January 5, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Jack Guy, Ed Upright, Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal and Leinz Vales, CNN

Updated 1:58 a.m. ET, January 6, 2023
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6:42 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Biden confirms the US is considering sending Bradley armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine

From CNN's Oren Liebermann and Betsy Klein

A US Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) patrols the countryside of the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on April 20.
A US Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) patrols the countryside of the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on April 20. (Delil souleiman/AFP/Getty Images)

The United States is considering sending Bradley armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine, President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

Asked if Bradley vehicles were “on the table” for Ukraine, Biden told a group of reporters: “yes.”

The Bradley is an armored vehicle designed to transport troops on the battlefield. It is armed with several different weapons to protect the crew and to attack hostile targets. 

The US could announce the transfer of Bradley vehicles in the next Ukraine security package, one defense official said. 

It would be the first new piece of military equipment that the US has agreed to send to Ukraine following President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington late last month. 

During that visit the US announced it would send Patriot aerial defense missiles to Ukraine, one of the most significant and advanced systems Washington has yet provided to Kyiv.

But Zelensky made it clear he would still need more as the war in Ukraine nears its one-year mark.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday the US is planning to announce a new aid package in the coming days or weeks.

The US has provided other armored vehicles to Ukraine in the past, including Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and armored utility vehicles. The US also paid for the refurbishment of Soviet-era T-72 tanks.

At this time, the US is not ready to send M-1 Abrams tanks, despite repeated Ukrainian requests, two defense officials said.

5:59 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Turkey’s Erdogan called for Ukraine ceasefire in phone call with Putin

From CNN's Ipek Yezdani

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the announcement of 2022 foreign trade figures in Istanbul, Turkey, on January 2.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the announcement of 2022 foreign trade figures in Istanbul, Turkey, on January 2. (Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that calls for peace and negotiations should be supported by a unilateral declaration of ceasefire and a vision of “a fair solution,” according to a government statement. 

In a phone call with Putin on Thursday, Erdogan highlighted that previous negotiations have yielded positive results, such as the establishment of the Black Sea grain corridor, prisoner exchanges and initiatives to create a safe zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.  

Turkey has called for an end to the conflict on multiple occasions and throughout 2022 Erdogan attempted to position himself as the broker between Putin and the West.

On December 22, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to thank Turkey for its “efforts to ensure the continuation of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative,” according to a statement from US State Department spokesman Ned Price.

5:25 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

The Ukrainian economy shrank by 30% in 2022

From CNN's Olga Voitovych

Ukraine's economy shrunk by almost a third last year, after Russian forces invaded in February, according to a statement from the country's economy ministry.

The ministry recorded a 30.4% decrease in gross domestic product (GDP), the worst result since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, it said.

However the figure is "better than most experts expected at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when estimates ranged from 40-50% of decline in GDP and deeper," adds the statement.

Yulia Svyrydenko, minister of Economic Development and Trade, said that “the successes of the Ukrainian defense forces on the battlefield, the coordinated work of the government and business, the indomitable spirit of the population, the speed of restoration of destroyed/damaged critical infrastructure by domestic services, as well as systematic financial support from international partners allowed us to hold the economic front and continue to move towards victory."

Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure has been an important factor in the hit to the Ukrainian economy, said the ministry, as a sustained campaign of strikes have “put pressure on business sentiment and activity."

8:09 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Patriarch of Moscow calls for "Christmas truce"

From CNN’s Anna Chernova and Seb Shukla

Russian Patriarch Kirill celebrates a Christmas service at the Christ the Savior cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on January 6, 2022.
Russian Patriarch Kirill celebrates a Christmas service at the Christ the Savior cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on January 6, 2022. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, has called for a temporary 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark the Orthodox Christmas.

“I, Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ [Russia], appeal to all parties involved in the internecine conflict with an appeal to cease fire and establish a Christmas truce from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7, so that Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day Christ,” reads a statement from the Moscow Patriarchy press service.

Kirill has been a vocal supporter of the war in Ukraine, and gave a sermon in which he said that “military duty washes away all sins."

