Ukraine war updates: ‘Significant’ losses inflicted on Russia
All the updates from February 19 as they happened.
This live blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the Russia-Ukraine war updates for February 19, 2023:
This live blog is now closed, thank you for joining us. These were the Russia-Ukraine war updates for February 19, 2023:
- Ukraine’s military is inflicting “extraordinarily significant” losses on Russian forces near the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
- Russia says Western countries have not yet shown any “openness” to engage in peaceful initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian officials urge members of the United States Congress to press the administration of US President Joe Biden to send F-16s, saying the fighter jets would boost Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian missile units with US-made rockets.
- France says it will begin delivering AMX-10 light tanks to Kyiv.
- Moscow condemns a US allegation that Russia has committed “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine, calling it an attempt to “demonise” the country.
Ukraine inflicting ‘significant’ losses on Russian forces: Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s military is inflicting “extraordinarily significant” losses on Russian forces near the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
“The situation is very complicated … We are breaking down the invaders and inflicting extraordinarily significant losses on Russia,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
He referred to several towns in Donbas, where fighting has been focused for months, saying “the more losses Russia suffers there in Donbas – in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Marinka, Kreminna – the faster we will be able to end this war with Ukraine’s victory”.
Ukraine’s first lady: To fight back, you need to have weapons
First Lady Olena Zelenska has said that Ukraine needs more weapons to fight back Russia’s invasion.
“To fight back, you need to have weapons. Otherwise, you can die. We also need help to restore human capital, infrastructure, houses, schools, kindergartens, because war is not only a front line, it is also an economic crisis and a humanitarian catastrophe,” Zelenska said.
In an interview with South Korean TV company Channel A, the first lady also warned that the war, which began about a year ago, can have a “spillover effect”.
“This is not a gladiatorial fight that can be watched from the stands. The battle can spill over to the ‘stands’ at any moment,” she said.
Zelenska emphasised that Ukraine strives to end the war.
“The war is always too long, even when it lasts one day,” she said. “We are waiting for its end every day. But it also depends on the support of the world.”
How will the Russian war on Ukraine unfold?
It has been almost a year since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sowing death and destruction across the country. The toll of the war is grim: thousands of Ukrainian civilians dead, tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides killed, millions displaced, and whole Ukrainian towns and villages razed to the ground.
As we move into the second year, both sides are preparing large-scale offensives, with tens of thousands of new recruits and new sophisticated hardware being sent to the front line. A wide range of scenarios that are viable to a different extent may unfold this year. The only thing we can predict with a high degree of confidence is that we are going to see a bloodbath on a larger scale than last year.
Read more here.
In pictures: Hairdresser by day, drone hunter by night
Oleksandr Shamshur, 41, is a hairdresser by day and a “drone hunter” by night – one of tens of thousands of volunteers helping defend the skies over Ukraine against Russian attacks.
As the February 24 first anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears, Ukraine is becoming increasingly adept at shooting down Russian missiles and drones fired at cities far from the front lines, and Shamshur takes pride in his role.
Read more here.
One year on, countries beyond Ukraine’s borders feeling effects of war
February 24th will mark one year since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in what was the start of Moscow’s full-blown invasion of its neighbour. Though Ukraine has, remarkably, survived as a sovereign state, it continues to suffer from round-the-clock artillery bombardment.
But in addition to the thousands of civilian deaths, millions of refugees and extensive infrastructure damage in Ukraine, countries far beyond its borders are feeling the detrimental effects of the war.
Read more here.
US mulling increasing troop presence in Poland
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and United States President Joe Biden will discuss possibly increasing the US troop presence in Poland and making it more permanent.
“We are in the process of discussion with President Biden’s administration about making their [troop] presence more permanent and increasing them,” Morawiecki said on the CBS News programme Face the Nation.
Biden will visit Poland February 20-22 to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
The US bolstered its troop presence in Poland ahead of the February 24, 2022 invasion, and currently has roughly 11,000 personnel on rotation there, according to CBS.
Biden said last June that the US would set up a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to Russian threats.
Biden will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Eastern European allies in Poland and will speak about the war, but has no plans to cross into neighbouring Ukraine, according to the White House.
Borrell backs joint EU arms plan, but says Kyiv needs help now
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has backed a call for the bloc’s members to buy arms jointly to help Ukraine, but warned it would not solve Kyiv’s urgent need for more ammunition now.
Borrell was responding to an Estonian proposal for the EU to place large ammunition orders on behalf of multiple member states to speed up procurement and encourage European arms firms to invest in increasing their production capacities.
EU officials and diplomats say they are urgently exploring the possibility of joint procurement of 155 millimetre artillery shells to help Kyiv defend itself against Russia. EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the Estonian plan in Brussels on Monday.
In a panel discussion with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in Munich on Sunday, Borrell said: “I completely agree with the Estonian prime minister’s proposal, we are working on that and it will work.”
But in a speech before the discussion, Borrell said joint procurement could only bear fruit in the medium term. Right now, Ukraine’s supporters must quickly send supplies from existing stocks, he said.
