Russia-Ukraine warfare: List of key occasions, day 348

As the Russia-Ukraine warfare enters its 348th day, we check out the principle developments.

Here is the state of affairs because it stands on Monday, February 6, 2023:

Fighting

• Fierce battles being fought in Ukraine’s Donetsk area are making the state of affairs “very difficult”, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, as Kyiv braced for a potential Russian offensive this month earlier than the primary anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
• Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov advised a information convention on Sunday that Russia will launch a significant offensive within the coming weeks, however Ukraine has the troopers and assets to repel such an assault.
• The head of Russia’s personal Wagner militia stated on Sunday that fierce combating was ongoing within the northern components of the Ukrainian metropolis of Bakhmut, the main focus of Russian forces’ consideration for weeks.
• Ukrainian forces remained accountable for the village of Bilohorivka within the Luhansk area, Governor Serhiy Haidai stated on Sunday, including that the state of affairs there’s tense, however underneath management. Bilohorivka is the final a part of Luhansk held by Ukrainian forces.
• Repair crews have been working around the clock to revive energy methods within the Black Sea port of Odesa following a fireplace that left a whole lot of 1000’s of residents with out electrical energy, Zelenskyy stated.

Sanctions

• Price caps on Russian oil probably hit Moscow’s revenues from oil and fuel exports by nearly 30 % in January, or about $8bn, from a yr in the past, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol stated on Sunday.
• Ukraine has despatched letters to firms that again the International Olympic Committee, urging them to maintain Russian athletes out of the Paris Olympic Games, President Zelenskyy stated.

Politics

• Ukraine is ready to exchange Defence Minister Reznikov with the chief of its army spy company, an in depth ally of Zelenskyy stated on Sunday, in a reshuffle on the forefront of Ukraine’s warfare marketing campaign.
• Reznikov might be changed by Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the GUR army intelligence company, the top of Zelenskyy’s parliament bloc stated.
• The Ukraine president has fired many high-level officers this yr in a purge aimed toward rooting out corruption. Reznikov had been underneath strain over a corruption scandal within the ministry.