Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Presidential Palace in Kyiv (Henry Nicholls)

Friday’s Coverage: Zelensky — “Europe’s Position Must Be Taken Into Account”

UPDATE 1608 GMT:

Ukraine’s military has confirmed that its overnight strikes on the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant (see 0754 GMT), a key missile production hub in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, included the domestically-made, long-range cruise Flamingo missile.

The General Staff said Flamingos were also fired upon a gas processing plant in Russia’s Samara Oblast; a fuel and lubricants warehouse and a drone workshop in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine; and a military warehouse in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.

The military added that its forces struck Moscow’s ships, planes and artillery units in Russian-occupied Crimea and Zaporizhzhia.

Near Sevastopol in Crimea, the strikes hit two border patrol ships. Further north on the peninsula, they damaged two Be-12 Chaykas, anti-submarine amphibious aircraft, stationed at the Yevpatoria Aviation Repair Plant.

The final extent of the damage is being assessed.

In Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian forces destroyed a Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system with a firing range of 120 kilometers (74 miles).

UPDATE 1217 GMT:

At least 15 civilians were wounded by overnight Russian attacks across Ukraine.

Air defenses launched a ballistic missile and 120 drones overnight, targeting 19 locations. The missile and 14 UAVs hit their targets

Moscow’s focus was the Odesa region in southern Ukraine, damaging energy infrastructure, a warehouse, a school, houses, and a 4-story apartment block.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, said that one of its substations suffered “significant” damage and that repairs will take a “long time”.

More than 16,000 residents used assistance points set up by the emergency services to warm up and charge devices, amid loss of power, heating, and water.

Casualties were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Sumy regions.

UPDATE 0754 GMT:

Ukrainian drones and missiles have struck the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a key missile production hub in the Udmurt Republic in western Russia.

The plant produces short-range Iskander-M ballistic missiles, used frequently in attacks on Ukraine — and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles. It is also suspected that the complex also produces Russia’s new Oreshnik ICBM.

The Russian Telegram news channel Astra reported at least 11 people were injured.

Residents of Votkinsk posted videos to social media of black smoke rising from the site. The head of the Udmurt Republic, Aleksandr Brechalov, reported that a facility in the region was hit by a Ukrainian drone but did not identify the specific target.

UPDATE 0746 GMT:

The “European 5” — France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK — have announced a joint program to develop low-cost drones.

The countries said the initiative will “improve our collective security” within NATO while strengthening European cooperation.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the project will “rapidly and cheaply develop innovative systems, in particular for defense against drones, and then just as rapidly produce them in large numbers”.

UK Minister of State Luke Pollard added that the goal is to advance the technology needed to start producing components of the new system “within 12 months”.

UPDATE 0710 GMT:

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of Vladimir Putin, is threatening to veto the European Union’s €90 billion ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine unless Kyiv restores Russian oil deliveries through a pipeline on its territory.

The Druzhba pipeline, running from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia, was damaged by a Russian attack in western Ukraine and shut down on January 27.

Slovakian Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said Ukraine has postponed the resumption of oil deliveries until February 24. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Robert Fico declared a state of emergency and mobilized reserves, threatening retaliatory measures against supply of electricity to Ukraine.

“As long as Ukraine blocks the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary will block the €90 billion Ukrainian war loan,” Orbán posted on Facebook. “We will not be pushed around!”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto tweeted, “Ukraine violates the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, breaching its commitments to the European Union. We will not give in to this blackmail.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has explained that the issue around Russia’s full-scale invasion is not whether Kyiv will lose — it is whether Ukrainians will win.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Zelensky noted that Ukraine’s forces have regained 300 square kilometers in a counter-offensive, aided by the cutoff of the Starlink satellite service to Russian troops.

You can’t say that we’re losing the war. Honestly, we’re definitely not losing it, definitely. The question is whether we will win.

That is the question – but it’s a very costly question.

Zelensky said of the counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region in the south, “I won’t go into too many details, but today I can congratulate our army first and foremost – all the defense forces.”

Resisting Both The Kremlin and Trump’s Envoys

Commenting on the proposals to end Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the President said European troops should deploy on the frontline after a ceasefire. The Kremlin has been insistent that it will not accept any European forces in Ukraine.

He acknowledged that Ukraine is having to hold its line over territory — notably the strategic Donetsk region in the east — against not only the Kremlin but Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“Both the Americans and the Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, get out of Donbas [the Donetsk and Luhansk regions],” Zelensky noted.

The President has said that Ukraine will pull back forces from the 22% of Donetsk which it controls if Russia will also withdraw in the occupied area.

Pushing back Russia’s demands for immediate elections in Ukraine, Zelensky explained, “Let’s be honest — the Russians just want to replace me. No one wants elections during a war. Everyone is afraid of its destructive effect.”

After a briefing from Ukrainian negotiators about this week’s third set of Ukraine-Russia-US talks, Zelensky posted:

We believe that real opportunities to end the war with dignity still exist, and the world’s ability to pressure the aggressor could significantly help ensure that a dignified peace replaces the war. We count on another round of negotiations being organized very soon, as early as this February, and on that round becoming truly productive.