Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-26-2024

Soldiers’ testimonies, photographs, videos, and military files form a comprehensive account of the 86-day siege of Mariupol in the early days of the war.

The M86 exhibition, which opened at the Museum and Exhibition Center of History of Kyiv this week, was created by Big City Lab and the National Museum of Ukrainian History (MIST), with the support of Mariupol Reborn.

It presents a unique day-by-day record of the heroic defense of Mariupol in honor of those who fought and died from the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 2022 to May 20 2022, when the city’s defenders were finally ordered to leave the Azovstal steelworks.

The former Director of Ukraine’s intelligence service opened up with Kyiv Post about how Ukraine’s intelligence services were reborn thanks to America’s assistance.

Valentyn Nalyvaichenko headed the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. A New York Times report published yesterday, Feb. 25, revealed that cooperation between the SBU and the US Central Intelligence Agency CIA, starting a decade ago, operates at a much closer level than what had been previously known.

Now a Member of Parliament, Nalyvaichenko gave his first interview about the contents of the Times’ piece to Kyiv Post.

According to the New York Times, the CIA has built a series of secret listening posts in Ukraine to tracks Russian troop movements, air and missile attacks.

The New York Times published an investigative report on Sunday quoting anonymous sources from among the intelligence communities in the US, Europe and Ukraine who say that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has helped Ukraine to establish 12 secret spy bases throughout the country.

According to the report, the CIA and other US intelligence services track the movements of Russian troops, gather intelligence for missile strikes, and maintain spy networks with the help of these bases.

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for president again in 2025, Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported on Sunday (Feb. 25). This would be its seventh term as head of state.

Lukashenko made his comments after voting in parliamentary and local council elections, denounced by the United States as a sham.

The ex-Soviet state’s top election official dismissed the criticism and told Washington to look after its own affairs.

Tusk said that moves to increase grain exports from Ukraine to other countries "could be a great relief for Polish and European farmers."

Polish leader Donald Tusk said on Monday his country was willing to "co-finance" exports of Ukrainian grain to third countries, in a bid to defuse tensions over low-priced Ukrainian farm goods.

Disgruntled Polish farmers have been blocking border crossings with Ukraine and clogging highways to protest at what they say is unfair competition from goods entering the Polish market from their war-torn neighbor to the east.

As reported by Ukrinform, according to Latvia's agricultural minister, even as Polish farmers are dumping Ukrainian grain at the border, Russian grain is still being sold in the EU.

Latvia voted to ban Russian grain imports. Now it wants the EU to do the same, replacing Russian grain with Ukrainian.

“Everything that’s imported from Russia can be imported from Ukraine. And in this way, we will help Ukraine and not help Russia support its war machine,” the Latvian Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze told Ukrinform in Brussels at the doorstep of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Monday.

It’s a good time to manufacture 155mm howitzer rounds.

Europe is leading a worldwide scramble to hunt down hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for Ukraine, as the world’s only superpower and Russia’s once arch-rival – America – is taking an unfamiliar back seat.

Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic and even geographically-outside-of-Europe Canada are at the forefront of a global shopping effort aimed at breaking a bottleneck for deliveries of NATO-standard 155mm howitzer shells and other mainstream munitions to the Ukrainian military.

On Feb. 24, 2024, Ukrainian communities and diaspora organizations held 1,023 actions supporting Ukraine in 746 cities in 69 countries on all continents of the world, including Antarctica.

The World Congress of Ukrainians reported record numbers of people turned out for rallies in support of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Participants, many of them Ukrainian diaspora and Ukrainians who recently fled Russia's war, registered their events on an interactive map created jointly by the World Congress of Ukrainians (WUC) and Ukrainian Truth.

Zelensky’s team believes that Ukraine’s invitation to NATO membership would send a strong message across the globe, giving Europe and the world a real chance to return to true security.

Kyiv hopes to obtain a formal invitation to NATO membership at the Alliance's 75th anniversary summit in Washington in July, according to President Zelensky’s office chief.

“Only Ukraine’s invitation to NATO will give Europe and the world real chances to return to true security,” Andriy Yermak, Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office said at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference this weekend.

As the war enters its third year, Moscow's troops have mounted heavy attacks and taken Avdiivka -- a key eastern town -- while Ukrainian troops are struggling with a lack of ammunition.

Ukraine said Monday it had withdrawn from the settlement of Lastochkyne in eastern Ukraine, which Russia said it had captured, the latest in a string of Russian advances after the fall of Avdiivka.

As the war enters its third year, Moscow's troops have mounted heavy attacks and taken Avdiivka -- a key eastern town -- while Ukrainian troops are struggling with a lack of ammunition.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has begun screening Ukrainian legislation for compliance with European standards.

The European Commission has officially started reviewing Ukrainian legislation’s compliance with EU law and by mid-March will propose a framework for the coming EU accession talks, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, said during her visit to Kyiv Sunday.

