow Leopard tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defence against Russia if the US agreed to send its own tanks. But US officials have publicly and privately insisted that Washington has no plans to send US-made tanks to Ukraine for now, arguing that they would be too difficult for Kyiv to maintain and would require a huge logistical effort to simply run.
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has signalled that it could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a wider coalition even without Germany’s approval. “Consent is of secondary importance here, we will either obtain this consent quickly, or we will do what is needed ourselves,” Morawiecki said.
The Kremlin has said Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine “one way or another” and the sooner Kyiv accepts its demands, the sooner the conflict will end. The Kremlin has repeatedly said Russia is ready to halt military operations if Ukraine meets its demands, but Moscow has not publicly outlined details of its negotiating position or what it is seeking from Kyiv in order to end hostilities.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukrainian strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea would be “extremely dangerous” after the New York Times reported that US officials were warming to the idea of helping Kyiv strike the peninsula. “This will mean raising the conflict to a new level that will not bode well for European security,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters at his daily briefing. Crimea, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish longtime ally of Vladimir Putin, has warned of a nuclear escalation if Russia is defeated in Ukraine, saying that western politicians “repeated like a mantra: ‘To achieve peace, Russia must lose’”, but “it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion from this: the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war”. Peskov later said the comments made by the deputy chairman of the security council of Russia were fully in accordance with Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
Boris Johnson has urged the west not to fall for Russia’s threat of nuclear war but instead increase its supply of heavy weaponry to Ukraine. The former UK prime minister appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss Ukraine – with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, joining via video link.
The number of children confirmed dead in Wednesday’s helicopter crash in Brovary is one, Ukraine’s state emergency services has said, not three, as previously stated. The crash took place near a nursery outside Kyiv, killing interior minister Denys Monastyrskiy and 14 other people. As of Thursday morning 16 victims were still in hospital, including six children, and 14 people were confirmed dead, including the child, according to the head of Kyiv region, Olekskiy Kuleba.
A Swedish court has sentenced two brothers to prison for spying for Russia and its military intelligence service GRU for a decade. Iranian-born Peyman Kia, 42, was sentenced to life, while his younger brother, Payam Kia, was sentenced to nine years and 10 months. Between 2014 and 2015, Peyman Kia worked for Sweden’s domestic intelligence agency, and worked with a top-secret unit within the agency that dealt with Swedish spies abroad, according to local media. The case is believed to be one of the most damaging instances of espionage in Sweden’s history.
Serbian and pro-Ukraine activists have filed criminal complaints against Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group and its supporters, accusing it of recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine. “We have reasonable suspicion that Vulin … gave orders, directives and guidelines that the activities of the Wagner Group in Serbia should not be prevented,” the group’s leader said.
Ukraine has suffered a threefold growth in cyber-attacks over the past year, with Russian hacking at times deployed in combination with missile strikes, according to a senior figure in the country’s cybersecurity agency. The attacks from Russia have often taken the form of destructive, disk-erasing wiper malware, said Viktor Zhora, a leading figure in the country’s SSSCIP agency.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here still, with all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Denmark becomes the latest country to send further military support to Ukraine, announcing that it will donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Kyiv.
The Danish defence minister, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, said in a statement:
We have been in continuous contact with the Ukrainians about the Caesar artillery in particular and I am happy that we have now received broad support from the Danish parliament to donate it to Ukraine’s freedom struggle.
Updated
Serbian and pro-Ukraine activists filed criminal complaints against Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group and its supporters on Thursday, accusing it of recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Čedomir Stojković, a Belgrade-based lawyer who also leads the October civic group, said that those accused include Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, and Aleksandar Vulin, the head of Serbia’s state Security and Information Agency.
“We have reasonable suspicion that Vulin ... gave orders, directives and guidelines that the activities of the Wagner Group in Serbia should not be prevented,” he said.
Stojković said that Botsan-Kharchenko, who enjoys diplomatic immunity, could not be prosecuted in Serbia but that he should be ordered to leave the country.
Once a criminal complaint is filed, it is up to the state prosecutor to decide whether or not to proceed.
