A Ukrainian soldier of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanized Brigade drives a US-supplied M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle near the frontline in southern Ukraine, June 26, 2023
(Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters)

Jump to Original Entry

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia’s Disinformation Network in Western Europe

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1643 GMT:

UPDATE 1641 GMT:

Two women, aged 62 and 74, have been killed in a Russian attack on Mykolaivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Another person was injured in the strike on a residential building.

Mykolaivka is in northern Donetsk, about 20 km (12.5 miles) northwest of the frontline.

An attack on Kherson city in southern Ukraine has injured a 14-year-old girl and two men aged 19 and 84.

The girl is in “extremely serious” condition, undergoing surgery for wounds to her leg and neck.

At least seven people have been injured in a Russian assault, probably with S-300 missiles, on the village of Velykyi Burluk in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.

Two residential buildings were hit at 4:16 p.m. Three of the wounded were hospitalized, and other people remain trapped under rubble.

UPDATE 1624 GMT:

Canada is providing C$60 million (about US $46 million) to Ukraine to support US-made F-16 warplanes being delivered to Kyiv this year.

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair announced the provision during Wednesday’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The funds will support the purchase of spare parts, weapons stations, avionics, and ammunition. Canada has already announced the despatch of training instructions and aircraft.

Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Netherlands has joined the coalition to supply Ukraine with advanced drones.

Ukraine and Latvia created the drone and electronic warfare coalition during the visit of Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds to Kyiv. Sweden and the UK subsequently joined.

UPDATE 0912 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has signed a law authorizing confiscation of property from Russians who criticize the invasion of Ukraine.

The law amends the punishment, mandated just after the start of the invasion in February 2022 for dissemination of “fakes” about the Russian military. It expands the list of alleged offenses for which confiscation may be imposed, including “public calls for extremism”;
“public calls for actions aimed at violating the integrity of the Russian Federation”; “public calls for activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation”; “calls for sanctions”; and “providing assistance in the execution of decisions of international organizations in which the Russian Federation does not participate”.

The State Duma adopted the amended law at the end of January, and it was approved by the Federation Council on February 7.

UPDATE 0814 GMT:

Russia’s large landing ship Caesar Kunikov has sunk off the coast of occupied Crimea, according to officials in Ukraine military intelligence.

The outlet Ukrainska Pravda wrote, based on the sources that “drones of the Main Intelligence Directorate struck [the ship] early on February 14”.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed earlier that it had shot down nine drones overnight, including six over the Black Sea. But local Telegram channels put the claims into doubt with videos of helicopters circling low over the waters off Crimea, apparently on a search.

Ukraine’s drone and missile strikes have sunk or damaged a series of Russian warships including four landing ships, as well as hitting Black Sea Fleet headquarters, port facilities, and oil depots in Crimea and inside Russia. The attacks have broken Russia’s grip on the western Black Sea, allowing the resumption of grain exports from Ukrainian ports.

The Caesar 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.

UPDATE 0808 GMT:

Three civilians, including a child, were killed late Tuesday by Russian airstrikes in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Twelve people, including four children, were injured in Selydove, about 20km (12.5 miles) west of the frontline. Nine apartment blocks and a hospital were hit.

UPDATE 0756 GMT:

The European Union is planning to sanction companies in China for their support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through provision of military technology.

Three entities in mainland China, four in Hong Kong, and one in India, are cited in a 91-page document of companies and individuals to be added to the sanctions list.

An EU official said additional instruments are needed to prevent Russia obtaining the technology from China and elsewhere via third countries.

Russia is straining every sinew to get around our sanctions but we need to do more. We need to shut down loopholes, target circumvention routes, drive down revenues further.

The EU, UK, and US are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

The EU’s diplomatic service has proposed adding about 20 firms to the export blacklist. Two Russian shipping companies accused of transporting arms from North Korea to Dunai in far eastern Russia are included.

The EU has already placed export bans on more than 600 firms in Hong Kong and in countries such as Armenia, the UAE, and Uzbekistan.

Last year EU officials proposed adding five Chinese firms, but were checked by opposition from Beijing and reluctance from some European governments.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: After four months of negotiation, the US Senate adopted a $95.34 billion package with $60.1 billion in vital aid for Ukraine, as well as humanitarian assistance and support for Taiwan and Israel, early Tuesday.

The measure passed 70-29, as 22 Republicans — defying threats by Trumpists and hard-right colleagues — joined almost all of the Senate’s Democrats.

About 2/3rds of the package for Ukraine is military assistance: about $20 billion to replace US stocks of weapons and equipment; almost $14 billion in direct provision of arms to Kyiv; and almost $15 billion for support services such as military training and intelligence sharing.

Another $8 billion suports basic operations of Ukraine’s government. About $1.6bn would help the private sector and $480 million to help Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said after the vote:

These past few months have been a great test for the US Senate, to see if we could escape the centrifugal pull of partisanship and summon the will to defend Western Democracy when it mattered most. Today, the Senate has resoundingly passed the test.

The Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky added, “History settles every account. And today, on the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the outcome:

House Republicans, now dominated by Trumpists and the hard-right, will try to delay and then defeat the package. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana — installed in October by the faction as it blockaded the Biden Administration’s initial request of $61.6 billion for Ukraine — issued a pre-emptive rejection on Monday night.

In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.

The statement indicated perpetual stalling by the House GOP. In October, they objected because the aid was not tied to a border measure. Last week, they dismissed the compromise which included $20 billion for border enforcement. Now, once again, they are demanding that the aid package must have a border provision.

Instead of addressing Ukraine on Tuesday, the House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, on the basis of no evidence of wrongdoing, in a political gesture over the border.

The motion scraped by 214-213. Three Republicans rejecte the stunt and voted with Democrats.