Ukraine says 40 civilians killed by a Russian missile

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 17 Jan 2023 by Alex Teddy

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The Ukraine War is intensifying. On January 16 a missile strike on an apartment block in Dnipro claimed civilian lives. Ukraine says up to 25 people are still trapped beneath the rubble. Zelensky said this was a war crime as it targeted civilians. The EU denounced the attack. The UN Secretary General said it was a ''suspected violation of the laws of war.'' Russia said its military did not destroy the building and attributed the destruction to Ukrainian air defense. Putin's spokesman said Russia never attacks civilian buildings.  Russia has resumed missile strikes on civilian energy infrastructure after a pause of a few days. But it is not firing as many missiles as before. Perhaps stocks are running low. The strategy of depriving civilians of heat and electricity has failed after being tried for 3 months. Russia said that Britain's supplying tanks will aggravate the conflict and lead to more civilian deaths. The US affirmed its ongoing support for Ukraine on January 16 but did not announce any additional military or financial aid.  No other countries have followed the UK's lead in providing tanks. The German Defense Minister resigned on January 16. Many in NATO are dissatisfied with German aid to Ukraine. Germany has a larger population and economy than the UK but has provided only 20% of the military aid that the UK has provided. Russia is clearly unhappy about the British Challenger 2 tanks. A Kremlin spokeswoman said ''these tanks will burn.'' One pro-Kremlin commentator called for the destruction of the UK. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants a permanent presence at the 5 nuclear facilities in Ukraine. IAEA is the UN's nuclear agency. The IAEA is a...