“There is a lot of work, a difficult schedule,” she said.

Friday’s speech at the UN Security Council by Poland’s Foreign Minister took aim at and “corrected” the comments used by Russia’s UN ambassador to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

The demolition of yet another repetition of the Kremlin’s talking points to justify the invasion of Ukraine by its Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Neben, by Poland’s Radosław Sikorski was applauded by many of those who attended.

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt called it “a classic. Not much left of Russia after that.” British historian Timothy Garton Ash described it as “one for the ages,” while Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German diplomat and former head of the Munich Security Conference, wrote: “Bravo Radek. We expected nothing less from you,” in a post on the X social media:

Russian milbloggers say the Beriev A-50 AWE&C aircraft that crashed near the Sea of Azov on Friday was hit by a missile fired by its own forces based near Mariupol.

Ukraine claimed that its air defenses had shot down another Beriev A-50 “Mainstay” airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft over the Azov Sea on Friday in a “combined operation” set up by its military intelligence and air force.

Shortly after the shootdown had been claimed and confirmed pro-Kremlin milbloggers began to contradict Kyiv’s statement in the most bizarre way – saying that Russian forces had accidentally shot down the $350 million aircraft.

Atesh partisans said Russian tanks bound for battle in Zaporizhzhia, which they have secretly ‘customized’ in Crimea, may not make it to the front and definitely will never return.

Atesh partisans claimed successfully tampering with Russian tanks stationed at a railway station in Yevpatoria, Crimea, which will directly hinder Kremlin armored advances in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to their report shared via Telegram.

Russia has failed the Maidan-3 info-psychological operation, in which the Kremlin planned to create a situation where the legitimacy of decision-making in Ukraine could be questioned in May 2024.

Russia has failed the most enormous special information and psychological operation (ISPO) in its history against Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR), said Sunday, on the sidelines of the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv.

The Kremlin planned to create a situation this year in which the legitimacy of decision-making in Ukraine after May 20 would be questioned via a disinformation campaign labeled “Maidan 3,” Budanov said.

The US needs to aim beyond keeping Ukraine from falling to Russia, it needs to help Ukraine to achieve victory or democracies everywhere will be threatened.

Twenty-four months ago, the United States and their NATO partners valiantly rose to the occasion to support Ukraine in the defense of their country from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation.”

Yet the White House failed to offensively transition with Ukraine as Kyiv began recapturing occupied territory; rather, the Biden Administration remains stuck in the defend and ‘weaken Russia’ mode. There still is no plan to defeat Russia or a clearly articulated end state by the Biden Administration.

The move followed a campaign by the Ukraine, which lobbied for the use of transliterations closer to the Ukrainian spelling ‘Київ’ as a matter of emancipation from the former Russian rulers.

The government has changed the spelling of the Ukrainian capital in its official communications from ‘Kiew’ to the Ukrainian ‘Kyjiw’, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The move followed a long-running campaign by the Ukrainian government in 2018, which lobbied for the use of transliterations that are closer to the Ukrainian spelling ‘Київ’ than the Russian ‘Киев’ as a matter of emancipation from the former Russian rulers.

Ukraine’s president insisted that it’s only the Russians who support the narrative of Zelensky’s ‘illegitimacy’ as president after May 2024 with propaganda funded by the Kremlin.

President Volodymy Zelensky said at a press conference yesterday that any narrative questioning his legitimacy as a result of Ukraine's postponing elections is clearly part of Russia's informational campaign against Ukraine. 

Ukraine's planned presidential election in May has been called off due to the state of martial law and constant attacks from Russia, according to Kyiv.

Sweden's NATO membership bid looks set to clear the final hurdle, with Hungary scheduled to vote on ratification on Monday.

Sweden's NATO membership bid, submitted in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, looks set to clear the final hurdle with Hungary scheduled to vote on ratification on Monday.

Accession to the US-led alliance means stark changes for both Sweden's defence and the geopolitical balance in the region.

Ukraine’s president says the Russian citizenry doesn't care about the death of their political opposition leader in Kremlin custody in a remote Gulag-style prison.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the Russian people are to blame for the death of opposition politician Oleksiy Navalny, who died on Feb. 16 in a Russian prison.

