Ukraine updates: Germany hands over first of new howitzers

The European Union has invited heads of member states to attend a meeting in Belgium on February 3 to discuss common defense policy, just two weeks after Donald Trump's return to the US Presidency.

"Europe needs to assume greater responsibility for its own defence," European Council chief Antonio Costa wrote on Monday, extending the invitation to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"I believe we share a similar assessment of the threats Europe is facing," Costa said, stating that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 marked the return of "high-intensity war" to the continent.

"Peace in Europe depends on Ukraine winning a comprehensive, just and lasting peace," Costa insisted, warning that the geopolitical outlook for the EU would "remain challenging in the foreseeable future."

Talks will focus on defining priorities for boosting Europe's defence capabilities at a time when President-elect Trump is promising a swift resolution to Russia's war in Ukraine, one way or the other, and demanding that NATO members increase defense spending.

The EU's new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reiterated last week that, while she hopes the United States will maintain its support for Kyiv, Europe was ready to take the lead if not.

It is for that reason that British Prime Minister Starmer has also been invited, despite the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU in 2016. Starmer's new Labour government is keen to refresh ties with Europe, especially in defense, while the UK remains one of Europe's largest military powers.

The prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks on gas transit amid a deepening row between the countries.

"Such a meeting will create a good basis for an open discussion on gas supplies to Slovakia and other countries through the Ukrainian territory," Fico wrote in an open letter to Zelenskyy.

The row began earlier this month when Ukraine halted shipments of Russia gas to Europe through its territory after a transit agreement between Kyiv and Moscow expired.

Slovakia has a major contract with Russia's state-run oil giant Gazprom. Despite an outcry from fellow EU leaders, Fico visited President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss the matter.

Last week, Fico implied that his country could withhold aid to Ukraine over the spat.

Zelenskyy has said that it was "a clear mistake for Fico to believe that he could continue his shady dealings with Moscow indefinitely," and that the Slovak leader had "arrogantly denied" his government's offer to help find a workaround.

Germany's defense minister, Boris Pistorius, has handed over the first of 54 planned wheeled howitzers to Ukraine to help bolster artillery capability.

"Ukraine can count on us, and this is a signal. And Germany is ready to assume responsibility in Europe," Pistorius said in the city of Kassel, where the weapons system is produced by tank manufacturer KNDS.

Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, symbolically accepted the first of the new RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers for his country.

"We don't need mediators, we need allies," said the ambassador.

The RCH 155 artillery system is described by its manufacturer as the "world's most modern wheeled howitzer," which makes it possible to fire on the move for the first time.

The European Commission announced a new humanitarian aid package worth €140 million ($142.8 million) to assist in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The funding is earmarked to help provide food, shelter, clean water, health care and winter protection for people in war-torn regions, the commission said in a statement.

This would bring the total humanitarian aid allocation from the European Commission to over €1.1 billion.

A further €8 million has been allocated for humanitarian projects in neighboring Moldova to help Ukrainian refugees and host communities.

The commission said that around 12.7 million people were in desperate need of assistance as "Russia’s war of aggression continues to devastate Ukraine."

The announcement of further aid comes as EU Crisis Commissioner Hadja Lahbib visits Ukraine where she is expected to meet a number of leaders including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The UK Defense Ministry said Russia had deployed about 1,700 One Way Attack Uncrewed Aerial Systems (OWA UAS) into Ukraine over December.

The MOD's intelligence update on the war in Ukraine stated that this was a decrease from the 2,300 deployed during November and said weather conditions may have played a roll in the drop in numbers.

The MOD said that Ukraine's air force had reported shooting down 53% of the drones while the remainder were disrupted using electronic warfare, or had flown off course.

The MOD said it was likely that Russia could sustain launching in excess of at least 1,500 drones per month.

State-run Russian media agency TASS reported that Russian forces took control of the village of Pishchane in the Donetsk region, citing the Defense Ministry.

The captured village is situated about 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Pokrovsk, which is home to Ukraine's most important coal mine.

The mine's owner, Metinvest, said last month that it had halted operations at the site and evacuated all personnel.

Russia has been trying to capture the crucial supply hub for months. Should the city fall, Russia would gain access to important roads and railway connections which could serve as a gateway to the neighboring Dnipro-Petrovsk region.

Russia's Defense Ministry has accused Ukraine of launching a drone strike on the TurkStream pipeline, which channels Russian gas to the rest of Europe via Turkey.

"On January 11, the Kyiv regime, in order to cut off gas supplies to European countries, attempted an attack with nine drones," Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the attack targeted a compressor station in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, but the facility was working normally and there had been no casualties.

The claims could not be independently verified.

The gas pipeline begins at the Russkaya (Russian) compressor station outside the city of Anapa in Russia's Krasnador region and runs to Kiyikoy in Turkey, and then onwards to Europe. Compressor stations are used to stabilize the pressure and flow rate of gas.

Ukraine's air force said air defenses had downed 78 out of 110 Russian drones launched in an overnight wave attack.

"The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine," the Air Force said in a statement on the Telegram messaging service.

It also said drone debris damaged several business and residential buildings in four Ukrainian regions in the center, north and southeast.

Russia frequently carries out attacks with Iran-supplied Shahed drones in the early hours of the morning. 

North Korean troops appear to have orders to commit suicide to evade capture, South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said, citing South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS).

The agency said memos found on dead North Korean soldiers indicated that they had been ordered to commit suicide before being captured, Lee said.

"It was also found in the memos carried by those killed that North Korean authorities emphasized self-destruction and suicide before capture, and that soldiers vaguely expect to join the Workers' Party [of North Korea] or be pardoned," Lee said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Kyiv is ready to hand over North Korean soldiers to their leader, Kim Jong Un, in exchange for the return of Ukrainians held captive in Russia.

"In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It's only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others," Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

The Ukrainian president shared a video showing the interrogation of two North Korean prisoners of war.

In the video, one prisoner is lying on a bunk bed, while the other is sitting up in bed with a bandage wrapped around his jaw.

Zelenskyy added that there may be other options available for those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return and "those who express a desire to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in the Korean [language] will be given that opportunity." 

South Korea's spy agency said North Korean troop fatalities and injuries in Russia's war against Ukraine had likely passed the 3,000 mark.

"The deployment of North Korean troops to Russia has reportedly expanded to include the Kursk region, with estimates suggesting that casualties among North Korean forces have surpassed 3,000," South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters following a briefing from the intelligence agency.

The number includes "approximately 300 deaths and 2,700 injuries," Lee said.

In October, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Pyongyang was sending as many as 12,000 troops to Russia as it continued its invasion of Ukraine.

A defense pact signed between Pyongyang and Moscow in June took effect in December.

The agreement obligates both states to provide military assistance in the case of an attack on the other, and to jointly oppose Western sanctions.

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