Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-20-2024

Russians intensify attacks in east as Ukraine marks somber anniversaries.

Ukraine said on Tuesday it was fighting off dozens of attacks, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces were exploiting delays in Western military aid and called the situation "extremely difficult."  

A heightened Russian offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine saw Moscow's forces capture the key eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka last week in a boost ahead of the second anniversary of the Kremlin's February 2022 invasion.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the sacrifices of the Heavenly Hundred helped put Ukraine on a European path, one of equality, dignity, respect and independence.

The youngest of them, Nazariy Voitovych, was 17. The oldest, Ivan Nakonechnyi, was 82. All of them together are a symbol of how different people from different regions of Ukraine selflessly and courageously defend common values. They all gave their lives for independence. All of them together are the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.

Today, Ukraine honors the memory of their feat. The memory of how Ukrainians can fight for their freedom. In the squares, on the barricades, and today – at the front. The memory that in the most difficult moments of history we never give up. We stand for each other, for the sake of each other. The memory that the unity of Ukrainians has no enemy capable of defeating it. That the selflessness of Ukrainians knows no bounds and makes history. The memory that ten years ago Ukrainians decided once and for all that we want and will live only in a European state. The memory we cherish and will preserve. The memory we honor today not just in words, the courage we multiply today on the battlefield, in the ongoing struggle, in the war that continues today, in the unity we have not lost and which shows us the way now. The path of common values. Equality. Dignity. Respect. The path of our country to the European family. And, of course, the most important value – Ukraine's independence. All this was an incentive for the people to fight ten years ago.

Meanwhile, in Belarus political prisoners are also dying.

A Belarusian political activist jailed for "defamation" against President Alexander Lukashenko has died in prison, his political party said on Tuesday.

"Igor Lednik, a former member of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, activist and journalist, has died in prison at the age of 64," the political organization said on Telegram – a report confirmed by human rights NGO Viasna.

The following is Part 3 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 20, 2014: The Massacre

Diane Francis writes that if the United States and the European nations fail to step up, Ukraine’s army can only dig in defensively.

Alexei Navalny’s murder on Feb. 16 is precisely why Ukrainians have not, and should never, submit to Russian occupation. His death is also why Putin and his regime must be destroyed and why the US.

Congress, notably Republicans, must allocate more funds to defend Ukraine. But Putin plays for time and manipulates it: Navalny’s death occurred just before the second anniversary of Russia’s war – to punctuate his ruthlessness; and it was also timed to coincide with the opening of the Munich Security Conference where leaders met to coordinate the effort to stop Putin – to punctuate their hesitancy.

With chaos in Poland caused by political instability, the grain crisis, and farmers blocking the eastern border, the Polish-Ukrainian alliance is in jeopardy. Only Russia stands to profit.

Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, has recently said that the situation on the Ukrainian front is dramatic. If we fail to work together, Russia is going subdue Ukraine and then come for Poland. Given the precarious position both countries are in, we can’t afford a collapse of Polish-Ukrainian relations.

In fact, the Polish-Ukrainian grain crisis is deepening. President Zelensky stated on Feb. 19 that the events on the Polish-Ukrainian border “cannot be treated as something normal or routine.”

US Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Ukraine must be victorious over Russia. Pompeo sought to assuage fears that a Trump presidency would hurt Ukraine.

Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick, a representative from Pennsylvania, and Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State under former President Donald Trump, said Monday that Ukraine can be optimistic about US assistance, despite the $60 billion in US military aid for Ukraine currently being stalled in Congress.

“I can assure you that Ukraine will get the assistance it needs. This is not just Ukraine's fight, but it's the world's fight. Ukraine is on the front lines of democracy,” Fitzpatrick said at an event organized by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation in Kyiv on Monday.

A young Ukrainian singer and composer reflects on what this week’s somber anniversaries in her country mean for her.

Earlier it seemed to me that pain and grief in the life of a creative individual is exactly what makes you a real artist. Now I know that above all it can make you a real person – which is much more important.

