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The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EST.
11:15 p.m.: Reuters reported that the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday he hoped to make progress on a safe zone deal around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine, but stressed it was a tough negotiation.
Russian forces in March captured the Soviet-era plant, Europe's largest, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.
"The situation around the plant continues to be very, very dangerous," Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters during a visit to Ukraine. "A nuclear accident, an accident with serious radiological consequences, is in nobody's interest."
Grossi said he hoped this week to meet in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his prime minister, Energy Minister German Galushchenko and others.
"I am very optimistic," he said, about the upcoming meetings, adding he would try to bring about "a smaller probability of nuclear catastrophe."
He acknowledged that brokering a protection zone was taking longer than expected but noted that the effort was taking place in wartime among parties with conflicting views.
Asked about how Russia would agree to a protection zone, he noted he was engaged in a difficult negotiation.
"No one wants to have this zone if it is considered ... a military advantage for one side or the other, and I am trying to convince everybody this is not the case," he said. "It's about preventing a nuclear accident."
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8:00 p.m.: Russia is taking personnel mobilization, reorganization, and industrial actions it should have before its invasion of Ukraine in February, The Institute for the Study of War said Monday. ISW said the moves are part of Russia's intention to conduct its so-called "special military operation" as a major conventional war. Analysts said Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled preparations for a protracted war in early December, promising to improve upon Russia's mistakes of the earlier military campaigns and setting conditions for a protracted war in Ukraine. ISW also said the Kremlin is "likely preparing to conduct a decisive strategic action in the next six months" to end Ukraine's current string of operational successes.
6:00 p.m.: In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the latest massive attack on the city in Dnipro to highlight the need for a speedy delivery of new defense package assistance.
“What happened in Dnipro, the fact that Russia is preparing a new attempt to seize the initiative in the war, the fact that the nature of hostilities at the front requires new decisions in the defense supply — all this only emphasizes how important it is to coordinate our efforts — efforts of all members of the coalition to defend Ukraine and freedom. And to speed up decision-making,” he said.
5:30 p.m.: Kyiv's infrastructure could collapse at any second as Russia's sporadic missile attacks and freezing winter temperatures put local authorities under increasing strain, the Ukrainian capital's mayor said Monday.
Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir told Reuters that Ukraine's Western allies had to speed up deliveries of air defense systems capable of downing Russian missiles.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of indiscriminately targeting civilians as well as key infrastructure, threatening the winter supply of electricity, running water and central heating.
"We don't talk about the collapse, but it can happen ... at any second [because] Russian rockets can destroy our critical infrastructure in Kyiv," Vitali Klitschko said, adding that there was currently a 30% deficit in energy in the capital.
5:15 p.m.: There is only one way to enable Ukraine to defeat Russia in a decisive battle: Dramatically increase the quantity and quality of arms supplies to Ukraine, writes political reporter Oleg Sukhov in an op-ed in the Kyiv Independent.
Sukhov writes that in order to sufficiently supply Ukraine with weapons, Western countries should substantially increase their military production and remove all restrictions on the types of weapons supplied to Ukraine.
In addition, Sukhov writes, NATO should give Ukraine weapons that enable it to strike deep into Russian territory, which would allow Ukraine to destroy the bases from which Russia launches aircraft and missiles.
5:07 p.m.: Russian forces shelled a school in Chasiv Yar, a community five kilometers west of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, an official said. No casualties were reported, but the school’s windows and sports facility were damaged.
Russian forces also reportedly shelled the village of Nove in Donetsk Oblast, damaging six houses.
According to Donetsk Oblast's governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, Russian attacks killed one civilian and injured seven in Donetsk Oblast over the past day. Fighting was reportedly the most intense near Bakhmut.
Serhiy Cherevaty, an Eastern Military Command spokesman, said Monday that Russian troops had shelled Bakhmut 259 times over the past day. Cherevaty added that Soledar was shelled 134 times, the Kyiv Independent reported.
4:45 p.m.: Russia is stepping up its use of S-300 and S-400 air defense systems to conduct strikes on ground targets, suggesting that Moscow's stocks of ballistic missiles are running low, Ukraine's Air Force spokesman said Monday.
