Saturday, February 10

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The aftermath of a Russian strike on Kharkiv Oblast on Feb. 10. 2024. (Suspilne Kharkiv/Telegram)

Ambassador: Ukraine facing ‘critical shortage’ of missiles, military hardware. Ukraine is facing a “critical shortage” of military hardware, including missiles, urging U.S. lawmakers to support a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova said in an interview with Bloomberg published on Feb. 8.

Zelensky announces new chief of general staff. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has named Major General Anatoliy Barhilevych as the new Chief of General Staff for Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Zelensky announced during his evening address on Feb. 9.

Syrskyi reveals his priorities as Ukraine’s new chief commander. Ukraine’s newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who has replaced General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, laid out his priorities in managing the war, which will soon enter its third year.

Government appoints Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Porkhun as acting veterans affairs minister. The Ukrainian government has appointed Oleksandr Porkhun, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war and a Hero of Ukraine, as the acting veterans affairs minister after the resignation of Yuliia Laputina, the ministry reported on Feb. 9.

Ukraine’s Justice Ministry asks to confiscate assets of Russian propagandist. Dmitry Kiselyov is a Russian top media executive and TV presenter who has been publicly supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine since 2014.

Association head warns of closure of Ukrainian sugar factories due to EU import curbs. The European Commission earlier proposed caps on the “most sensitive” Ukrainian food products, namely sugar, poultry, and eggs.

Justice minister, G7 ambassadors discuss law enforcement reforms. During the meeting with the justice minister, the ambassadors reportedly emphasized the importance of reforms in the judicial and law enforcement spheres to spur greater investment and backing from the international community.

Zelensky grants Hero of Ukraine award to Zaluzhnyi, Budanov. President Volodymyr Zelensky conferred the Hero of Ukraine award, the highest national decoration in Ukraine, to former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, according to a presidential decree from Feb. 8.

Court confiscates assets of Russian-Greek oligarch. Savvidi was listed among 25 oligarchs whose companies serve the Russian military-industrial complex and whose assets had not yet been confiscated by Ukraine.

Danilov: No Ukrainian POWs on crashed Russian Il-76 aircraft. Despite Russia’s claims, there were no Ukrainian prisoners of war on the downed Russian Il-76 transport plane that crashed on Jan. 24, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov told Babel in an interview that was published on Feb. 9.

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Umerov holds first meeting with Syrskyi as chief commander. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov held his first meeting with General Oleksandr Syrskyi after his appointment as Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief to discuss plans for the country’s Armed Forces in 2024, the Defense Ministry reported on Feb. 9.

Law enforcement charges former SBU official with abduction, torture of residents in Melitopol. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), in coordination with the State Bureau of Investigations, has formally charged a former SBU official accused of abducting and torturing local residents in occupied Melitopol, the SBU announced on Feb. 9.

Media: Russia imports Italian Beretta rifles despite sanctions. Of all arms supplied to Russia in violation of sanctions, almost half were made by Beretta-owned companies, the investigation said.

Ukraine designates US-based manufacturer as international ‘sponsor of war’. Allied Mineral Products, LLC manufactures a variety of refractory products, including heat-resistant materials that can be used in the production of military equipment.

National Resistance Center: Russia builds militaristic youth camps in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Moscow reportedly plans to open a “center for military-sports training and patriotic education of youth called ‘Warrior’ based on the ‘Iskra’ children’s health camp.”

Russia claims it destroyed 19 drones over 4 regions, Black Sea. The Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing Russia’s Defense Ministry, that its air defense “shot down two Ukrainian drones over Kursk Oblast, five over Bryansk Oblast, four over Orlov Oblast, two over Krasnodar Krai, and six over the Black Sea” overnight on Feb. 9.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: New Armed Forces commander settles in, lays down main priorities.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov held his first meeting with General Oleksandr Syrskyi after his appointment as Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief to discuss plans for the country’s Armed Forces in 2024.

Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address to the nation. “He has successful defense experience - he conducted the Kyiv defense operation.”

Photo: Defense Ministry

Who is General Syrskyi, Ukraine’s new chief commander?

Oleksandr Syrskyi’s appointment didn’t come as a total surprise. The general has been named as one of the leading candidates to replace Zaluzhnyi, particularly because he’s been known to be on good terms with the Presidential Office.

