WAR IN UKRAINE: January 31, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 342
Poland has announced a sharp increase in defence spending, saying the change is needed because of the Ukraine war. Poland has a military budget of just less than 2.5% of its GDP, but the prime minister says he wants to increase the figure to 4% this year. "The war in Ukraine makes us arm ourselves even faster. That is why this year we will make an unprecedented effort: 4% of GDP for the Polish army," Mr Morawiecki said - BBC
French President Emmanuel Macron says France doesn't exclude sending fighter jets to Ukraine but said certain conditions would have to be met first, including that they don't "touch Russian soil." Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky on January 30 joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on a visit to southern Ukraine, where Denmark has agreed to oversee the reconstruction of the city of Mykolayiv - RFE/RL
U.S. President Joe Biden says "no" to US sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine – AFP
The International Olympic Committee has rejected fierce criticism from Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak, who accused it of promoting war after the IOC said Russians could potentially be given the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A Russian company said it will offer 5 million rubles (about $72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture Western-made tanks in Ukraine, after the Kremlin vowed Russian forces would wipe out any Western tanks shipped to Ukraine - RFE/RL
The Canadian House of Commons has unanimously issued a call on the Trudeau Government to declare the Russian organization Wagner Group a terrorist entity. The motion calling for the Government to immediately designate the Wagner Group a terrorist entity was moved by Heather McPherson (MP, Edmonton Strathcona) and supported by all Members of Parliament. Ottawa is among the few western nations which hasn’t expelled Russian diplomats and it was seen to have bungled its initial response to the war in Ukraine.
Since October, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have endured an unrelenting attack from the skies by cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and Iranian-made drones — all launched by Russia to try to cripple the country's basic infrastructure. Many have hit their mark, forcing Ukrainians from one end of the country to the other to endure frequent blackouts, frigid nights and no running water, as the invasion by Russia approaches its first anniversary on Feb. 24. But Ukrainians have turned a potentially catastrophic situation this winter into a manageable one, in a striking demonstration of collective resilience. "The level of resilience of Ukraine as a whole is enormous. It has surprised even ourselves," said Oleksiy Melnyk, a former Ukrainian air force lieutenant colonel who's now with the Razumkov Centre public policy think-tank in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital - CBC
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on South Korea to increase its military support to Ukraine, referring to other countries that changed their policy of not giving up weapons after the russian invasion — Reuters.