“This [shortage] cannot be solved by going into joint procurement … because any procurement that comes to the market will come at the end of a queue of a long list of orders already passed by the member states.”
US plans fresh round of sanctions on Russia: Report
The administration of United States President Joe Biden is planning to impose new export controls and a fresh round of sanctions on Russia, targeting key industries, Bloomberg News reports.
The new sanctions will target Russia’s defence and energy sectors, financial institutions and several individuals, the report said.
Three killed by Russian shelling on village in Kherson
Russian shelling has killed three adult members of a family in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, regional authorities have said.
Four others – including two children – were injured in the Sunday attack when a shell flew into the yard of a house in the village of Burgunka, officials said.
“The Russian occupiers killed a family in the region of Kherson,” the regional administration said in a statement.
“Three people died at the scene of the tragedy – the father, mother and uncle.”
Separately, an eight-year-old boy was injured by the shelling in the same village, the regional authorities said.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions including Kherson.
In November, Moscow ordered its troops to withdraw from the city of Kherson in a humiliating defeat for the Russian army.
Russia says Ukraine is planning to stage nuclear incident
Russia says Ukraine is planning to stage a nuclear incident on its territory to pin the blame on Moscow ahead of a UN meeting. It did not provide evidence for the accusation.
Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, Russia has repeatedly accused Kyiv of planning “false flag” operations with non-conventional weapons, using biological or radioactive materials. No such attack has materialised.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that radioactive substances had been transported to Ukraine from a European country and Kyiv was preparing a large-scale “provocation”.
“The aim of the provocation is to accuse Russia’s army of allegedly carrying out indiscriminate strikes on hazardous radioactive facilities in Ukraine, leading to the leakage of radioactive substances and contamination of the area,” it said.
Ukraine and its allies have dismissed such accusations as cynical attempts to spread disinformation and has accused Moscow of planning such incidents itself in a bid to blame Ukraine.
143,000 Russian forces killed since war began: Ukrainian military
Nearly 143,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war in Ukraine almost a year ago, according to the Ukrainian military.
The latest update from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said the number of casualties on the Russian side had reached 142,860, up 590 since Saturday.
It also said 3,310 tanks and 6,545 armoured combat vehicles had been destroyed.
In a tweet, the ministry included a line from the Beatles song Back in the USSR, which was released in 1968 and refers to a Russian stringed musical instrument: “Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out.”
"Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out."
The BeatlesTotal combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Feb 19: pic.twitter.com/XayHzNwBBT
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 19, 2023
UK intelligence: Russia likely using information-gathering balloons in Ukraine
Russia is likely using balloons to gather information about Ukraine’s defence systems and force it to use up ammunition by shooting them down, the latest UK intelligence update on the war says.
The UK Ministry of Defence said that on February 12, Ukraine’s air force sighted a number of balloons near the eastern city of Dnipro.
Ukrainian armed forces also said that on Wednesday, they spotted and shot down several balloons over Kyiv.
“It is likely that the balloons were Russian,” the UK update said. “They likely represent a new tactic by Russia to gain information about Ukrainian air defence systems and compel the Ukrainians to expend valuable stocks of surface to air missiles and ammunition.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 19 February 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence: https://t.co/JOkHGpKGFX
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/9AF5XFXrd2
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 19, 2023
War over ‘in weeks’ unless EU provides more ammunition: Josep Borrell
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the West must provide more military aid to Ukraine and speed up its deliveries, otherwise the war in Ukraine will be over.
“Much more has to be done and much quicker. There is still a lot to be done. We have to increase and accelerate our military support,” Borrell said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
“We are in urgent war mode,” he added. “This shortage of ammunition has to be solved quickly. It is a matter of weeks.”
Ukraine war expected to cost Germany $171bn by year’s end
The Ukraine war will have cost the German economy around $171bn, or about 4 percent of its gross domestic output, in lost value creation by the end of the year, the head of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce estimates.
That means GDP per capita in Europe’s largest economy would be $2,143 lower than it otherwise would have been, Peter Adrian told the Rheinische Post.
German industry is set to pay about 40 percent more for energy in 2023 than in 2021 before the crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, a study by Allianz Trade said last month.
Germany, which for decades relied on relatively cheap Russian pipeline gas, now has especially high energy prices compared with the US, which has its own natural gas reserves, while France has abundant nuclear power.
“The gas price is around three to five times higher than in the United States,” he said, adding electricity was four times as expensive as in France.
Moscow slams US for casting Crimea as legitimate target
The Kremlin says the US is a “major provocateur” of international tensions for condoning attacks on Crimea, warning that the remarks about the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula underscored the depth of disagreement between the two countries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to comments by US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, who said the US considers Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, should be demilitarised and Washington supports Ukrainian attacks on military targets on the peninsula.
“Nuland belongs to a very broad camp of the most aggressive ‘hawks’ in American politics,” Peskov said in comments published by the TASS news agency. “This is a point of view we know well.”
