Ukraine War 1/30: Russia occupies Tabaivka, Kiev faces difficulties in Kupyansk

Russia stepped up attacks along the front line, Ukraine struggled to defend (Illustration: Sky News).

Russia officially occupies Tabaivka, Kupyansk is in danger

SGS channel reported that in the Kupyansk direction, the Russian army has expanded its control around Tabaevka and is likely to increase it further as they have captured a series of key heights.

Suriyakmaps also confirmed that the Russian army has completely controlled and held Tabaevka after capturing the western hills. In addition, the army has made new advances towards Berestove.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had officially established full control over the village of Tabaivka.

Map of the Ukrainian war in Kupyansk as of January 29. In which, Russia controls the pink area, the red arrows are the direction of their attack and the darker pink areas are where Moscow forces have just gained control (Photo: SGS).

Defense expert Mikael Valtersson analyzes that if we look at the topographic map, we see that the Russian army has taken control of the high ground between the railway and the P07 road connecting Kupyansk and Svatove. They have also gained a foothold on the high ground west of Tobaevka (T).

The Russian advance continues northwest, likely following the P07 high ground towards Kupyansk. At the same time, as Russian forces move closer to the outskirts of Kupyansk, Kiev forces in the northeast will be unable to hold out as they are surrounded by Russian forces to the north, east and south. This will force Ukrainian units to retreat to the city center.

In the map below, the Russian advance in the south would likely follow the road (yellow) towards Kruhlyakivka (K). That road runs from the P07 road through Tobaevka (T) and Pishchane (P) to the west. It also turns southeast and passes outside Berestove (B).

First, the Russians had to control Pishchane to gain access to the road and also Berestove to protect their flank. They had to simultaneously advance to the high ground north of Pishchane and south of Berestove.

In the second phase, the Russian army could continue to advance along the road on high ground, both north and south of the road.

The main objective of the Moscow forces during this period was not to reach the city or the Oskil River, but instead to control the entire high ground east of Oskil in the Kupyansk area, leaving aside a small and difficult-to-defend area in the lowlands because it was completely under fire control.

A map of the Ukrainian war in Kupyansk as of January 29. Russia has just taken control of the crossed-out area and the red arrows are the direction of their next attack towards the purple Ukrainian front line. The letters T stand for Tobaevka, B for Berestove, P for Pishchane and K for Kruhlyakivka (Photo: Mikael Valtersson).

Russia steps up attack on Avdiivka

According to Tobi Ayodele channel, in Avdiivka, in the area west of Kamenka, Russian forces have advanced another 500m, while in the south they are beginning to take control of the gray zone.

According to the War Mapper channel, Russian forces have advanced deeper into Pervomaiske.

Suriyakmaps reported that in the south of Avdivka, Russian troops took control of the last positions south of the forest on the eastern outskirts of the city. Moreover, they are advancing southeast of Opytne to the M-30 road. The Ukrainian army attempted a counterattack towards the Tsarska Okhota complex, but it was unsuccessful and was repelled by Russian troops.

Map of the Ukrainian war in Avdiivka as of January 29. Russia controls the brown area, the orange arrow shows the direction of their attack, and the area surrounded by the orange dashed line is where Moscow forces have just taken control (Photo: Suriyakmaps).

Ukraine General Staff: Russia launched 6 missile attacks on Donbass and Kherson

According to the evening report of the General Staff of Ukraine on January 29, 51 military clashes took place on the front in the past 24 hours. The Russian army carried out 6 attacks with S-300 missiles on Mirnograd in the Donetsk region and Muzykovka in the Kherson region. In addition, the enemy carried out 64 air strikes and 45 attacks with artillery and multiple launch rockets.

The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that it had repelled most of the Russian attacks in Kupyansk, Liman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, Shakhtarsky and Zaporizhia. At the same time, seven enemy attacks on the bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper River were repulsed.

Kiev denies Russia captured village in Kharkov province

Kyiv Independent reported that on January 29, the Ukrainian army denied Russia's claim of complete control over Tabaevka, a small destroyed village in Kharkov province, located about 20km southeast of Kupyansk.

"The enemy claims that they have captured Tabaevka. This is not true. Battles are taking place not far from this settlement," Volodymyr Fito, a spokesman for the Ukrainian army, said on television.

Fito's announcement came as Kiev warned that Russia had been intensifying its offensive around Kupyansk, aiming to surround and capture the vital logistics hub in recent weeks.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on January 27 that according to Russian military bloggers, the Russian 47th Tank Division captured Tabaevka but they "found no evidence to confirm this claim."