The year 2014

Highways, checkpoints… the escalation of the protests in Poland have essentially sealed its border with Ukraine, with fresh participants rallying for demands that go beyond the original scope.

The protests staged by Polish farmers against competition from Ukrainian agricultural imports have escalated across the nation, blocking major highways and all border checkpoints – including rail transports – with Ukraine, attracting fresh participants rallying under other banners.

Among them are local hunters from the Hunters in Action group, who rallied against restrictions on hunting activities in what it called a “destruction of Polish agriculture by delegalizing hunting.”

The stark reality is that without very immediate military backing and supplies from the US, Ukraine could lose the war, or at least significantly more territory, the author writes.

JD Vance’s opinion piece in the FT, I think, could well be seminal.

See link herein.

The dogfight took place in the skies geo-located over wetlands near the village of Krynky, where Ukrainian Marines have held a Dnipro River bridgehead since mid-October.

In a stunning display of aerial prowess, a video released on Feb. 19 by Robert “Madyar” Brovi, a senior UAV operations commander in the southern Dnipro sector, captures the moment a Ukrainian quadcopter successfully takes down a Russian fixed-wing drone by ramming into it, destroying both aircraft.

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

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, said she will continue her late husband's work. "I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny. I will continue to fight for our country. And I call on you to stand with me. To share not only the grief and the endless pain that has enveloped us and won't leave us. I ask you to share with me the rage. Rage, anger, hatred for those who dare to kill our future. ... It is not shameful to do little, it is shameful to do nothing. It is shameful to let yourself be intimidated," she stated - Nexta

The family of Alexei Navalny have reportedly been told his body will not be released for two weeks. His mother was informed it was being held for "chemical analysis", a representative for Navalny said. There has been no confirmation of the whereabouts of the body from Russian authorities, while efforts to locate it have been repeatedly shut down. In a video on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya alleged his body was being kept until traces of poisoning by the nerve agent Novichok had disappeared - BBC.

The withdrawal of Ukraine’s 110th brigade from Avdiivka was hit with continuous aircraft and artillery fire, and constant attacks on vehicles along evacuation routes.

The 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), named after Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko, which defended Avdiivka, declared that Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) had been shot after surrendering at the Zenit position.

According to the brigade's statement released via Facebook, the Russians promised to evacuate the wounded Ukrainian soldiers who remained surrounded in the Zenit stronghold but violated the agreement and executed the POWs.

Sweden's 15th aid package to Ukraine will total SEK 7.1 billion ($683 million) and include amphibious assault boats, anti-aircraft systems, ammunition and more.

Sweden will provide Ukraine with its largest package of military assistance, the 15th package that Stockholm has promised which “in the end, it is about humanity and decency,” according to Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson.

“It's also about protecting values and interests that are important to Sweden and Sweden's interests,” he added.

New Bonds Receive Low Lemand.

Yesterday, the MoF replaced two old UAH bonds by offering new securities, but received low demand, refinancing only half of today's debt redemption.

Twelve-month bills received the largest demand yesterday, UAH2.7bn (US$71m), just UAH0.3bn less than the cap. Interest rates were mostly the same as last week, so the MoF accepted all bids and was able to borrow UAH2.9bn (US$76m).

Maxim Kuzminov flew his Mi-8 helicopter into Ukraine in August in a brazen operation, saying he opposed Russia's military offensive.

Russia's spy chief on Tuesday said a pilot who defected to Ukraine with a military helicopter and was reportedly shot dead in Spain last week was a "moral corpse".

Maxim Kuzminov flew his Mi-8 helicopter into Ukraine in August in a brazen operation, saying he opposed Russia's military offensive.

Valery Boyarinev’s promotion has added to the outrage felt by Navalny’s death and is being labelled as his reward for orchestrating the murder of Putin’s main opponent.

Independent Russian news site The Insider reported on Tuesday that the Deputy Director of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Valery Boyarinev, had been promoted to the special rank of Colonel General by Vladimir Putin. The announcement was posted on the Kremlin’s official internet portal, just three days after the death of Alexei Navalny.

