Russia’s war in Ukraine

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. You can read more about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here.

Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov is expected to be replaced in a reshuffle, according to a senior Ukrainian lawmaker.

David Arakhamia, the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s parliamentary faction, shared the news in a Telegram statement Sunday.

Reznikov has been under pressure for several weeks following corruption scandals at the defense ministry.

“War dictates personnel policies,” Arakhamia said. “Time and circumstances require strengthening and regrouping. This is happening now and will continue to happen in the future.”

Arakhamia’s said Major Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, a top intelligence official in the ministry, was lined up to become Ukraine’s next defense minister, saying the move was “absolutely logical for wartime.”

Some context: Reznikov’s ministry has been mired in a corruption scandal related to military spending in recent weeks.

Ukraine is making an anti-corruption push as it tries to gain accession to the European Union.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has been investigating “high-profile media reports” on allegations that the defense ministry was buying military provisions, including food for the troops, at inflated prices.

Reznikov had just announced an internal audit of the country’s armed forces related to procurement (the purchasing of supplies) before word of his apparent ouster Sunday.

His deputy defense minister resigned late last month after the allegations surfaced in Ukrainian media.

The official, Viacheslav Shapovalov, submitted his resignation after a “campaign of accusations related to the procurement of food supply (to the Armed Forces of Ukraine),” according to a statement from the ministry, which described the allegations as “unfounded and baseless.”

Ukrainian officials will conduct a complete internal audit of procurements made by the country’s armed forces, Ukraine’s defense minister said, after a recent string of anti-corruption raids.

“We have launched an internal audit that checks all procurement systems. It is still in progress,” Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov said. “And I think that within a week, they should officially complete the audit of all of the procedures for February. Then they will audit everything. And then, it will be ‘put on the table’ for appropriate decisions.” 

Some context: President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent anti-corruption push is viewed as a key step toward Ukraine’s possible admission into the European Union.

Rooting out corruption is “an important dimension of the EU accession process,” said Ana Pisonero, a spokesperson for the European Commission, on Jan. 24.

Ukrainian authorities uncovered stashes of cash, as well as luxury watches and cars, during raids carried out across the country last month.

Among those caught up in the investigations is the acting head of the Kyiv tax authority, who was allegedly part of a scheme to overlook $1.2 billion worth of Ukrainian hryvnia in unpaid taxes.

Ukrainian military leaders appear to be bracing themselves for a brutal spring offensive.

Veteran CNN producer Tim Lister has just returned from the Ukrainian eastern front with reporter Fred Pleitgen and photographer Matthias Somm. He told CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield that one military commander said the real war has not even started yet.

“There are signs we saw on the front lines that (it) is beginning to happen already. It is the prologue to the big offensive,” Lister said.

“We were quite struck by the amount of artillery and rocket fire that was flying in when we were on the front lines. It’s a big worry for the Ukrainians because they are running short of ammunition of all descriptions,” he said. “It is very difficult to keep those supply lines open and keep their forces fully equipped on the front lines.”

“And you have the winter weather to deal with as well. So they are up against it, but I have to say, the determination, the confidence and the sheer professionalism of many of the units we were with was very impressive,” Lister added.

Russian forces allegedly seized and burned Ukrainian books in public and school libraries in the Luhansk region, the Ukrainian National Resistance Centre said.  

Luhansk was one of four regions annexed last autumn by Russia, in a process that is illegal under international law. The region is currently run by Russian-backed separatists who have claimed it as the “Luhansk People’s Republic.”

In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the National Resistance Center which is run by Ukraine’s Special Forces said books have been “seized from the collections of public and school libraries” in the eastern Ukrainian region. 

“In Rovenky (Luhansk region), cases of mass burning of Ukrainian literature in local boiler rooms have been recorded,” the statement continued. 

The Education Ministry of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic sent a 365-item list to the heads of city and district administrations and educational organizations. They were advised to remove the listed books from their libraries, the statement added.  

Ukrainian officials have spoken out about the pressure placed on educators in occupied areas to adapt school programs to align with pro-Russian rhetoric. 

