January 30, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Both Ukrainian and Russian forces are claiming hits on Vuhledar, in the Donetsk region, as intense battles for control of the strategic town in eastern Ukraine continued on Monday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Monday Ukrainian units defending the contact line near Vuhledar have "recently 'welcomed' the occupiers and turned their temporary stay on our land into a living hell" by inflicting heavy losses.

CNN has not been able to independently verify those claims.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday Russian forces had made progress in the area.

"Units of the 'Eastern' group of forces, continuing their successful offensive, took more advantageous positions and inflicted fire on units of the 1st Tank Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the settlement of Vuhledar in the Donetsk People's Republic," said the ministry.

Earlier Monday, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told Russian state media that Russian forces had established a presence in the eastern part of Vuhledar.

In his nightly address Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in the area is "very tough" as "Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas in the Donetsk region are under constant Russian attacks."

"There are constant attempts to break through our defense. The enemy does not count its people and, despite numerous casualties, maintains a high intensity of attacks," Zelensky said.

Vuhledar is a major logistics hub and its seizure would help cut off the Ukrainian army's supplies, and enable Russian and separatist forces to launch strikes on the Ukrainian military in several directions, according to DPR separatist officials.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he does not envision sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

Scholz warned against "entering into a constant competition to outbid each other when it comes to weapons systems."

It comes after leaders of the United States and Germany each announced Wednesday that they would send contingents of tanks to Ukraine.

The German chancellor said Sunday that he had made clear Berlin would not send ground troops into Ukraine, adding that debates over weapons deliveries "should not be conducted for reasons of domestic political profiling."

"It is important to me now that all those who have announced their intention to supply battle tanks to Ukraine do so," Scholz said.

Scholz said he would speak to Putin again. It's "necessary to talk," he said, but it's "clear that as long as Russia continues the war in unabated aggression, the current situation will not change."

"There should be no illusions: Putin wants to annex parts of his neighboring country by force. And that is absolutely unacceptable," Scholz added

The deficit in Ukraine's power system is "significant" and all regions will be subject to outages throughout the day due to damage caused by Russian missile attacks, Ukraine's national energy company said in a statement Monday. 

The company said the power grid has suffered 13 missile and 15 drone attacks, which have caused significant damage to high-voltage network facilities and power plants.

"All regional power distribution companies have been notified of consumption limits that act throughout the day. As a reminder, each regional power distribution company draws up schedules of planned hourly outages to ensure that the consumption of the region is within the approved limit," Ukrenergo said.

As of Monday morning, no emergency outages caused by exceeding the limits have been applied yet, but if the limits are exceeded in some regions, outages may be applied, the company said. 

Restoration of energy infrastructure damaged during the massive attack on January 26 continues, Ukrenergo said. "However, after each subsequent Russian attack on the energy infrastructure, the restoration becomes more difficult and takes longer," it said. 

The company reiterated that a number of power plants, including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, remains under Russian control.

Dialogue between Russia and NATO is difficult to talk about because there are no substantive contacts between the two, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

Commenting on the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine, Peskov said the situation is “dead-locked” and leads to NATO countries being more directly involved in the conflict.

“But it is not capable of and will not change the course of events potentially. The special military operation will continue,” he said.

The Kremlin has repeatedly referred to its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation."

The Kremlin said Monday former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim about Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening him with a missile in a phone call ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine “is a lie.”

Peskov said he's aware of what was discussed during that conversation, but stressed “there were no missile threats.”

According to Peskov, “Speaking about the security challenges for the Russian Federation, Putin noted that in the event of Ukraine joining NATO, the potential deployment of NATO or American missiles near our borders would mean that any missile would reach Moscow in a matter of minutes.”

“If this passage was understood in this way, it is a very awkward situation,” he added.

Johnson told the BBC earlier Monday that Putin threatened him with a missile that “would only take a minute.” The exchange was released as a preview to the documentary "Putin vs the West," scheduled to release later Monday, which examines Putin's interactions with world leaders.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been accused by a Ukrainian presidential advisor of being a "promoter of war, murder and destruction" following the committee's decision to consider ways for Russian athletes to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games.

Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted Monday that the IOC was offering Russia "a platform to promote genocide & encourages their further killings."

In a statement published Wednesday, the IOC emphasized the body’s "strong commitment to the unifying mission of the Olympic movement" and that "no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport."

The IOC went on to say that athletes’ participation under strict conditions, for example participating as "neutral athletes" and not representing their state, should be explored.

For context: Last week, the IOC outlined a multi-step plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris and the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan. Athletes' rights group Global Athlete and Ukrainian Athletes responded to the move with a joint statement, saying that the IOC's plan to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes only strengthens "Russia's propaganda machine."

Battles are underway in the south and east of Ukraine as authorities report more casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure on Monday.

Donetsk region

Donetsk region continues to see some of the heaviest fighting. On Monday, the Ukrainian military said that Russian forces are trying to advance toward Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

At least one person was killed in the city of Krasnohorivka, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration.

Kherson region

Russian forces have fired 42 times in the region in the last 24 hours, the regional military administration said Monday. "The enemy attacked civilian settlements of the region with artillery, MLRS, mortars, tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles," it said.

At least three people were killed by Russian shelling in the city of Kherson on Sunday and eight civilians sustained injuries of varying severity, the regional military administration said.

Kharkiv region

At least one person was killed and three wounded in the city of Kharkiv on Sunday, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration.

Preliminary investigations suggest the missile was fired from an S-300 air defense system, he said.

"The missile hit a 4-story residential building in the Kyivsky district," said Syniehubov. "The upper floors and roof of the building were destroyed, and a large-scale fire broke out."

Kupiansk, Vovchansk, Strilecha, Dvorichna and other towns came under enemy fire, added Syniehubov, with private houses, shops and other buildings damaged.

In Kupiansk, a 41-year-old man was wounded as a result of enemy shelling, he said.

Zaporizhzhia region

The situation remains relatively stable as Russian forces are concentrating on holding occupied territories in the region, the Zaporizhzhia region military administration said Monday. 

Russian shelling damaged residential houses and buildings in various parts of the region, the regional police said.

Russian forces have established a presence in the eastern part of the town of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told Russian state media on Monday. 

"Our units continue their advance toward Vuhledar. We can say now that the units have gained a foothold in Vuhledar’s east, and work is underway on its outskirts, too," Denis Pushilin told state channel Russia 24, adding that fighting continues near the town.

Pushilin said that it is too early to say when Vuhledar could be taken under Russian control.

Vuhledar has been the scene of fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces as the town is a major logistics hub and its seizure would help cut off the Ukrainian army's supplies, Pushilin said. 

Yan Gagin, an adviser to Pushilin, told Russian state news agency TASS earlier that the seizure of Vuhledar would make it possible to deliver strikes on the Ukrainian military in several directions.

Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov claims Ukraine is "dragging its feet" on negotiations to create a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Since last fall, Grossi has reiterated the urgency of creating a safety zone around the plant in southeastern Ukraine, which has been under the control of Russian forces since March last year.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russian forces of storing heavy weaponry inside the complex and using it as cover to launch attacks, knowing that Kyiv's forces can’t return fire without risking hitting one of the plant’s reactors.

According to RIA, Ryabkov accused Kyiv of giving "the impression that it is using this facility for nuclear blackmail" and claimed the IAEA has no right to interfere in its security.