Photo: Anastasia Vlasova for The Washington Post via Getty Images

# Ukraine Explainer: Why did Zelensky fire Zaluzhnyi?

Human cost of war

UPDATE: Russian attack on Kharkiv causes mass fire, killing 7. Russian snipers struck a gas station in Kharkiv, creating a large fire that engulfed 15 residential homes and killed seven people, including three children, local authorities reported on Feb. 10. At least two people have been reported injured. Over 50 Kharkiv residents, including two children, have been evacuated.

Russian attack on Odesa injures 1. A Russian drone attack on the city of Odesa injured a 44-year-old man, Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper reported.

Russian air strike on Kherson Oblast’s Beryslav injures woman, damages houses. Russian forces launched an air strike on the city of Beryslav in Kherson Oblast, wounding a woman and damaging homes and infrastructure, the regional administration reported on Feb. 9.

Russian strikes kill 3, injure 4 in Sumy Oblast. Russian attacks on settlements in Sumy Oblast on Feb. 9 resulted in the death of three civilians, while injuring four others, the Sumy Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported.

Russian attacks kill 4, injure 12 over past day. Russia carried out attacks against nine of Ukraine’s oblasts over the past day, killing at least two civilians and injuring at least 12 others, regional authorities reported on Feb. 9.

General Staff: Russia has lost 393,290 troops in Ukraine. This number includes 910 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

Ukraine funding bill moves closer to passage. The U.S. Senate voted Friday evening local time to move the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan closer to being passed in the upper chamber despite Republican objections. Votes were split 64-19 with only 14 Republicans voting in favor.

Ambassador Brink: US, Zelensky have ‘same’ stance on media freedom. The U.S. and President Volodymyr Zelensky have the same position on media freedom, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said in Kyiv on Feb. 9 in response to a question about a recent surveillance scandal surrounding the investigative outlet Bihus.Info.

US House members express ‘overwhelming’ support for Ukraine aid during visit to Kyiv. Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Ukraine on Feb. 9 to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and assure Kyiv of continued support for the country as further military aid remains tied up in Congress.

Norway plans to deliver additional NASAMS air defenses to Ukraine. Norway announced on Feb. 9 that it had asked the parliament to deliver an additional 10 Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) air defense launchers and four fire control centers to Ukraine.

Finland approves military aid package for Ukraine worth over $200 million. The Finnish president greenlighted the package on Feb. 9 based on the government’s proposal. This brings the total military aid provided to Ukraine by the Nordic country to 1.8 billion euros ($1.94 billion).

Update: Polish farmers launch blockade at 3 crossings on Ukraine border. The protests began at the Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska and Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossings, in addition to the Medyka-Shehyni, where the blockade was launched earlier in the day.

Pentagon spox hints US air defenses continue to flow to Ukraine. Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder hinted on Feb. 9 that air defense missiles and other capabilities are still flowing to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

Nordic-Baltic delegation visits US Congress in bid to shore up support for Ukraine. “We came here, obviously, to show unity, to show our commitment and hoping that the Americans would hear us,” said Icelandic lawmaker Dilja Mist Einarsdottir. “We are leaving America a little bit sad,” she added.

Armenia, Armenian community in Ukraine deliver 10 tons of medical equipment to Ukrainian military hospital. “At this difficult time for Ukraine, when a full-scale war has been going on for almost two years, Armenia offers a helping hand,” said Armenia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Vladimir Karapetyan.

Scholz meets with US senators in Washington ahead of talks with Biden. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he had met with senators from both parties, writing on Twitter that “Ukraine needs all of our support in order to defend itself against Russia’s aggression.”

Borrell: We need to explain to Europeans what it means to have Russian army at the door. It is necessary to explain to European citizens before the June parliamentary elections what it would mean to see Ukraine defeated and the Russian army move to EU borders, said Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, in an interview with EuroEFE published on Feb. 9.

Italy approves 1-year extension of military aid for Ukraine. The Italian ANSA news agency reported that the 218 members of the lower house approved the extension, which stipulates that military aid will continue until the end of 2024, out of a total of 400 representatives.

US announces new sanctions aimed at enforcing price cap on Russian oil. The sanctions announced by OFAC on Feb. 8 were targeted at three companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one in Liberia. The last company to be sanctioned by OFAC for violating the price cap in January 2024 was also registered in the UAE.

In other news

Gunman kills 4 in Georgian city outside of Tbilisi. Rustavi, a city of about 130,000, is located some 30 kilometers southeast of the capital Tbilisi.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Nate Ostiller,

Mariia Tril, Vladyslav Kudryk, Oleksiy Sorokin, Dinara Khalilova, Dmytro Basmat, Tania Myronyshena, Lili Bivings, and Rachel Amran.

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