Nina, a 48-year-old school principal, recounted to CNN last May how Russian forces arrived at her school in northeastern Ukraine and forced her to hand over all history textbooks and quizzed her on the school’s curriculum. She did not give her last name.

CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Oleksandra Ochman contributed to this report

The embattled eastern city of Bakhmut is “still a stronghold,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Sunday.

“It’s still a symbol,” Reznikov said during a press conference in Kyiv.

Ukraine’s continuing hold over the city is perceived as a symbol of the country’s resistance. In a trip to Washington DC in December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told US lawmakers that the “fight for Bakhmut will change the tragic story of our war for independence and of freedom.”

Intense bombardment has left the city nearly completely destroyed, with Zelensky saying “every inch of that land is soaked in blood.” 

Head of Russia’s private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin also said via Telegram on Sunday that Ukraine’s defense of the city was still holding strong with “fierce battles for every street, every house, every stairwell.”

Reznikov added that Russian troops had tried to take control of the area in the Donbas region since the summer, alleging that they lose around 500 people daily while storming it. CNN cannot independently verify that number.

For nearly six months, Ukrainian forces have been battling Russian encroachment to keep control of the besieged territory which lies between the separatist-held cities Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukrainian troops will begin training with the Leopard tanks from Monday, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced.

Speaking to reporters during a news conference in Kyiv, he said: “We are accumulating reserves and working on training more personnel, getting the Western weapons.”

Reznikov also warned of an upcoming Russian offensive. “We expect an offensive. It’s February, and Russians love symbolism. We expect this pressure from them, and we are ready,” he said.

But tanks are not the only weapons Ukraine needs to defend itself from enemy bombardment. According to Reznikov, it needs long-range weapons reaching 150 kilometers that must be “more effective and active.” The maximum range of the current artillery provided by the West is 144 km.

On Thursday, US officials said the US was expected to announce a new Ukraine security package worth approximately $2.2 billion that will include longer-range missiles in a first for the country.

But these will not reach the distance Ukraine is asking for out of fear longer-ranging weapons – like the sought after ATACMS missile – will be used to hit targets in Russia, which Reznikov refuted.

“I want to emphasize that we promise our partners not to use long-range systems to hit targets on Russian territory, only on the Ukrainian territory which Russians occupied,” he assured.

Speaking of the military aid Ukraine has received, Reznikov said they had been given “almost everything” in terms of weapons except for fighter jets, which he is certain they will get.

Ukraine is not a NATO member, but in this war has become a “NATO country de facto,” he said, receiving weapons, standards and digital systems. “The only thing left to do is to be accepted in the alliance de jure,” Reznikov added.

A village in Kherson took “massive fire” early Sunday morning, according to the region’s military administration.

The northwestern village of Chornobaivka was hit by Russian shells that damaged six residential buildings, the administration said on Telegram on Sunday.

One person was injured and hospitalized.

Some context: Kherson was liberated from Russian control last November, but the Ukrainian victory has been short-lived as enemy attacks on the region have been relentless. In just the last few days, it has weathered over 130 strikes by rockets, artillery, mortars and tank fire across the Dnieper River from Russian forces.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has insisted that Western battle tanks will only be deployed on Ukrainian territory, brushing off accusations from the Kremlin that the decision to send advanced weapons was escalating the war.

In an interview with Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag published online, Scholz said “there is consensus” the Western tanks will not be deployed on Russian territory.

Kremlin officials have sought to cast the sending of tanks as an act of aggression against Moscow, fueling their bogus narrative that their so-called military operation is required to defend Russian interests rather than to capture Ukraine.

Scholz said he had repeatedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “Russia is solely responsible for the war. Russia has unprovokedly invaded its neighbouring country in order to take over parts of Ukraine or the whole country.”

“It fundamentally violates the European peace order…(which) is why we support Ukraine financially, humanitarianly and with weapons,” Scholz added, defending his country’s position to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

“We (and our allies) are giving battle tanks to Ukraine so that it can defend itself,” he said.

Scholz assured Germany and its allies were “carefully” working together weighing arms deliveries in a “joint approach” to prevent an escalation of the war.

