Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-15-2024

Citing sources close to the former president, Bloomberg reported that his advisers discussed a strategy for compelling both countries to return to the negotiating table.

Bloomberg has reported that if Donald Trump secures victory in the upcoming presidential election in November 2024, he is promising to exert pressure on both Russia and Ukraine to resume peace negotiations.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the news outlet stated that Trump's policy advisers have discussed strategies to force the adversaries to return to the negotiating table at the beginning of any new presidential term.

The era of the Russian Air Force dropping just dumb bombs may be in the past, but Kremlin airmen still seem to prefer saturating a target and not worrying too much about misses.

The Russian Air Force is hitting ground targets at an - for it - unprecedented pace and most likely the Kremlin’s airmen just blew the war’s one-day air strike record to bits.

On Feb. 14 Russian aircraft of all types released 159 individual air-released rockets, dumb or glide bombs, or air-to-ground missiles at Ukrainian military targets, homes or businesses, official counts by made public on Thursday by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) said.

Russian milbloggers report Admiral Viktor Sokolov, who was once thought to have died in a September 2023 Storm Shadow attack on his headquarters, has been removed from his post.

Notorious Russian “Z-channel military correspondents” Rybar and Romanov Light have posted claims on their Telegram channels that Admiral Viktor Sokolov has been replaced as commander of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) by his Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk.

Sokolov had, it seems wrongly, been reported as having been killed along with 34 other naval officers when then BSF headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea was struck by at least two Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles on Sept. 25 last year.

And Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Thursday that confiscated Russian assets should foot most of the bill.

Ukraine needs almost half a trillion dollars to cover the reconstruction costs of Russia's invasion, the World Bank, European Union, United Nations and the Ukrainian government said Thursday.

And Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Thursday that confiscated Russian assets should foot most of the bill.

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine published a drone’s IR video showing the destruction of a Russian Kasta-2E2 aerial surveillance and early warning radar.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) released a video showing a drone attack that destroyed an early warning and surveillance radar system along the Russian border northeast of Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

Special forces of the HUR used a drone to strike a Russian Kasta-2E2 (NATO: Flat Face) aerial surveillance radar system, destroying the radar along with its personnel.

Explosions and resulting casualties have been reported at a shopping mall in Belgorod, Russia, in what local authorities have claimed to be a Ukrainian rocket attack.

An attack has struck a shopping mall in the Russian city of Belgorod, Russian sources reported.

Pictures circulating on social media show a damaged building with broken walls and windows and a video with air sirens in the background, presumably prior to the explosions.

Moscow has played down the success of Ukrainian drone strikes against its airfields, but has practiced protecting aircraft parking areas, restoring runways and preparing emergency airstrips.

The Russian state news site Izvestia reported on Thursday that its Ministry of Defense had instigated a series of exercises to both improve the protection of military aircraft and airfields from drone and air strikes and to practice the repair of runways and the use of alternative emergency airstrips in the event of an attack.

According to the report, the exercises have taken place simultaneously in several regions of Russia, including in areas close to the Ukraine war zone. Following simulated attacks by special forces, engineer units repaired “damaged” runways, sealed craters and erected defensive “caponiers” around aircraft parking bays.

Key takeaways from the latest monthly review of Ukraine’s economy during wartime.

Experts from the Centre for Economic Strategy (CES) have prepared their monthly review of Ukraine's economy for January 2024. This covers such topics as Ukraine’s sea exports, the state of the labor market, as well as reasons for the low level of spending from the state budget.

Tuesday’s discussion among experts was scheduled under the theme: "Government vs Business: How to ease pressure on Ukrainian entrepreneurs?".

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

The head of the House Intelligence Committee disclosed Wednesday that members of Congress had access to information about an unspecified "serious national security threat," issuing a vague warning that prompted other lawmakers to downplay the urgency of the situation and urge the public to remain calm. The revelation from Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and the chairman of the House Intelligence panel, came in a cryptic statement issued by the committee, in which he encouraged President Biden to declassify all information relating to the threat. It did not contain any details, except to announce that the committee "has made available to all members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat….I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat," Turner said. One U.S. official told CBS News that the intelligence in question relates to Russian capabilities in space. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the information publicly, pointed to a series of Russian space launches known as Cosmos, many of which carry classified Ministry of Defense payloads. 

A big Russian amphibious ship, the Caesar Kunikov, has been sunk off the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea, according to Ukraine's armed forces. Powerful explosions were heard early on Wednesday, according to local social media, which suggested the landing ship was hit south of the town of Yalta. Ukraine's intelligence directorate released video of what it said were Magura V5 sea drones striking the ship. There was no confirmation from Russia's navy that the Caesar Kunikov had been sunk in the Black Sea, merely that six Ukrainian drones had been destroyed. The Kremlin has also refused to comment on the incident. Video appearing to show the aftermath of the Ukrainian attack was uploaded only recently, BBC Verify confirmed. "The Caesar Kunikov suffered critical holes in its port side and began to sink," Ukraine's main intelligence directorate said on the Telegram messaging site, adding that it had been destroyed off the Crimean coastal town of Alupka in Ukrainian territorial waters by a unit called Group 13 - BBC

At the time, NATO leaders did not set a timetable for Ukraine to join the bloc, but the G7 countries pledged to provide Ukraine with long-term security support.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky plan to sign a bilateral security agreement at the Elysee Palace on Friday, the French presidency said.

"This agreement follows commitments made within the G7 format on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023", Macron's office said on Thursday.

Though info remains scarce, Ukraine’s Pokrova EW system might have been successful in countering some of Russia’s aerial threats, including the Shahed loitering munitions.

