Feb 21: E-Stories
Day727 Kherson HIMARS RUattacks CombatSit BehindLines POLfarmers InRussia Allies Trump A&P Zabrisky Amanpour ISW Mamedov USTreasury Davis RIA Stewart Ilves Denford TimesRad UAPravda
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
Overnight on Feb 20, Russia attacked Ukraine with a total of 23 Shahed drones. As a result of extensive combat work from air defense units, all of them were shot down.
Russian drone attack on Kharkiv kills 2, injures 1. Russian drones struck a civilian vehicle in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast, instantly killing two of the passengers and injuring the third, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Feb. 20.
Russian channels report that today, a HIMARS strike was carried out on the Russian military training ground of the 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, located in occupied Trudivs'ke, Donetsk region. Reportedly 65 were killed and an unknown amount got wounded.
Ombudsman: 11 more Ukrainian children illegally held by Russia return home. Ukraine managed to return 11 more children deported or illegally held by Russia, including in the occupied territories, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced on Feb. 20.
Christiane Amanpour: In just one cemetery, you can see the staggering human toll that two years of fighting Russia’s invasion has taken on Ukraine. Grieving mothers and widows pay respects to loved ones, while ammunition runs low for those still in the fight. Here’s our report from Lviv.
Combat Situation Update
Over the past day, 50 combat clashes have taken place on the front lines llim Ukraine, with Russia launching 1 missile strike and 99 airstrikes, and firing 82 times from multiple-launch rocket systems, General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports on 20 February.
On the Marinka front, Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to hold back the Russians near Heorhiivka, Pobieda and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk Oblast). Here, the Russians, supported by their aircraft, tried to break through the defences of Ukrainian troops 17 times.
On February 20, Russians again tried to attack into Robotyne, leading to the loss of 2 BMP's and 2 armored vehicles and personnel.
"Russia is likely to prepare a new big missile and drone strike on Ukraine. Such plans can be evidenced by the intensification of drone reconnaissance over the Black Sea," Southern Operational Command spokesperson Nataliya Humenyuk said.
"In the area where the Russian planes were hit recently, they don't appear so much anymore and do not fly close. Their A-50 is generally closer to Rostov, because they are afraid to use it near the Ukrainian borders." Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said.
A Facebook message by the 110th Mechanized Brigade, addresses the evacuation of fighters from the Zenit position south of Avdiivka.
The evacuation occurred amid continuous bombardment, drone attacks, and shelling, making it impossible to evacuate some seriously wounded and deceased soldiers. Faced with a rapid and large-scale enemy offensive, the brigade, completely encircled, decided to contact coordination centers negotiating prisoner exchanges with the enemy.
Russia agreed to evacuate wounded soldiers, provide assistance, and later exchange them. Subsequently, it was discovered through Russian resources that several soldiers were dead. Two of them were reportedly shot by the enemy.
An investigation will be conducted to determine violations of the laws and customs of war, including intentional murder.
Russian media report of an ongoing fire in the building that hosts the 'Government of the DPR' in occupied Donetsk.
Attack drone operators from the Presidential Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have hit nine units of Russian equipment in one day, striking warehouses on the Tavriia front, Presidential Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. The Bulava attack drone operators from the 3rd Mechanised Battalion of the Presidential Brigade on the Tavriia front hit:
two S60 anti-aircraft artillery systems
two T-72 tanks
a BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle
a Terminator armoured combat vehicle
a GAZelle truck
two Ural armoured vehicles loaded with ammunition.
Behind the Lines
Alex Kokcharov: On the Polish-Ukrainian border, protesting Polish farmers pour Ukrainian grain, harvested amid the war and Russian bombings, out of railroad cars. This is so wrong, on so many levels. We need a new word for wrong to explain it.
Bloomberg: Ukraine plans to use an additional route on the Danube River to increase the export to pre-war levels since the Polish blockade of agricultural products shuts off Ukraine's ground border with the EU, Bloomberg reports.
"We are planning container transportation via the upper Danube as Romania is more predictable than the Polish border," Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister, said.
Georgia does not introduce sanctions against Russia.
"We are very clear: not impose sanctions and we have very strong arguments for this. At the same time, Georgia is not being used to circumvent sanctions,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said her country has broken up a hybrid operation by Russia’s security services. The Internal Security Services (ISS) and the prosecutor’s office said they had arrested 10 people they believed were acting for Russia in connection with attacks on ministers and a journalist’s cars.
