Ukraine war live updates: Battle for Soledar is not over, Kyiv says; Mercenary group says it’s found body of missing Brit

Before the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbor, Ukraine and Russia accounted for almost a quarter of global grain exports, until those shipments came to a severe halt for nearly six months.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports. The agreement to create the humanitarian sea corridor for agricultural goods was negotiated by representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the U.N. and Turkey in July.

The first vessel left Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Aug. 1, carrying more than 26,000 metric tons of corn.

Since the deal was signed, more than 630 ships carrying 16.9 million metric tons of grain and other food products have left Ukrainian waters for global destinations.

— Amanda Macias

The Kremlin’s press spokesman said Britain has not requested any help from Moscow following the disappearance of two Britons near the zone of intense fighting in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

The men, Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw, were working as volunteers in the country helping people to evacuate and were last seen traveling toward Soledar, the epicenter of fierce fighting between Russia and Ukraine this week. Around 500 civilians are believed to still be in the town despite the intense battles in and around the town.

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov was asked by reporters to comment on a claim by the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that the body of one of the two missing Britons had been found. Prigozhin’s press service did not say which of the men it had found, or provide any evidence to support Prigozhin’s claim, but posted images of their passports on Telegram, claiming the documents had been found on the body.

Peskov claimed the men were “militants,” without providing evidence. The Britons’ families say the men were aid workers.

“We do not have any information on this. The only thing we know, again only from media reports, is that we are talking about British citizens who, in fact, were militants, participated in hostilities with weapons in their hands, and, it seems, their documents were found on the battlefield. But we don’t know the details.”

“This is an area where fighting continues, a special military operation, so sometimes it is difficult to get some information quickly,” Peskov said, adding that Britain had not asked Moscow for help.

Asked whether Moscow was ready to help if requested, Peskov said it would depend on “what they would ask for” but requests would be considered.

“And what could be our help here? It depends on what can be formulated by the British side. But I am not aware of any contacts. I do not know, maybe there were some contacts through the Foreign Ministry. I am not aware of this.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia is building up its forces in Ukraine but Ukrainian forces are holding out in fierce fighting for the eastern town of Soledar, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Thursday.

She told a news briefing that the number of Russian military units in Ukraine had risen to 280 from 250 a week earlier as Moscow tried to gain the “strategic initiative”.

“Fighting is fierce in the Soledar direction,” Malyar said. “They (the Russians) are moving over their own corpses.”

“Russia is driving its own people to the slaughter by the thousands, but we are holding on,” she said.

Another senior military official, Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov, told the briefing that the military situation in Ukraine remained “difficult”, with the heaviest fighting on the eastern front.

Russian forces were trying to cut through Ukrainian lines and surround Ukrainian troops, he said.

Gromov also said the danger of an attack being launched from Belarus, a Russian ally to the north of Ukraine, would remain throughout this year.

— Reuters

Russian troops struck the southern region of Kherson 90 times on Wednesday, killing one civilian and injuring five others, according to the regional governor.

“According to the data from Kherson Regional Military Administration, Russian invaders shelled the Kherson region’s territory 90 times,” Kherson Regional Military Administration head Yaroslav Yanushevych said on Telegram in an update on Wednesday’s military activity.

Artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, mortars and tanks were used in the attacks, he added.

As for Kherson city, the regional capital, Russian forces shelled the city 27 times, he said, attacking residential quarters. “Enemy shells hit the maternity hospital, private and apartment buildings,” Yanushevych said in comments translated by Google.

CNBC was unable to verify the information in the report.

— Holly Ellyatt

Satellite images collected and released by Maxar Technologies show the destruction wrought upon the eastern Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut in Donetsk, where fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has been going on for months.

Maxar collected new high-resolution satellite imagery between Jan. 3-10 that helps to convey the magnitude and intensity of the ongoing fighting in the area around both towns, with both Russia and Ukraine claiming to have killed hundreds of each other’s troops on a daily basis.

The satellite imagery released by Maxar reveals thousands of bomb craters in fields and along roads in and around the two towns as well as the destruction of homes, schools and farm buildings.