The official, Yuriy Ihnat, cited Ukrainian intelligence as claiming that Russia had fewer than 100 modern Iskander ballistic munitions left. He said Russia was, instead, using its S-300 and S-400 systems because of an abundance of munitions, Reuters reported.
"The enemy is trying to use their potential, because there are many S-300 missiles already manufactured, [Russia] is a manufacturer of these missiles, and they are already using them in this way," he told a briefing in Kyiv by video link.
Britain's Ministry of Defense said last month that Russia had likely expended a large portion of its stocks of SS-26 Iskander short-range ballistic missiles, which can carry a 500 kg warhead up to 500 km (310 miles).
Russia's Ministry of Defense has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.
4:15 p.m.: The prospect of imminent global recession cast a long shadow over Davos on Monday as participants gathering for the opening of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting counted the likely cost for their economies and businesses.
Two-thirds of private and public sector chief economists surveyed by the WEF expect a global recession this year, with some 18% considering it "extremely likely" — more than twice as many as in the previous survey conducted in September 2022.
"The current high inflation, low growth, high debt and high fragmentation environment reduces incentives for the investments needed to get back to growth and raise living standards for the world's most vulnerable," WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said in a statement accompanying the survey results.
A WEF survey saw large regional variations: the proportion expecting high inflation in 2023 ranged from 5% for China to 57% for Europe, where the impact of last year's rise in energy prices has spread to the wider economy.
Most economists see further monetary policy tightening in Europe and the United States (59% and 55%, respectively), with policymakers caught between the risks of tightening too much or too little.
"It is clear that there is a massive drop in demand, inventories are not clearing up, the orders are not coming through," Yuvraj Narayan, deputy chief executive and chief financial officer of Dubai-based global logistics company DP World, told Reuters.
"There are far too many constraints imposed. It is no longer a free-flowing global economy and unless they find the right solutions it will only get worse," he said, adding the group expects freight rates to drop by between 15% and 20% in 2023.
4:05 p.m.: A high-level U.S. delegation met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials Monday in Kiyv. In the Ukrainian capital, VOA's Kyiv correspondent Anna Chernikova reports the delegation included Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state; Dr. Colin Kahl, under secretary for policy at the Department of Defense; and Jonathan Finer, principal deputy national security adviser.
In her opening remarks, Sherman expressed sympathy for the loss the people of Ukraine experience daily. She paid tribute to those who suffered in the Russian attack Saturday on the city of Dnipro, and especially to those who lost their home and family in that attack.
Sherman said the key reason for the delegation's visit to Ukraine was to deliver a message of support for Ukraine and to express admiration for Ukrainians' resiliency and bravery. After hearing directly from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, other top Ukrainian officials, and Ukrainian citizens on the ground, Sherman said the U.S. will continue to monitor Russians' actions and will stay with Ukraine for as long as it takes, as U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged.
Kahl said the U.S. is working to provide air defense equipment as well as armored and mobile capability necessary to help Ukraine maintain momentum on the battlefield. He said Russia is expected to continue turning to Iran, North Korea, and others for weapons supply support as its own missile capabilities and their own UAV capabilities are dwindling.
Finer said the U.S. strongly believes there must be accountability for everything Russia has done in Ukraine. Commenting on the discussions to recognize Russia as a terrorist state, he said the U.S. has addressed many Russian actions in Ukraine as war crimes.
3:35 p.m.: Belarus' exiled opposition leader expressed doubts Monday, whether Russia would launch an offensive on Ukraine from Belarus after the two countries began joint military drills, but she added, Moscow could launch more missiles strikes from its ally's territory.
Moscow and Minsk started joint military exercises on Monday, triggering fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that she believed the drills are aimed to scare Belarusians about the possibility of war and make President Alexander Lukashenko appear to be doing everything to avoid conflict.
"The other purpose is to threaten the Ukrainians, distract them and turn the attention of their troops from the eastern part of the country to the northern borders," Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus after a presidential election in 2020, said.
Belarus says the drills are defensive and it will not enter the war, while the Kremlin has denied that it has been pressuring Lukashenko to take a more active role in the conflict in Ukraine, which it calls a "special military operation."
Tsikhanouskaya says it is unclear how much appetite there is on the part of the people of Belarus to enter into a war against their neighbor.
"Lukashenko's regime isn't sure that if he sends troops to fight with the Russian army to Ukraine, the Belarus people won't change sides, hide or betray him, so the status quo is comfortable for Lukashenko and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," she said.
3:12 p.m.: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Monday for the establishment of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.
What is needed is "a tribunal that can investigate the Russian leadership and put them on trial," said Baerbock in a keynote speech at the Academy of International Law in The Hague, where the International Criminal Court is based.
The Ukrainian government is concerned that Russia cannot be prosecuted for its aggression before the ICC, she said, as it can deal only with cases in which the plaintiff and the defendant are members of the court, or a case is referred by the U.N. Security Council.
Russia is not a member of the ICC, and, as one of the five world powers who are veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, would likely block any referral to the ICC.
"We talked about working with Ukraine and our partners on the idea of setting up a special tribunal for crimes of aggression against Ukraine," said Baerbock, adding that such a body could derive its jurisdiction from Ukrainian criminal law.
It could be supplemented with international elements — "at a location outside Ukraine, with financial support from partners and with international prosecutors and judges, so that impartiality and legitimacy are guaranteed," she said.
Ukraine, the European Union and the Netherlands have openly supported the idea of a special tribunal. Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation," has denied accusations of war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed.
During a news conference later in the day, Baerbock addressed Ukrainian reports of children being deported to Russia and given up for adoption there.
"Russia must account for the whereabouts of these children," the minister said, while her Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra said the children must be brought home and Russia's practice of deporting them ended.
2:45 p.m.: The U.S. military's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, visited the Grafenwоеhr training area in southern Germany on Monday to observe a training program for Ukrainian forces, Deutsche Welle reported.
The U.S. military started giving hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers new combined arms training in Germany on Sunday to aid Kyiv's troops as they fend off Russia's invasion. Milley said the goal was to get some 500 troops combat-ready within five-to-eight weeks.
Milley told reporters traveling with him that the training was vital in aiding Ukraine's forces to recapture territory seized by Russia in past months.
"This support is really important for Ukraine to be able to defend itself," Milley said. "And we're hoping to be able to pull this together here in short order."
He said he hoped the newly trained troops would be able to use freshly delivered Western weaponry and equipment before rainy weather sets in during the spring.
The U.S. has already trained more than 3,100 Ukrainian troops on how to use and maintain certain weapons and other equipment, including howitzers, armored vehicles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems known as HIMARS.
2:30 p.m.: Ukrainian troops keep up the fight in the front line hotspots of Soledar and Bakhmut, despite Russian claims of victory. RFE/RL photojournalist Serhiy Nuzhnenko and Reuters photojournalist Oleksandr Ratushniak captured some snapshots of the war there on January 14–15.
2:10 p.m.: Britain urged Germany Monday to permit the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, stressing that it could unlock support from other nations and Berlin would not be acting alone if it supplied its own tanks, Reuters reports.
"It has been reported that obviously Poland is very keen to donate some Leopards, as is Finland," British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told parliament.
"All of this currently relies on the German government's decisions — not only whether the Germans will supply their own Leopards, but whether or not they'll give permissions to others. I would urge my German colleagues to do that."
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday as her government came under rising pressure to let allies send Ukraine heavy tanks at the start of what is likely to be a significant week for Western allies to further arm Kyiv.
Germany has resisted such a move so far, saying Western tanks should only be supplied to Ukraine if there is agreement among Kyiv's main allies, particularly the United States.
In response, Wallace said: "I know there have been concerns in the German political body that they don't want to go alone. Well, they're not alone."
He said the scale of support would be evident at a meeting of Ukraine's allies in Ramstein in Germany on Friday.
1:45 p.m.: Tearful neighbors and local residents left flowers and cuddly toys on Monday at a makeshift memorial near an apartment block in the city of Dnipro where Ukrainian where at least 40 people were killed in a Russian missile strike last Saturday, Reuters reported.
A candle burned beside the growing pile of toys and bouquets.
Other people fought back tears as they stood behind the makeshift memorial, staring up at the devastated apartment block where emergency workers cleared away rubble.