“The Russians had their opposition politician in prison. They killed him. There is no need to say now how. They killed him [along] with the Kremlin,” the president said at a press conference on Feb. 25, answering a question from Kyiv Post.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• At the outset of the war with Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian Navy (RFN maintained the freedom to manoeuvre throughout the entirety of the Black Sea, most significantly in the northwest. Following Ukraine's success in employing asymmetric alternatives to its lack of a traditional navy (various guided missiles and uncrewed vessels), the RF has been repeatedly forced to reassess its appetite for risk. Ukraine has continued to push Russian threat perception to new highs through combined strike activities on land and at sea, forcing Black Sea Fleet (BS) units to relocate their main operating areas to the eastern Black Sea.
• The ongoing success of Ukrainian attacks has persistently forced the BS onto the back foot, with recent events such as the sinking of the TARANTUL IlI-class'IVANOVETS' and ROPUCHA-class 'CAESAR KUNIKOV' leading to the dismissal of the second BS commander since the war began. Despite Russia's continued ability to strike Ukraine using vessels in the relative safety of the eastern Black Sea, it is increasingly evident that the defensive posture adopted to mitigate against Ukraine's non-conventional approach to maritime warfare is not working as intended
• At a strategic level, Ukraine's approach has denied Russia the ability to interfere with its maritime trade routes. Since the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), Ukraine's momentum has allowed it to dominate the western Black Sea. This has resulted in an increase in its exports via the unilateral Humanitarian Corridor, delivering higher trade volumes than under the BSGI, putting them on par with pre-war levels.

American funding for Ukraine is in limbo as the logic of trying to outspend Russia is looking increasingly unachievable but there may be a better way to leverage a financial advantage.

The Senate bill that tied funding for Ukraine to cash for the border and Israel has been declared dead on arrival in the House and is stalled in the Senate.  House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) held out hope for eventual funding, however: “We’ll talk about the Ukraine measure going forward.  That’s not been abandoned.”

But whatever bill passes is not likely to look like the current Senate version. Spending $60 billion on a foreign country during an election year could end several Washington careers.  However, as Speaker Johnson also said, “We can’t allow Vladimir Putin to march through Europe.” 

While the exact number of Russians killed in action against Ukrainians is unknown, Russian opposition sources estimate that it's approaching 100,000.

Russian opposition media estimated that upwards of 75,000 Russian personnel have died in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russian opposition outlets Meduza and Mediazona published a joint report on February 24 wherein they compared Mediazona’s ongoing count of confirmed Russian deaths with the Russian Register of Inheritance Cases (RND) and mortality data from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) to estimate the number of Russian military deaths in Ukraine.

The meeting in Paris will be a chance for participants to "reaffirm heir determination to defeat the war of aggression waged by Russia in Ukraine", the French presidency said.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host European leaders Monday for a conference aimed at strengthening Western support for Ukraine, two years into the Russian invasion.

The meeting in Paris will be a chance for participants to "reaffirm their unity as well as their determination to defeat the war of aggression waged by Russia in Ukraine", the French presidency said.

While Ukraine’s tech landscape continues to develop, most have not been exempted from the effects of the full-scale invasion, and for many, the future remains uncertain.

Ukraine’s once-thriving tech landscape continues to develop, but most have not been exempted from the effects of the full-scale invasion, and for many in the IT industry, the future remains uncertain, both while the war lasts and in the unknown world once it’s over.

Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine was one of the major IT hubs in Eastern Europe.

In a rare acknowledgement of setbacks, Zelensky said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the war and that plans for summer's failed counteroffensive had been leaked to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday his country's victory "depends" on support from the West and expressed hope the United States would approve a critical package of military aid.

In a rare acknowledgement of setbacks, Zelensky said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war and that plans for last summer's failed counteroffensive had been leaked to Russia.

Ukraine's intelligence says cause of Russian oppositionist's death aligns with initial assertions made by Kremlin.

Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has said that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died of a blood clot.

“I may disappoint you, but as far as we know, he indeed died as a result of a blood clot. And this has been more or less confirmed,” Budanov told journalists on the sidelines at the “Ukraine. Year of 2024” forum on Sunday.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian officials and state media largely refrained from publicly discussing the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, likely in an effort to avoid addressing Russia’s failure to achieve its stated war aims at significant human costs.
• Russian officials and state-run and state-affiliated TV channels likely refrained from commenting on the two-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion to avoid drawing attention to Russia’s failures to achieve its stated strategic goals in Ukraine and its more immediate goals of seizing all of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, while also suffering high personnel losses.
• Ukrainian officials discussed Ukraine’s goals and priorities for 2024 on February 25 and highlighted the need for continued Ukrainian innovation and Western aid to accomplish Ukraine’s objectives.
• Drone footage posted on February 25 shows Russian forces committing apparent war crimes near Bakhmut.
• The Russian information space continues to be highly sensitive to the recent losses of A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft, suggesting that the issue of deploying and defending these aircraft is of great concern.
• Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Head Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov stated that Russia has not received any long-range missiles from Iran as of February 25.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Bakhmut and Krynky amid continued positional engagements along the entire line of contact on February 25.
• Russian authorities continue efforts to recruit Ukrainian citizens in occupied Ukraine into the Russian military.
• Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated on February 25 that Russia is holding over 28,000 Ukrainian citizens captive in Russian prisons.