Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-18-2024

Events celebrating the Heavenly Hundred – victims of a government crackdown 10 years ago during the Revolution of Dignity – began in Kyiv’s Mariinsky Park.

An event commemorating the fallen Heavenly Hundred Heroes took place in Mariinsky Park on Feb. 18 to mark 10-years since the Revolution of Dignity. It was organized and conducted by the public movement “Ukrainian Patriotic Alternative” and the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity.

Many people came to the intersection of Hrushevsky St. 28 and Kryposny Lane in Kyiv to pay tribute to the memory of the people who died on the Maidan 10 years ago, whom we now call the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes.”

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

Aleksei Navalny's family and close associates have confirmed the Russian opposition politician's death in an Arctic prison and have demanded his body be handed over, but officials have refused to release it, telling his lawyers and mother that an "investigation" of the causes would only be completed next week. "Alexey's lawyer and his mother have arrived at the morgue in Salekhard," Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on X, referring to the capital of the region of Yamalo-Nenets, where Navalny's prison is located. “It's closed. However, the [prison] has assured them it's working and Navalny's body is there. The lawyer called the phone number which was on the door. He was told he was the seventh caller today. Alexey's body is not in the morgue," she added. Yarmysh then said in a new message: "An hour ago, the lawyers were told that the check was completed and no crime had been found. They literally lie every time, drive in circles and cover their tracks." But in a third message, she said, "Now the Investigative Committee directly says that until the check is completed, Aleksei’s body will not be given to relatives." Navalny associate Ivan Zhdanov, who currently resides abroad, said that Navalny's mother was told her son had died of a cardiac-arrest illness. - RFE/RL

Russia said its forces took complete control Saturday of a city in eastern Ukraine that was the focus of intense combat for months, a development that Moscow could use to boost morale as the second anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches with the war largely at a stalemate. The Russian Defense Ministry’s announcement came the same day Ukraine’s military chief said he was withdrawing troops from the city of Avdiivka, where the outnumbered defenders had battled a Russian assault for four months. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Kremlin that Russian forces were working to clear final pockets of resistance at the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant, officials said in a statement. Videos on social media Saturday appeared to show soldiers raising the Russian flag over one of the plant’s buildings - AP

The Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, exactly 10 years ago, made Maidan Nezalezhnosti an iconic symbol of the Ukrainian nation’s invincible spirit.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) – the most visited place in Kyiv and the venue of the most important official and public events – has a relatively short but very bright and dramatic history. 

Kyiv’s central square got its present name two days after Ukraine proclaimed independence on Aug. 24, 1991.

How the words and actions of regimes, institutions and the people who represent them can simply make the mind boggle.

As Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine grinds on, there are moments when certain events seem almost impossible to comprehend. From the latest absurd claims of the Russian regime to tests of international law, and from one man attempting to hold Western aid hostage to the Pope’s seemingly hollow prayers of hope.

Let’s take a look at some of these in a bit more detail.

The exact number of ethnic Ukrainians in Russia is not known. But their presence is not only a thorn in the side of the Kremlin, but a potential source of upheaval within the Russian Federation.

Or what one Zelensky decree means for the life of the Ukrainian diaspora in Russia

The Decree on "Historically inhabited by Ukrainians territories of the Russian Federation" signed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the day of Unity of Ukraine, January 22, 2024, is still being discussed on professional platforms and in social media.

Delusional war-monger Putin says war against Ukraine is an existential matter and belittles history of US.

Events on the battlefield in Ukraine are a matter of "life and death" for Russia that could determine its fate, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired Sunday.

The Kremlin has repeatedly framed the almost two-year conflict as a battle for Russia's survival in a bid to rally patriotic sentiment among its population, many apathetic toward the offensive.

Reaction to the death in prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by experts from the Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, London.

From the Editors: Below quotes, attributed to Keir Giles - Senior Consulting Fellow, Russia & Eurasia Programme, Chatham House – and Samantha de Bendern - Associate Fellow, Russia & Eurasia Programme, Chatham House - on the death in custody of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny

The extension aims to provide greater certainty to Ukrainians residing in the UK following Russia’s full-scale invasion.


The UK Home Office has announced that Ukrainian refugees in the UK will be able to extend their current visas by 18 months. The move follows a period of growing debate about the lack of certainty facing Ukrainians whose visas are shortly due to expire but with no end in sight to the war in their homeland.

The visa extension will be open to Ukrainians on all three bespoke visa schemes set up in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion – the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, the Ukraine Family Scheme, and the Ukraine Extension Scheme.

From Ukraine’s agriculture trade challenges with Europe, to Russia’s stance against anti-war cultural figures and families of mobilized soldiers – the on-going war has many fronts.

Now that the sun occasionally peeks through the clouds and temperatures are slowly rising, Ukraine’s anticipation of spring has become an important factor in sustaining optimism. Along the main roads, there are billboards advertising loans to farmers for the sowing campaign. Many loans are proposed by private banks, but the state-owned Oschadbank is also offering farmers low-interest credit to finance the clearing of fields.

The front line has been relatively stationary for a while now. This has allowed demining firms to continue work and last year they surveyed more than 275,000 hectares of land. Of these, about 200,000 hectares were “returned” to agriculture.

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

Hundreds of people protested on February 16 in front of the Russian embassies in several countries after reports of the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny. In his native Russia, people laid flowers at the buildings where Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) was headquartered before the government shut it down after labeling the organization "extremist,” RFE/RL reported. More than 100 people are reported to have been detained in Russian cities.

Police in Moscow have blocked access to a spot where Russians had left tributes to Navalny; the flowers were scooped up & removed. The authorities don’t want the size of the pile of flowers to show the scale of support for Putin’s biggest rival, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford posted. Separately, at least 177 people were detained at events in Russia on Friday and Saturday in memory of Navalny, according to rights group OVD-Info.