"We came here to look, pay our respects. It is very tough, such a shame about lives lost," said 63-year-old Viktoria.
"I want to say, 'Rest in Peace' to all those who died and 'Keep strong' to all those who survived. It is very sad, such a shame about lives lost. Any of us could have been there," she said.
Another local resident, 28-year-old Polina, came to lay flowers with her boyfriend and show solidarity.
"My friend lives in this neighborhood. She is in shock after what happened. She does not live in that apartment building, but in the neighborhood. She was at home and heard an explosion. She sent me a video," she said.
"We all live in buildings like this one and any of us imagined what if it happened to them? It's awful."
Dozens of people were still missing on Monday after what was the deadliest single incident since Moscow began a campaign of firing missiles at cities far from front lines of its war in Ukraine. Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians.
1:15 p.m.: Britain's defense minister Ben Wallace confirmed Monday, the supply of 14 Challenger 2 tanks.
"Today, I can announce the most significant package of combat power to date to accelerate Ukrainian success. This includes a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks with armored recovery and repair vehicles," Wallace said to parliament.
The package also includes:
- Eight AS90 guns
- Hundreds of more armored and protective vehicles including Bulldog personnel carriers.
- A maneuver support package including minefield breaching and bridging capabilities
- Dozens more "uncrewed aerial systems" to support artillery
- Another 100,000 artillery rounds
- Hundreds more sophisticated missiles including Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), Starstreak air defense, medium range air defense missiles
- A package of spares to refurbish up to 100 Ukrainian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, Reuters reported.
12:57 p.m.: A man claiming to have been a member of the Russian mercenary group Wagner is seeking asylum in Norway after what he described as a harrowing escape across the border, his lawyer said Monday.
Twenty-six-year-old Andrei Medvedev was arrested for illegally crossing the border to Norway near the Pasvikdalen valley last week, Agence France-Presse reported.
"When I was on the ice (at the border), I heard dogs barking, I turned around, I saw people with torches, about 150 meters (500 feet) away, running in my direction," he said.
"I heard two shots, the bullets whizzed by," he added.
"He has declared that he is willing to speak about his experiences in the Wagner Group to people who are investigating war crimes," the lawyer said, adding that Medvedev alleged he had served as a unit commander for between five and ten soldiers.
According to Human Rights group Gulagu.net, Medvedev originally signed a four-month contract in early July 2022 and claims to have witnessed executions and reprisals against those who refused to fight and wanted to leave.
12:42 p.m.:
12:07 p.m.: U.S. ambassador to the U.N. demands Russia’s accountability for sexual crimes in Ukraine.
11:57 a.m.: Russia said on Monday that it had scrambled a Su-27 fighter jet to intercept a German naval plane over the Baltic Sea after it said the plane approached its territory.
Reuters reported, the defense ministry said that the German aircraft - a P-3 Orion maritime patrol plane — did not cross Russia's borders and that it turned back after the confrontation.
"After the foreign military aircraft turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation, the Russian fighter returned to its home airfield," the ministry said.
11:32 a.m.: Russia has produced the first nuclear warheads for the Poseidon super torpedoes that it claims are "practically indestructible," according to Russian news agency Tass.
U.S. and Russian officials have both described Poseidon as a new category of retaliatory weapon, capable of triggering radioactive ocean swells to render coastal cities uninhabitable. Months ago, Russian state TV demonstrated in an animated video what these warheads can do rending cities uninhabitable and causing a radioactive tidal wave.
"The first Poseidon ammunition loads have been manufactured, and the Belgorod submarine will receive them in the near future," an unidentified defense source reportedly told the state news agency.
Tass said the main components of Poseidon, including a nuclear reactor to give the torpedo its own power source, had been successfully completed. The crew of the Belgorod nuclear submarine has also completed tests with models of the torpedo, Tass said.
However, there has been no official confirmation and a U.S. official said as recently as November that attempts to test the torpedo had likely been fraught with technical issues, The Telegraph reported.
President Vladimir Putin first announced what would become known as Poseidon in 2018, claiming it was a fundamentally new type of strategic nuclear weapon with its own nuclear power source.
He claimed the range of the torpedo would be unlimited and that it could operate at extreme depths at a speed many times that of any submarine or other torpedoes.
