Reshuffle announced within the Ukrainian government. The head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Boudanov, will become defense minister, Ukrainian MP David Arakhamia announced on Sunday February 5. The current Minister of Defense, Oleksiï Reznikov, will be appointed Minister of Strategic Industries, added the elected official, without specifying the planned date of this reshuffle. This announcement comes in a context of increasing Russian pressure in the east of the country and after corruption scandals within the Ministry of Defense. “War dictates the movement of personnel”explained the deputy. “The times and the circumstances call for reinforcement and concentration. This is what is happening now and it will continue in the future.” Follow our live.
Ukraine braces for escalation of conflict. “We expect a possible Russian offensive in February, purely symbolically”, on the first anniversary of the invasion, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Sunday. He also explains that military movements in Belarus, a neighbor of Ukraine and an ally of Moscow, are closely monitored.
Violent clashes in Bakhmout. “Fierce fighting is taking place in the northern districts” of this eastern Ukrainian town, “for every street, every house, every stairwell”, said Sunday the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, whose fighters are on the front line there. The Ukrainian general staff for its part confirmed, but without detailing, that fighting and bombardments continued in several areas in the east of the country.
Germany says it has “hundreds” of evidence of war crimes. German Attorney General Peter Frank reveals in an interview published on Sunday that Germany is investigating a large number of reports of war crimes committed in Ukraine. “Right now we are focusing on Boutcha and attacks on civilian infrastructure”he said to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The magistrate further calls for the creation of an international mechanism to bring those responsible to justice.
No attack on Russian territory with Western weapons, assures the German chancellor. There is “consensus” with Volodymyr Zelensky so that the weapons supplied by the West are not used for attacks on Russian territory, assured Sunday Olaf Scholz. In recent days, Ukraine’s allies have taken their military support to a new level by pledging to provide heavy tanks and longer-range rockets.