The German government appears divided on the issue of the delivery of Leopard heavy tanks, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, so far evasive, finds himself under ever increasing pressure. Because Poland warned, Monday, January 23 : it is ready to do without the approval of Berlin to deliver 14 of these Leopard tanks, of German manufacture, to Ukraine. Poland is in discussion with about fifteen States on this subject. Follow our live.
An additional EU budget envelope. In this context, the European Union announced that it was granting an additional 500 million euros to supply armaments to kyiv and allocating 45 million euros for the training of Ukrainian soldiers on EU territory.
Russian ambassadors expelled from the Baltic countries. Sign of growing tensions with Moscow, Estonia and Latvia each announced during the day their decision to expel the Russian ambassador on their soil, following in the footsteps of Lithuania which had done the same last year.
Russian forces continue to claim small advances. On the ground, Russian artillery fire killed a civilian on Monday in Antonivka, a village in the southern region of Kherson, deplored its governor, Yaroslav Yanushevich. One of the main leaders of the separatists in eastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, meanwhile posted himself in Soledar, a small town which Moscow claimed to have taken more than a week ago. For the Russians, the conquest of this city is a step towards encircling Bakhmout, which they have been trying to conquer since the summer.