Because the struggle enters its 698th day, these are the primary developments.
Right here is the state of affairs on Monday, January 22, 2024.
Combating
- Twenty-seven folks have been killed and 25 injured after shelling hit a market on the outskirts of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian metropolis of Donetsk, in accordance with Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk area. Pushilin blamed Ukraine for the assault on the suburb of Tekstilshchik and mentioned Monday could be a day of mourning. Ukraine’s forces within the Tavria, or southern zone, mentioned in a Fb submit that its troopers weren’t accountable. “Donetsk is Ukraine!” it mentioned. “Russia should reply for taking lives of Ukrainians.” Donetsk is certainly one of 4 areas in Ukraine that Russia annexed illegally in 2022.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn’t deal with the assault in his Sunday evening video however mentioned that in a single day, Russia had shelled greater than 100 cities, cities and villages in 9 areas of Ukraine and that the assaults in Donetsk had been “notably extreme”. Not less than two folks have been killed in Ukrainian-controlled villages west of Donetsk, in accordance with Ukrainian officers.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned its forces took management of the village of Krokhmalne in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv area. Volodymyr Fityo, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Floor Forces Command, advised reporters that Kyiv had withdrawn its troopers and that Russia taking the village of “5 homes” was of “no strategic significance”. Fito mentioned Ukrainian forces have been nonetheless holding the entrance line.
- A fireplace broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga Port following two explosions, regional officers mentioned. Native media mentioned the Baltic Sea port, 165km (about 100 miles) southwest of St Petersburg, had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, inflicting a fuel tank to blow up. No casualties have been reported.
Politics and diplomacy
- Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s prime diplomat, mentioned her nation was “able to greet” Russian President Vladimir Putin, in accordance with state media. Choe was in Moscow final week the place she met the Russian president. Putin expressed “his willingness to go to the DPRK at an early date”, the assertion mentioned, utilizing the acronym for the Democratic Individuals’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official title. Putin final travelled to Pyongyang in 2000.
- Ukrainian tennis participant Marta Kostyuk mentioned it was vital for the nation’s gamers to maintain profitable on the Australian Open to remind folks of the persevering with battle. The 21-year-old thrashed Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva 6-2, 6-1 and refused to shake her hand afterwards. Kostyuk will meet US Open champion Coco Gauff within the quarter-final.
- Sunday marked 100 years because the loss of life of Lenin, the founding father of the Soviet Union whose physique stays on show at his mausoleum on Moscow’s Crimson Sq.. Shortly earlier than launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin publicly chided Lenin for his supposed function in dividing the Russian Empire into nation-states like Ukraine.
