As the war enters its 708th day, the main developments include:
This is the situation as of Thursday, February 1, 2024.
finding
- A Russian bomb has struck a hospital in northeastern Ukraine, forcing dozens of patients to evacuate, breaking windows and damaging equipment. Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the Kharkov regional branch of the state police, said the bomb hit a hospital in the town of Veliki Burruk, northeast of Kharkov, and a second bomb landed nearby. Four people suffered minor injuries.
- Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 14 of 20 Russian-launched drones in a nighttime attack, injuring one person and damaging a commercial building. The Air Force said Iranian-made Shahed drones and three Iskander missiles targeted five regions in southern and eastern Ukraine.
- Russia said it had destroyed 20 missiles fired by Ukraine over the Black Sea and Crimea, which Ukraine invaded and annexed in 2014.
- Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oreshchuk said the Ukrainian military attacked Belbek military airfield in Crimea. He did not go into details.
politics and diplomacy
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners. Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that 195 soldiers had been released, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 207 people, including some civilians, had been repatriated to Ukraine.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the country's parliament that he would rally European partners to deliver aid to Ukraine that is “too huge” to be a burden to Russian President Vladimir Putin. His comments came ahead of a key European Union summit on the 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in funding to Ukraine, which Hungary has blocked.
- Victoria Nuland, the acting US deputy secretary of state, said on a visit to Kiev that she was encouraged by Ukraine's strengthened defenses and that Russia should expect “surprises” on the battlefield. The U.S. military aid plan for Ukraine is being debated in Congress by Republicans who want to link it to policy changes at the U.S. border. Nuland said she is confident it will be adopted.
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has dismissed most of the lawsuits brought by Ukraine accusing Russia of funding separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine a decade ago, saying only that Russia failed to investigate the alleged violations. .
- Boris Nadezhdin has announced his candidacy for Russia's presidential election in March after delivering 105,000 signatures supporting his campaign to the Central Election Commission (CEC). The 60-year-old has emerged as a prominent critic of the Kremlin and has vowed to end the war in Ukraine.
weapons
- EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU's promise to supply one million shells to Ukraine by March will not be met, with just over half expected to be delivered by the deadline. Admitted. Borrell said the remaining 155mm shells are likely to be delivered by the end of the year.