Ukraine Update…312 days into the Russian move on the Ukraine…Brits to supply tanks….

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

• The U.K. will send self-propelled guns artillery rounds, armored vehicles and other equipment to make sure Ukraine “seizes its upper hand” in the next phase of the conflict, Wallace said in an address at the House of Commons, urging nations to increase their support to keep “the pressure on Putin.” In response to the military aid package, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was “deeply grateful to the UK for standing with Ukraine resolutely.”
• Putin’s resolve to “continue inflicting wanton violence” must be met with increased combat power, Wallace said. He urged the international community to accelerate its diplomatic, economic and military efforts to aid Ukraine’s defense.
• Rescue workers in Dnipro made significant progress overnight. On Monday afternoon, they were removing mounds of rubble from the blast site, and smoke was no longer rising in the air, Washington Post reporters observed. The death toll has risen to 40, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov told The Post, and dozens of people were missing. Filatov told The Post that authorities do not expect to find many more survivors in the wreckage.
• U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with officials from roughly 50 nations on Thursday in Germany. “We are focused on doing everything we can to help make sure that the Ukrainians have the capabilities that they need to be successful in their efforts to defend their sovereign territory,” Austin said last week. NATO chiefs of defense will also gather in Brussels to talk about the war in Ukraine, among other issues.
• German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned after missteps sparked a debate about her ability to lead Germany’s response to the war in Ukraine. Criticism of her handling of the ministry during the crisis mounted after a New Year’s Eve video message that was slammed for being tone deaf and revelations that she took her son on a government helicopter. In a statement, Lambrecht blamed the “media focus on my person.”

• The commander of Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired five long-range Kh-22 missiles — whose warheads each weigh more than 2,000 pounds — at Ukraine on Saturday. Ukraine doesn’t have the ability to shoot down such missiles, Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk said. The Post could not independently verify the type of missile used in the attacks. The Kremlin on Monday denied responsibility.
• Ukraine’s military “almost certainly maintained positions” in Soledar as of Sunday, Britain’s Defense Ministry said. The town has come under renewed assault by Russian mercenaries and released convicts from the Wagner Group, raising the stakes for Ukrainian officials who must decide whether the costs of defending the area in terms of ammunition, weapons and manpower are too high. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, urged people not to make unverified claims about troop movements in and around Soledar, saying only top military officials had the full picture of the situation.
• An overnight strike against Zaporizhzhia damaged a residential building and wounded five people, including two children, according to the regional governor. Oleksandr Starukh said the strike was carried out with a long-range S-300 missile that hit close to the building and caused the windows and doors to blow out, spraying debris and glass. The Post could not independently verify the report of an attack or the type of weapon used.
• There was “intense fighting” over the weekend around Kreminna and Bakhmut, Britain’s Defense Ministry said. Around Kreminna, a city in the Luhansk region, the ministry reported “a complex series of local attacks and counterattacks in wooded country” but said Ukraine’s military continues overall “to gradually advance their front line east.”
• The Kremlin is “belatedly” taking personnel mobilization, reorganization and industrial actions it should have taken before invading Ukraine in February, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War think tank said. It is probably in preparation to treat the conflict as a major conventional war rather than what Moscow has continued to call it: a “special military operation.” The Kremlin “is likely preparing to conduct a decisive strategic action in the next six months intended to regain the initiative and end Ukraine’s current string of operational successes,” the Washington-based think tank said….

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