War in Ukraine: Two towns captured, two generals arrested, donation from a production studio… an update on the situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Monday, January 20, 2025, discover the latest news about this conflict.

Two towns in the East

The Russian army claimed on Monday the conquest of two towns in eastern Ukraine, one of which is six kilometers south of Pokrovsk, a key city for the logistics of the Ukrainian forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily statement that it had taken control of Shevchenko, south of Pokrovsk, as well as Novoegorivka, a village in the Lugansk region. Despite heavy losses, the Russian army has been advancing for months against Ukrainian forces that are short of men and less well armed.

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Two generals arrested

The Ukrainian Bureau of Investigation (DBR) announced on Monday the arrest of two generals and an army colonel whose “inaction” and “negligence” had “allowed” Russia to occupy part of the Kharkiv region (northeast) in May 2024. Russia, which launched the invasion of Ukraine three years ago, also began early May 2024 a surprise offensive across the border of the Kharkiv region.

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Although the Ukrainian army managed to stop him, it was unable to retake the area, where Russian strikes razed several towns and caused tens of thousands of civilians to flee. The detained servicemen include a former commander of the Kharkiv tactical group, the former commander of the 125th territorial defense brigade and the former commander of a battalion. Their “negligent attitude” allowed Russia to penetrate up to 10 kilometers deep into Ukraine, which lost control of part of its border, the DBR said in a statement.

“The actions of the commanders led to the loss of personnel and weapons and caused the defense of the state border in their area of ​​responsibility to fail” , he continued. The senior officers are accused, among other things, of having poorly coordinated the defense of this sector, of not having organized the support of artillery and aviation and of not having prepared the fortifications, according to the DBR statement. The former battalion commander is separately suspected of having deserted the battlefield, the DBR added. The men face up to 10 years in prison, according to the same source.

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Donations from a Russian production company

The Mosfilm company, created in 1920, has donated old Russian tanks to the army to support the war in Ukraine, reports Geo. A gesture that is well received since Russia has lost nearly 3,500 heavy vehicles since the start of the invasion, with 2,484 tanks destroyed, 158 damaged, 374 abandoned and 533 captured by the enemy, according to The War Zone.

“In 2023, we handed over to the armed forces 28 T-55 tanks, 8 PT-76 tanks, 6 infantry fighting vehicles and 8 trucks that we had in our military department,” Mosfilm director General Karen Shakhnazarov told Vladimir Putin during a meeting in the Kremlin on Wednesday.

As reported by The War Zone Zone, this forty or so armored vehicles given should nevertheless not really change the situation on the front, the reasons ? These are notably very old tanks dating from the middle of the 20th century.