It took weeks of geopolitical squabbling before Germany bowed to mounting pressure from allies to supply its own Leopards. Last month, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said they had needed more time before coming to a decision as the tanks are heavy armored weapons that can be used for offensive purposes.

Ukrainian officials have been relentless in pleading with their allies for modern battle tanks to replace their Soviet-era tanks, and are now set to receive more than 300 tanks from Western countries.

Ukraine’s armed forces show no signs of backing down in their dogged defense of the eastern city of Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s private military group Wagner said Sunday.

“The AFU (Armed Forces Ukraine) is not retreating anywhere. AFU fight to the last,” the oligarch’s press service said on Telegram. This came in response to media reports that Ukrainian forces were retreating from northern parts of the city. 

Prigozhin said the north of Bakhmut, where Wagner fighters have been heavily involved in brutal fighting for months against Ukrainian defenders, were seeing “fierce battles for every street, every house, every stairwell.”

“Of course, it’s nice that the media wants the armed forces to retreat, but this does not happen in the northern quarters, or in the south, or in the east,” he added.

One Ukrainian soldier likened fighting Wagner to scenes from a “zombie movie” with the group’s mercenaries coming in repeated waves. Last month, a former Wagner commander defected, fleeing to Norway to seek asylum, citing the group’s brutality.

US and Western officials have been urging Ukraine to shift its focus from Bakhmut and prioritize instead a potential offensive in the south, using a different style of fighting that takes advantage of the billions of dollars in new military hardware recently committed by Western allies, US and Ukrainian officials told CNN last month.

Four people have been killed after Russian missile strikes and shelling on the eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, and 11 more injured, the head of the region’s military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said Sunday.

Emergency services rescued nine people from a five-story building that was destroyed by the strike, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service posted on Telegram.

Four high-rise buildings and a kindergarten were damaged after two missile attacks on the city of Druzhkivka, Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram, adding in an update Sunday, that several homes and buildings were destroyed by shelling elsewhere in the region.

Some context: Missiles targeting densely populated areas in the region are familiar. On Thursday, two were launched at the city of Kramatorsk less than 100 meters from a CNN team. Before that, a missile strike to the same area killed four people and hospitalized several more.

Kyrylenko has urged residents to leave the area, calling it a “matter of life and death.”

Gone are the acres of jubilant crowds that filled Freedom Square with blue and yellow Ukrainian flags that swayed like heads of wheat when the Russians were driven out. Now the crack-crunch of Russian artillery eating into the city echoes around the plaza.

The harvest of victory in the fall has been a bitter winter.

In the previous 48 hours, Kherson had endured more than 130 strikes by rockets, artillery, mortars and even direct tank fire across the Dnieper River from Russian forces. Four people were killed in the same period, another dozen or more wounded.

The regional capital was captured last March in the early stages of Russia’s invasion. Many of its 290,000 citizens left then. More appear to have fled since it was liberated in November. Ukraine’s administration implored them to leave since then to escape the Russian shelling.

Young mothers, pensioners and a handful of drunks scuttle and stagger as fast as they can across Freedom Square to catch buses. Time above ground, just a few hundreds meters from the river, is time spent in mortal danger – especially here.

Read more here:

Deserted Freedom Square where people celebrated when Russia was driven out of Kherson, Ukraine.

Related article Bitter harvest of freedom and victory as Kherson suffers Russian bombardment | CNN

Two Russian missiles struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday, injuring four people, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration said in a Telegram post on Sunday. 

One woman, 54, was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds,  and two men, aged 51 and 55, were treated at the scene, he said. A security guard was also injured at a higher education institution where the second missile strike was carried out, Sinegubov said.

According to the city’s mayor Ihor Terekhov, the two missiles launched at the city were believed to be S-300 missiles.  

One missile hit a residential building, where a fire has broken out, he wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday, adding that the state emergency service is working at the site of the strikes to clear the rubble and conduct search and rescue operations.

On Thursday, Russian missiles struck the eastern city of Kramatorsk, injuring at least five people according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration.

Ukraine is fighting to hold on to the eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday.

Communities surrounding the city, including the town of Soledar, have seen some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict in recent months.

This map shows the status of other areas Russia currently occupies in Ukraine: