Meeting with Pope Francis, tanks from Germany and United States: highlights of the day

Statements on provision of tanks

The German Federal Government has decided to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Leopard 2 main battle tanks. This was the result of intensive consultations with the country's closest European and international partners.

Berlin will also issue permits for the transfer of tanks to partner countries that want to quickly deliver Leopard 2s from their warehouses to Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden also announced that his country would send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to form a tank battalion.

Meeting with Pope Francis

On January 25, the heads of Ukrainian churches met with Pope Francis in the Vatican. This is the first such meeting since 2001, when the Holy See was headed by John Paul II.

The meeting with Pope Francis was attended by a delegation of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. During the audience, the head of the Catholic Church handed the representatives of the Ukrainian delegation a prepared written speech, as he was to attend a general audience.

Nevertheless, the Pope managed to assure the leaders of Ukrainian churches of his affinity: he said that he is constantly in dialogue with representatives of the Ukrainian people.

Retreat from Soledar

Defense Forces have withdrawn from Soledar, Donetsk Oblast. This decision was made to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, said Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to him, the front line in Soledar has been leveled. The Russians failed to encircle or capture Ukrainian soldiers.

In the end, the Defense Forces exhausted the enemy, and after leaving the town, they consolidated their positions on the previously prepared lines, preventing the occupiers from breaking through the defense and entering the rear, Cherevatyi said.

Other news

• Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin signed orders to dismiss the heads of Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy and Chernihiv regional prosecutor's offices from their administrative positions;
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to impose sanctions on 10 people. Among them are former MP and businessman Vadym Novinsky and Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Metropolitan Pavlo;
• UNESCO added the historic center of Odesa to the World Heritage List. It was identified as being under threat;
• Russian occupation forces shelled Zaporizhzhya on the afternoon of January 25, destroying a private house. A woman was killed;
• the Russian army shelled the town of Beryslav, Kherson Oblast. Two people were killed and three others were injured.