The leader of the Russian Orthodox church has also been locked in a feud with Pope Francis, who has described the invasion of Ukraine as Russian “expansionism and imperialism.”

And in May, the Pope urged Patriarch Kirill not to “become Putin’s altar boy." 

Some context: In November, a branch of Ukraine’s Orthodox church announced that it would allow its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25, rather than January 7, as is traditional in Orthodox congregations.

The announcement by the Kyiv-headquartered Orthodox Church of Ukraine widened the rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox believers that has deepened due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In recent years a large part of the Orthodox community in Ukraine has moved away from Moscow, a movement accelerated by the conflict Russia stoked in eastern Ukraine beginning in 2014.

This post has been updated to correct the length of the proposed ceasefire. The suggestion is that it would run for 36 hours, from noon on January 6 until midnight on January 7.

4:17 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Putin deploys Russian warship with Zircon hypersonic missile through Atlantic, TASS says

From CNN's Brad Lendon and Anna Chernova

The Russian frigate 'Admiral Gorshkov', armed with Zircon hypersonic weapons, leaves the naval base in Severomorsk, Russia, in this still image taken from video released on January 4, 2023.
The Russian frigate 'Admiral Gorshkov', armed with Zircon hypersonic weapons, leaves the naval base in Severomorsk, Russia, in this still image taken from video released on January 4, 2023. (Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dispatched one of his country’s most modern warships armed with advanced hypersonic missiles on a long voyage through the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and into the Indian Ocean, Russian state media reported Wednesday.

The frigate Admiral Gorshkov set off from an unnamed northern Russian port on Wednesday after Putin spoke with the ship’s commander and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu via video link, according to a report from the TASS news agency.

Putin boasted that the ship was carrying Zircon hypersonic missiles, long-range weapons that travel more than five times the speed of sound and are harder to detect and intercept.

“It has no analogues in any country in the world,” Putin said, according to TASS. “I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country,” he added.

Russia tested the Zircon system in late 2021, firing from the Admiral Gorshkov in the White Sea and hitting a naval target more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, according to reports at the time.

The current mission would be its first deployment in a potential combat situation.

“The main efforts during the campaign will be focused on countering Russia’s threats, maintaining regional peace, and stability together with friendly countries,” Shoigu said in the TASS report.

Would it be used in Russia's war in Ukraine? Russia’s war against neighboring Ukraine is now in its 10th month, but that conflict was not mentioned specifically in the TASS report.

And whether the Zircon missile could be brought to bear in that war is uncertain.

Read more here.

3:26 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

CNN Exclusive: Iranian attack drone found to contain parts from more than a dozen US companies

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand

Parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), that Ukrainian authorities consider to be an Iranian made suicide drone Shahed-136, are seen found after Russian strike on fuel storage facilities in Kharkiv, Ukraine, October 6.
Parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), that Ukrainian authorities consider to be an Iranian made suicide drone Shahed-136, are seen found after Russian strike on fuel storage facilities in Kharkiv, Ukraine, October 6. (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)

Parts made by more than a dozen US and Western companies were found inside a single Iranian drone downed in Ukraine last fall, according to a Ukrainian intelligence assessment obtained exclusively by CNN.

The assessment, which was shared with US government officials late last year, illustrates the extent of the problem facing the Biden administration, which has vowed to shut down Iran’s production of drones that Russia is launching by the hundreds into Ukraine.

CNN reported last month that the White House has created an administration-wide task force to investigate how US and Western-made technology – ranging from smaller equipment like semiconductors and GPS modules to larger parts like engines – has ended up in Iranian drones.

Of the 52 components Ukrainians removed from the Iranian Shahed-136 drone, 40 appear to have been manufactured by 13 different American companies, according to the assessment.

The remaining 12 components were manufactured by companies in Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, and China, according to the assessment.

Read more here.

1:48 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Russia focusing offensive action in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian military officials say

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Russia is focusing its offensive action in the directions of Lyman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its situational update Wednesday.

“It is trying to improve the tactical situation at the Kupyansk direction,” the General Staff added.

"In the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, 15 settlements were shelled with tanks and the entire range of artillery," the General Staff said.

Kupyansk, in Kharkiv region, and Lyman, in Donetsk region, were liberated by Ukrainian forces at the end of September.

"In the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions, areas of more than 30 settlements were shelled," it added.

Ukraine's State Border Guard Service said it had repelled assaults and captured Russian positions in the Bakhmut direction, in an update on Wednesday. 

"During the battle, 9 occupiers were killed, about 20 more were wounded. Currently, the Defense Forces have advanced 300 meters and are consolidating their positions," the State Border Guard Service said.

Other impacted areas: Meanwhile, in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, more than 40 settlements were fired on in the past day, the General Staff said.

"They do not stop terrorizing the civilian population of cities and towns along the west bank of the Dnipro river," it added.

CNN is unable to verify these battlefield claims.

3:17 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

More than 60% of the city of Bakhmut destroyed, Ukrainian official says

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Emergency service workers extinguish a fire after shelling on the Bakhmut frontline in Ivanivske, Ukraine on January 2.
Emergency service workers extinguish a fire after shelling on the Bakhmut frontline in Ivanivske, Ukraine on January 2. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

More than 60% of Bakhmut is now destroyed as Russian forces attempt an advance on the city in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian official said Wednesday. 

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region military administration, said two civilians died in the city on Wednesday due to shelling.

"Whatever attempts to enter the city the enemy makes, it fails to advance. Whatever advances they had, they have been pushed back to their previous positions, outside the city limits," Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television. "In fact, they are now in the flat devastated area, which also contributes to their huge personnel losses."

Some background: Bakhmut is regularly referred to as the most contested and kinetic part of the 1,300km (800 mile) front line in Ukraine. The Russian advance has left the city in ruins, a smoking shell of its former self. This fate has burnished Bakhmut’s power as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance – in the face of devastating Russian attacks, it is still holding on.

In his historic address to Congress last month, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky dedicated six minutes of his 25-minute speech to the situation around Bakhmut.

“Last year, 70,000 people lived here in Bakhmut in this city,” he said. “Now only a few civilians stay. Every inch of that land is soaked in blood, roaring guns sound every hour… the fight for Bakhmut will change the tragic story of our war for independence and of freedom.”

Members of congress stood and applauded four times, as Zelensky recounted the city’s fate.

3:20 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Ukrainian military dismisses Moscow’s cell phone blame over Makiivka strike

From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Sarah Dean

Workers remove debris of a destroyed building purported to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers in Makiivka in Russian-controlled Ukraine, on January 4.
Workers remove debris of a destroyed building purported to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers in Makiivka in Russian-controlled Ukraine, on January 4. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

The Ukrainian military said Wednesday the use of cell phones by Russian troops was not the main reason their position was located in Makiivka, leading to a devastating strike in the eastern Donetsk region.

“Of course, using phones with geolocation is a mistake. But it is clear that this version looks a bit ridiculous,” according to the spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhii Cherevatyi.

The Russian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday appeared to blame the soldiers themselves for the Ukrainian strike, saying that “the main cause” of the incident was the widespread use of cell phones by Russian soldiers “contrary to the ban,” allowing Ukraine to “track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers' locations.” Russia also revised its estimate of soldiers killed, from 63 to 89.

Cherevatyi said “to deploy such large batches of newly mobilized — which means not very trained, not very coordinated — people in large rooms unsuitable for sheltering in case of danger, is a very weak excuse.” 

“Of course, this is a mistake [of the Russians], and I think that now they are engaged in [searching for] who is to blame. They are putting the blame on each other,” he continued.

“It is clear that this [use of phones] was not the main reason. The main reason was that they were unable to covertly deploy these personnel. And we took advantage of that, having detected the target powerfully and destroyed it,” Cherevatyi added.

Four rockets from US-made HIMARS launchers were used in the strike in Makiivka, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Ukrainian military has claimed up to around 400 Russian soldiers died in the strike, but later added the number was "being clarified."

CNN cannot independently verify either figure.