Ukraine updates: Russian forces claim to encircle Bakhmut

There have been reported claims on Wednesday that the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been surrounded by Russian forces, Reuters news agency reported.

"Bakhmut is now operationally surrounded, our forces are closing the ring around the city," said Yan Gagin, an aide to Denis Pushilin — the Russia-backed leader of the illegally annexed Donetsk region, during a television address.

Gagin claimed that fighting was now taking place for control of the Chasiv-Yar-Bakhmut highway.

Ukraine's military leadership, meanwhile, said there has been no let up with Russian offensive operations on the Lyman and Bakhmut axes, but spoke of the heavy losses Russian forces were incurring in their battle to take the town.

"The invaders are suffering heavy losses," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its latest situation report, adding that attacks had been repelled in Bakhmut, mentioned among a list of other towns in Donetsk.

The city has been the scene of fierce fighting for months, with Russian forces and mercenaries from the Wagner group locked in a grinding battle with Ukrainian forces.

Here are other updates on the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, February 1:

German defense minister urges replacement of Leopard 2 tanks

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany is in desperate need of new Leopard 2 tanks to replace the ones being sent to Ukraine.

"For me, the crucial fact is that we have to order new tanks, not in a year, but swiftly, so that production can begin," Pistorius told journalists. 

Germany recently agreed to send Leopard 2 tanks after an enormous public pressure campaign. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was initially hesitant to send the tanks, fearing that the war in Ukraine could escalate further.   

UK still deliberating fighter jet deliveries 

The UK said it is still deliberating the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

"I've been involved with this for a long time. And I've learned two things; never rule anything in and never rule anything out," UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told journalists regarding the possibility of sending fighter jets to Kyiv. 

"This is not a solid decision," he continued. "For now, I don't think that's the right approach. What'S going to move this conflict this year is going to be the ability for Ukrainians to deploy Western armor against Russia."

"What they need now is armor and tanks," Wallace said of the Ukrainians. "I think we'd have to be pretty sure that (jets) is going to be the next battle winning requirement. But for now, I think we're focused on the tanks, the land battle."     

New US sanctions target arms dealer proxies

The US has imposed a new round of sanctions against 22 individuals and entities that it said were part of a network that aimed to get around previously imposed sanctions against Russia's military-industrial complex.

The network is led by Russian arms dealer Igor Zimenkov who helps export Russian arms and acquires high-end technologies for the Russian military.

Zimenkov is based out of Russia and Cyprus, but the network includes entities and individuals located in Singapore, Belarus, Bulgaria and Israel. The US Treasury says the network functioned as a proxy for already-sanctioned defense entities such as Rostec and Rosoboronexport.

"Russia's desperate attempts to utilize proxies to circumvent US sanctions demonstrate that sanctions have made it much harder and costlier for Russia's military-industrial complex to re-supply Putin's war machine," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo in a statement.

EU to double its training target for Ukrainian forces

The European Union plans to train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian troops — doubling their training target to 30,000 soldiers, several news agencies reported on Wednesday.

The initial training target is set to be reached by the end of June, AFP reported, citing unnamed EU officials.

The training mission was first launched in November and seeks to provide individual, collective and specialized training to Ukrainian forces, according to an EU statement. Soldiers will be trained in Germany, Poland and other EU-member states.

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is expected to offer combat training and tactical exercises.

An official announcement on the expansion of the training mission is expected on Friday during a visit by top EU leaders to Ukraine.

The move comes as members of the 27-nation bloc seek to boost their military aid to Ukraine, with several countries pledging to provide German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

Billion dollar embezzlement uncovered at oil firms — Ukraine SBU

Ukrainian security services have conducted raids at the homes of oligarch Igor Kolomoisky and former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, according to Ukrainian media reports.

The German dpa news agency reported that the raids had yet to be confirmed by authorities, but pictures surfaced in Ukrainian media appearing to show the businessman next to security officials at his home.

Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had discovered embezzlement amounting to $1 billion at two oil firms run by billionaire businessman Kolomoisky.

The SBU said in a Telegram post that the former management of oil refining firm Ukrtatnafta had been issued with suspicion notices relating to the case. 

Russian journalist sentenced for spreading 'false information'

A Russian court has sentenced journalist Alexander Nevzorov to eight years imprisonment after he was found guilty of spreading "false information" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The television journalist and former lawmaker fled Russia following the start of the invasion and was sentenced in absentia.

Nevzorov was accused of manipulating coverage of the siege of Mariupol. He came under particular scrutiny for reporting that a maternity hospital in the port city was purposefully shelled by Russian forces.

Russian lawmakers approved new laws after the invasion that criminalized the dissemination of false information.

Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced to eight and a half years behind bars under the law, while another leading opponent, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is in custody facing the same charges.

Spain to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine — report

Spain is planning to send between four and six Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, according to a report from El Pais newspaper, citing government sources.

The number of tanks being sent to Kyiv would depend on the condition of Leopards in storage and also on how many other countries would be supplying Ukraine, according to the report.

There has been no immediate comment from Spain's Defense Ministry.

A week ago, several countries pledged to send battle tanks to Ukraine to help fend off invading Russian forces, after continued requests from Ukraine's leadership.

Ukraine looking to secure long-range missiles, aircraft

Ukraine's senior adviser in the presidency said that talks were underway to secure longer-range missiles and fighter aircraft to help in the fight against Russia's invasion.

"Each war stage requires certain weapons. Amassing RF's (Russia's) reserves in the occupied territories requirespecifics from (Ukraine) & partners," adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted on Twitter.

"So: 1. There is already a tank coalition (logistics, training, supply). 2. There are already talks on longer-range missiles & attack aircraft supply," Podolyak said.

The Kremlin meanwhile said that Western deliveries of long-range weapons to Ukraine would not change Russia's military objectives in Ukraine.

"This is a direct course to whipping up tension and to escalating the level (of fighting). But again, it won't change the course of events," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a response to a question about the possibility of the US supplying missiles with long-range capabilities.

More DW coverage on the war in Ukraine

Read more about a Kharkiv architect's plan to help reconstruct the Ukrainian city destroyed by war.

And will fighter aircraft be next on the list of pledges for Ukraine? More on that story here.

kb/sms (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)