On Tuesday Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, posted an image of the decree on X, where he wrote that the promotion was a “personal reward for torture and murder from Putin.”

Ten years on, we remember the courageous heroes who gave their lives for the cause of freedom and Ukraine's democratic European future in Kyiv during the Revolution of Dignity.

We are grateful to them, and all those who through their dedication and sacrifice. changed the course not only of Ukraine's, but of Europe's, history.

The Heavenly Hundred, the martyrs off the Maidan, inspire us today as Ukraine fights for its liberty and sovereignty in a war against the barbaric forces of its rapacious and despotic Russian neighbor.

Ukrainian special forces reported that they were able to sniff out the location of a Russian kamikaze drone launcher by secretly tracking one of its reconnaissance drones.

Ukrainian troops reported that they blasted a Russian drone launcher using an American-made HIMARS rocket launcher.

The Ukrainian troops were in the “southern direction” Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported via Telegram. While the region where the attack took place was not specified, Ukraine’s southern front lines are in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Google announced the second phase of its support fund that would provide up to $100,000 equity-free funding for each selected startup alongside other forms of support.

Google announced on Feb. 17 phase two of financing for the Google Support Fund that would provide a total of $10 million in grants, without the need to attract capital, to selected Ukrainian startups to “create a basis for economic recovery after the war.”

Successful applicants under the program would receive up to $100,000 in equity-free funding, as well as “Google mentoring support, product support, and $300,000 in Google Cloud credits,” according to an official blog post by Agnieszka Hrynievych-Bienek, senior director for Startups at Google.

Human rights activists talk of the opposition figure, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2020, having been murdered. For the press, the ramifications of Navalny's death go far beyond his own fate.

The Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is dead. According to the Russian authorities the 47-year-old collapsed in the "Polar Wolf" prison colony on Friday and could not be revived. His body has not yet been released. Human rights activists talk of the well-known opposition figure, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2020, having been murdered. For the press, the ramifications of Navalny's death go far beyond his own fate.

The most inconvenient of subjects

As Russia’s army tries to force the issue with a new counteroffensive, causing Ukrainian forces to withdraw in eastern Ukraine, its air force is increasingly paying the price.

On Friday Ukraine’s elite 3rd Assault Brigade, covered the withdrawal of Kyiv’s 110th Mechanized Brigade from Avdiivka, after a most brutal four-month battle. It seems likely that early the next morning the Russian air force was preparing a coup de grâce against the Ukrainian troops as they reorganized themselves.

As three of its aircraft, two Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers and a Sukhoi Su-35 defense fighter, lined up for a bombing run they suddenly fell off the radar.

Ukraine’s reputation as the breadbasket of Europe has been ravaged by the turmoil of Russia’s invasion – wreaking havoc on the agriculture sector, arable land and farmers’ lives.

Today, it is virtually impossible to think of any aspect of life in Ukraine not suffering the severe consequences of war. First – and most importantly – are the lost lives. This is followed by the sheer financial cost of material losses and devastation.

One of the most affected sectors is agriculture. Russia currently occupies large swathes of the country, while liberated Ukrainian territory is still heavily mined. Land subject to heavy shelling will be out of use for many years to come, potentially decades.

The House Republicans, led by Mike Johnson, have contributed to the defeat of US interests and policy to Putin’s Russia, as reflected in Ukraine’s withdrawal from strategically important Avdiivka.

The Ukrainians were forced to retreat from the stronghold of Avdiivka, which they had held against the Russians since the start of the war in 2014. The principal cause of the retreat was a “shortage of ammunition because of declining Western military assistance,” the New York Times reported. That is, the Ukrainians were forced from Avdiivka due to a lack of US funding directly caused by the House Republicans.

The Russian advances are unlikely to stop there, as ammunition shortages are endemic up and down the front, again, courtesy of the House Republicans. Thus, the House Republicans can chalk up a defeat of US interests and policy to Putin’s Russia, despite a US economy 14 times larger and a population twice as big.

Ukrainian ambassador in Geneva says Russia is not cooperating in tracing many thousands of her citizens who have disappeared during two years of its all-out war against Ukraine.

