Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-25-2024

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

Ukraine observed the second year mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion mostly in peace, with ordinary Ukrainians powering through the day and wondering when the end of the conflict will come, especially given that a horizon is no longer visible. However on the frontline and in liberated population centers such as Kherson, it was a different scene with Russian forces pounding the Ukrainian side. For the first time, Ukrainian commander and soldiers appeared to become more outspoken about a lack of ammunition and of enthusiasm wearing thin. As I said on multiple broadcasts yesterday, that creates a split screen reality where the Presidential Administration is broadcasting a scenario of bravado and victory (as one would expect) versus the more dire accounts from fighters and journalists on the frontlines. At the YES Summit, several speakers called for the immediate unfreezing of some $300-billion in Russian sovereign funds held in the West. Much of that is held in Belgium: former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Belgians “will get over it” if forced to transfer the funds to Ukraine.

Around the world, Ukrainians and friends of the country marked Saturday’s grim milestone with peaceful vigils and marches. In Canada, the Peace Tower above Parliament in Ottawa was lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Commemorations were held from coast-to-coast, and even as far north as the Yukon Territories.

Let’s not take our eyes off Ukraine at this critical moment in history, several distinguished authors warn us.

“Without an independent Ukraine, Europe will never be secure.” 

These words were uttered not by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, by US President Joe Biden or by Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.  Nor were they spoken by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg or European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They were spoken 104 years ago by Poland’s leader, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski. 

Kyiv has in recent weeks been weakened by an ammunition shortage and vital US aid remains blocked by political wrangling in the US Congress.

Half of Western military aid to Kyiv is delivered late, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday.

Ukraine, which is struggling with an ammunition shortage, has for months said that Western aid is slow to reach it and this has real consequences for its two-year fight against Russia.

One person was injured in the attack, which also damaged the church and about a dozen houses and shops.

The Kostyantynivka railway station along with more than a dozen houses and shops were damaged in Russian shelling at the beginning of the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

As Radio Svoboda reported, police said that one person was injured in the Donetsk region industrial city, Russian military allegedly targeted with S-300 missiles Sunday morning. 

April to May 2022 – attacks on civilians increase as Putin’s ground invasion is repelled

Please find the previous parts of the digest below:

February to March 2022

Thinking Out Loud with Kyiv Post's Chief Editor Bohdan Nahaylo on what February 24 2022 signified, the consequences, implications, and challenges ahead.

Kyiv Post spoke with Ukrainian lawmakers about key messages of this year's Munich Security Conference and perspectives it opened up to Kyiv, towards $60 billion aid and its NATO aspirations.

Sixty years after the first security conference, European leaders again had to focus on threats from Russia, the successor of the Soviet Union.

As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, Kyiv Post reviews the Feb. 16 conference, the 60th anniversary Munich Security Conference (MSC), which brought together about 150 leaders of states and governments – from the US and China to Myanmar and Tanzania – as well as the heads of international organizations.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has revealed the origins of The Ghost of Kyiv, the legendary Ukrainian pilot who shot down 40 Russian aircraft, including six on the first day of the full-scale invasion.

Two years ago, at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, while Russian tanks had not only breached Ukraine’s borders and were quickly approaching its capital – many Ukrainians were in desperate need of some good news.

Amidst the Russians shelling of towns and cities and the beginning of what would later be revealed as brutal occupations, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and ordinary people were doing courageous things – and people were hungry to hear about them.

The former British PM announced three key steps he said would significantly improve Ukraine's position in the war with Russia.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Ukrainians not to worry about the ongoing political dispute surrounding proposed US aid for Ukraine and said that Ukraine will receive everything it needs to defend itself against Russia.

He made his comments at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) special gathering in Kyiv, organized with the support of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Initially, Ukraine surprised the world with its stalwart defence and managed to regain some of its territory, also thanks to Western military aid. What are the prospects now?

This Saturday marks the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Initially, Ukraine surprised the world with its stalwart defence and managed to regain some of its territory, also thanks to Western military aid. However, the Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023 was unsuccessful. What are the prospects now? And how to deal with the fact that according to new studies ever fewer Europeans believe Ukraine can win?

Moscow could attack from all sides

So many problems collapse back to a single human frailty – a lack of courage. Two years after the invasion of Ukraine is a time to reaffirm the courage and commitment to ending tyranny.