"They are very low noise, have high maneuverability and are practically indestructible for the enemy. There is no weapon that can counter them in the world today," Putin said.
10:57 a.m.: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Monday for a special tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders over the invasion of Ukraine, AFP reported.
In a speech in The Hague, Baerbock called for a "new format" of court to "bring Russian leaders to justice", possibly using Ukrainian law but based abroad with international judges.
10:45 a.m.: The death toll from a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 40 on Monday. Dozens more are missing. This is the deadliest civilian incident of Moscow's three-month campaign of hurling missiles at cities far from the front.
Kyiv says the mass civilian deaths, which it describes as terrorism, demonstrate why it needs more weapons to defeat Russian forces 11 months after they invaded. Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians, Reuters reported.
10:27 a.m.: President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone, Monday.
During the call, “President Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is ready to undertake the task of facilitating and mediating for the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine," Erdogan's office said in a statement.
According to Reuters, the two leaders discussed about exchanging prisoners wounded in Ukraine, the creation of a gas hub in Turkey and the export of grain from the Black Sea, the Kremlin said on Monday.
"The exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine continued," the Kremlin said. It said the question of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was raised, following talks between human rights commissioners from both countries in Turkey last week.
"Vladimir Putin drew attention to the destructive line of the Kyiv regime, which relies on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors, increasing the volume of transferred weapons and military equipment," the Kremlin said in its readout of the call.
It said the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports and ways to unblock fertilizer and food exports from Russia was discussed. Erdogan and Putin also talked about energy, the Kremlin said.
"Among the priorities is cooperation in the energy sector, including the supply of Russian natural gas and the creation of a regional gas hub in Turkey," the Kremlin said.
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9:45 a.m.: The World Economic Forum (WEF), which returns in the high-end Swiss ski resort Davos this week, will focus once again on Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.
A heavy contingent of Ukraine's closest allies from the Baltics, Nordic countries and eastern Europe, along with the European Union and NATO leaders, are all attending ahead of a crunch meeting in Ramstein, Germany on Friday that will focus on more sophisticated weaponry pledged to Ukraine.
Russia’s and Belarus’ joint military exercises Monday have triggered fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow could use its ally to launch a new ground offensive in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Of the G7 leaders, only German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will address attendees. His country is under pressure to deliver state-of-the art Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
9:07 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a controversial law late last year that expands government regulation of Ukrainian media. The new law has some critics calling it censorship. Oleksii Kovalenko has the story:
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8:37 a.m.: Reuters reported that Russia's Gazprom said it will ship 35.4 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Monday, a volume in line with recent days.
8:09 a.m.: According to Reuters, the Kremlin on Monday denied any conflict between the Defense Ministry and the Wagner mercenary group fighting for Russia in Ukraine, calling it an invention of the media.
Tension between Wagner and the defense establishment burst into the open last Friday when the ministry claimed the capture of the Ukrainian town of Soledar — which Ukraine disputed — but made no mention of Wagner's role in the fighting.
Wagner's boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, complained of attempts to minimize his forces' role and belittle their achievements.
The defense ministry later issued an update praising the "courageous and selfless actions" of Wagner fighters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was unhelpful for pro-Russian media to take part in media "manipulations" about an alleged rift between the armed forces and Wagner.
He said Russia recognized both as heroes, and "both of them will be forever in our memory."
"As for any conflicts, these are mainly products of informational manipulations, which are, okay, sometimes arranged by our informational opponents, but sometimes our friends behave in such a way that such enemies are not needed," he said.
"Everyone is fighting for their country. So, this is how it should be viewed.
6:10 a.m.: The Kremlin said on Monday that the tanks Britain plans to send to Ukraine "will burn," warning the West that supplying a new round of more advanced weapons to Ukraine would not change the course of the war, Reuters reported.
Since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, the United States and its allies have given tens of billions of dollars' worth of weaponry including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles and communications systems.
Britain said on Saturday it would send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks as well as other advanced artillery support in the coming weeks.
"They are using this country as a tool to achieve their anti-Russian goals," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the British tanks.
"These tanks are burning and will burn just like the rest," Peskov said.
