Ex-NATO Commander Stavridis Says Tanks Pose ‘real problems’ for Putin; Russia Claims Advance North of Bakhmut, Ukraine Denies; Ukraine Says It Repels Attack Around Blahodatne, Wagner Claims Control; Ukraine’s Military Repels 16 Russian Attacks in Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

By admin On Jan 31, 2023

Ex-NATO commander Stavridis says tanks pose ‘real problems’ for Putin:

The decision by some Western nations to send tanks to Ukraine will create “real problems” for Russian President Vladimir Putin in his nearly year-old war there, a former top NATO commander said.

“When you put these three types of tanks together and you bring them in real numbers into Ukraine, and I would estimate there will be at least 100, maybe as many as 200 by mid-spring, call it the end of March, that creates real problems for Putin,” former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told John Catsimatidis on his WABC radio show that aired Sunday.

Stavridis said the Russian leader’s military forces are stretched out along a front that runs hundreds of miles from Russia, through eastern Ukraine where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place, to Crimea in the Black Sea.

“With these tanks, the Ukrainians can mask that armor, and use it to punch through the Russian line and separate them, peel them apart, break their logistics chain, and really reduce the ability of Russia to continue what it wants to do, which is to ramp up offensive operations,” said Stavridis, a former admiral. —>READ MORE HERE

Ukraine war latest: Russia claims advance north of Bakhmut, Ukraine denies

Ukraine denied on Jan. 29 that Russian forces made gains near Bakhmut, dismissing Moscow’s earlier claim that it captured a village that could serve as a crucial step for the city’s encirclement.

Kremlin-controlled Wagner mercenary group on Jan. 28 claimed victory over the eastern village of Blahodatne in Donetsk Oblast, located 10 kilometers north of Bakhmut. Capturing the village would imply that Russian forces had crossed the strategic Bakhmutovka River.

Blahodatne sits just west of Soledar, a salt-mining town that fell to Russia this month. Russia intensified its offensive on Soledar in early January in an apparent desperate bid to present some results after suffering a string of humiliating battlefield defeats in 2022.

After capturing Soledar, the Wagner mercenaries and Russian forces appear to be on track to encircle and occupy Bakhmut, a city they had sought to capture for six months.

Capturing Bakhmut would allow Russia to disrupt Ukraine’s supply lines in the area and open up a main road leading to the two key Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Western military analysts and intelligence services have put out varying assessments on Bakhmut’s strategic value – some are concerned that seizing it would help Russia make its long-sought breakthrough in Donetsk Oblast, while others say it won’t be as significant loss due to the scale of the city’s destruction.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Jan. 29 that Russian forces were conducting offensive operations in the east of the country but did not confirm their advance.

The General Staff said that Ukrainian forces had repelled the Russian offensives, including the one on Blahodatne – effectively denying Russia’s claim. —>READ MORE HERE

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