The Russian large landing ship Tsekar Kunikov, attacked and sunk off the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukraine, February 14, 2024


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Wednesday’s Coverage: US Senate Agrees $60 Billion Aid for Kyiv


Map: Institute for the Study of War


UPDATE 1551 GMT:

UK military intelligence has commented on Wednesday’s sinking of the Russian large landing warship Tsezar Kunikov, “Three of ten Ropucha-class vessels have now been destroyed by Ukrainian strikes.”

The vessel is heavily relied upon to provide logistical support to the Black Sea Fleet and the Russian war in Ukraine. The loss of the vessel will almost certainly further constrain the limited Russian resources available in the Black Sea and leave the Black Sea Fleet logistical chain vulnerable to further attacks….

Ukraine’s ingenuity has likely deterred Russia from operating freely in the western Black Sea and enabled Ukraine to seize the maritime momentum.


UPDATE 1537 GMT:

The World Bank, the European Commission, and the UN estimate the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine at $486 billion over the next decade.

The estimate is an increase from $411 billion last year.

The organizations noted that Ukrainian officials estimate the country will need about $15 billion this year for immediate reconstruction and recovery priorities at the national and community level. THere is an emphasis on supporting and mobilizing the private sector alongside restoration of housing, soft infrastructure and services, energy, and transport.

They added, “The figures highlight the urgency of the EU’s commitment to deliver €50 billion ($53.85 billion) in a new Ukraine facility to find schools, housing, pensions and health services at an emergency leaders meeting last month.”

UKraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal cited the findings to reinforce Kyiv’s call for the seizure of about $300 billion of Russian Central Bank assets held abroad.

We see that the needs for reconstruction have continued to grow over the past year.

The main resource for Ukraine’s recovery should be the confiscation of Russian assets frozen in the West. We need to start this process already this year.

See also Ukraine War, Day 704: Zelenskiy — Russia’s $300 Billion Assets Abroad Must Be Seized


UPDATE 0919 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has told Russian State TV about his invasion of Ukraine, “The only thing we can regret is that we did not start our active actions earlier.”

He declared, “We believed that we were dealing with decent people.”


UPDATE 0902 GMT:

Ukraine’s Air Force says air defenses downed 13 of 26 missiles fired by Russia early this morning.

At least nine people have been injured, with homes and civilian infrastructure damaged.

The attacks included Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-launched cruise missiles, Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles, Kh-59 guided air-launched missiles, and S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.

Four of the wounded were in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, where an infrastructure facility was hit. Several apartment buildings, an educational institution, and a store were damaged.

Three people received medical assistance in Lviv in western Ukraine. A strike on an infrastructure facility damaged apartment buildings, two schools, and a kindergarten.


UPDATE 0851 GMT:

Russian attacks on the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine killed at least nine civilians, including six women and a child, and wounded 15 on Wednesday.

Officials said three victims — a 38-year-old pregnant woman, another woman, and her 9-year-old son — were slain in a Russian strike on a hospital in Selydove. Another 12 people, including a 6-month-old infant, were wounded.

Two women were killed and one man was wounded in Mykolayivka. In Avdiivka, two elderly women were slain, and two men killed in Bahytyr.


UPDATE 0842 GMT:

Russia carried out a missile attack across Ukraine early this morning.

Ukrainian officials reported several Tu-95 strategic bombers over the country, with explosions following in Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv.

At least one person, a woman whose body was found in a destroyed home, has been killed in Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.

The officials said all missiles aimed at Kyiv had been intercepted. In Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, close to the frontline, an apartment building was reportedly damaged.


UPDATE 0812 GMT:

New Ukraine commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, touring frontlines in the Donetsk region in the east of the country, has acknowledged that the situation on the frontline remains “extremely difficult”.

Russia has tried since October to overrun the town of Avdiivka, about 20 km (12.5 miles) north of Donetsk city, the Russians’ main position in the east since 2014.

Syrskyi met soldiers fighting around the town, besieged by 50,000 Russians.

The operational environment is extremely complex and stressful. The Russian occupiers continue to increase their efforts and have a numerical advantage in personnel.

We are doing everything possible to prevent the enemy from advancing deep into our territory.


UPDATE 0801 GMT:

Australia has announced another AU$50 million (US $32.5 million) in military aid to Ukraine.

The assistance will be delivered through the International Fund for Ukraine, administered by the UK Ministry of Defense.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament that it should recognize February 24 as an anniversary of Russia’s “full-scale invasion of Ukraine” and “illegal war”.

He said, “Australia strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, a position which has been taken by every member of this house.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded:

Australia demonstrates its commitment to defending freedom, life, and international order, which is exactly the right thing to do for all free nations on all continents.

Our countries may be geographically distant, but our shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law bind us together. We will never forget Australia and its support.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: Pressing its campaign far behind the frontlines against the 23 1/2-month Russian invasion, Ukraine sank another of Moscow’s warships and blew up another of its oil depots on Tuesday.

The day opened with the news, from Ukraine military intelligence, that the large landing ship Tsezar Kunikov had submerged off the coast of occupied Crimea, as “drones of the Main Intelligence Directorate struck…early on February 14”.

Russia’s Defense Ministry had claimed the downing of nine drones overnight, including six over the Black Sea. But local Telegram channels exposed the claims, circulating videos of helicopters circling low on a search mission over the waters off Crimea.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the operation, “We are gradually ridding the Black Sea of Russian terrorist objects.”

In Crimea and inside Russia, Ukraine’s drone and missile strikes have sunk or damaged a series of Russian warships including four landing ships. They have struck Black Sea Fleet headquarters, port facilities, and oil depots. The attacks have broken Russia’s grip on the western Black Sea, allowing the resumption of shipments of grain, foodstuffs, and other essentials from Ukrainian ports.

The Tsezar Kunikov’s sister ship, the Novocherkassk, was “completely destroyed” by a Ukrainian missile strike in December 2023 as it was docked at Feodosia in Crimea. On February 1, special forces destroyed the Black Sea Fleet’s Ivanovets missile corvette with naval drones.

Launched in October 1986 with a crew of 87, the Tsezar Kunikov could carry up to 12 battle tanks and 340 troops. It took part in Russia’s war with Georgia in 2008 and Moscow’s military intervention to prop up Syria’s Assad regime with October 2015.

Oil Depot Ablaze in Kursk

On Wednesday night, Ukrainian drones reportedly detonated an oil depot in Kursk in southwest Russia.

Videos showed a large fire as Governor Roman Starovoit posted on Telegram, “As a result of an attack by a Ukrainian UAV in the Kursk region, a fire occurred at an oil depot.”

Starovoit said there are no casualties.

Ukraine began its assaults on oil depots and other Russian supply and logistic positions in Crimea in summer 2022. They expanded the campaign inside Russia last year, and have escalated it in recent months.

Within one week in January, the Ukrainian military damaged five refineries inside Russia and Russian-occupied territory.