Kremlin scolds Macron over remarks wishing for Russia’s defeat in Ukraine
Russia has criticised Macron over remarks about wanting to see Russia defeated. It says Moscow still remembers the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte and accuses the French president of duplicitous diplomacy with the Kremlin.
Macron said in an interview with broadcaster France Inter and newspapers Le Figaro and Le Journal du Dimanche that France wanted Russia to be defeated in Ukraine but had never wanted to “crush” it.
“France did not begin with Macron, and the remains of Napoleon, revered at the state level, rest in the centre of Paris. France – and Russia – should understand,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Macron has drawn criticism from some NATO allies for delivering mixed messages regarding his policy on the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Blinken warns China against supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi of consequences should Beijing provide material support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The top diplomats of the two superpowers met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich.
Poor relations between the two countries have worsened since Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the US before American fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden’s orders. The dispute also came at a time when the West is closely watching Beijing’s response to the Ukraine war.
In an interview to be aired on Sunday morning on the NBC News programme Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, Blinken said the US was very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia. He said he made it clear to Wang that such an action “would have serious consequences in our relationship”.
Ukrainian troops prepare to defend potential target of new Russian offensive
Ukrainian troops conducting weekend exercises near the small eastern town of Siversk say they are preparing to defend one of the possible targets of a new Russian offensive.
Siversk, which had a pre-war population of 10,000 people, is 35km (22 miles) north of Bakhmut, which has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks. Siversk is also on a road to another of the key towns in the Donetsk region, Sloviansk.
“If they occupied Bakhmut, then we would be semi-encircled because on the left side we have the Siverskyi Donets River, and the enemy will advance from the right, and it is possible to cut us off if they reach the Bakhmut highway,” said the deputy Siversk battalion commander, who uses the nom de guerre Han.
Capturing Bakhmut would give Russian forces a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities further west, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
But Ukraine and its Western allies say success there would be a largely Pyrrhic victory for Moscow, given the time taken and losses sustained.
Kasparov: Ukraine must defeat Moscow forces for change in Russia
Russia’s former chess champion and leading Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov says Ukraine must defeat Moscow as a “pre-condition” for a democratic transition in Russia.
“Liberation from Putin’s fascism runs through Ukraine,” Kasparov said at a panel discussion on Russia’s “democratic future” at the Munich Security Conference, also attended by other prominent Kremlin critics.
Kasparov urged the West to keep up its support for Kyiv, arguing, “No expenditure is too much for Ukraine.”
France to begin delivering armoured vehicles to Ukraine within a week
France says it will begin delivering the armoured vehicles it has promised Ukraine by next weekend.
The AMX-10 vehicles, sometimes described as light tanks, are used for armed reconnaissance and attacks on enemy tanks.
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu told the Le Parisien newspaper of the upcoming weapons deliveries in Sunday’s edition. He also said the training of Ukrainian crews on the AMX-10 is now “nearly complete” and overall training is intensifying.
Starting in March, 600 Ukrainian soldiers are to undergo training every month, Lecornu said.
Ukrainian survivors recall Russian attack on civilians
United Nations investigators have visited Ukraine several times over the past year and say there is evidence war crimes have been committed.
They say Ukrainian forces have been responsible for human rights violations but significantly more crimes have been committed by Russian soldiers.
Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reports from Chernihiv, Ukraine.
Chechnya’s leader: One day I plan to set up my own military company
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, says he plans eventually to set up his own private military company in the style of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group.
“When my service to the state is completed, I seriously plan to compete with our dear brother Yevgeny Prigozhin and create a private military company,” Kadyrov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on social media. “I think it will all work out.”
Negotiations path to end war, French president says
The war between Russia and Ukraine can only be ended through negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron says.
“I want Russia’s defeat in Ukraine, and I want Ukraine to be able to defend its position, but I am convinced that the end [of the conflict] will ultimately not be reached militarily,” Macron said in an interview with broadcaster France Inter and newspapers Le Figaro and Le Journal du Dimanche.
Macron said Ukraine now needs a military offensive to bring Russia back to the negotiating table.
However, he said he does not believe Russia should be attacked on its own soil, as some have suggested.
“Above all, these observers want to crush Russia. This has never been and never will be France’s position,” he said.
Russia rejects US allegation that it committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ukraine
Russia’s ambassador to the US has slammed allegations made by US officials that Moscow has been involved in “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine.
“We consider such insinuations as an attempt, unprecedented in terms of its cynicism, to demonise Russia in the course of a hybrid war unleashed against us,” Anatoly Antonov said, according to a statement by the Russian embassy on Telegram. “There is no doubt that the purpose of such attacks is to justify Washington’s own actions to fuel the Ukrainian crisis.”
Italian PM Meloni to visit Kyiv: Reuters
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plans to travel to Kyiv on Monday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Reuters news agency reports, citing a political source.
Meloni, who took office in October, has said she plans to visit Kyiv before the February 24 anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Despite friction on the issue within her right-wing ruling coalition and divided public opinion, Meloni has been a firm supporter of Ukraine.