‘Fierce’ battle raging in Ukraine for control of Vuhledar
29 January 2023
France 24 :
At least three people were killed on Saturday after Russian forces struck a residential neighbourhood in Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, said the regional governor. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops remained locked in a "fierce" confrontation with Russian fighters for control of the town of Vuhledar, southwest of Donetsk city, as the two sides battle along the southern front.
Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in "fast-track" talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Ukraine's supporters in the West 'Fierce' battle "understand how the war is developing" and the need to supply planes capable of providing cover for the armoured fighting vehicles that the United States and Germany pledged at the beginning of the month.
However, in remarks to online video channel Freedom, Podolyak said that some of Ukraine's Western partners maintain a "conservative" attitude to arms deliveries, "due to fear of changes in the international architecture."
Russia's defence ministry on Saturday accused the Ukrainian army of striking a hospital in the eastern Luhansk region, leaving 14 dead and injuring 24 others.
On Saturday morning in the town of Novoaidar, "the Ukrainian armed forces deliberately attacked the building of a district hospital with rockets of a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry added that 14 were killed and 24 wounded among the "hospital patients and medical staff".
