War In Ukraine 2023 Live Latest Information Coverage

PAP/EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV For the first time in five days, the Russians launched a frigate carrying Kalibr cruise missiles into the Black Sea, reports the Ukrainian Pravda portal, citing the spokeswoman for the Defense Forces in southern Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk "Yesterday evening (the Russian group of ships in the Black Sea) was joined by one ship carrying missiles, the situation remains relatively stable," Natalia Humeniuk assessed on Ukrainian television.

Currently, there are nine units in the Black Sea basin On Friday, Humeniuk said, the number of ships doubled, which may indicate further plans to increase the group on combat duty.

Among the Russian vessels in the Black Sea is a frigate carrying eight Kalibr missiles The lack of reports for about 10 days of the use of Iranian-made kamikaze drones by Russian troops in Ukraine probably indicates that they have exhausted their current stocks, the British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, the head of the authorities of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, announced the heavy losses of the enemy during the assault near Kreminna About 70 soldiers were to die, which corresponds in number to one company.

"There was a big assault attempt - three companies went on the attack, but the defense forces held out," Haidai told Ukrainian TV His statement was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

According to the official, "of the three companies, only two returned to their positions" and nearly 70 servicemen were killed A similar number of enemy soldiers were wounded.

An anti-aircraft alert was declared throughout Ukraine on Saturday morning According to social media, the reason is the activity of the Russian military aviation.

In Kiev, Sirens Howled At 9 23 Am (8

23 am Polish time) Ukrainian Telegram users write about the take-off of four MiG-31K aircraft from the airport in Akhtubinsk in the Astrakhan region.

These machines can carry hard-to-shoot Kh-47M2 Kinzhal cruise missiles, they explain In the spring of 2022, 50,000 from 200 thousand of the Russian soldiers who took part in the invasion of Ukraine were already dead or wounded.

After the mobilization of another 300,000 and tens of thousands of Wagnerians, the Russian army doubled in size The number of wounded and killed among Russians has also doubled, columnist David Ax writes in Forbes.

Data from publicly available sources on the number of Russian troops was collected by Ukrainian analyst Volodymyr Datsenko Prior to the mobilization announced last summer, the Russian army was losing about 380 soldiers a day to Ukrainian forces, according to Datsenko.

After mobilization, the daily death toll almost doubled to 650 per day To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, the West should fully support Ukraine to win the war against Russia, admit Georgia and Ukraine to NATO, and reclaim Russian-occupied territories in Georgia and Moldova.

If the West takes these overdue steps, there is a chance for lasting peace, and Vladimir Putin will finally pay the price for his wars, said Vasil Sicharulidze, Georgia's former defense minister and Georgian ambassador to the US in 2006-2008, in Foreign Affairs In Sicharulidze's opinion, the lessons of the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, when Russia's invasion was not punished in any way, should not be forgotten.

The diplomat said that the West "must remember about the danger of satisfying the demands of Putin or another Russian dictator " Among the steps proposed by the politician needed to achieve lasting peace in Europe, apart from regaining the occupied territories of Georgia and Ukraine and incorporating these countries into NATO, the development of an energy and transport corridor connecting Central Asia with Europe and bypassing Russia was mentioned.

The Kremlin did not comment on Friday on the first anniversary of the aggression against Ukraine, most likely because Russia failed to achieve any of the announced goals of the war, the American Institute of War Studies (ISW) estimates in its latest Saturday report “The Kremlin has not commented on the first anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, most likely because Russia has failed to achieve any of its announced goals and has not made any significant territorial gains since July 2022.

” – evaluates the Institute of War Research Neither Putin nor his officials commented on the war anniversary, although the Russian president has made public appearances over the past three days.

Only the deputy head of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who made aggressive threats many times during the war, going well beyond the officially announced Kremlin line (which according to analysts is a deliberate propaganda ploy), declared that Russia would win the war Medvedev wrote in Telegram that it is necessary to "push the borders of the threat to our country as far as possible, even if it will be the borders of Poland.

In order to stop the desertion of reservists, the Russian army sent 300 Kadyrov soldiers from the Akhmat regiment to the front near Bakhmut as barrage troops, the general staff of the Ukrainian army said in a statement on Saturday morning "In order to avoid desertions mobilized from the front and sabotage, on February 23, 200 policemen from the Akhmat special-purpose regiment were additionally sent to the direction of Bakhmuck" - informed the staff.

deter possible cases of desertion by force or threat of its use The reason for desertion is that the army is sent to the assault without proper preparation and equipment, and the infantry is used for attacks against Ukrainian forces, with heavy equipment.

