INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukrainian troops were locked in a "fierce" confrontation with Russian fighters Friday for control of the town of Vuhledar southwest of
Donetsk as the two sides battle along the southern front.Both sides claimed success in the small administrative center of apartment blocks
surrounded by flat fields, a short distance from the strategic prize of the village of Pavlivka."The encirclement and subsequent liberation
of this city solves many problems," said Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed leader of the Donetsk region."Soon, Vuhledar may become a new,
very important success for us," he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.But Kyiv said the town, which had a pre-invasion population
media."For many months, the military of the Russian Federation..
has been trying to achieve significant success there," he said.Moscow's push for Vuhledar is part of its effort to seize control of the
entire Donetsk region, which it has already declared a part of Russia.Ukraine said this week that Russian troops had stepped up their
attacks in the east, particularly on Vuhledar and Bakhmut.And Moscow was preparing for a new offensive on Feb
24, the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security and defense council."Now
they are preparing for maximum activation ..
and they believe that by the anniversary they should have some achievements," Danilov said on Radio Svoboda."There is no secret that they
are preparing for a new wave by Feb
24, as they themselves say," he said.According to the United States -based Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces may be engaging in
a series of spoiling attacks "to disperse and distract Ukrainian forces and set conditions to launch a decisive offensive operation."Barbs
on Holocaust Remembrance DayRussian President Vladimir Putin used International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday to lash out at Ukraine,
calling those in the country "neo-Nazis" to justify the 11-month-old invasion."Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of
terrible tragedies," Putin said."It is against that evil that our soldiers are bravely fighting."But in Poland, where some 3 million Jews
liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, let us remember that to the east Putin is building new camps," Polish Prime
Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Facebook."Solidarity and consistent support for Ukraine are effective ways to ensure that history does
not come full circle," he added.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked Holocaust Remembrance Day by urging the world to unite against
"indifference" and "hatred.""Today, as always, Ukraine honors the memory of millions of victims of the Holocaust
We know and remember that indifference kills along with hatred," he said.More Polish tanksMorawiecki, meanwhile, said Poland would deliver
an additional 60 tanks to Kyiv to help it fend off Russia's aggression."Right now, we are ready to send 60 of our modernized tanks, 30 of
And on top of those tanks, 14 tanks, Leopard 2 tanks, from our possession," he said.The tanks that have already been sent by Poland are
mainly T-72 Soviet models, of which the PT-91 is a modernized version.Ukraine has also been promised battle tanks from Germany and the
that includes cash, missiles, machine guns and armored vehicles.Olympics controversyMeanwhile, controversy boiled over the International
Olympic Committee's efforts to find a "pathway" for Russians to take part in the 2024 Paris Games despite the invasion of Ukraine.Russia
and its ally Belarus have been sidelined from most Olympic sports since the invasion of Ukraine last February.But the IOC said "no athlete
should be prevented from competing just because of their passport."Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Thursday that she supported the concept of
Russian athletes competing under a neutral banner at the 2024 Olympics.Zelensky on Friday invited IOC President Thomas Bach to visit the
frontline city of Bakhmut, where some of the heaviest fighting has taken place in recent months."I am inviting Mr Bach to Bakhmut so that he
with blood."Ukraine's sports minister warned his country could boycott the games if Russian and Belarusian athletes take part.
