Ukraine War 14/1: Russia begins attack along northeastern border

Chiến sự Ukraine 14/1: Nga bắt đầu tấn công dọc biên giới đông bắc - 1 — Ukrainian artillery prepares to fire (Illustration: Skynews).

Russia begins offensive along Ukraine's northeastern border

Rybar channel reported that in the direction of Slobozhanskoe, the Russian army carried out a series of attacks on targets and positions of Ukrainian formations along the border. Ukrainian authorities reported artillery fire towards Zolochev and Volchansk in the Kharkov region.

In the direction of Kupyansk, battles for positions continue in the Sinkovka area, while Russia is conducting raids on the positions of Ukrainian formations in front-line settlements.

Despite information from some media about the alleged Russian progress in this area, in fact the configuration of the front has remained unchanged for a long time.

In the Liman direction, mutual attacks continue in the Serebryansky and Torskoe forest areas. At the same time, the sides are conducting artillery and counter-artillery fire along the entire line of contact.

In the direction of Seversk, the front layout is somewhat clearer. After reaching the outskirts of Spornoe, the Russians were unable to gain a foothold in the area and were forced to retreat to the prepared line. The Ukrainian formations are trying to counterattack, but without success.

Chiến sự Ukraine 14/1: Nga bắt đầu tấn công dọc biên giới đông bắc - 2 — Map of the Ukrainian war in the Seversk region as of January 13. Russia controls the brown area, the red arrows show the direction of their attack and the blue arrows are the direction of Ukraine's counterattack (Photo: Rybar).

The battle is still tense in Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.

In the direction of Bakhmut, the Russians continued to fight on their left flank, but have not achieved any clear successes in recent days. Meanwhile, in the south, Russian units have advanced northwest of Kleshchiivka, pushing Ukrainian formations off several heights and trying to gain a foothold in the area.

In the direction of Avdiivka, Russian units continue to fight in the area of the waste treatment facility. At the same time, Ukrainian channels reported that Russian troops had advanced by 250-300 meters, however, due to lack of manpower, they could not establish the exact configuration of the front. In addition, positional clashes were still observed in the area of Petrovskoe (Stepovoe).

In the Donetsk direction, west of Marinka, Russian troops continue to try to improve their tactical position towards Georgievka, advancing from the area of St. George's Cathedral. Ukrainian formations are attacking Russian assault groups, trying to prevent further loss of their controlled territories in the area.

Chiến sự Ukraine 14/1: Nga bắt đầu tấn công dọc biên giới đông bắc - 3 — Map of the Ukrainian war in the Avdiivka area as of January 13. Russia controls the brown area, the red arrows show the direction of their attack and the blue arrows are the direction of Ukraine's counterattack (Photo: Rybar).

Fierce fighting on the Zaporizhia front

In the Vremevsk region, battles for positions continued along the entire region. There was information about a successful Russian offensive north of Kermenchik and Staromlynovka, during which they captured a number of enemy fortified positions. At the same time, the Ukrainians attempted to attack the Staromayorskoe region, but after suffering losses, they retreated.

In the direction of Zaporizhia, fighting continues at Rabotino, where Russian assault groups are gradually pushing the enemy out of their positions. According to some reports, the Russians have advanced to the southeast of the settlement, as well as to the area northwest of the nearby village of Verbovoe.

At the same time, the Russian army continues to attack the enemy's manpower and equipment concentrations in the Rabotino and Zherebyanok areas. However, the situation in this part of the front remains tense, Ukraine is actively using UAVs and artillery to bombard Russian positions.

Trends suggest a larger-scale attack is possible in the coming days.

Chiến sự Ukraine 14/1: Nga bắt đầu tấn công dọc biên giới đông bắc - 4 — Map of the Ukrainian war in the Rabotino area as of January 13. Russia controls the brown area, the red arrows show the direction of their attack and the blue arrows are the direction of Ukraine's counterattack (Photo: Rybar).

In the Kherson direction, positional battles continued in the Krynki area. The worsening weather conditions made it difficult to transfer additional Ukrainian reserves to the left bank of the Dnieper, which gave the Russian forces a certain advantage.

In return, Ukrainian forces continued to shell settlements on the left bank of the Kherson region.

Ukrainian General Staff: Russia focuses on attacking Marinka and Avdiivka

According to a summary report of the General Staff of Ukraine on January 13, on January 13, the defenders repelled 16 enemy attacks in Marinka and 15 attacks in the direction of Avdiivka. A total of 49 clashes took place on the front, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that it had repelled most of the Russian attacks in Seversky, Slobozhansky, Kupyansk, Liman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, Shakhtarsky, Zaporizhia.

