January 9, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Germany does not currently have plans to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, but it is preparing to send up to 40 infantry fighting Marder tanks, its defense ministry spokesman said Monday.

The German army, the Bundeswehr, is ready to start training Ukrainian soldiers, Arne Collatz told journalists.

All decisions were made with the view that NATO would not become party to the war in Ukraine, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit added.

On Sunday evening, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck told public broadcaster ARD the German government was not ruling out a possible future delivery of the Leopard 2 tanks, but said as a first step the Marders would be delivered.

US support reaches $3 billion: Last week, US President Joe Biden affirmed that the United States would supply Ukraine with Bradley fighting vehicles as part of a new security assistance package to the country as it nears the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The nearly $3 billion package is among the largest packages of military equipment sent from the Pentagon to Ukraine since the war began. It comes as Ukraine prepares for intensive fighting in the spring as the weather warms.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dismissed rumors of a possible second wave of mobilization in Russia.

"The primary source is the authorities headed by the President of the Russian Federation," Peskov said on a conference call with reporters.

"One shouldn’t pay so much attention to Telegram channels," he told journalists on Monday.

Moscow announced the end of conscription within the so-called "partial mobilization" late in October when, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the draft’s target of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been met.

The Kremlin said it has "absolute trust" in the information from the Russian Defense Ministry on carrying out a "retaliation" strike against Ukraine’s Armed Forces in Kramatorsk.

The defense ministry's daily briefings are "the main and only legitimate source of information about what is happening in the course of the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call with journalists Monday.

"Special military operation" is the term used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to refer to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Some background: Ukrainian officials on Sunday dismissed Moscow’s claim that a large number of Kyiv’s soldiers were killed in a Russian attack last week in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense earlier claimed that 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed as a result of an operation of "retaliation" for the attack on a hostel in Makiivka.

A CNN team on the ground has not seen indications of massive casualties in the area.

Ukraine’s Kharkiv region was targeted with a missile strike and shelling on Monday, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration said on Telegram.

"The enemy shelled the settlements of the Chuhuiv and Kupyansk districts with artillery, tanks and mortars," Oleg Sinegubov said about the region in Ukraine’s east.

"In Kupyansk, as a result of enemy strikes, utility buildings were damaged, a fire broke out. In the village of Vovchansky Khutory, Chuhuiv district, a private residential building was destroyed due to shelling," he added.

Sinegubov said that a missile strike from the S-300 air defense system hit a local market in the village of Shevchenkove, Kupyansk district.

"According to the Regional Center for Emergency Medical Care, 7 civilians were injured as a result of a missile strike on the village of Shevchenkove. Among them is a 13-year-old girl," he said.

Sinegubov added that a 60-year-old woman had also died due to the missile strike and all other victims were hospitalized.

Pope Francis has likened the war in Ukraine to a "crime against God and against humanity," calling once again for an end to the conflict. 

Speaking during an address to the diplomatic corps in the Vatican on Monday, the Pope said that conflicts such as the war in Ukraine with its "wake of death and destruction" and "attacks on civil infrastructures" are akin to crimes "against God and humanity."

He also highlighted the impact of the war in Ukraine on the "most fragile – children, the elderly, the disabled," saying it "leaves an indelible mark on families."

A senior Ukrainian military commander has visited troops defending the embattled area of Bakhmut and Soledar, in eastern Ukraine.

Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi visited troops to work on organizing defense, the Ukrainian Military Media Center said.

"The enemy again made a desperate attempt to assault the city of Soledar from different directions and sent the most professional Wagner units into battle," Syrskyi said.

This comes as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called the area around the eastern Ukrainian cities "one of the bloodiest places on the front line."

However, the Ukrainian president said Sunday that the two cities were "holding out" and "the situation on the front line has not changed significantly in the first week of the year."

Some background: Bakhmut has become perhaps the most contested and kinetic part of the 1,300- kilometer (800 mile) front line in Ukraine and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. 

The greater Donetsk region, where Bakhmut and Soledar are located, has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.

Shelling has continued overnight in different parts of the front line in southeastern Ukraine, the head of the Donetsk region military administration said on Telegram.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian units continued "shelling at different parts of the front line overnight" in the southeast Ukrainian region.

One person was wounded in one of several shelling incidents, which took place near Vuhledar, Soledar, Chasiv Yar and the direction of Lysychansk, Kyrylenko added.

The greater Donetsk region has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.

The area around the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Soledar is "one of the bloodiest places on the front line," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Sunday.

Bakhmut has become perhaps the most contested and kinetic part of the 1,300- kilometer (800 mile) front line in Ukraine and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. 

The greater Donetsk region, where Bakhmut and Soledar are located, has been held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.

However, the Ukrainian President said Sunday that the two cities were "holding out" and "the situation on the front line has not changed significantly in the first week of the year."

"Bakhmut is holding out against all odds. Although most of the city is destroyed by Russian strikes, our warriors repel constant attempts at Russian offensive there," he said.

"Soledar is holding out. Although there is even more destruction there and it is extremely hard."

Ukrainian officials on Sunday dismissed Moscow’s claim that a large number of Kyiv’s soldiers were killed in a Russian attack last week in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.

A CNN team on the ground has seen no indication of any massive casualties in the area. There is no unusual activity in and around Kramatorsk, including in the vicinity of the city morgue, the team reported.

A Reuters reporter in Kramtorsk also reported no signs of a significant Russian strike on two college dormitories that Russia claimed had been housing hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers. “There were no obvious signs that soldiers had been living there and no sign of bodies or traces of blood,” the Reuters report said.

Kramatorsk’s mayor said there had been no casualties, according to Reuters.

Some background: Earlier, Russia claimed that more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a Russian strike in Kramatorsk carried out in “retaliation” over the Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied Makiivka last week, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

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