Russia labels RFE/RL an 'undesirable organization.' RFE/RL suspended its operations in Russia in March 2022, shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and subsequent crackdown on media in Russia.
Meanwhile in Russia
Poland’s foreign ministry has summoned Russia’s ambassador.
In a statement, Poland’s foreign ministry said it “called on Russian authorities to take responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny and conduct a full and transparent investigation to determine the circumstances and cause of his death.”
“The authorities of the Russian Federation demonstrate a complete rejection of moral norms not only in the context of dealing with domestic civil society, but also in the ongoing war against Ukraine,” the Polish ministry said.
A Russian court has rejected a complaint by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich about the extension of his pre-trial detention until 30 March on spying charges, which he denies, the court’s press service said.
Russia’s FSB security services said it had arrested a US-Russian woman suspected of treason for raising funds for the Ukrainian army. The FSB in the central Urals city of Ekaterinburg said it had “suppressed the illegal activities” of a 33-year-old woman, a resident of Los Angeles with dual citizenship, and taken her into custody.
The Daily Show: Thank you, Tucker Carlson, for giving Jon Stewart this masterclass in journalism.
Allied Support
Sweden will donate military aid to Ukraine worth about 7.1 billion Swedish crowns (£541m), the country’s largest contribution to date, the country’s defence ministry said. It will be Sweden’s 15th round of aid for Ukraine, taking the overall aid since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 to about 30 billion crowns (£2.3bn).
Bulgaria delayed the delivery of 100 BTR-60's to Ukraine because it wants NATO to cover the transport costs, MPs from the ruling majority said. Three months ago, the Bulgarian Parliament agreed on the transfer.
Canada confirmed it will send over 800 SkyRanger R70 multi-mission Unmanned Aerial Systems to Ukraine worth $95 million. The drone is one of the best of its kind in the world, and can handle a variety of payloads up to 3.5kg, the statement reads.
According to the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the German traffic light coalition has prepared a secret proposal to provide Ukraine with more ammunition, vehicles and weapons systems. Planned vote in the Bundestag: this week.
The United Kingdom, alongside other allies, plans to arm Ukraine with thousands of AI-powered drones, Bloomberg reports citing sources. One of the features of such drones is that they can swarm and simultaneously strike Russian targets. Operators will not need to control each individual device.
"Western military planners developing the technology believe it could allow Ukraine to overwhelm certain Russian positions with the unmanned vehicles," the publication states.
Sources say that the drones could be sent to Ukraine within a few months, although these timelines may be subject to change.
Estonia says it stopped 'hybrid operation' by Russian security services. The Estonian media outlet ERR reported earlier on Feb. 20 that the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) detained 10 people in connection with a series of crimes committed in late 2023, including vandalism of a car belonging to Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets.
Joe Biden says the United States will unveil on Friday a major package of sanctions against Russia to hold it accountable for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The US president’s national security adviser said the measures will target Russia’s “defense industrial base and sources of revenue for the economy”.
Paul Brand: National Crime Agency, FBI, Europol… in fact police from ten different countries. They’ve hacked the hackers behind Lockbit, the most egregious ransomware, which has crippled thousands of companies worldwide, from Royal Mail to Boeing.
Tatiana Denford: “The Russians were hunting us down. They had a list of names, including ours, and they were closing in. We were the only international journalists left in the city of #Mariupol. We were reporting inside the hospital when gunmen began stalking the corridors. Surgeons gave us scrubs to wear as camouflage. We were whisked into a dark basement. The police officer who helped said to us, “if they catch you, they will get you on camera and film you saying that everything is a lie. All your efforts will be in vain.”
— this is not from a Hollywood horror movie. This is Mstyslav Chernov’s statement about surviving the siege of Mariupol so that his footage could be shown. If they’d been caught, this post would not exist, the truth about Mariupol would be erased from history, and more than likely this entire team of journalists would be dead.
The United States has vetoed a resolution at the United Nations calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an anticipated move that comes amid growing international clamor for Israel to pause its offensive against Hamas.
The US had already signaled its intention to veto the Algerian resolution, but has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and on Monday proposed its own Security Council draft resolution calling for a “temporary ceasefire” in the conflict.