With Kyiv’s air defense stockpile running low and military aid from the US stalling, its Pokrova electronic warfare (EW) system might be able to provide temporary relief.

By spoofing – instead of jamming – the satellite signals received by Russian aerial threats, the system could reportedly feed false positions to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles and lead them astray, preventing them from reaching their targets – though threats of damaging unintended targets remain.

This is the Executive Summary of the Munich Security Report 2024 published on the eve of the Munich Security Conference.

From the editors: The Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 will take place from February 16 to 18, 2024. MSC 2024 will once again provide a unique opportunity for strategic debates on the world's most pressing security challenges. In addition, the Munich Security Conference, founded in autumn 1963, will celebrate its 60th anniversary both before the conference and during it. Even six decades after it was founded by Ewald von Kleist, the MSC will, as usual, bring together high-ranking decision-makers and experts from around the world in February 2024 for discussions on the most pressing issues of international security. Kyiv Post’s correspondent will report from the venue

Amid growing geopolitical tensions and rising economic uncertainty, many governments are no longer focusing on the absolute benefits of global cooperation but are increasingly concerned that they are gaining less than others. Prioritizing relative payoffs may well spur lose-lose dynamics – jeopardizing cooperation and undermining an order that, despite its obvious flaws, can still help grow the proverbial pie for the benefit of all.

Russian forces have been storming the city in the eastern Donetsk region since last year and have it surrounded by three sides.

Ukraine has rushed soldiers to the embattled eastern town of Avdiivka, surrounded on three sides by Russian forces, where the military said the situation was "extremely critical".

While the two sides staged new missile attacks on each other, Russian forces have laid siege to Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region since last year and its position has grown increasingly precarious in recent days.

Sources at Ukraine's Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (HUR) told Kyiv Post that a "successful special operation" damaged an oil depot in Russia.

A nighttime Ukrainian drone attack ignited a Russian oil depot in the Kursk region near the border between the two countries, Russian authorities reported Thursday, with sources from Ukraine's Military Intelligence, as cited by Kyiv Post, confirming the information.

According to these sources, it was a "successful special operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR)."

Putin batted away questions about Biden's age and health, with the president set to turn 82 just weeks after the election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described US counterpart Joe Biden on Wednesday as more "predictable" than Donald Trump but said the Kremlin was prepared to work with whoever wins November's election.

Asked by a journalist who Russia would like to see win in the likely contest between the Democratic incumbent and Republican frontrunner Trump, Putin said: "Biden, he's more experienced. He's predictable, he's an old-school politician."

How could the continent organise its defence if the US is no longer a reliable partner? How and to what extent should it rearm? Is Europe prepared to shoulder that responsibility? Commentators debate.

Donald Trump's statements to the effect that only those Nato states that invest enough in their defence capabilities should benefit from alliance protection are a source of major concern in Europe. If the US is no longer a reliable partner, how could the continent organise its defence? How and to what extent should it rearm? Is Europe prepared to shoulder that responsibility? Commentators debate.

Take over the Nato command

City councillors in Drammen, a city of 120,000 people 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Oslo, voted in favour of the measure at a meeting late Tuesday.

Norway's prime minister and opposition leader on Wednesday condemned a decision by the country's fifth-largest city to take in only Ukrainian refugees.

City councillors in Drammen, a city of 120,000 people 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Oslo, voted in favour of the measure at a meeting late Tuesday.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted that his predecessors had used the Israeli spyware to illegally monitor the activities of political and (probably) other opponents.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his predecessors had used the Israeli Pegasus spyware to illegally monitor political and (probably) other opponents, according to reports.

Tusk is quoted by The Insider, an independent Russian news site, as saying:

Kyiv's local government said the air alert had been in place for more than two hours, but "anti-aircraft defense destroyed all enemy missiles" aimed at the city.

Russian forces launched yet another mass missile attack against Ukraine on Thursday morning, Feb. 15, with explosions reported in cities across the country, including several in the Kyiv region.

In the capital, Kyiv Post reporters were woken by an air raid alert shortly before 5 a.m. 

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian forces successfully sank another Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) landing ship in the Black Sea off the southern coast of occupied Crimea on the night of February 13 to 14.
• Ukraine reportedly continues efforts to offset Russian advantages in manpower and materiel by using more advanced systems and equipment, although continued delays in Western security assistance will undermine these efforts.
• Russia is similarly pursuing battlefield advantages through technological innovation despite its focus on generating manpower and materiel in greater mass than Ukraine.
• Russian authorities may be generating enough new forces to sustain losses generated by the current tempo of their offensive operations in Ukraine through 2025.
• The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (VLA) stated that the Russian military’s ongoing restructuring and expansion effort aims to intensify Russian military posturing against Finland and the wider NATO alliance.
• The Kremlin is conducting information operations against Moldova very similar to those that the Kremlin used before its invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022, likely to set conditions to justify possible future Russian escalation against Moldova.
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenburg stated on February 14 that NATO does not see any immediate threat of military attacks on a NATO member but noted that there is a “constant risk” of hybrid attacks.
• Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov denied recent Western reports that Russia recently proposed freezing the conflict in Ukraine.
• Russia reportedly is developing a space-based anti-satellite weapon.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Bakhmut, Marinka, and Krynky amid continued positional fighting along the entire line of contact on February 14.
• Russia continues efforts to expand its defense industrial base (DIB).
• Russian authorities continue efforts to militarize and culturally indoctrinate youth and students in occupied Ukraine into Russian identity and ideology.