The war has entered its 712th day and the main developments are as follows:
This is the situation as of Monday, February 5, 2024.
finding
- At least 28 people, including children, were killed when a restaurant and bakery were hit by shelling in the Russian-occupied eastern city of Liszchansk. Russia condemned the attack on Ukraine. Ukraine has not commented on the incident. Ukrainian officials say only about a tenth of Lishchansk's prewar population of 110,000 remains in the city.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Ukrainian soldiers on the front line in the village of Robotyn in southeastern Zaporizhzhia, which is under relentless attack by Russian forces. President Zelensky met with the soldiers of the 65th Mechanized Brigade and handed them medals.
- During his visit to the front, President Zelensky also appointed Ivan Federov as the new head of the Zaporizhzhia regional state administration. Federov was abducted in March 2022 by Russian soldiers who entered the city of Melitopol, where he was mayor at the time, after refusing to cooperate with Moscow.
politics and diplomacy
- President Zelensky told Italian state broadcaster RAI that he was considering a “reset” in which several senior officials would be replaced. Asked about his plans for army chief Valery Zarzhini, he said any changes “are not about individuals, but about the direction of the country's leadership.”
- U.S. senators announced a long-awaited bipartisan agreement that would allow for $60 billion in new aid to Ukraine while strengthening U.S. border laws. US President Joe Biden said he “strongly supports” the bill and urged Congress to support it. The first vote is expected to take place on Wednesday.
- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss a new mechanism to allow Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. The date has not been announced, but local media reports that it will be held on February 12th.
- Police in Moscow detained about 20 journalists for several hours as they attended a rally in which wives of Russian soldiers in Ukraine called for their husbands to return home.
- Serbian actor Miloš Bikovic has been removed from the cast of the popular TV show “White Lotus” after being criticized by Ukraine for his ties to Russia, an HBO spokesperson announced.
weapons
- During Russia's Vice Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko's visit to Seoul, South Korea's former Vice Foreign Minister Jeong Byeong expressed South Korea's “grave position” on Russia's expansion of military cooperation with North Korea. According to a statement from South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chung called on Russia to “act responsibly.” South Korea and the United States said North Korea is sending weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
