As the war enters its 723rd day, these are the main events.
Here is the situation on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
Struggle
- Ukraine said it severely damaged the Caesar Kunikov, a Russian landing warship, off occupied Crimea in a drone attack, the latest blow to the Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine said the ship, one of Russia's newest, had a crew of 87 and had participated in wars in Georgia and Syria, as well as Ukraine. There was no official comment from Russia on the attack.
- The newly appointed head of the Ukrainian armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyii, visited troops fighting around the key point of Avdiivka on the eastern front line and described the situation as “extremely complex and stressful.” Syrskyii, who was accompanied by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, said Russian forces had “a numerical advantage in personnel.”
- At least three people, including a child, were killed and a dozen wounded in a wave of Russian missile attacks on the town of Selydove in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Authorities said a hospital and several apartments were damaged.
- At least two people were killed and four injured after a Russian S-300 missile hit an apartment block in a village in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, police said.
- A woman was injured after a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia's Belgorod and Voronezh regions and over the Black Sea. Russia's Defense Ministry said air defense systems destroyed nine drones, six of them over the Black Sea.
Politics and diplomacy
- US President Joe Biden and top officials urged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to vote on a bill that would provide $61 billion in crucial assistance to Ukraine, opposed by Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate in the November elections in the United States. The Senate endorsed the bill, which also includes assistance for Israel and Taiwan, earlier this week.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also urged US lawmakers to pass the bill. “This is not charity. “This is an investment in our own security,” Stoltenberg said.
- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also urged members of the US Congress to “do the right thing” and pass an aid package to Ukraine.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing authorities to confiscate the assets of people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the military.
- A Russian military court sentenced Zhumagul Kurbanova, a woman in her 60s, to 10 years in prison after finding her guilty of setting fire to a military recruiting center in St. Petersburg in August 2023.
- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued diplomatic protests to Moscow after Russian police put prominent Baltic politicians, including Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, on a wanted list for the destruction of Soviet-era monuments. The three Baltic states were once part of the Soviet Union, but are now members of the European Union and NATO.
Weapons
- Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told Reuters news agency that the Netherlands was joining a military coalition with allies including the United Kingdom to supply Ukraine with advanced drone technology and bolster its offensive capabilities.
- Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said Canada would donate $44 million to Ukraine to help in its war with Russia.
