The war has entered its 723rd day and the main developments are as follows:
This is the situation as of Thursday, February 15, 2024.
finding
- Ukraine says the Russian amphibious ship Caesar Kunikov was fatally wounded in a drone attack off the coast of occupied Crimea, the latest blow to Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine said the ship was one of Russia's most advanced vessels, had a crew of 87, and had participated in wars in Ukraine as well as Georgia and Syria. There was no official comment from Russia on the attack.
- The newly appointed head of Ukraine's armed forces, Oleksandr Shirushky, visited troops fighting around Avdiivka, a key flashpoint on the eastern front, and described the situation as “extremely complex and stressful.” said. Shirsky, who was accompanied by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, said the Russian military had “numerical superiority in terms of personnel.”
- A Russian missile attack on the town of Seridove in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region killed at least three people, including a child, and injured more than a dozen others. A hospital and several apartment buildings were damaged, officials said.
- A Russian S-300 missile crashed into an apartment building in a village in northeastern Kharkiv region, killing at least two people and injuring four others, police said.
- A woman was injured in a Ukrainian drone attack over Russia's Belgorod and Voronezh regions and the Black Sea. Russia's Ministry of Defense announced that its air defense systems had destroyed nine unmanned aircraft, six of them over the Black Sea.
politics and diplomacy
- US President Joe Biden and senior administration officials have urged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican candidate in November's US presidential election, to vote on a bill that would provide $61 billion in critical aid to Ukraine. Most likely Donald Trump is against it. The Senate earlier this week supported the bill, which also includes aid to Israel and Taiwan.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also urged U.S. lawmakers to pass the bill. “This is not an act of charity. This is an investment in our own safety,” Stoltenberg said.
- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also urged US lawmakers to “do the right thing” and approve the Ukraine aid package.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing authorities to confiscate the assets of people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the military.
- A Russian military court has sentenced Dzhumagul Kurbanova, a woman in her 60s, to 10 years in a penal colony after being found guilty of setting fire to a military recruitment center in St. Petersburg in August 2023.
- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have lodged a diplomatic protest with Moscow after Russian police placed prominent Baltic politicians wanted, including Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas, over the destruction of Soviet-era monuments. . The Baltic states were once part of the Soviet Union, but are now members of the European Union and NATO.
weapons
- Dutch Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren told Reuters that the Netherlands is participating in a military coalition with allies including Britain to supply Ukraine with advanced drone technology and strengthen its strike capabilities. .
- Canadian Defense Minister Blair said Canada will donate $44 million to Ukraine to help fight the war against Russia.