The Red Cross said Monday it was trying to find out what happened to 23,000 people who have disappeared in the chaos of Russia's war in Ukraine.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was seeking to determine whether they had been captured, killed or had lost contact after fleeing their homes.

Tucker Carlson, for reasons known only to him, allowed himself to be used by Putin, the former KGB spy who learned his propaganda craft from men who served under Stalin, the author writes.

Tucker Carlson is not an idiot. He comes from a wealthy family, finished college, has traveled abroad and is a highly successful media commentator. Why, then, would he allow himself to be treated like a stooge for Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin, by giving him a platform to deceive Americans?

Carlson recently interviewed Putin in Moscow, offering almost no challenge when Putin lied. Carlson should have taken time to study the harm done to America and the world in the last century by the Anglo-American journalist Walter Duranty and his followers on the left.

She spoke as the Kremlin said it had no details about his death, while his mother Lyudmila was denied access to his body for a third day.

Yulia Navalnaya on Monday vowed to continue her husband Alexei Navalny's fight after his death in a Russian prison last week, for which she blamed the Kremlin.

She spoke as the Kremlin said it had no details about his death, while his mother Lyudmila was denied access to his body for a third day.

The peaceful protest is a response to Polish farmers continuing to block the border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian transporters are set to mount a peaceful protest from Feb. 20 at three checkpoints with Poland, according to Volodymyr Mikhalevich, head of International Automobile Carriers of Ukraine (IAPU), speaking to Ukrinform.

The move is a response to Polish farmers blocking the border and the protest by Ukrainian carriers will take place at the Rava-Ruska, Krakivets and Shegyni checkpoints.

Ecuador was planning to send six Russian military helicopters, long-range rocket launchers and air defense systems to the United States. These weapons would then be sent from the US to Ukraine.

Ecuador's foreign minister said Monday the country did not plan to send Soviet-era weapons to Ukraine after the president's vow to do so sparked a spat with Moscow over banana and flower exports.

"Ecuador will not send any war material to a country that is involved in an international armed conflict," Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld told a congressional committee.

Ukraine's government claimed that the transportation blockade on its border with Poland “will have severe socio-political effects for both countries.”

Polish farmers continue to block the movement of trucks through six crossing points at the Ukraine-Poland border, reported Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's Ministry of Communities and Territories Development, on Monday, Feb. 19.

“The blockade of the border is a direct threat to the security of a defending country. Such actions have a negative impact on our opposition to a common enemy called ‘Russia.’ Women and children who sought refuge from the war and, due to various reasons, return home cannot become hostages of business interests,” Kubrakov said.

On the 10th anniversary commemorating the “Heavenly Hundred,” who died during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Kyiv Post recalls the seminal events that changed the country and the world.

On the 10th anniversary commemorating the “Heavenly Hundred,” who died during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Kyiv Post recalls the seminal events that changed the country and the world.

Why did the Euromaidan start?

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian actors conducted a cyber operation regarding Russia’s seizure of Avdiivka, likely aimed at generating panic in the Ukrainian information space and weakening Ukrainian morale.
• The tempo of Russian offensive operations near Avdiivka has reportedly dramatically slowed following the Russian seizure of Avdiivka.
• Ukrainian officials reported that Ukrainian forces shot down two more Russian fighter aircraft, a Su-34 and a Su-35S, in eastern Ukraine on the morning of February 19.
• The White House is reportedly considering the provision of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in the event that Congress passes security assistance for Ukraine.
• The Russian government eased the requirements for “compatriots” living abroad to apply to resettle in Russia.
• Emirati banks reportedly began to limit some transactions with Russian entities and close Russian citizens’ accounts in September 2023 due to the risk of Western secondary sanctions.
• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reiterated that Armenia does not support Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine against the backdrop of deteriorating Russian-Armenian relations.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Donetsk City and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitri Medvedev claimed on February 19 that the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has recruited more than 53,000 military personnel since January 1, 2024.
• Russian authorities have reportedly returned Ukrainian children in occupied Ukraine and Russia to relatives in Ukraine.