Ukraine Russia war latest: Moscow warns West ‘directly involved’ in conflict after tank deal

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of “direct participation” in the conflict over the supply of tanks to Ukraine.

“European capitals and Washington are constantly making statements that sending various types of weapons, including tanks, in no way means their participation in hostilities,” Peskov told Sky News.

“We strongly disagree with this. In Moscow, this is perceived as direct participation in the conflict, and we see that this is growing.”

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that yesterday Russia attacked power plants. The attack came shortly after the Western Allies sent 150 tanks to Kyiv.

“Today I held an emergency meeting on the energy situation – about the emerging disruptions and repairs after terrorist strikes,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, referring to the electricity shortage as a result of the attacks. “Repair crews are working at the sites where the hits occurred.”

DTEK, the largest private electricity producer in Ukraine, yesterday carried out preventive emergency power outages in Kyiv, the region, Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

The Kremlin has said it sees the promised delivery of Western tanks as evidence of the growing “direct involvement” of the United States and Europe in the 11-month war, which both deny.

Ukraine has said it needs hundreds of soldiers to break Russian defensive lines and retake occupied territories in the south and east. Both Moscow and Kyiv, which have so far relied on Soviet T-72 tanks, are expected to launch new ground offensives in the spring.

Japan tightened sanctions against Russia today after the latest wave of missile strikes on Ukraine, adding goods to a list of banned exports and freezing the assets of Russian officials and organizations.

The decision comes after Russia launched missile strikes on Ukraine yesterday, killing at least 11 people, following a pledge by Germany and the US to supply tanks that could help Ukraine counter any new Russian offensive.

Among the new sanctions, Japan will ban from Feb. 3 the supply of goods to 49 organizations in Russia that can be used to strengthen its military capabilities.

The ministry said the products will range from water cannons, gas exploration equipment and semiconductor equipment to vaccines, X-ray inspection equipment, explosives and robots.

Russian troops practiced tank, mortar and artillery fire on more than 60 towns and villages in an arc of territory stretching from the Chernihiv and Sumy regions in the north to the Kharkiv region in the northeast and in the centers of Russian offensive attempts in the Donetsk region to the east – Bakhmut and Avdiivka .

The Ukrainian military said it shot down 47 of 59 Russian missiles, some of which were fired from Tu-95 strategic bombers in the Russian Arctic. Russia also carried out 37 airstrikes, 17 of them using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. All drones were shot down, the military general staff said.

As a result of rocket and unmanned strikes in 11 districts, 11 people were killed and 11 were injured, a spokesman for the State Emergency Service said.

Russia reacted with fury to news on Wednesday that Germany and the United States would send dozens of modern tanks to Ukraine. More tanks will arrive from Canada, Poland, Britain, Finland and Norway, while several other allies, including France, Spain and the Netherlands, also considered sending tanks.

Russia has fired missiles and drones at Ukraine, killing at least 11 people, officials say, after Western allies handed over tanks to Kyiv to fight Moscow’s incursion.

Yesterday, an air raid alert sounded throughout Ukraine as people were heading to work. In the capital Kyiv, crowds temporarily took refuge in underground metro stations.

“Not a single room was left untouched, everything was hit,” said Galina Panosyan, 67, as she examined twisted sheets of corrugated metal, crumpled masonry and a large shell crater near her destroyed home in Glevakha, near Kyiv.

“There was a very loud bang that made me jump up. I was in the bedroom… It saved me that the bedroom is on the other side of the house.”

The former commander of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, who fled to Norway, spoke of witnessing his comrades being shot as they tried to flee the front line in Ukraine, his Norwegian lawyer said. Reuters.

Andrei Medvedev, who fled Russia and crossed the Russian-Norwegian border on January 13, said he feared for his life after witnessing what he said was the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners of war sent to Ukraine to fight on the side of Wagner.

Medvedev has been living in a secret location in the Oslo area since he was released from custody on Wednesday following “disagreements” with police over measures taken to keep him safe.

His lawyer, Brynjulf ​​Risnes, told Reuters that Medvedev witnessed some “incredibly terrible” situations when he fought Wagner last fall.

He witnessed “the execution of his comrades while he was watching because they were trying to escape,” Risnes said in an interview, quoting Medvedev.

According to his lawyer, the Russian “slowly came to terms with what is happening.”

“His life was chaotic, dangerous and very stressful for a very long time,” Risnes said, “especially, of course, in the fall when he was in Ukraine with the Wagner group.”

“But, of course, even before that, his life was not easy.

Ukrainian government officials who shirk their wartime duties will be quickly fired, a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday amid a crackdown on corruption.

More than a dozen officials were fired this week after a series of scandals and allegations of bribery. Political analysts say Zelenskiy needs to show Western partners and war-weary Ukrainians that he is serious about punishing bad governance.

“Everyone must understand the level of their responsibility to the country and people during the war. Whoever forgets about this reacts quickly,” said Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky’s office.

“This will happen to anyone who allows themselves to forget (their duties), regardless of names and positions,” Yermak wrote on Twitter.

The former head of NATO warned Vladimir Putin that an attack on a nuclear-armed member of the alliance would pose an “existential risk to the Russian homeland.”

Addressing the Kremlin leader directly in a tough Westminster speech, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen said the collective defense guarantee, known as Article 5, “goes far beyond the usual red lines.”

The Labor Party colleague, who served as NATO Secretary General from 1999 to 2004, is the only person ever to claim that the clause came into force after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

The former defense minister told parliament that Russia’s victory in Ukraine was “the biggest nuclear threat” and stressed the urgent need to stop it, including providing more military assistance.

Lord Robertson made the blunt statement during a debate about the resilience of the British military amid cutbacks and ongoing conflict caused by invading Russian troops.

Referring to the current war in Ukraine, which is approaching its first anniversary, he said: “What is becoming increasingly clear is that Vladimir Putin has declared war on the West.

“It is also clear that we are not responding adequately to this open challenge to our countries and what we stand for. There is no apparent urgency in our national conduct.”

The British ministers were told that the Russian mercenary group, which is based on “terror, torture, murder, rape and all other forms of cruelty” should be banned.

The government faced new demands from former Chief of the Defense Staff and independent bench member Lord Stirrup to ban the “pathetic” Wagner Group, which would make it a criminal offense to belong to, support or aid the organization.

The calls came as the finance ministry was at the center of controversy over reports that it helped the organization’s head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, circumvent UK sanctions in order to bring a British journalist to trial.