The war has entered its 714th day and the main developments are as follows:
This is the situation as of Wednesday, February 7, 2024.
finding
- Vadim Filashkin, the governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, said Russia fires between 1,500 and 2,500 shells and rockets into the region every day, targeting critical infrastructure. Filashkin told Reuters that Russia had dropped 200 guided airstrikes on the front-line town of Avdiivka last month, “completely destroying it.”
- Separately, Avdiivka Military Governor Vitaly Barabash said the situation on the ground was “very difficult and in some places even critical.” Before the war, the town was home to Europe's largest coke factory and was home to around 32,000 people. Officials say fewer than 1,000 people remain.
- Two Russian S-300 missiles landed in Zolotiv, northeastern Ukraine, killing a 2-month-old boy and injuring his mother, Kharkov region governor Ole Sinievov said. The village is 20 km (12.4 miles) from the Ukrainian-Russian border. Two other people were injured in the attack and dozens of buildings were also damaged.
- Ukraine says its special forces have blown up a drilling platform in the Black Sea that Russia was using to increase the range of its drones. Equipment on the platform was used by drones involved in attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine and control of the maritime northwest.
- Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that it has thwarted a suspected attack on the Belgorod region by seven Ukrainian drones. There were no reports of casualties. The region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said four homes were damaged.
politics and diplomacy
- The United States and Russia exchanged accusations at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Ukraine convened by the Russian government. The United States has accused Russia of firing at least nine North Korean-supplied missiles into Ukraine and called on Security Council members to hold both countries accountable for violating U.N. sanctions against North Korea. Meanwhile, the Russian government accused the United States of being a “direct accomplice” in the crash of a Russian military transport plane in the Belgorod region last month. Moscow claimed that Kiev shot down the plane. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied involvement and has called for an international investigation.
- US President Joe Biden said Congress would be in the hands of the Kremlin if it did not pass a $118 billion bill linking aid to Ukraine with immigration curbs demanded by right-wing Republicans. Biden said “time is running out” for Ukraine and criticized former president and likely 2024 rival Donald Trump for discouraging lawmakers from passing the bill.
- European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Kiev to underline the EU's “unwavering support” for Ukraine.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi met with Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Khrushchenko and others in Kyiv on Wednesday ahead of a visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Grossi noted that the number of employees at the plant has fallen from 12,000 to just 2,000.
- A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of best-selling Russian-language author Boris Akunin on suspicion of spreading “disinformation” about the Russian military. The 67-year-old was indicted in December for expressing his support for Kiev in a phone call with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Akunin has been living overseas since 2014.
- Ukraine has announced the arrest of five former and current intelligence agents for secretly working for Russia. The SBU said the suspects were caught passing information on military locations, defense fortifications, personal data and strategic energy facilities in Ukraine to Russia's FSB Security Service.
- Norway has rejected the asylum request of Andrei Medvedev, who claims he defected from the Russian mercenary group Wagner after four months of fighting in Ukraine. The 27-year-old applied for asylum after fleeing to Norway in January 2023.
- A senior official in Ukraine's intelligence service was fired after it was revealed that investigative journalists, including Bihus.info, had been wiretapped, an official at the agency told AFP news agency.
weapons
- President Zelenskiy ordered the creation of a separate branch of the Ukrainian Armed Forces specializing in drone warfare. He said in December that Ukraine would produce 1 million drones in 2024.
- Turkish defense company Baikal has started building a factory near Kiev to manufacture TB2 or TB3 drone models, CEO Haluk Bayraktar told Reuters.
