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Protesters gather in support of Ukraine during a meeting of European Union Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Belgium [Johanna Geron/Reuters]
By Edna Mohamed and Dalia Hatuqa
Published On 23 Jan 2023

This blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. These were the updates on the Russia-Ukraine war on Monday, January 23.

23 Jan 2023 - 19:42
 (19:42 GMT)

Sean Penn to premiere documentary featuring Zelenskyy at Berlin film festival

American actor and director Sean Penn will premiere a documentary he filmed in Kyiv featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at next month’s Berlin film festival, organisers have said.

The 73rd-annual Berlinale, as the February 16-26 event is known, will shine a spotlight on the war, which will mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the event.

Penn’s “Superpower”, billed as “the chronicle of a film project that reality forced to change into something less controllable but more meaningful”, will be the most prominent among the Ukraine entries at the festival.

Penn was in Kyiv to shoot a documentary in late February 2022 when the Russian invasion began.

The two-time Oscar winner was photographed attending a government news conference in Kyiv, and could be seen meeting with Zelenskyy in a video posted to the Ukrainian president’s Instagram account.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands with American actor Sean Penn after receiving the latter’s Oscar statuette and handing him the Order of Merit during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, November 8, 2022 [Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP Photo]
23 Jan 2023 - 19:10
 (19:10 GMT)

EU launches civilian mission to help monitor Armenia-Azerbaijan border

The European Union has launched a civilian mission to help monitor Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, bolstering the bloc’s role in a region viewed by the Kremlin as Russia’s back yard.

The move comes as Moscow — focused on its war in Ukraine — has been losing influence after decades of domination over former Soviet states.

The initiative was requested by Armenia and expands upon a 40-strong mission that was deployed for two months late last year.

The new mission has a two-year mandate and will conduct “routine patrolling and report on the situation”, an EU statement said.

23 Jan 2023 - 18:54
 (18:54 GMT)

Borrell: Germany not blocking export of Leopard 2 tanks

The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has said Germany is not blocking the export of Leopard 2 tanks, as Berlin faces mounting pressure to supply them to Ukraine.
Asked about the issue, Borrell told a news conference today: “It seems Germany’s not going to ban the exporting of these weapons, if some EU member states who have them want to send them.”

He also outlined details of the EU’s newly approved military aid package to Ukraine, which brings the total amount of military support for Ukraine to $3.9bn, he said.

The total figure of the bloc’s support to Ukraine – including military, financial, economic and humanitarian aid – now stands at $53bn, Borrell added.

23 Jan 2023 - 18:26
 (18:26 GMT)

Former top FBI official charged with violating US sanctions on Russia

A former top FBI official has been charged with violating US sanctions on Russia by receiving concealed payments from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, prosecutors have said. Deripaska is at large.

Charles McGonigal, who led the agency’s counterintelligence division in New York City before retiring in 2018, faces four counts, including sanctions violations and money laundering.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say McGonigal, 54, received concealed payments from Deripaska, who was sanctioned in 2018, in exchange for investigating a rival oligarch in 2021. He is also charged with unsuccessfully pushing in 2019 for the lifting of the sanctions on Deripaska.

McGonigal is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan later on Monday along with Sergey Shestakov, a former Soviet diplomat who later became a US citizen and was also charged in the case.

23 Jan 2023 - 18:03
 (18:03 GMT)

Kremlin: ‘Too early’ to talk about Putin 2024 re-election bid

It is “too early” to talk about a potential 2024 re-election bid for Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has said.

The Russian president “has not made any statements on the matter”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

In 2021, Putin signed a law that will allow him to run for the presidency twice more in his lifetime, potentially keeping him in office until 2036.

23 Jan 2023 - 17:46
 (17:46 GMT)

UK Ministry of Defence: New disciplinary measures by Russia met with scepticism

The UK Ministry of Defence’s latest intelligence update has said Russian forces continue to “endure operational deadlock and heavy casualties”.

The report also says new disciplinary measures introduced by Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of the general staff and newly appointed commander in Ukraine, have been met with scepticism, in particular in response to the decision to ban soldiers from growing their beards.

23 Jan 2023 - 17:30
 (17:30 GMT)

EU ratifies new military aid package to Ukraine

The European Union has ratified a new military aid package to Ukraine worth $544m, as the EU’s 27 foreign ministers met in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday.

The package was approved along with a further $49m for “non-lethal equipment” for the EU’s military training mission for Ukraine, sources told the Reuters news agency.

23 Jan 2023 - 16:52
 (16:52 GMT)

US prosecutors charge former FBI official over violating sanctions

US prosecutors say a former top FBI official has been charged with violating sanctions on Russia by receiving concealed payments from oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

According to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, Charles McGonical, who led the agency’s counterintelligence division in New York, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly taking the payments in return for agreeing to investigate a rival oligarch.

23 Jan 2023 - 16:36
 (16:36 GMT)

Hesitancy on Leopard tanks for Ukraine signals ‘nervousness’, Kremlin says

The Kremlin says hesitancy over whether to provide German-made Leopard tanks to Kyiv shows increasing “nervousness” within the NATO military alliance.

“Of course, all countries that take part, directly or indirectly, in pumping weapons into Ukraine and raising its technological level bear responsibility” for continuing the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

23 Jan 2023 - 16:06
 (16:06 GMT)

Tanks are not an easy decision for Berlin: Analyst

Sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine is not an “easy decision to make” for Germany, Julian Pawlak, a research associate from the Federal Armed Forces University in Hamburg, tells Al Jazeera.

