Live blog: Russia strikes French mercenaries in Ukraine's Kharkiv — Kremlin

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

1810 GMT — Russia said its forces had carried out a precision strike a day earlier on a building housing "foreign fighters" in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv.

The Defence Ministry said the fighters were mostly French mercenaries and the building was destroyed, with more than 60 people killed.

Local officials in Kharkiv said two Russian missiles struck a residential area in the centre of the city on Tuesday, injuring 17 people, two of them seriously, and badly damaging homes.

The French Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond for comment.

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1735 GMT — Swiss govt websites hit by pro-Russia hackers after Zelenskyy visit

Switzerland said that a cyber-attack claimed by a pro-Russian group temporarily disrupted access to a number of government websites, following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Davos.

The government said that "the Russian-linked hacker group 'NoName' claimed responsibility for the attack, citing Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's attendance at the WEF annual meeting" in Davos.

In a statement, the government's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) stressed that "the cyber-attack was promptly detected" and specialists "took the necessary action to restore access to the websites as quickly as possible".

"An attack of this kind had been expected, and appropriate security measures were in place."

1646 GMT — Russia cannot and must not win in Ukraine: France's Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron said in Davos that Russia cannot be allowed to win the war in Ukraine and for that Europeans must renew their efforts this year to help Kiev, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election.

1533 GMT — Ukraine's ally Poland looking into how to make more ammunition: minister

Poland's new government is looking into how it can make more ammunition and military equipment as it works on a new aid package for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in Davos.

Warsaw has been a close ally of Kiev during Russia's war in Ukraine, but relations were dealt a blow last year by a dispute over grain imports and a blockade of some border crossings by Polish truckers demanding that the European Union reinstate a permit system for Ukrainian hauliers.

Sikorski signalled his intention to put ties back on a stronger footing by visiting Ukraine last month, shortly after his appointment to the new Western-looking government, and the new government has announced a new aid package for Kiev.

1425 GMT — UK's Cameron says Ukraine aid in US interest

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron appealed for US lawmakers to approve new assistance to Ukraine, saying it would serve US interests not to "appease" Russia.

President Joe Biden's administration at the end of 2023 allocated a last batch of military aid to Ukraine as it struggles to persuade lawmakers of the rival Republican Party to approve some $61 billion in new funding.

"Fundamentally, there is a majority of Congress in support. We just need to find it," Cameron told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The former Conservative prime minister said that Ukraine’s war affects Europe but is "about American security, too".

1111 GMT — Blinken sceptical on Ukraine ceasefire with Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced doubts about reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying Russia has not shown good faith nearly two years after military operation.

His remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland come a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while proposing a global peace summit, stayed firm that any settlement required Russia to leave Ukrainian territory.

"I don't see it," Blinken said of prospects for a ceasefire.

"We are always open to it, attentive to it, because more than anyone else the Ukrainian people want this," he said.

"But there has to be a willingness on the part of Russia to engage, to negotiate in good faith, based on the basic principles that have been challenged by its aggression -- territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence.

1019 GMT — Haven’t heard any official expressing 'war fatigue': Ukraine's foreign minister

Amid a perceived waning interest on the part of the West, Ukraine’s foreign minister said he has not heard any official of "war fatigue."

"I haven't heard any official, neither in a meeting nor in a private conversation, who would say, ‘Listen, we are tired of helping you.’ So when we mention this 'war fatigue,' we should clearly kind of define this term," Dmytro Kuleba said in a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"It doesn't matter how tired or exhausted we will be. We will keep defending our country. So, it's absolutely normal for a human being or for a country to get tired, but it would be abnormal to stop defending yourself," he added.

0914 GMT — EU chief 'confident' of Hungary deal on Ukraine aid

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was "confident" of getting Hungary to drop its veto on a $54-billion aid package (50-billion-euro) for Ukraine at a crunch summit in two weeks.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban refused in December to sign off on the assistance to prop up Kiev's state spending over the next four years.

The EU's 27 leaders agreed to reconvene for a new meeting in Brussels on February 1 to try to hammer out a deal with Budapest on the aid and a broader update to the bloc's budget.

"I am confident that a solution at 27 is possible," von der Leyen, the head of the EU's executive arm, told the European Parliament.

0828 GMT — Ukraine’s 2024 priority is to gain 'control of the skies'

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said his country's priority for 2024 was to gain control over its skies, as Russia's full-scale assault on the country enters its third year.

"In 2024, of course the priority is to throw Russia from the skies. Because the one who controls the skies will define when and how the war will end," Kuleba said in an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

0826 GMT — Ukraine says downed 19 Russian drones overnight

Kiev has said that Russia launched 20 Iranian-designed attack drones at targets in southern Ukraine overnight, and that its air defence systems destroyed all but one.

"The enemy struck with 20 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk region of Russia and with two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the Belgorod region of Russia from near Kharkiv," Ukraine's air force said in a statement on social media.

0809 GMT — EU 27 states will provide further funds to Ukraine: Von der Leyen

The chief of the European Union's executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said she was "confident" all 27 member states will find a solution to provide funds to Ukraine, an issue currently in gridlock over Hungary's resistance.

Von der Leyen spoke to lawmakers in the EU parliament after EU leaders last month had agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine but failed to green-light a financial package worth $54 billion (50 billion euro) to Kiev over Hungary's veto.