The image above shows destroyed buildings destroyed in Bakhmutske, just to the immediate south of Soledar. The one below shows fields marked by craters from relentless artillery exchanges.

A Maxar satellite image showing the destroyed Pokrovske School to the east of Bakhmut:

Here’s what farm buildings in Yakovlivka, south of Bakhmut, looked like before fighting in eastern Ukraine became intense in August 2022.

Here’s what the same farm buildings looked like in images taken in early January 2023:

— Holly Ellyatt

The redeployment of Russia’s elite airborne forces, the VDV, to the Donbas in eastern and southern Ukraine signals that military commanders are trying to employ them in line with their intended function as an “elite rapid reaction force,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

The ministry noted that, over the last two days, heavy fighting has continued both around the town of Soledar in the Donetsk region, and on the approaches to Kremina in the neighboring Luhansk region.

“Since the start of January 2023, Russia has almost certainly allocated elements of the 76th Guards Air Landing Division of the VDV (airborne forces) to reinforce the Kremina front line after assessing the sector was significantly vulnerable,” the ministry noted in its latest intelligence update on Twitter.

“Until November 2022, Russia committed almost the whole of the deployable VDV as long-term, ground-holding troops along the front line in the Kherson area,” it noted.

“Now redeployed to the Donbas and southern Ukraine, commanders are likely attempting to employ VDV more in line with their supposed doctrinal role as a relatively elite rapid reaction force,” it said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again rejected Russia’s claims to have to have encircled and captured the salt-mining town of Soledar in Donetsk, saying fighting continues for the town in eastern Ukraine.

“Now the terrorist state [Ukraine frequently labels Russia in this way] and its propagandists are trying to pretend that some part of our city of Soledar — a city that was almost completely destroyed by the occupiers — is allegedly some kind of Russia’s achievement,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Wednesday.

“But the fighting continues. The Donetsk direction is holding out. And we do everything, without stopping for a single day, to strengthen Ukrainian defense,” he said.

There were confusing reports Wednesday as to whether Russian and Wagner Group (a private Russian military company) forces had taken control of the town, after the head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed Tuesday that his force had captured the town.

The Kremlin said Wednesday, however, that reporters should await a statement from the Ministry of Defense on the status of Soledar.

Later, the ministry said its elite airborne units, the VDV, had surrounded Soledar from the north and south but that “assault squads” were fighting in the town center. The update from the Russian Ministry of Defense was seen by some as a bid by the Russian military — which has been criticized by Prigozhin — to assert its authority and undermine the Wagner Group leader.

President Vladimir Putin’s military reshuffle on Wednesday, in which he put loyalist Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, in charge of troops fighting in Ukraine and replacing Gen. Sergei Surovikin — who was supported by Prigozhin — has also been seen as part of the power struggle between the military and Prigozhin and his Wagner Group.

— Holly Ellyatt

Vladimir Putin has put the overall head of the Russian military in direct command of the Ukraine war, but the appointment probably will not sit well with some quarters in Russia, according to an intelligence assessment released late Wednesday.

Valery Gerasimov will take direct responsibility for executing the so-called “special operation” in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday.

Gerasimov had served as chief of the General Staff, or head of Russia’s armed forces. Pro-war elements in Russia widely blame Gerasimov for their military’s inept performance in the war.

The move to put him in charge “is likely to be greeted with extreme displeasure by the Russian ultra-nationalist and military blogger community, who have increasingly blamed Gerasimov for the poor execution of the war,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update.

Gerasimov replaces General Sergei Surovikin, who took operational command of the war only three months ago.

In contrast to Gerasimov, Surovikin has been praised by ultra-nationalists for his “more realistic” approach, the U.K. ministry said. He had previously led Russian forces in Syria and oversaw the brutally indiscriminate bombardment of Aleppo.

Surovikin will now report to Gerasimov.

As deputy commander in Ukraine, Surovikin’s “authority and influence is almost certainly hugely reduced,” the UK ministry said.