The scourge of war and aggression is leaving the most brutal scars on children who are experiencing torture beyond human and moral comprehension. The free world must not turn a blind eye.

Since the heady post-Cold War years, when many in the Free World were sure that the global tide was moving less toward dictatorship and extremism, and more toward freedom and tolerance, the world has instead shifted dramatically the other way.

As Western governments exhibited moral, military and strategic complacency, ant-democratic regimes and forces gained ground. Today, more, not less, people live under tyrannical and fanatical rule, and rulers are finding more cruel and dystopian ways to oppress them. Children, who have nothing to do with any of this, are caught in the maelstrom. Moreover, children are increasingly targeted with violence and atrocities.

Navalny's family demand the return of his body while some mourners protest his death by defying detention.

Alexei Navalny's supporters on Saturday accused Russian authorities of being "killers" who were "covering their tracks" by refusing to hand over his body, as the Kremlin stayed silent despite Western accusations and a flood of tributes to the late opposition leader.

The 47-year-old Kremlin critic died in an Arctic prison on Friday after spending more than three years behind bars, prompting outrage and condemnation from Western leaders and his supporters.

Rarely have the ethical lines between victim and aggressor been so clear in a war. Unfortunately, brutality is contagious, and Ukrainians may struggle to maintain their moral high ground.

With President Zelensky’s famous utterance, “I need ammunition, not a ride,” the world recognized a remarkable leader. With my sympathetic suffering – albeit in the comfort of my home – I followed the horrors inflicted on the residents of Bucha, feared for Kyiv’s safety, grieved about attacks on Kharkiv, and suffered with besieged villagers in heat-deprived homes, with the defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, and the heroic but bloody defense of Avdiivka.

Wartime solace came with the sinking of the Moskva and Ivanovets, the iconic resistance on Snake Island and Ukraine’s regained control of it, citizens’ resistance in Kherson, the shootdowns of Russian fighter jets and helicopters, the destruction of Russian tanks, the collapse of Russian-built bridges, and drones’ torching of petrochemical refineries and terminals in Russia. Ukrainian resilience has been everywhere: troops in the trenches, partisan actions behind enemy lines, and Anna from Ukraine’s effective, witty war humor.

In the span of two days, Ukrainian forces have shot down four Russian fighter jets, a dozen kamikaze drones, and a cruise missile.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) claim to have shot down a fourth Russian fighter aircraft in less than 48 hours. On early Sunday morning, video of aircraft reported to be a Russian Su-34 crashing in the Luhansk region made the rounds of social media.

Ukrainian defenders “brought down” another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber. It happened this morning, according to Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Air Forces of the AFU, cited by the RBC Ukraine news outlet.

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) has prepared key talking points for the rallies and events being held within the framework of UWC’s global advocacy campaign StandWithUkraine.

The UWC’s global campaign is aimed at supporting Ukraine and its key priorities: the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with more weapons, and the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia.

For example, in response to calls for peace talks with Russia, it is crucial to emphasize that the Kremlin has no intention of ending its aggression and that its expansionist plans go beyond Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers have begun to cryogenically preserve their sperm so they can still have children in case they are disabled or die. But the legal issues are not so simple.

Despite a stoic veneer of silence in the name of military secrecy, it is no secret that Ukraine has been suffering heavy casualties in the war Russia unleashed. Many soldiers have died, and some have been wounded or tortured to the point where their reproductive organs either no longer function or have been amputated.

Concerned about not being able to have children, many soldiers have begun storing their sperm cells – literally putting them in a deep freeze – in case they are disabled or die.

The following is Part One of a four-part excerpt from the previously unpublished novel Ashen Glory: War Within, set during the four climactic days of Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in February 2014.

February 18, 2014: March on the Rada

The barricades built of sandbags filled with snow start to melt in mid-February as the temperature hovers just above freezing for nearly a week.

At a time when Ukrainian forces are in retreat and suffering from lack of ammunition, the US President expressed confidence that Congress would renew funding for Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that he is “confident” Congress will renew war aid, but added that without US help Kyiv could lose further territory to Russian advances.

“I spoke with Zelensky this afternoon to let him know that I was confident we’re going to get that money,” Biden told reporters after attending church in Delaware.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Russian forces have established “full control” over Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast as Russian forces continued to advance in the settlement on February 17, and Ukrainian forces have likely withdrawn from Avdiivka.
• Russian sources largely characterized the Ukrainian withdrawal as disorganized and costly and claimed that Russian forces managed to encircle large Ukrainian groups in Avdiivka, but ISW has observed no evidence supporting these Russian claims.
• Russian forces appear to have temporarily established limited and localized air superiority and were able to provide ground troops with close air support during the final days of their offensive operation to capture Avdiivka, likely the first time that Russian forces have done so in Ukraine.
• Delays in Western security assistance may lead to further significant constraints on Ukrainian air defenses that could allow Russian forces to replicate the close air support that facilitated Russian advances in Avdiivka at scale in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down three Russian fighter aircraft—two Su-34s and one Su-35—over Donetsk Oblast on February 17, likely having committed scarce air defense assets to help cover the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Avdiivka.
• Russian authorities arrested several hundred demonstrators on February 17 amid slightly larger demonstrations responding to imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s death.
• The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on February 17 that the US sent $500,000 of forfeited Russian funds to Estonia to repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
• Russian forces made confirmed advances near Bakhmut and Avdiivka and in western Zaporizhia Oblast
• Russian occupation authorities continue efforts to propagandize and militarize Ukrainian youth in occupied areas.