“On the one hand, you have the voices from the Chancellery saying that they need to be careful and do not want to be hasty in their decisions. On the other side of course, it’s a new image of giving the green light for again sending German tanks to the east of Europe,” Pawlak said in a reference to Nazi Germany’s war on the Eastern Front in World War II.

But the tanks will only make a difference on the battlefield if used with the other weapons that Ukraine currently has, and its current stock of firearms is running out, Pawlak said.

“Time is running out regarding the old Soviet-style tanks and ammunition, so at some point in the future, numbers will go down, and Ukraine will depend more and more on Western ammunition and Western assets,” he said.

23 Jan 2023 - 15:06
 (15:06 GMT)

Germany begins moving Patriot missiles to Poland

Germany’s armed forces have begun moving the first two of three promised Patriot anti-aircraft missile squadrons to Poland.

The air defence systems are expected to be delivered near Zamosc in southeastern Poland by Wednesday afternoon.

“Patriot is a purely defensive system,” said the head of the German forces in Poland, Colonel Jorg Sievers.

The aim, he said, is to protect NATO airspace as well as Poland’s territory, infrastructure and population.

23 Jan 2023 - 14:36
 (14:36 GMT)

Ex-Wagner Group fighter will not be deported from Norway, lawyer says

A former Wagner Group mercenary will not be deported to Russia, his Norwegian lawyer says.

“The risk of him being deported? It is zero,” Brynjulf Risnes told the Reuters news agency.

Risnes said police detained Andrey Medvedev because there was “disagreement” between him and the police about the measures taken to ensure his safety.

The Russian rights group Gulagu.net, which helped Medvedev escape, said he would face “brutal murder” if he were deported to Russia.

23 Jan 2023 - 14:18
 (14:18 GMT)

Why is Germany reluctant to provide Leopard tanks?

For weeks, Ukraine has asked for German-made Leopard 2 tanks to help it defeat Russian forces.

Despite intense pressure from Western countries to supply the tanks, Berlin is hesitant, citing concerns about what the delivery could mean for the future of the conflict.

Al Jazeera’s Inside Story speaks to experts to look at why Germany is so reluctant to provide the much-needed weapons.

23 Jan 2023 - 14:00
 (14:00 GMT)

Hungary will not block EU move to provide more aid to Ukraine

Hungary will not block the EU from implementing a measure to provide more military aid to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says in a video on his Facebook page.

Szijjarto spoke as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss more military aid to Kyiv.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped ministers would approve another 500 million euros ($544m) in support.

A question mark has hung over how Hungary will vote because it has strong ties with Russia.

23 Jan 2023 - 13:39
 (13:39 GMT)

Latvia expels Russia’s ambassador in solidarity with Estonia

Latvia’s foreign minister says he has told Russia’s ambassador in Riga to leave the country by February 24 in a decision taken in solidarity with Estonia.

Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter: “Due to the ongoing brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine and in solidarity with Estonia, Latvia will lower level of diplomatic relations with Russia effective February 24, demanding Russia to act accordingly.”

Earlier on Monday, Russia said it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Estonia and accused Tallinn of “total Russophobia”.

23 Jan 2023 - 13:22
 (13:22 GMT)

Who controls what?

Here are four maps we update daily, charting the latest developments in the conflict.

23 Jan 2023 - 13:05
 (13:05 GMT)

Zelenskyy promises to combat corruption after investigation into minister

Zelenskyy promises to combat corruption after Ukrainian police detained the deputy infrastructure minister on suspicion of receiving $400,000 to facilitate the import of generators into Ukraine.

On Telegram, the president wrote: “Today, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dismissed a deputy minister who was exposed by NABU [the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine].”

“I want this to be our signal to all those whose actions or behaviour violate the principle of justice,” the president said. “Of course, now, the main focus is on defence, foreign policy and war. But this does not mean that I do not see or hear what is being said in society at different levels.”

Zelenskyy added that measures to fight corruption would be announced this week.

23 Jan 2023 - 12:44
 (12:44 GMT)

Deporting ex-Wagner fighter will result in ‘brutal murder’, Russian rights group says

A former Wagner mercenary who fled to Norway to seek political asylum has been told he will be deported, a Russian human rights group says.

The Gulagu.net group, which helped Andrey Medvedev escape, said he would face “brutal murder” if he is returned to Russia.

Officials in Norway said earlier on Monday that they had “apprehended” Medvedev and were considering whether to seek a court decision on his imprisonment.

23 Jan 2023 - 12:29
 (12:29 GMT)

EU pre-accession talks should begin this year, Ukraine says

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says European Union membership negotiations should start this year.

“We are convinced that pre-accession negotiations should begin as soon as possible after Ukraine has implemented the recommendations and the positive assessment of the European Commission,” Kuleba said in an online speech at an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

“Ukraine is making every effort, and I am convinced that we should start pre-accession negotiations by the end of 2023,” he said.

Kyiv officially applied for EU membership on February 28, four days after Russia invaded.

23 Jan 2023 - 12:19
 (12:19 GMT)

One civilian killed and nine wounded on Sunday, Ukrainian official says

One civilian has died and nine were wounded on Sunday in Ukraine, says the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Krylo Tymoshenko.

In his daily account of victims of the conflict, Tymoshenko wrote on Telegram that four people were wounded in the Donetsk region, one wounded in Zaporizhia, one dead and another wounded in Kharkiv, and three were wounded in Kherson.