Ukrainian forces still hold the bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper River, despite Russian attacks and causing heavy losses to the enemy.

ISW: Russia makes limited progress along eastern front

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest report on January 12 that Russian forces have made “minor advances” amid ongoing fighting in several positions in Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson provinces, Kyiv Independent reported.

In Donetsk, ISW claims that geolocated footage released on January 11 shows Russian advances northeast of Bakhmut, at the village of Vesele.

Russia has also stepped up attacks on the city of Avdiivka, where geolocated footage confirms Russian forces have recently made limited gains in the northwest.

Southwest of Donetsk city, Russian forces also advanced near Novomykhailivka, a village completely destroyed by ongoing fighting.

Both Bakhmut and Avdiivka have been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since Russia began its special military operation in Ukraine. For more than a year, Bakhmut has been the focal point, suffering widespread destruction from artillery fire and air strikes, while in Avdiivka, Russia is said to have suffered its “highest” casualty rate in the past three months.

ISW also reported that Russian forces made slight advances in western Zaporizhia province, capturing Ukrainian trenches along the village of Verbove, east of Rabotino.

Geolocated footage further shows Russian forces making small gains in Krynki, located on the east bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region.

Despite Russian advances, Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian attacks in Donetsk on January 12. A spokesman for Ukraine’s Southern Command also noted a significant decrease in the pace of Russian attacks along the riverbank over the past 24 hours.

On January 11, the commander of the Ukrainian Army, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, acknowledged the difficult situation Ukraine faces on its eastern and southern fronts. He said: "Despite large-scale enemy offensives, Ukrainian soldiers are holding their defensive lines in all directions and inflicting significant losses on Russia."

Chiến sự Ukraine 14/1: Nga bắt đầu tấn công dọc biên giới đông bắc - 5 — Map of the war in Ukraine as of January 13. Russia controls the pink area, the circles represent hot spots of fighting. The largest circle is the center of Avdiivka (Photo: ISW).

Ukraine announced that it had completely broken off Russia's attack on January 13.

Ukraine General Staff: Russia has lost 369,160 troops

The Kyiv Independent reported that the Ukrainian General Staff reported on January 13 that Russia has lost a total of 369,160 soldiers in Ukraine since the start of the special military operation on February 24, 2022. This figure includes 700 casualties suffered by Russian forces in the past 24 hours alone.

According to the report, Russia also lost 6,065 tanks, 11,269 armored fighting vehicles, 11,632 vehicles and fuel tanks, 8,728 artillery systems, 957 multiple launch rocket systems, 646 air defense systems, 329 aircraft, 324 helicopters, 6,848 UAVs and 23 ships.

President Biden: If Republicans Don't Fund Ukraine, They Will 'Pay a Big Price'

Ukrainska Pravda reported that US President Joe Biden said that the Republican Party would have to "pay a heavy price" if it did not provide financial support to Ukraine.

“If Republicans don’t fund Ukraine, they’re going to pay a lot of money for it,” President Biden said.

President Biden also said he did not consider the situation at the southern US border a crisis, but declared there were "significant changes" along the border.

Chiến sự Ukraine 14/1: Nga bắt đầu tấn công dọc biên giới đông bắc - 6 — US President Joe Biden speaks while Mr. Zelensky stands very close at the NATO Summit (Photo: AFP).

France and Ukraine strengthen defense cooperation

France and Ukraine have agreed to “scale up” defence cooperation, Ukraine’s foreign minister said after meeting his counterpart, the Guardian reported.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné discussed topics including Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO as well as tightening sanctions against Russia.

"Russia hopes that Ukraine and its supporters will tire of them. We will not weaken," Mr. Séjourné said at a press conference in Kiev, Reuters reported.

French Foreign Minister Séjourné added that he would work to resolve bilateral and EU legal issues to help French companies set up more military production facilities in Ukraine. He did not say what those legal issues were.

He also encouraged French companies such as transport, energy, telecommunications and water to invest in Ukraine.

The French foreign minister said he personally believed more military support was needed and that talks between the two governments would continue in the coming weeks.

Russia claims to have attacked Ukrainian defense industrial facilities

"This morning (January 13), the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group attack on facilities of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex," the Russian Defense Ministry said at a daily press conference, AFP reported.

Russia said it had targeted facilities producing artillery shells, gunpowder and drones, insisting that “all designated facilities were hit”.

Ukraine said earlier it had recorded 40 missiles and drones launched from Russia, of which eight were destroyed and “more than 20” failed to reach their targets. The rate of missiles shot down is understood to be lower than usual.

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