Neither Russian embassy to Belgrade nor the BIA replied to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Updated
Poland’s prime minister has signalled that it could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a wider coalition even without Germany’s approval, raising pressure on Berlin before a crunch meeting of allies on more military aid for Kyiv.
“Consent is of secondary importance here, we will either obtain this consent quickly, or we will do what is needed ourselves,” the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, told the private broadcaster Polsat News late on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
A government spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on whether Morawiecki meant Poland or a group of countries could send tanks without Germany’s consent. Poland had repeatedly signalled that it would only send the tanks as part of a larger coalition.
“The most important thing is for Germany, but not only Germany … to offer their modern tanks, their modern heavy weapons, because Ukraine’s ability to defend its freedom may depend on that,” Morawiecki said.
Poland and Finland have said they would provide Leopards if Germany lifts its veto as part of a wider coalition, and other countries have indicated they are ready to do so too.
Updated
The British ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, has joined the backlash against comments yesterday by Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign secretary.
In his lengthy annual new year press conference yesterday, Lavrov compared the behavious of the west towards Russia with Hitler and Napolean, saying that, using Ukraine as a proxy, “they [the west] are waging war against our country with the same task: the ‘final solution’ of the Russian question. Just as Hitler wanted a ‘final solution’ to the Jewish question, now, if you read Western politicians ... they clearly say Russia must suffer a strategic defeat.”
Responding to a call for Jewish organisations to condemn the comments by Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, the British ambassador in Kyiv tweeted:
I don’t think it’s just Jewish organisations that should be calling out this insufferable Russian state sponsored antisemitism. It’s been going on for ages, repeatedly articulated, and it has repercussions for everyone when states reduce Holocaust history in this cynical way.
We call on Jewish organizations to condemn Sergey Lavrov’s shameful statement equating Russians, who are waging a war of aggression against a sovereign nation, with Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Russia’s state sponsored anti-Semitism must not be tolerated.
— Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) January 19, 2023
I don’t think it’s just Jewish organisations that should be calling out this insufferable 🇷🇺 state sponsored #antisemitism. It’s been going on for ages, repeatedly articulated, and it has repercussions for everyone when states reduce Holocaust history in this cynical way. https://t.co/Bv6NxPpcRk
— Dame Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) January 19, 2023
Reuters reports that Lavrov has caused outrage before with remarks about Hitler. Last May he said the Nazi leader had “Jewish blood”, drawing angry protests from Israel.
Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, has announced his country will send military equipment to Ukraine worth €113m in its latest package of support for the war against Russia.
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Wallace says the UK has just started another round of basic training of Ukrainian soldiers, with the aim of training at least 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers to repel Russia’s aggression.
He concludes by saying:
We’re not going anywhere, Mr Putin. We’re here for the long haul. We’re standing by Ukraine. You need to recalculate. You need to make a change. You need to leave Ukraine.
UK to send 600 Brimstone missiles to help Ukraine
Wallace says Britain has “unlocked” a number of military aid packages in the last year, and will be “going further” by sending a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.
The UK will also send at least three batteries of AS-90 155 long-range deep dire artillery, a number of armoured vehicles, including the Bulldog, he said.
He continued:
Today I can say we’re also going to send another 600 Brimstone missiles into theatre which will be incredibly important in helping Ukraine dominate the battlefield.
He said the UK will be working with the US and others “to make sure that this package is put in Ukraine in the right way”.
Updated
Wallace: We’re in it for the long haul
Defence ministers from around the world will gather at the US airbase in Ramstein in Germany on Friday to make it clear to President Vladimir Putin that they stand by Ukraine, Wallace says.
President Putin is banking on us getting bored this year. He’s wrong. We will plan for this year and next year and the year after.
He adds:
We’re in it for the long haul.
It is now time to turn the momentum that Ukrainians have achieved and to make sure Russia “understands that the purpose now is to push them back out of Ukraine” and to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty, he says.
Updated
Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, is speaking at a joint news conference with his Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur.
Wallace says Putin made a number of assumptions when he ordered his troops to invade Ukraine last February: the first, that Ukrainians would not fight. The second, that his military would quickly crush any resistance.
Finally, Putin banked on the fact that he “thought the international community was fickle, that it wouldn’t stick together, that we wouldn’t see it through”. Wallace added:
None of those have turned out to be true. 2023 is about demonstrating to Putin that the international community isn’t fractured, that the international community is more than ever determined to stand by Ukraine to see it through.
Child among 14 confirmed dead in helicopter crash
Ukraine’s state emergency services has said the number of children confirmed dead in yesterday’s helicopter attack in Brovary is one, not three, as previously stated.
The child died when a helicopter carrying the leadership of Ukraine’s interior ministry crashed near a nursery outside Kyiv on Wednesday morning.
Ukraine’s national police carried out forensics on body fragments and as a result, the number of dead decreased, said Ukraine’s emergency services.
As of Thursday morning 16 victims were still in hospital, including six children, and 14 people were confirmed dead, including the child, according to the head of Kyiv region, Olekskiy Kuleba.
Updated
The Kremlin has said Russia will achieve its goals in Ukraine “one way or another” and the sooner Kyiv accepts its demands, the sooner the conflict will end.
Speaking to reporters, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said:
The sooner the Ukrainian regime shows its readiness to meet Russia’s demands – which will be achieved one way or another – the sooner everything will end, and the sooner Ukrainian people can begin to recover after this tragedy, which was started by the regime in Kyiv.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said Russia is ready to halt military operations if Ukraine meets its demands, but Moscow has not publicly outlined details of its negotiating position or what it is seeking from Kyiv in order to end hostilities.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is “sincerely grateful” to the Swedish government after it announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine that will include armoured infantry fighting vehicles and the Archer artillery system.
The package is worth 4.3bn Swedish crowns (£339m), and will include about 50 of Sweden’s tracked and armoured Type 90 infantry fighting vehicles, which can be used to transport up to eight infantry soldiers and is equipped with a 40-mm automatic cannon.
The government did not specify how many Archer systems it would supply. The package will also include light, portable NLAW anti-tank weapons, mine-clearing equipment and assault rifles.
The infantry fighting vehicles, Archer systems and NLAW anti-tank weapons are “powerful weapons that Ukraine’s army needs”, Zelenskiy tweeted.
Sincerely grateful to the Government of Sweden & @SwedishPM for the new military assistance package to 🇺🇦. CV90 IFVs, Archer self-propelled howitzers & NLAW ATGMs are powerful weapons that 🇺🇦 army needs to liberate our land from the Russian invader. Together to a common victory!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 19, 2023
Before the package was presented today, Sweden had announced around 5bn Swedish crowns of military aid to Ukraine as well as several instalments of humanitarian supplies.
Ukraine’s victory is of “almost indescribable importance” Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, told a news conference, adding that Ukraine was fighting for the freedom of all of Europe.
Sweden is increasing military assistance to Ukraine with heavy and advanced weapons. We stand with Ukraine together with our international partners. Ukrainian victory is essential for a free Europe. https://t.co/NPI4Cl0lXV
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) January 19, 2023
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US, German defence ministers meet to discuss support for Ukraine
The US and German defence ministers met today as Berlin faces pressure to allow the transfer of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Germany remains “one of our most important allies”, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said at the start of his meeting with Boris Pistorius, who hours earlier had been sworn in as Germany’s new defence minister.
Before the meeting, Austin thanked the German government “for all that it has done to strengthen Ukraine’s self-defence”, without specifically mentioning the issue of tanks.
Pistorius said Germany was ready to support Ukraine and that Berlin stood shoulder to shoulder with its allies. He said:
Together with our partners, we will continue to support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom and territorial independence and sovereignty.
Their meeting came as a German government source told Reuters that Berlin would allow Leopard tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defence against Russia if the US agreed to send its own tanks.
But US officials have publicly and privately insisted that Washington has no plans to send US-made tanks to Ukraine for now, arguing that they would be too difficult for Kyiv to maintain and would require a huge logistical effort to simply run.
Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, said the Pentagon still was not prepared to meet Ukraine’s calls for M1 Abrams main battle tanks.
Updated
A Swedish court has sentenced two brothers to prison for spying for Russia and its military intelligence service GRU for a decade, in what has been called one of the country’s worst cases of espionage.
Iranian-born Peyman Kia, 42, was sentenced to life, while his younger brother, Payam Kia, was sentenced to nine years and 10 months. A life sentence in Sweden generally means a minimum of 20-25 years in prison.
Between 2014 and 2015, Peyman Kia worked for Sweden’s domestic intelligence agency, and worked with a top-secret unit within the agency that dealt with Swedish spies abroad, according to local media.
Payam Kia, 35, helped his brother and “dismantled and broke a hard drive which was later found in a trash can” when his brother was arrested, according to the charge sheet obtained by the Associated Press.
The pair appeared before Stockholm district court, where they faced charges of working together to pass information to Russia between September 2011 and September 2021.
In its verdict, the court said it was “beyond reasonable doubt that the brothers, together and in consultation, without authorisation and for the benefit of Russia and the GRU, acquired, forwarded and disclosed information” to a foreign power with the purpose of damaging Sweden’s security.
Explaining the verdict of a life sentence, the court said the older brother had a “full understanding of the damaging effects – he has acquired, forwarded and disclosed the information to Russia, which constitutes the main threat to Sweden’s security”.
Although it had “not been possible to reach full certainty as to what happened”, the court said a picture of what happened “is sufficiently clear for the defendants to be held responsible”.
The brothers denied any wrongdoing throughout the trial, which was held behind closed doors and with evidence that is secret.
The case is believed to be one of the most damaging instances of espionage in Sweden’s history because the men compiled a list of all the employees within the Swedish security and intelligence service, known by its acronym Sapo.
Updated
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, says he is in Kyiv for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and members of his government.
The people of Ukraine “need and deserve our support”, Michel said in a video posted to Twitter.
On my way to #Kyiv.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) January 19, 2023
Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for the future of their children.
But they are also fighting for our common European values of peace and prosperity.
They need and deserve our support. pic.twitter.com/ewLY4E9udX
His trip comes just two weeks before the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is set to visit the Ukrainian capital for a summit.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukrainian strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea would be “extremely dangerous”, after the New York Times reported that US officials were warming to the idea of helping Kyiv strike the peninsula. “This will mean raising the conflict to a new level that will not bode well for European security,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters at his daily briefing. Crimea, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The comments came as Sweden announced it would be sending the Archer artillery system for use by Kyiv, a vehicle-mounted self-propelled gun howitzer made by Bofors BAE. The country has also committed to sending infantry fighting vehicles in a move announced in a press conference in Stockholm on Thursday morning.
A government source in Berlin told Reuters Germany would send German-made tanks to Ukraine so long as the US agreed to do likewise, as Nato partners remained out of step over how best to arm Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Germany’s presiden,t Frank-Walter Steinmeier, promised further military support to Ukraine and warned the incoming defence minister that Germany’s armed forces must once again become capable of protecting the country. The Social Democrat Boris Pistorius was officially made minister on Thursday in a ceremony attended by Steinmeier.
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish longtime ally of Vladimir Putin, has warned of a nuclear escalation if Russia is defeated in Ukraine, saying that western politicians “repeated like a mantra: ‘To achieve peace, Russia must lose’”, but “it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion from this: the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war”. Peskov later said the comments made by the deputy chairman of the security council of Russia were fully in accordance with Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
The former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said people spent too much time obsessing about Putin and worrying about escalating the conflict. “How can you escalate against a guy who is doing all-out war against a civilian population?” he said. He also cast doubt on whether Russia would use nuclear weapons and internationally isolate itself from countries like China.
Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of Kyiv, said on Thursday that 10 adults and six children remained in hospital after Wednesday’s helicopter crash, which killed the interior minister, Denys Monastyrskiy, and 14 others. Kuleba said families of the victims would receive financial assistance, and that children from the kindergarten damaged when the helicopter fell were studying in nearby preschools.
Ukraine’s state broadcaster, Suspilne, is reporting that 11 people are still considered missing after Saturday’s attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro.
Updated
Sweden offers Ukraine artillery as Russia threatens escalation
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukrainian strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea would be “extremely dangerous”, after the New York Times reported that US officials were warming to the idea of helping Kyiv strike the peninsula.
“This will mean raising the conflict to a new level that will not bode well for European security”, Reuters reports the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters at his daily briefing. Crimea, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The comments came as the Swedish government announced it would be sending the Archer artillery system for use by Kyiv, a vehicle-mounted self-propelled gun howitzer made by Bofors BAE. It has long been requested by the Ukrainian side.
Peskov also commented on the remarks made earlier by Dmitry Medvedev that threatened a nuclear response if Russia were defeated in Ukraine. [see 7.43 GMT]
Peskov said the comments were in full accordance with Moscow’s nuclear doctrine.
Medvedev had said western politicians “repeated like a mantra: ‘To achieve peace, Russia must lose’”, but “it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion from this: the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war”.
As well as the Archer artillery system, Sweden has committed to sending infantry fighting vehicles in a move announced in a press conference in Stockholm on Thursday morning.
Updated
Reuters notes that the Swedish government has been silent on the number of Archer artillery systems that it is intending to send to Ukraine. Sweden has 48 Archer systems, which is a vehicle-mounted self-propelled gun howitzer made by Bofors BAE.
The Swedish government said it had ordered its defence forces to also prepare shipment of the system.
Sweden to send Archer artillery system as past of military aid package
The Swedish government has announced it is sending a further package of military aid to Ukraine, which will include the Archer artillery system, which the Ukrainians have long sought. The package also includes the anti-tank robot-57.
Fifty combat vehicles will also be sent, which Sweden’s energy and industry minister, Ebba Busch, this morning described as “one of the world’s best combat vehicles”.
Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, said “Ukraine’s desire for what they need most weighs heavily”.
Updated
The air alarm that was in place in Ukraine this morning has ended. It appears to have been caused by Russian planes taking off in Belarus, where the Belarus and Russian air forces have been carrying out joint drills.
Ten adults and six children remain in hospital after Brovary helicopter crash
Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv, has provided an update on the situation following yesterday’s helicopter crash which claimed the life of interior minister Denys Monastyrskiy and 14 other people. He posted on Telegram to say:
As a result of the tragedy in Brovary, 16 people remain in hospitals, six of whom are children. Others receive treatment on an outpatient basis. Financial assistance will be allocated to the families of the victims.
The place where the helicopter fell has been cleared of debris. Windows and doors will be repaired in the damaged building in the near future.
Children from the damaged kindergarten are organized to study in nearby preschools, taking into account the wishes of the parents.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has promised further military support to Ukraine and warned the incoming defence minister that Germany’s armed forces must once again become capable of protecting the nation.
Social Democrat Boris Pistorius was officially made minister on Thursday in a ceremony attended by Steinmeier. The role of German president is largely ceremonial.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine has destroyed Europe’s security order, Steinmeier said at the event, Reuters reports.
Steinmeier stressed that Germany would continue to support Ukraine militarily and would help “in the reconstruction of a battered country”. “Germany is not at war, but the years of the peace dividend from which we Germans have benefited so long and abundantly are over,” Steinmeier said.
“We have to respond to threats that also target us,” he said.
Pistorius is due to meet his US counterpart Lloyd Austin later today, and on Friday defence leaders from around 50 countries and Nato gather at Germany’s Ramstein air base to discuss how to supply Kyiv with more weapons.
A German government source has told Reuters that Berlin will only allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine if the United States agrees to send its own tanks.
Here is an image from Cambodia today, where Ukrainian demining teams are receiving training from their Cambodian counterparts.
Ukraine is currently experiencing an air alert. Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has posted to Telegram to tell residents:
Residents of Lviv oblast and the entire territory of Ukraine announced an air alert. There is a threat of a missile strike. Immediately go to a shelter or a room where the rule of “two walls” applies.
During almost 11 months of full-scale war, we have seen more than once what the enemy is capable of in his hatred and desire to destroy. Take care of yourself and your loved ones, warn those who might not have heard the sound of sirens.
Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne is reporting that eleven people are still considered missing after Saturday’s attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro.
Yesterday it reported that, according to deputy mayor of Dnipro, Mykhailo Lysenko, “municipal workers are still finding remains of bodies while sorting through the debris”, and the remains are being handed over to forensic experts for DNA testing.
My colleague Graeme Wearden is covering Davos live for the Guardian, and reports this from former UK prime minister Boris Johnson:
Boris Johnson is speaking at this morning’s Ukraine breakfast now, introduced as a “legendary figure” in Ukraine.
The former UK prime minister is asked what he thinks is going through Putin’s mind – is there an opportunity to negotiate?
Johnson says he is lost in admiration for president Zelenskiy, and the heroism of the Ukrainian people.
But, he warns, we can spend too much time obsessing about Putin, and worrying about escalating the conflict.
Johnson says he heard these concerns before he approved supply of shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons.
But, he says:
How can you escalate against a guy who is doing all out war against a civilian population?
Putin is not going to use nuclear weapons, Johnson insists, comparing Russia’s president to “the fat boy in Dickens who wants to make our flesh creep”.
Using nuclear weapons would create economic paralysis, Johnson points out. Plus, states who are giving him the benefit of the doubt woud turn massively against him – he cites India and China.
You can read more here: Davos day 3 – Johnson says Putin is not going to use nuclear weapons – live
Former Russian president Medvedev threatens Nato with 'outbreak of nuclear war'
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish long-term ally of Vladimir Putin, has been threatening nuclear war again on Telegram. Medvedev has been deputy chairman of the security council of Russia since 2020, and has previously held the roles of both president and prime minister of Russia. On Telegram he said:
Tomorrow, at Nato’s Ramstein base, the great military leaders will discuss new tactics and strategies, as well as the supply of new heavy weapons and strike systems to Ukraine. And this was right after the forum in Davos, where underdeveloped political party-goers repeated like a mantra: “To achieve peace, Russia must lose.”
And it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion from this: the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war. The nuclear powers did not lose major conflicts on which their fate depends. But this should be obvious to anyone. Even to a western politician who has retained at least some trace of intelligence.
While Russia’s nuclear doctrine restricts the use of the weapons to a limited set of circumstances, one of the circumstances is “situations critical to the national security of the Russian Federation.”
Updated
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in Russia has reported on Telegram that the “outbuilding of a private household” and “a private house in which no one lived” have been destroyed by Ukrainian fire over the border into his region. He stated that “There are no victims or injured.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne is reporting that Yaroslav Yanushevych, Ukraine’s governor of the partially-occupied Kherson region, which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed, has said that the region was shelled multiple times and four people were injured as a result yesterday.
It reports he said “On 18 January, the Russian army shelled the Kherson region 56 times with artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and mortars, wounding four people. Kherson was shelled 19 times. Shells hit an educational institution and houses.”
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog from my colleague Helen Sullivan. I will be with you for the next few hours. You can contact me on martin.belam@theguardian.com
Germany will send tanks to Ukraine if US agrees to do same
Germany will send German-made tanks to Ukraine so long as the United States agrees to do likewise, a government source in Berlin told Reuters, as Nato partners remained out of step over how best to arm Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Ukraine has pleaded for modern Western weapons, especially heavy battle tanks, so it can regain momentum following some battlefield successes in the second half of 2022 against Russian forces that invaded last February.
Berlin has veto power over any decision to export its Leopard tanks, fielded by NATO-allied armies across Europe and seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Several times in recent days, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed, behind closed doors, the condition that U.S. tanks should also be sent to Ukraine, the German government source said on condition of anonymity.
When asked about Germany’s stance, U.S. President Joe Biden’s spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The president believes that each country should make their own sovereign decisions on what steps of security assistance and what kinds of equipment they are able to provide Ukraine.”
