Russia Ukraine war live: ‘600 members of Putin’s forces killed in one day’ as party HQ destroyed

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost 600 of his troops in one day, according to Kyiv, while his conservative party’s headquarters in Ukraine was destroyed on Friday.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces is estimating that 600 of Moscow’s personnel were killed on Friday, bringing the total lost since February 2022 to 268,140.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the United Russia political party in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Polohy was destroyed in an attack on the same day, according to the mayor of Melitopol, reported the Kyiv Independent.

Ivan Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging app that local residents described Russians as “burned out” of the headquarters amid the “hellish pseudo-elections”. Alluding to casualties, he said: “Some went to the hospital, and some went straight to the morgue.”

Experts are “deeply concerned” by “increased military activity” in the region around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrote on Friday of reports of “numerous explosions over the past week”, which could “pose a potential threat to nuclear safety and security at the site”.

Over the three days from last Saturday, the IAEA team heard around two dozen explosions, followed by several more in recent days – although there was no damage to the Russian-occupied facility itself.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “remains highly precarious”.

“The reports I receive from our experts indicate that the explosions occurred some distance away from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant,” he said. “Nevertheless, I remain deeply concerned about the possible dangers facing the plant at this time of heightened military tension in the region.

“Whatever happens in a conflict zone, wherever it may be, everybody would stand to lose from a nuclear accident, and I urge that all necessary precautions must be taken to avoid it happening.”

A 31-year-old British man who went to fight in Ukraine was found dead in a body of water.

The man, recognised as Jordan Chadwick from Burnley in Lancashire, fought as part of the foreign legion in Ukraine, and was killed under unknown circumstances, BBC reported.

An inquest into the possible cause of Mr Chadwick’s death will reportedly be held in February.

“His passion to support freedom and assist others with his skills led him to leave the UK and travel to the Ukraine in early October 2022,” his mother told BBC.

The G20 summit hosted by India in New Delhi began with negotiators leaving a paragraph on Ukraine blank in the leaders’ draft declaration, Reuters reported.

The paragraph relating to Ukraine and the “geopolitical situation” was reportedly left blank, while those on several global issues, including climate change and cryptocurrency had consensus agreed upon by member nations.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, whose country has juggled good relations with both Russia and the West, said he does not want the war to dominate the meeting intended to highlight the Global South’s needs.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud on Friday to discuss Ukraine’s path to peace.

Mr Zelensky’s office noted that the two leaders discussed ongoing cooperation between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia as an extension of the Jeddah peace talks held in August.

At the peace talks in August, global leaders discussed Ukraine’s 10-point plan for an end to Russia’s war.

On Friday’s call, Mr Zelensky “expressed gratitude” to the Saudi Crown Prince for the successful meeting in Jeddah.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has tweeted in support of further sanctions being made to impact on Russia’s economic output.

“Russia is actively trying to evade sanctions,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The global sanctions offensive must be resumed. Three priorities are: more sanctions against Russia’s energy sector, real restrictions on the transfer of chips and microelectronics, and further blocking of the Russian financial sector.”

Local elections are being held this weekend in Russia as the Kremlin looks to tighten its grip on territories it seized from Ukraine a year ago.

The voting for Russian-installed legislatures in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions has already begun and concludes Sunday. It has been denounced by Kyiv and the West.

“It constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, which Russia continues to disregard,” the council of Europe, the continent’s foremost human rights body, said this week.

Kyiv echoed that sentiment, with the parliament saying in a statement that the balloting in areas where Russia “conducts active hostilities” poses a threat to Ukrainian lives. Ukrainian officials have urged other countries not to recognize the results of the vote, which the Foreign Ministry called “fake elections.”

The European Union’s executive branch strongly criticised the bloc’s representative in Austria for accusing the country of paying “blood money” to Russia for gas supplies and said Friday he has been ordered back to Brussels.

EU representative Martin Selmayr said during an event on Wednesday that Austria continues to get 55 per cent of its gas from Russia — but no one, he noted, is out on Vienna’s central Ringstrasse boulevard to protest that, the Austria Press Agency reported.

An employee of Germany’s foreign intelligence service and an acquaintance have been charged with treason for allegedly passing secret documents to Russia, prosecutors said Friday.

The intelligence officer, who has been identified only as Carsten L. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Berlin on December 21 last year.

The second suspect, a self-employed German businessman identified as Arthur E., was arrested at Munich airport on January 22 as he arrived from the United States.