Russian invasion of Ukraine: Day 693

Summary for Wednesday, 17th January 2024 - DAY 693

• At least 17 people were injured in a Russian strike, probably using two S-300 missiles, on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday evening, said the regional governor, Oleg Synegubov. Residential buildings were destroyed and there were no military targets in the area, said the Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekhov.
  
  
• Earlier, authorities in the Kharkiv region in Ukraine’s north-east region urged residents of more than two dozen villages near the frontline to evacuate because of worsening Russian attacks.
  
  
• Emmanuel Macron said he would go to Ukraine in February to finalise a bilateral security guarantee under which France would deliver more sophisticated weapons, including long-range cruise missiles. The French president said about 40 Scalp long-range missiles and hundreds of bombs would be delivered in the coming weeks. “We cannot let Russia win and we must not do that.”
  
  
• North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, has held talks in the Kremlin with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The US and allies have condemned North Korean missile deliveries to Russia for use against Ukraine, in breach of international law.
  
  
• Ukraine’s border authorities said Polish truck drivers who had been blocking three crossings on the Polish-Ukrainian border had lifted all blockades, allowing traffic to pass freely. Poland’s infrastructure minister said that truckers would suspend their protest until 1 March after signing an agreement with the government.
  
  
• The French company TotalEnergies said that it had invoked force majeure over investment in Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project, which is under anti-war sanctions. Putin’s war against Ukraine has forced global energy companies to write off billions of dollars and leave Russia. Force majeure allows companies to abandon contractual obligations when there are factors beyond their control.
  
  
• Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law creating an electronic registry for the purposes of mobilisation, according to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an MP.
  
  
• Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Europe needed to continue backing Kyiv. “We must continue to empower their resistance. Ukrainians need predictable financing throughout 2024 and beyond.”
  
  
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the west should show unity and called for more support for Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not prevail. In a speech in Davos, Zelenskiy said that the west’s fears about escalation had lost Kyiv time in its struggle against Russia.
  
  
• Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said it was “impossible” to take away from Russia the military gains it had made in Ukraine.
  
  
• Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said that “if we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t harm the EU’s budget”. At least 120 MEPs have signed a petition for Hungary’s voting rights to be suspended because of Orbán’s obstruction of EU processes including the approval of aid to Ukraine. Orbán is close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
  

Russia will open polling stations in US for presidential vote, says ambassador

Special Operations Forces post footage of them taking out Russian assault group near Avdiivka

Russian troops are continuing to try to encircle Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian Special Operations Forces have posted footage of SOF operatives taking out a Russian assault group.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the armored vehicles of the invaders in the area of ​the village of Dibrova

The Ukrainian military fought off an armored Russian assault near the village of Dibrova in the Luhansk region.

On January 15, the Russian command deployed tanks, armored personnel carriers, and a significant amount of infantry into battle.
The 63rd Mechanized Brigade noted that the invaders were trying to advance in this area.

The battle also involved soldiers of the 100th Territorial Defense Brigade, who reported that the enemy eventually retreated, suffering heavy losses.
Russian assault attempt near the village of Dibrova in the camera of a Ukrainian drone. January 2024, Ukraine. A frame from a DeepState video

“Indeed, 27 invaders received tickets for Kobzon’s concert (died – ed.). Another 63 orcs (Russians – ed.) were wounded. Three tanks, BMP-2, MT-LB were also destroyed, and a 120-mm mortar and three dugouts were damaged,” the soldiers said.
At the same time, two Russian Т-72B3 tanks were neutralized in the village of Dibrova.



Russian armored vehicles were finally destroyed with the help of FPV drones, which dropped into the tanks’ ammunition and important systems.
“You can watch endlessly as the Russian tank destroyed by the soldiers of the VORON 100 drone strike unit of the Volyn Territorial Defense Brigade burns merrily,” the brigade said.
The village of Dibrova is located near the Serebrianka forestry in the Luhansk region. The village is currently under Russian occupation.