British, Polish and Baltic defence ministers to meet
The British and Polish defence ministers will meet with their counterparts from the Baltic states in Estonia, in a Ramstein today pre-meeting – ahead of a wider defence summit on Friday – designed to put further pressure on Germany to move forward with sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
But there are signs that London’s manoeuvres are irritating Berlin. A German government source told Reuters that the UK appeared to be ignoring Berlin’s recent decision to provide a Patriot missile defence system and 40 Marder fighting vehicles.
Accusing the UK of acting in response to “internal political pressure”, government sources added that leaning on allies was “not helpful”. They added: “The delivery of tanks to Ukraine is not taboo. But such questions will continue to be clarified in transatlantic lockstep”:
Wednesday’s crash outside Kyiv came as the head of NATO said at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos that allies were set to provide “heavier weapons” to the war-battered country.
Ukraine did not claim direct Russian involvement in the helicopter crash, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the tragedy was a consequence of the war.
“There are no accidents at war. These are all war results,” Zelensky said in English, appearing by video link at Davos.
Kyiv investigating fatal helicopter crash
The helicopter carrying Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky crashed next to a kindergarten and a residential building in Brovary, a commuter town for the capital Kyiv that was the scene of fierce fighting with Russian forces last year, AFP reports.
Fourteen people were killed, including Monastyrsky, other ministry officials and a child, Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation. Another 25 people were wounded, including 11 children. He added that an investigation had been opened “to clarify all the circumstances of the disaster”.
“Minister Denys Monastyrsky, (his deputy) Yevhen Yenin and their colleagues who died in the crash are not people who can be easily replaced,” Zelensky said. “It is a truly huge loss for the state. My condolences to the families.”
Dmytro Serbyn, who was in his apartment when the helicopter crashed, rushed to help children as soon as he saw flames billowing over the kindergarten.
“They were looking for their parents, children were crying … their faces were cut and covered in blood,” Serbyn told AFP.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next few hours.
Our top story this morning: Ukrainian authorities on Thursday were investigating the circumstances surrounding a helicopter crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 others.
And coming up today, the British and Polish defence ministers will meet with their counterparts from the Baltic states in Estonia, in a Ramstein pre-meeting designed to put further pressure on Germany to move forward with the Leopard 2s.
Here are the other key recent developments:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has stepped up calls for Ukraine’s army to be supplied with heavy tanks and urged “resolve and speed” of decision-making from western allies. Addressing a packed gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos via video link on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president warned that “tyranny is outpacing democracy”.
Nato countries are set to announce new “heavier weapons” for Ukraine, the alliance’s chief has said. Many of Ukraine’s allies will meet on Friday at the Ramstein military base in Germany, including all 30 Nato members. ting vehicles, while France offered its highly mobile AMX-10 RCs.
The European Union’s head also spoke in favour of the west providing tanks to Ukraine. “We, the EU, will continue to support them for as long as it takes,” Charles Michel, the European Council president, said on Wednesday. “The time is now – they urgently need more equipment and I am personally in favour of supplying tanks to Ukraine.”
Germany’s chancellor avoided committing to the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Olaf Scholz did not mention the Leopard tanks when a Ukrainian delegate asked him “why the hesitancy” in signing off their re-export at the Davos summit.
Canada announced it would donate 200 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine. The move came during a visit to Kyiv by Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand. Zelenskiy thanked the Canadian people and its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, “on this difficult day”.
Bulgaria helped Ukraine survive Russia’s early onslaught by secretly supplying it with large amounts of desperately needed diesel and ammunition, the politicians responsible have said.
Poland’s president has warned that Russia could be planning a new offensive in the coming months, calling on countries to provide Ukraine with “weapons, weapons, weapons”.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has written a letter inviting the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, for talks, which was handed to the Chinese delegation in Davos, said the Ukrainian leader’s wife, Olena Zelenska.
Ukraine reported intense fighting overnight in the east of the country, where both sides have taken huge losses for little gain in intense trench warfare over the past two months.
Vladimir Putin has said he has “no doubt” that Russia’s victory in Ukraine is “inevitable”. He announced that Russia’s military-industrial complex was ramping up production during a visit to a factory in St Petersburg.
Four people have been detained by Moscow police at a makeshift memorial dedicated to victims of Saturday’s deadly missile strike on a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to a report.