— Ted Kemp

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley will head to Germany next week for another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The Ukraine Defense Contact group, a coalition of nearly 50 countries supporting Ukraine’s military needs, has met several times since it was formed in April.

Among the topics to be discussed at Ramstein Air Base will be Ukraine’s desire for main battle tanks and modern fighter jets for its fight against Russia.

“When it comes to the kinds of capabilities that we provide them, we’ll continue to have that conversation with them, with our international allies and our partners, and we’ll take a variety of considerations into account,” Pentagon press secretary U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said announcing the trip.

— Amanda Macias

Russia’s top military officer was put in charge of troops fighting in Ukraine, a move that appears to reflect the Kremlin’s dissatisfaction with the current leadership and flaws in the military’s performance.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was named the new commander of the unified group of forces in Ukraine.

The previous commander, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, was demoted to become Gerasimov’s deputy along with two other generals.

The reshuffle, which was formally ordered by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, clearly came on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval, signaling that he still has trust in his top military leaders who have faced broad criticism for the troops’ performance in the conflict.

It also suggests a recognition of flaws in carrying out what Putin called “the special military operation” in Ukraine.

While announcing Gerasimov’s appointment, the Defense Ministry said it was aimed at improving coordination between various forces fighting in Ukraine.

“Raising the level of leadership of the special military operation is linked to the expansion of the scale of the tasks being fulfilled as part of it and the need to organize closer interaction between branches of the military and to increase the quality of supplies and the efficiency of directing groups of forces,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

— Associated Press

The White House declined to say whether the U.S. would specifically provide Ukraine with main battle tanks.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a daily briefing that President Joe Biden reaffirmed U.S. support in Kyiv’s fight, adding that Washington “will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

She declined to elaborate on the makeup of additional U.S. security assistance packages.

Last week, Washington announced its largest package since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began nearly a year ago.

The upcoming military aid package, the 29th such tranche, brings U.S. commitment to Ukraine’s fight to about $24.9 billion since the beginning of the Biden administration.

New to this aid package are 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, armored tracked vehicles manufactured by U.S. defense firm BAE Systems. Bradleys are typically equipped with a rotating turret, mounted 25mm gun and TOW anti-tank missiles. The U.S. will provide 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of ammunition for use with the Bradleys.

— Amanda Macias

Russian oil producers have had no difficulties in securing export deals despite Western sanctions and price caps, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a televised online government meeting on Wednesday.

“We’ve been in constant contact with the companies, the contract making for February has been completed, and on the whole, the companies are not saying they have problems as of today,” Novak told the meeting led by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian oil production has so far shown resilience in the face of the sanctions, imposed after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, and of the price caps, introduced by Western countries last month.

Putin last month signed a decree that banned the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations that abide by the cap.

Novak said the main problem for Russian oil was a high discount to international benchmarks as well as rising freight costs.

— Reuters

Ukraine is continuing to reject Russian claims that its forces have captured the Donetsk town of Soledar.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television Wednesday that “Soledar is not under the control of the Russian Federation. Heavy fighting is going on there now,” he said, in comments translated by NBC News.

Cherevatyi claimed Russians had “carried out a special information operation” to promote the claim that Russian forces had already captured Soledar but said “this is not true.”

“The situation there is difficult, but it is under the control of the state leadership of our armed forces. We are working on making management decisions that will allow us to stabilize the situation in the city and cause maximum damage to the enemy with minimal losses from our side,” he added. 

This morning, Ukraine’s operational update said Soledar was among the settlements in Donetsk that were being shelled, while Reuters reported that from the outskirts of the town, plumes of smoke could be seen rising, describing the incoming artillery fires as “relentless.”

CNBC was unable to immediately verify Cherevatyi’s claim. On Tuesday, the head of the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, which has been fighting in the area around Soledar and Bakhmut for months, claimed that his fighters had taken “control of the entire territory of Soledar” while urban warfare was continuing.

Capturing Soledar would be a coup for Russia as it seeks to advance further and capture nearby Bakhmut. Ultimately, Russia wants to take full control of Donetsk and the wider Donbas region.

— Holly Ellyatt