Meanwhile, Ukraine's DeepState channel confirmed: "In the morning, we received information that the enemy had taken control of Tabaevka and was trying to advance towards Pischany." However, Fito said Kiev forces continued to repel multiple Russian attacks in the area, breaking up 10 attacks around Synkivka, Tabaevka, Terny and Yampolivka.

Later in the day, he also said Russia had suffered "huge losses" near Tabaevka, adding that Kiev forces had repelled 10 attacks by Moscow in the direction of Kupyansk and Liman.

Earlier on January 21, Russia also announced that it had captured Krokhmalne, a village near the administrative border between Kharkov and Luhansk, about 4km southeast of Tabaevka.

The Ukrainian military confirmed the withdrawal from Krokhmalne but said it had no strategic impact. Fito said that “capturing Krokhmalne is important for the Russian military because it is symbolic, they need to show some kind of victory before the 2024 presidential election”.

President Zelensky affirms that General Zaluzhny was not fired

Ukrainska Pravda reported that Sergei Nikiforov, the president's press secretary, said that Zelensky did not dismiss the head of the armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny.

Accordingly, when asked whether the president would fire General Zaluzhny, the press secretary replied: "Certainly not. The president did not fire the head of the Ukrainian army."

A few hours ago, many Telegram channels, some politicians and the media hinted at the dismissal of General Zaluzhny.

"General Zaluzhny was summoned and offered another position, for example as an ambassador somewhere. He refused. There was no decree," one of Ukrainska Pravda 's sources in the National Security and Defense Council said.

Ukrainian President Zelensky and General Zaluzhny - head of the armed forces - are said to be in conflict (Photo: Brics).

President Putin to visit Türkiye to discuss Ukraine issue

European Pravda reported that Yury Ushakov - assistant to the Russian President - said that Mr. Putin plans to visit Turkey in February.

Asked whether President Putin's visit to Türkiye in February was indeed being prepared, Ushakov said: "Yes, a visit is being prepared." He added that "Ukraine will probably be one of the main topics of discussion."

Previously, on January 25, Bloomberg reported that Mr. Putin was "probing the situation" about whether the US was ready to negotiate to end the conflict in Ukraine.

NATO discusses plans to produce weapons for Ukraine

Ukrainska Pravda reported that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on January 29 to discuss the urgent need to rapidly increase defense production to meet Ukraine's needs.

They also stressed the importance of maintaining NATO unity and discussed the alliance's continued support for Kiev.

Mr. Austin and the NATO Secretary General also exchanged views on the security situation in the Middle East, especially expressing outrage and sadness at the casualties of US soldiers in Jordan.

Mr. Zelensky: Attacking Russia with UAVs is one of the main tasks

Ukrainska Pravda reported that in a video address on the evening of January 29, President Zelensky said that the situation of using UAVs in Ukraine was discussed at the online conference.

“A separate conversation regarding UAVs is about production, supply, unit security. Obviously, this is one of the main tasks of the year, Ukraine must be ahead of the enemy in UAVs. From FPVs to strategic UAVs, the more successful we are, the more lives we will save for our fighters,” he said.

According to the president, the situation at the front was also discussed during the conference.

"At the meeting with Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, we discussed the strategy for working with our European Union neighbors in the first half of this year... We discussed the expected details of intergovernmental cooperation with Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria," Zelensky said.

Ukrainian M777 towed howitzer fires (Photo: NYT).

Netherlands allocates $132 million in new military aid to Kiev

The Kyiv Independent reported that Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced on January 29 that the country had allocated 122 million euros ($132 million) to support the provision of ammunition, equipment and cybersecurity to Ukraine.

Ollongren said 87 million euros ($94 million) would be used to buy artillery shells for Ukraine and 10 million euros ($10.8 million) to improve Ukraine's cyber defense capabilities.

Moscow has deployed cyber capabilities against Ukraine, including attacks on government institutions, the military, energy infrastructure, banking and telecommunications.

Another €25 million ($27 million) will be used to purchase equipment through the International Fund for Ukraine, a funding mechanism set up at the initiative of the UK Ministry of Defence on behalf of the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania.

According to Kyiv Independent, SGS, Suriyakmaps, Mikael Valtersson, Tobi Ayodele, Suriyakmaps

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/chien-su-ukraine-301-nga-chiem-tabaivka-kiev-gap-kho-o-kupyansk-20240130100312787.htm