As the war enters its 715th day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Thursday, February 8, 2024.
Struggle
- At least five people were killed and 50 injured after Russia fired a wave of Shahed-type missiles and drones at six regions of Ukraine, including the capital kyiv. The Ukrainian military said it intercepted 44 of the 64 drones and missiles launched by Russia. Some 20,000 homes were left without electricity in kyiv. Moscow claimed it was attacking Ukrainian arms factories.
- A preliminary assessment of the Russian strikes concluded that two of the five missiles targeting Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, were manufactured in North Korea, said Serhii Bolvinov, head of the National Police's investigation unit in the region.
- Russia said its air defense systems intercepted two separate Ukrainian airstrikes, destroying 12 rockets and drones over the southwestern Belgorod region. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said two people were injured.
- The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said civilian casualties in the war have begun to rise again after declining last year. Last month, it documented 158 civilian deaths and 483 injuries, a 37 percent increase from last November. So far, the conflict has killed more than 10,000 civilians and injured nearly 20,000 more, according to the UN.
- Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. He welcomed the reduction in shelling around Zaporizhzhia, but said security remained fragile.
Politics and diplomacy
- Sweden dropped its investigation into the 2022 explosions that crippled Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russia, Ukraine and Western countries blame each other for the incident. Sweden said it had passed on the evidence it had gathered to Germany.
- An amended bill to lower the military draft age and make it more difficult to avoid military service passed its first reading in Ukraine's parliament. Further revisions are expected and it is not expected to become law for weeks.
- Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said he hoped China would “lend us a hand” at peace talks in Ukraine that it agreed to host following a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine has said it invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to participate in the summit of world leaders. TO The date and location have not yet been set.
- Russian courts have jailed two Russians in separate cases for treason over their support for Ukraine, according to state news agencies.
- After a brief discussion, the upper house of Russia's parliament unanimously backed a bill that allows authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country's military.
- The Ukrainian Olympic Committee has asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris Olympics after alleged violations of neutrality.
- The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had given an interview to right-wing American television host Tucker Carlson, who used to work for Fox News.
Weapons
- Zelenskyy urged Ukraine's Western allies to speed up and increase the delivery of artillery shells and offered his condolences to the families of the victims of Wednesday's Russian attack. Zelenskyy earlier met with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to discuss arms deliveries and other aid. Borell said the EU needed to provide Ukraine “whatever it takes” to defeat Russia.
- US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US “can and will” provide more military aid to Ukraine, while NATO chief Jen Stoltenberg stressed such support was “vital”. The two men made the comments after a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