Two Russian T-72B3 tanks destroyed in the village of Dibrova in the Luhansk region. January 2024, Ukraine. Frames from the 100th Territorial Defense Brigade video

On January 16, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian soldiers fought off 19 attacks in the areas of Serebrianka forestry and Bilohorivka, Luhansk region, and Hryhorivka, Verkhniokamianske, and Vesele, Donetsk region.
Over the past few months, Russian troops have made little progress southeast of Dibrova. Having captured the forestry, the invaders will be able to approach Bilohorivka, Luhansk region, a village that is actually the last point on the way to the Russian troops’ access to the border of the region.

The village of Dibrova on the unofficial map of hostilities as of mid-January 2024

Previously, the invasion forces of Russia had intensified their activities in the Avdiivka direction and deployed the armored vehicle convoy to assault.

Ukraine downed 19 Russian drones overnight, says its air force

Belarus will put forward a new military doctrine that provides for the use of nuclear weapons

Britain’s foreign secretary, David Cameron is to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The world has changed significantly since I first entered government, and we live in very unstable, uncertain and dangerous times. The global impact of conflicts, diseases and climate change is sadly growing. But as the challenges increase, so too must our efforts.
In my discussion with foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, I will make clear the UK will continue to be a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, so it not only wins the war, but emerges from it as a strong, sovereign, and free country.
Ukraine is standing up for the rules that keep us all safe. This is why the UK has provided almost £12bn in support to Ukraine. We will stand with them for as long as it takes to achieve victory.”

Russia is developing its relations with North Korea in 'sensitive' areas, says Kremlin

Russian ex-cons stormed by troops after holding drunk commanders hostage

In 2022 Putin revived the Stalin-era practice of throwing convicted murderers onto the battlefield to support his war in Ukraine. These prisoners included at least two convicted cannibals.
The Kremlin has recruited tens of thousands of prisoners since the war began to create its "Storm-Z" squads, which are deployed to carry out highly attritional, infantry-led frontal assaults on the most dangerous parts of the battlefield.
Newsweek learned in December that the total number of convicts who have been offered presidential pardons in exchange for six months of fighting in Ukraine exceeds 100,000.
The former convicts in the video said that at night, three drunk commanders came and began beating them up. In response, the servicemen tied up the commanders and beat them.
"They started beating our boys," one former convict says in the video, adding that fellow Russian troops were attempting to storm the area.
"They fired in bursts from a combat machine gun. They want to get through to us," he said.

https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1747100716718792735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1747100716718792735%7Ctwgr%5E52a9da1e04488f62a0909201c1c9e1734ea79c17%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Frussian-convicts-soldiers-ukraine-war-hostage-1861339

Automatic rifles can be heard in the background of the video.
"After they sent this video to their friends and relatives, contact with them disappeared; what happened to them next is unknown," the Telegram channel added.
Newsweek couldn't independently verify when or where the footage was filmed, and has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment by email.
There have been multiple reports of infighting within Russian units in Ukraine.
In November, Russian soldiers were allegedly stripped naked and held in a pit for refusing to fight without sufficient equipment. WarTranslated, an independent media project that translates materials about the Russia-Ukraine war into English, shared a video of the ordeal to X, formerly Twitter.
Weeks later, the Movement of Conscientious Objectors (DSO) group, a human rights activists group, said a Russian military officer had soldiers under his command tied to a tree overnight as punishment for refusing to fight on the front lines.

Thousands of people protesting in Russia’s Bashkiria

Some of the images of Ukraine coming through the newswires on Wednesday:

One person killed and five injured in Russian attacks on Kherson, say authorities

Smoke rises over Sevastopol Bay as explosions ring out in occupied Crimea's Yevpatoriia district

Explosions were heard in the Yevpatoriia district of occupied Crimea on the afternoon of 17 January.

Explosion rocks Dnipro, missile destroyed

An explosion occurred in the city of Dnipro during an air-raid warning on the evening of 17 January.

Moscow's ultras leader dies after brawl with Kadyrov fighters in occupied Mariupol

Closing Summary

• Protesters in Baymak, a small town in Russia’s central Bashkortostan region, clashed with riot police on Wednesday after a court sentenced eco-activist and campaigner for the protection of the Bashkir language, Fail Alsynov, to four years in prison for “inciting hatred”. Police used teargas to disperse the protests, according to OVD-Info, which monitors protests across Russia. The head of the local interior ministry, Rafail Divayev, urged demonstrators to back down on and said: “I advise you to come to your senses and not ruin your life.”
  