0320 GMT — Russian strikes injure 17 in Ukraine's Kharkiv: governor

Governor Oleg Synegubov has said that Russian strikes hit residential buildings in the city centre, injuring at least 17.

"Two women are in a serious condition," he added in a post on Telegram.

Synegubov said that according to preliminary information, the city was hit by two S-300 missiles.

0150 GMT — Russia's intense attacks sharply increased civilian casualties: UN

Russia’s intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks have sharply increased civilian casualties in December with over 100 killed and nearly 500 injured, the United Nations said in a new report.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said there was a 26.5 percent increase in civilian casualties last month – from 468 in November to 592 in December.

With some reports still pending verification, it said, the increase was likely higher.

Danielle Bell who heads the UN’s monitoring mission said: “Civilian casualties had been steadily decreasing in 2023 but the wave of attacks in late December and early January violently interrupted that trend.”

0130 GMT — New doctrine in Belarus provides for using nuclear weapons

The defence minister of Belarus has said that the country closely allied with Russia will put forth a new military doctrine that for the first time provides for the use of nuclear weapons.

“We clearly communicate Belarus’ views on the use of tactical nuclear weapons stationed on our territory,” Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin said at a meeting of Belarus' Security Council.

“A new chapter has appeared, where we clearly define our allied obligations to our allies.”

The doctrine is to be presented for approval to the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, a representative body that operates in Belarus in parallel with the parliament.

It was not immediately clear how the new doctrine might be applied to the Russian weapons.

0105 GMT — Slovakia backs Hungary for vetoing EU aid to Ukraine

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has expressed his support for his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban for vetoing a $54.38 billion European Union financial aid package for Ukraine.

In a joint press conference with Orban, Fico criticised Brussels for trying to ''punish'' Budapest over its stance on funds for Ukraine.

''As long as I am the head of the Slovak government, I will never agree that a country should be punished for fighting for its sovereignty. I will never agree with such an attack on Hungary,'' Fico said during a visit to Budapest.

2354 GMT — Russia blasts Davos meeting on Ukraine as 'failure'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has criticised as a "failure" the results of the fourth international meeting on Ukraine in the Copenhagen format held earlier in the day in the Swiss city of Davos.

Zakharova said in a statement that although the number of countries that took part in the latest meeting increased from last time's 66 to 82, their participation cannot be called "meaningful" because they were presented at a low level and as observers.

The participants did not adopt a joint final document and the communique of the presidents contains a note that it does not reflect the views of all participants, she noted.

"Today, more and more countries of the Global South and East...openly say that without Russia, any discussion of the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis makes no sense," she emphasised.

She criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s initiative, which he called "a peace formula," saying many of its demands, including an ultimatum to Russia to pull out its forces to the 1991 borders and pay reparations, are "unrealistic."

2324 GMT — 69 Ukrainian drones shot down in one day: Russia

Russia’s Defence Ministry has said that 69 Ukrainian drones and 13 HIMARS rockets were shot down over the past day.

Ukrainian troops continued attempts to storm Russian positions and Russian forces repelled six Ukrainian attacks in the Kupyansk area.

All assault attempts were repelled, with Russian forces destroying several pieces of heavy military equipment including two German-made Leopard 2 tanks, it said.

Ukraine also shelled several Russian border regions including Bryansk and Belgorod, resulting in the destruction of a number of private houses and service facilities, according to the ministry.

2209 GMT — Russia calls Ukraine peace meetings 'pointless'

Russia has said that it was increasingly apparent to the world that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plan to resolve the nearly two-year war had no hope of succeeding and dismissed meetings devoted to it as "pointless and harmful".

A commentary on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website said the meeting had exposed differences between participants and produced no increase in support for the proposals.

"There is a growing understanding that no overall, fair and sustainable peace can be achieved by focusing on the ultimatum of the 'Zelenskyy formula,' " the commentary said.

"All such meetings ... including the Davos gathering and those to follow it, are pointless and harmful for settling the Ukrainian crisis."

2200 GMT — France's Macron announces SCALP missiles and bombs for Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans to deliver more long-range cruise missiles as well as bombs to Ukraine and warned that a Russian victory would undermine the world order.

"We cannot let Russia win, and we must not do that," he said, adding that he will travel to Ukraine next month.

He said France plans to deliver about 40 long-range missiles and "several hundred bombs that our Ukrainian friends are waiting for."

The SCALP missile is capable of striking targets far into the country's Russian-occupied east, well behind front lines that have remained relatively fixed for months.

The first consignment of the weapons was delivered by France to Ukraine in the summer, though it was never clear how many had been delivered.

2126 GMT — Biden to hold Ukraine aid talks with US lawmakers

US President Joe Biden has invited Congressional leaders for talks on continuing "critical" aid for Ukraine, the White House said, as concerns mount over Western support against Russia.

Washington's military assistance for Ukraine has dried up, with Republicans blocking Democrat Biden's request for $60 billion in aid for Ukraine unless he tightens US immigration laws.

The talks could signal a step forward in the negotiations on US funding for Ukraine, as Biden has for weeks declined to get involved in meetings with Republicans.

Biden also spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and they "coordinated on their countries’' ongoing steadfast support to Ukraine in the face of Russia's war of aggression," the White House said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow's forces had the upper hand and Ukraine risked an "irreparable" blow if it continued.

For our live updates from Tuesday, January 16, click here.