Such reports have been from the sections of the front where the Wagner Group mercenary formation and the so-called separatists Russia is increasing its presence in Ukraine, but there is no indication that it can succeed on the battlefield, Julianne Smith, the US permanent representative to NATO, said on Friday in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

"Strategic they are unable to achieve their goals They have logistical problems, ammunition shortages, and most importantly, problems with morale and leadership," Smith explained.

In her opinion, Ukraine has extraordinary leadership and innovation "We make sure they have what they need - the equipment and ammunition they need to be successful," she said.

The US ambassador to NATO said the Ukrainians are planning a spring offensive, " that after the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the suspension of Moscow's participation in the New START treaty, there are no changes in the position of the Russian strategic nuclear forces "We consider it unfortunate that they have decided to suspend their participation in the New START treaty.

This is irresponsible, given the possible consequences of what we are talking about," said Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder "As for the position of the Russian strategic forces, we have not found any signs that it has changed, just as we have not changed our position," he stressed.

US President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC News on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not need F-16 fighters right now Thus, he ruled out sending this type of aircraft to Ukraine in the near future.

" He doesn't need the F-16 now I'm ruling that out for now," Biden said in an interview conducted by David Muir on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The U S

State Department announced on Friday that it had decided to allocate over $10 billion together with the U S.

Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Finance for aid to Ukraine.

"The United States continues to support Ukraine during Russia's brutal, unprovoked war Today, in partnership with the U.

S Agency for International Development and the Department of the Treasury, we are announcing more than $10 billion in aid, including budget support to the government of Ukraine and additional energy assistance to support Ukrainians suffering from Russian attacks," the Department said in a statement.

State The resort specified that this week, As a result of bipartisan support from Congress, the US began paying the government of Ukraine additional budget support of $9.

9 billion This subsidy is disbursed through the World Bank Public Expenditure Mechanism for Maintaining Administrative Capacity (PEACE) on a reimbursable basis after verified expenditure.

"These funds are crucial for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia and provides the Ukrainian government with the ability to continue to meet the critical needs of its citizens, including healthcare, education and emergency services Continued US efforts have helped bring together other international donors, including the European Commission Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom to provide Ukraine with the economic assistance it needs.

There is a preliminary agreement in the EU for the tenth package of sanctions against Russia The last country that gave the green light was Poland, making it conditional on the fulfillment of six conditions.

But all procedures still need to be finalized before the sanctions are finally approved The Polish Ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sadoś, informed that one of the conditions was that the European Commission would take up the issue of abduction of Ukrainian children and forced adoptions in Russia.

Other conditions include the immediate commencement of work on a package of sanctions against Belarus, the start of work on restrictions on nuclear fuel from Russia, and the finalization of work with the G7 on imposing restrictions on diamonds from Russia The Commission is also obliged to monitor the EU countries' withdrawal from rubber imports from Russia.

The last condition is the urgent blacklisting of about 150 propagandists from the Kremlin this list as the Brussels correspondent of Polish Radio Beata Płomecka heard, was handed over to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki by President Volodymyr Zełenski.

The partisans hoisted the Ukrainian flag in Sevastopol On the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, partisans planted a Ukrainian flag in occupied Sevastopol.

The national flag was installed on the arches at the city's pier Grafska The photo was published on the social profile of the Crimean Partisans.

"temporarily Occupied Sevastopol Partisans

Glory to Ukraine!" - we read in the message The partisans reminded the occupiers that Crimea is Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron declined the invitation of his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to Kiev for the anniversary of Russian aggression According to French diplomatic sources, the head of state will go to Ukraine only when he can bring "key promises".

On Friday, the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Macron limited himself to expressing "solidarity" and wishes for "victory and peace" to the Ukrainians, according to Yahoo France Unlike U.

S President Joe Biden, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez or Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Macron said he "cannot come" to Kiev for the anniversary but hopes to travel to Ukraine in March, Ukraine's ambassador in Paris said.

Vadym Omelchenko French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that that he must begin to consider peace talks with Moscow even if Russia continues to occupy Ukrainian territory, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

This allegedly happened during a meeting of three politicians in Paris in early February The New York daily, citing information from unnamed officials, claims that Macron told the Ukrainian president that even mortal enemies like France and Germany had to make peace after World War II, and that while Zelensky is a great war leader, he will also have to make difficult decisions as a politician in charge of the country.

According to the "WSJ", the governments of France, Germany and Great Britain are wondering whether stronger ties between NATO and Ukraine could encourage the authorities in Kiev to do so We need an aviation coalition for Ukraine, just like the working tank coalition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

He added that it is necessary to start with pilot training, which may take four or five months In a joint TV interview on Polsat News, the presidents of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, referred to the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine falling on Friday.