A few thousand years ago, when a king or an emperor kept his flock of subjects calmed and under control behind the city walls, raising armies and quashing those who would threaten to raid the ramparts, it was understandable that few could challenge this might, that safety would prevail over ideas of freedom.

As centuries passed and monarchs and despots amassed fortunes, absolute monarchies and other aberrations of concentrated power allowed the coalescence of ever more terrible tyrannies. In the 20th century, the technical power of states reached a zenith, allowing for the bloodiest and most complete despotisms yet witnessed. The Nazi and Stalinist totalitarian horrors were the high point of human depravity, but Pol Pot and Mao offered up impressively awful spectacles too.

Throughout Europe, on Saturday thousands of protesters came out to condemn Russi'as war against Ukraine on its second anniversary.

Protesters rallied across Europe Saturday in support of Ukraine on the second anniversary of Moscow's invasion, urging greater Western backing as fears mount about Kyiv's ability to fend off an emboldened Russia.

Crowds gathered in Berlin, London, Paris and other European cities, waving the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag and demanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin put an end to the war.

Europeans face difficult questions about how to approach the next twelve months and sustain their support.

As Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its third year, Europeans face difficult questions about how to approach the next twelve months and sustain their support to give Kyiv the tools it needs to drive back Russian forces. 

“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two years ago in response when asked to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of Washington.

In Vladimir Putin’s perverse view, Ukraine is not a valid, sovereign nation. And with Russia’s targeting of civilians, including women and children, it seeks to destroy Ukraine’s very lifeblood.

Russia’s on-going attempt at genocide against Ukrainians raises a number of legal issues, although the intent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his associates, and even ordinary soldiers and their mothers is undoubtedly quite transparent: “Erase the Ukrainian nation from the face of the earth.”

This criminal genocidal intent is expressed directly by the Moscow Church and official statements of the Kremlin by individuals and publications.

Russian authorities said Navalny died of "natural causes" after he lost consciousness following a walk in the prison colony, nicknamed "Polar Wolf."

The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed to his mother more than a week after he died in an Arctic prison colony, his team said on Saturday.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, died on February 16 in one of Russia's toughest prisons in northern Siberia.

Along with supersonic missile attacks, the Russians sent waves of Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukraine from the Black Sea. The Kremlin seemed to be aimed at destroying Ukraine's air defense systems.

First, the Russians launched missiles from the south and then attacked with Iranian-made Shahed “kamikaze” drones, Ukrainian forces reported.

“At the beginning of the night, the enemy tried with the help of tactical aviation from the Black Sea to destroy our air defense system, for which they used Kh-31P missiles. But they were shot down over the sea,” Humenyuk said.

Along with pledging more support, G7 leaders called on Russia to clarify the circumstances of Russian opposition leader Navalny's death and for Iran to stop providing Russia with military support.

The G7 countries pledged support for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia after a virtual meeting Saturday on the second anniversary of Moscow's invasion.

In a statement after the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also attended, the leaders vowed to "raise the cost" of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Kyiv Post spoke with member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security Vadym Ivchenko about collaborating with global arms manufacturers and developing Ukraine's native defense industry.

With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine now fast approaching the end of its second year, Ukraine has been determined to develop its military-industrial complex.

As illustrated by the $60 billion in Ukrainian aid now stalled in the US Congress, Ukraine’s security may directly depend on its ability to produce weapons domestically and attract private funds to its defense industry.

A $60 billion security package sits stalled in the US Congress, as Trump calls on Republican lawmakers to wait until Democrats agree to crack down on immigration and convert aid to Kyiv into loans.

With a red T-shirt covered in Donald Trump pins, there is no doubt as to which candidate Patti Douglas will be backing in November's presidential election.

But unlike the former US leader, who Douglas came to see deliver a speech in the suburbs of Washington on Saturday, she has no reservations about giving Ukraine more assistance.

Two years on, leading figures from Ukraine’s business world comment on what Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine signifies for them.

From the editors:

In connection with the second anniversary of Russia launching its all-out war against Ukraine, we have invited a number of prominent political, business and military people, analysts and journalists, to share their thoughts on what this somber date means for them and for all of us.