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The Dutch Media Authority issued a five-year broadcasting permit for the Russian independent television station TV Rain after its licence had been cancelled in Latvia, according to a statement on the regulator’s website.
The permit, dated 22 December, will “provide a commercial television broadcasting service as a commercial media institution,” the regulator said. It was not immediately clear when the statement was published.
Latvia cancelled the licence of TV Rain in early December after the company was deemed a threat to national security.
The liberal-leaning TV Rain, or Dozhd, shifted to broadcasting from Latvia and other countries in July, after being forced to shut its Moscow studio following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US considering sending Stryker armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine - report
The US is reportedly considering sending Stryker armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine. The move could be announced next week, but no final decision has been made, Politico reports, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Russia and Wagner 'likely in control of most of' Soledar, says UK defence ministry
In its daily updated posted a short while ago, the UK Ministry of Defence says that Russia and Wagner are “likely in control of most of” Soledar amid fierce fighting for the Donbas town.
Russia and Wagner have made tactical advances in the last four days, the ministry says, in what it described as “highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt lines of communication”.
It adds that Russia is, however, “unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes”.
Zelenskiy also appears to be banking on securing more, sophisticated weapons from Ukraine’s western partners to beat off attacks and eventually expel Russian troops, Reuters reports.
On Monday, he pressed on with diplomatic efforts, speaking to Petr Fiala, prime minister of the Czech Republic, the chair of the 27-member European Union.
“I am certain that our soldiers at the front will get these weapons and equipment. Very soon,” he said.
France, Germany and the US pledged last week to send armoured fighting vehicles, fulfilling a long-standing Ukrainian request. Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time, Sky News reported, citing a western source. Britain’s Defence Ministry did not comment.
Iran could be contributing to war crimes in Ukraine by providing drones to Russia, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.
The US has imposed sanctions on companies and people it accused of producing or transferring Iranian drones used by Russia. The White House said last week it is considering ways to target Iran’s production of the unmanned weaponised aircraft through sanctions and export controls.
Almost no walls left’ in Soledar, says Zelenskiy, as fierce fighting continues
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in nightly video remarks on Monday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding on despite widespread destruction.
He cited new and fiercer attacks in Soledar, where he said no walls have been left standing and the land is covered with Russian corpses.
“It is extremely difficult – there are almost no whole walls left … Due to the resilience of our warriors there, in Soledar, we have gained additional time and additional power for Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said.
But Ukrainian officials, led by the commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy, have warned that Russia is preparing fresh troops for a new, major offensive on Ukraine, possibly on the capital Kyiv.
Russian troops are making another attempt to advance on the town of Soledar in the eastern Donbas region, according to Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar. Russian attacks in recent days have focused on Soledar in an apparent effort to cut off the town.
The capture of Soledar, which lies to the north-east of Bakhmut, would put Ukrainian forces in the area in danger of being encircled and offer Russia a potential avenue of approach against that city.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next while.
Our top story this morning: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in nightly video remarks on Monday that Bakhmut and Soledar, in the country’s east, were holding on despite widespread destruction.
He spoke of fierce new attacks in Soledar, where he said no walls have been left standing.
“It is extremely difficult – there are almost no whole walls left … Due to the resilience of our warriors there, in Soledar, we have gained additional time and additional power for Ukraine.”
We’ll bring you more on this shortly. In the meantime, here are the key recent developments:
Germany has no plans to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, a government spokesperson has said. Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, said on Sunday that Berlin could not rule out the delivery of Leopard tanks – which are heavier fighting vehicles than the Marders – to support Ukrainian military forces in the future.
Two British men have gone missing in Ukraine, the UK Foreign Office has said. The men were named in reports as volunteers Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry. The pair were last known to have been travelling from Kramatorsk to Soledar on 6 January, according to Sky News.
Two women have been killed and six people injured, including a 10-year-old girl, after a Russian missile attack on a market in a village in eastern Ukraine on Monday morning, officials said. A 60-year-old was among two women killed after the missile slammed into the village market in Shevchenkove, about 80km (50 miles) south-east of the city of Kharkiv, regional prosecutors said.
Strong doubts have emerged over Russian claims to have killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in barracks in Kramatorsk. Journalists visiting the city were unable to find evidence of large-scale casualties. However, the Kremlin said it was confident its defence ministry was correct when it said 600 Ukrainian service personnel had been “destroyed” in the attack.
The Kremlin has rejected a Ukrainian assertion that a senior Russian official has been floating the idea of a potential peace deal with European officials. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, told the country’s public broadcaster on Thursday that Dmitry Kozak, deputy head of Russia’s presidential administration, had been holding meetings with European officials in an attempt to force Kyiv to sign what he characterised as an unfavourable peace deal.
Italy will not make a decision on supplying new arms to Ukraine until next month, according to a report. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni faces resistance to the approval of a decree to send arms to Ukraine from her allies Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, la Repubblica reported, as well as issues over cost considerations and military shortages.
China’s newly appointed foreign minister, Qin Gang, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the “crisis” in Ukraine, the Chinese foreign ministry said. The ministry said Qin called for efforts to peacefully settle the crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner will meet his Russian counterpart for talks in Turkey this week, news agencies from both countries reported. Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian commissioner, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying that the meeting with Ukraine’s Dmytro Lubinets will take place during an international forum in Turkey between Thursday and Saturday. Talks are likely to include the possibility of further exchanges of prisoners of war.
English (US)