  
• Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba said his country’s priority for 2024 was to gain control over its skies. “In 2024, of course the priority is to throw Russia from the skies,” Kuleba said in an address to the World Economic Forum.
  
  
• A new military doctrine that for the first time provides for the use of nuclear weapons will be put forward by Belarus, its defence minister, Viktor Khrenin, said at a meeting of Belarus’ security council on Tuesday.
  
  
• A top Nato military officer said the war in Ukraine could “determine the fate of the world” and western armies and political leaders must drastically change the way they help Kyiv fend off invading Russian forces. The chair of the Nato military committee, Adm Rob Bauer also said, at a meeting of Nato’s senior officers at its headquarters in Brussels, that behind Putin’s rationale for the war is a fear of democracy.
  
  
• US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he doesn’t think a ceasefire in Ukraine is near, but he could see a future where Ukraine stands strongly on its own two feet. Blinken was in conversation with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, and commentator Thomas Friedman in Davos.
  
  
• One person has been killed and five people have been injured after Russian attacks on multiple settlements in Kherson oblast, according to regional authorities. Its governor, Oleksandr Prokudin shared a video of the damage to the area and said that Russian forces fired at the area for an hour. He added that a three people were injured in Russian attacks against Beryslav and an 81-year-old woman was injured an attack on the village of Romashkove.
  
  
• British foreign secetary, David Cameron told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, that there is a clear case for frozen Russian assets to be used to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
  
  
• Russia is developing its relations with North Korea in all areas, including “sensitive” ones, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. North Korea’s foreign minister held rare talks in the Kremlin with Putin, who has been invited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit the reclusive nuclear-armed country.
  
  
• EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “confident” of getting Hungary to drop its veto on a €50bn ($54bn) aid package for Ukraine at a crunch summit in two weeks. Hungary’s right wing prime minister, Viktor Orbán – Russia’s closest EU ally – refused in December to sign off on the assistance to Kyiv’s state spending over the next four years.
  
  
• Russia will open polling stations for its March presidential election at three diplomatic missions in the US, its envoy in Washington said on Wednesday. Moscow said it had not yet decided if voting would take place in what it calls “unfriendly” European countries.
  
  
• Ukraine downed 19 of 20 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russia at targets in southern Ukraine overnight, said Ukraine’s air force.
  
  
• At least 17 people were injured after Russia fired two missiles at Kharkiv in north eastern Ukraine during the night, hitting apartment buildings and a medical centre, said officials on Wednesday. Three people were injured in the southern city of Odesa in a drone attack that forced the evacuation of about 130 people from an apartment building, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
  
  
• The Russian defence ministry said Wednesday that two winged Ukrainian drones and four missiles were shot down over the Belgorod region overnight and another around noon local time on Wednesday. It provided no details about damage or injuries.
  
  
• Authorities in Estonia have arrested Russian professor, Viacheslav Morozov, on espionage charges in a case that his university said shows Russia’s intent to “orchestrate anti-democratic action” in the Baltic country.
  
  
• Germany delivered military supplies to Ukraine, including ammunition for Leopard 1 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, drones and helmets. It also includes 16 Zetros tanker trucks, eight armored personnel carriers, 50 mobile satellite terminals, 25 Heidrun reconnaissance drones and 1,840 helmets.
  
  
• Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov will travel to New York next week for a meeting of the UN’s security council, confirmed foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
  
  
• Western companies supplied Russia with critical components worth $2.9bn in the first 10 months of 2023, despite sanctions on Moscow, the Ukrainian president’s office said on Wednesday.
  
  
• Belgium does not oppose the confiscation of €280bn worth of frozen Russian central bank assets, but there needs to be a clear mechanism such as using the assets as collateral for Ukraine, prime minister Alexander De Croo said
  
  
• Ukraine needs financial support as well as military support in order to prevent the government in Kyiv resorting to printing money to keep the economy afloat, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Beata Javorcik, said in an interview at Davos.