The President of Ukraine was asked, inter alia, about the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine, including aircraft The World Bank said on Friday that it was allocating $2.

5 billion in grants for additional aid to Ukraine to support the country's budget and ensure that Ukrainians have access to basic services "The funds, provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), will be transferred to the government of Ukraine after appropriate verification of the expenditure by the World Bank" - communicated in the message.

In December, the World Bank announced that it was allocating another $610 million to Ukraine and announced that it had established an international trust fund to support the government of Ukraine.

Contributors to the Ukraine Relief, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF) included Switzerland, Austria, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, which initially donated $250 million Canada and Japan have also pledged support for the URTF.

The fund will provide a funding coordination and support mechanism to assist the Ukrainian government in maintaining administrative capacity, delivering services, carrying out relief activities, and planning and implementing a reconstruction and reform program in Ukraine The recent incident involving a Russian spy ship in Belgian waters in the North Sea is just the "tip of the iceberg," Belgian experts said on Friday, according to the daily De Tijd.

They point out that every month there are several reports of suspicious objects and strange containers at windmills A Russian spy ship was spotted off the coast of Belgium in mid-November last year, the cabinet of Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said this week.

"Our intelligence services take into account that the ship was intended to map sensitive infrastructure," the media said I hope that China will not supply Russia with weapons and I hope that they will be on our side," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday at a press conference.

"I want to believe that China will be on the side of a just world, that is, on our side," said the head of the Ukrainian state "I really want to believe that China will not supply Russia with weapons," Zelensky added.

"This is point number one for me," he pointed out and assured that he is doing everything to prevent this If China is "embraced" with Russia, there will be a risk of World War III, Zelensky warned.

that any peace proposals must be in line with the guidelines of the United Nations General Assembly resolution: "Ukraine will resist (Russian aggression) - as it has resisted so far - and Ukraine will win Putin will lose much sooner than he thinks," Kuleba said.

On Thursday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution: "The principles of the United Nations Charter underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine " German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has decided to transfer another four Leopard 2 A6 tanks from German military stocks to Ukraine, the defense ministry in Berlin announced on Friday.

"Germany thus increases the number of tanks transferred from 14 to 18" - added the ministry Thanks to this decision, it will be possible to deliver a tank battalion to Ukraine together with Portuguese and Swedish partners, it was reported on Twitter.

Three tanks are to come from Portugal and ten from Sweden Together, this makes 31, which is the number needed for a Ukrainian tank battalion.

The German government announced in January that he wants to deploy two battalions together with Poland, and he himself promised 14 tanks from the Bundeswehr – reminds the RND portal I am sure Ukraine will win; I really want to win this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday during a press conference on the anniversary of the Russian attack on his country.

The head of state stated that the victory will come when the Ukrainians and all partners "do their homework" "We have everything: motivation, confidence, friends," he stressed.

Zelensky also announced that he wanted to include the countries of South America, Africa, China and India in the Ukrainian "peace formula" He assessed that no one expected that Ukraine's neighbor, Russia, would want to destroy it completely.

The Weimar Triangle will stand by Ukraine and its people for as long as necessary This also applies to our readiness to continue to receive and support those who had to seek refuge from Russian aggression.

The three leaders agreed to coordinate their activities with greater intensity and to meet again at a summit in Paris before the summer of 2023 - that's the declaration.

The President of France and the Chancellor of Germany reaffirmed in the strongest terms their condemnation of Russia's unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, which is a clear violation of the international order based on the UN Charter President Duda: I spoke with President Biden about starting joint military production that they will coordinate their activities with greater intensity and will meet again at the Paris Summit before the summer of 2023.

- that's the declaration The President of France and the Chancellor of Germany reaffirmed in the strongest terms their condemnation of Russia's unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, which is a clear violation of the international order based on the UN Charter.

President Duda: I spoke with President Biden about starting joint military production that they will coordinate their activities with greater intensity and will meet again at the Paris Summit before the summer of 2023 - that's the declaration.

The President of France and the Chancellor of Germany reaffirmed in the strongest terms their condemnation of Russia's unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, which is a clear violation of the international order based on the UN Charter President Duda: I spoke with President Biden about starting joint military production which is a clear violation of the international order based on the Charter of the United Nations.

President Duda: I spoke with President Biden about starting joint military production which is a clear violation of the international order based on the Charter of the United Nations President Duda: I spoke with President Biden about starting joint military production.