Peskov said the new supplies from countries like Britain and Poland would not change the situation on the ground.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv by allowing the export of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine by Germany, which makes them, and other countries that have them.
5:50 a.m.:
5:32 a.m.: Reuters reported that the Kremlin said on Monday that Russian forces did not target residential buildings in its missile strike against Ukraine, two days after a Russian missile hit an apartment complex in Dnipro, in an attack that Kyiv says killed more than 30 civilians.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the "situation" in Dnipro was the result of Ukrainian counter-missiles and air defense.
5:12 a.m.:
4:40 a.m.: German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for her dismissal, she said in a statement on Monday, the culmination of growing skepticism about her ability to bring the German army into shape against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Today I asked the chancellor to dismiss me from the office of federal minister of defense," Lambrecht, a member of Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD), said in the statement, as reported by Reuters.
Her decision to step down comes as Germany is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv, and Germany's defense capabilities have been called into question after several Puma infantry tanks were put out of service during a recent military drill.
4:25 a.m.: The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol said on Monday that the city's air defenses had downed three drones, and that they continued to repel an ongoing attack. Reuters reported.
3:42 a.m.:
3:20 a.m.: Russia has produced the first nuclear warheads for the Poseidon super torpedoes to be deployed on the Belgorod nuclear submarine, TASS reported on Monday, citing an unidentified defense source, according to Reuters.
"The first Poseidon ammunition loads have been manufactured, and the Belgorod submarine will receive them in the near future," TASS quoted the source as saying.
President Vladimir Putin first announced what would become known as Poseidon in 2018, saying it was a fundamentally new type of strategic nuclear weapon with its own nuclear power source.
In the 2018 speech, Putin said the range of the torpedo would be unlimited and that it could operate at extreme depths at a speed many times that of any submarine or other torpedoes.
"They are very low noise, have high maneuverability and are practically indestructible for the enemy. There is no weapon that can counter them in the world today," Putin said.
2:40 a.m.: Reuters reported that, as Russian missiles continue to pound her country, Ukraine's number two tennis player Marta Kostyuk says she will not shake hands with tour rivals from Russia and Belarus who she feels have not done enough to speak out against the invasion.
The 20-year-old Kyiv native generated headlines last year when she refused the customary handshake at the net with former world number one Victoria Azarenka after the Belarusian beat her at the U.S. Open.
Belarus is being used as a key staging ground for Russia's war in Ukraine, which Moscow terms a "special operation."
After winning her first match at the Australian Open on Monday, upsetting 28th seeded American Amanda Anisimova, Kostyuk said she would snub handshakes with any Russian or Belarusian opponent who had not openly condemned the invasion.
2:15 a.m.:
2:05 a.m.: The cargo ship MKK 1, traveling from Ukraine to Turkey, was grounded in Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on Monday and traffic in the strait was suspended but no damage was reported, Reuters cited shipping agents Tribeca as saying.
Several tugs were among vessels sent to provide assistance to the ship, the coastguard authority said.
Television footage showed the bow of the ship, carrying 13,000 tons of peas, grounded close to the coastline on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.
The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which runs the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal operations, said at the weekend the ship was traveling from Pivdennyi to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin.
Tribeca said the Palau-flagged general cargo ship was grounded at Acarburnu at the northern end of the strait early on Monday as it headed southbound.
It said no damage or spill was reported.
1:43 a.m.:
1 a.m.: While there’s no knowing when the war in Ukraine will be over, one volunteer organization in western Ukraine – called Lviv Knights – has been working since 2014 trying to help restore old historical buildings while at the same time helping Ukrainian soldiers by collecting whatever equipment they can.
Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story from Lviv, in western Ukraine:
12:30 a.m.:
12:05 a.m.: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. military’s new, expanded combat training of Ukrainian forces has begun in Germany, The Associated Press reported.
The goal is getting a battalion of about 500 troops back on the battlefield to fight the Russians in the next five to eight weeks. Gen. Mark Milley said the troops being trained left Ukraine a few days ago to head to Germany.
The so-called combined arms training is aimed at honing the skills of the Ukrainian forces so they will be better prepared to launch an offensive or counter any surge in Russian attacks. Milley spoke Sunday to reporters traveling with him to Brussels.
Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters.
