Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title
[Korrespondent] 22:23 The notorious former host of the American Fox News channel and Trump fan Tucker Carlson, who is in Moscow, announced an interview with Putin. He also said that he asked for an interview with Zelensky.
22:05 The Russian Army became more active in the Avdiivka direction back in October. Analysts talk about partial successes of the Russians, but there is almost no official data. The General Staff reports only say that the Defense Forces are holding back the enemy, who is not abandoning attempts to cordon off the city. Analysts report Russian assaults in the south and north of the city, as well as enemy advances towards the quarry and advance along the N-20 Slavyansk-Mariupol highway. More details about what is happening can be found in the material Fighting for Avdiivka.
21:39 Biden once again appealed to Congress to pass a law on the border and assistance to Ukraine: “Everything suggests that this bill will not even be transmitted to the Senate. Why? The reason is simple: Donald Trump... To support the bill is stand up to Putin. Voting against plays into his hands. History is watching. Failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten... We are a great nation. But this is not how a great nation behaves."
21:07 In the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine there is a secret unit called Group 13 - these are operators of maritime drones. This group was dubbed “hunters of Russian ships.” They have already accounted for more than half a dozen enemy warships. The American television channel CNN managed to talk with one of the Group 13 intelligence officers. What he said about his work is in the material What secrets does the GUR unit have ?
20:31 The Turkish company Baykar has begun construction of a drone production plant near Kiev, Reuters writes with reference to the company’s management. The planned production volume is about 120 units of Bayraktar model TB2 or TB3 per year. Construction of the plant is expected to take 12 months and will employ about 500 people.
19:40 Zelensky said in an evening video message that he held a meeting today on new agreements on security guarantees for Ukraine: “We are now working with several countries. The agreements can be quite ambitious, with good content. We must show such a result in the construction of architecture in the coming months security agreements that will give the necessary positive signals for this entire year - signals of effective support for Ukraine, long-term support."
19:24 Zelensky said in an evening video message that the creation of the Unmanned Systems Forces is “something that should give a very specific result in the near future.” According to the president, this year should be decisive in many aspects: “And, obviously, on the battlefield. Drones - unmanned systems - have proven their effectiveness in battles on the ground, in the sky and in the sea. Ukraine has really changed the situation in the Black Sea thanks to drones. Repelling assaults on the ground is largely the work of drones. Large-scale destruction of the occupiers and their equipment is also done by drones."
Zelensky also outlined a list of tasks: “Special staff positions for working with drones, special units, effective training, systematization of experience, constant scaling of production and attraction of the best ideas, the best specialists in this field. This is a task for the army, the Ministry of Defense and the government "in general. And in order to provide the necessary coordination in the Defense Forces, ensure the appropriate level of planning and quality of logistics, the Unmanned Systems Forces will be created within the structure of the Armed Forces." According to the president, Ukraine is now “continuing to reboot the state system.”
19:15 Zelensky signed a decree instructing the Cabinet of Ministers, with the involvement of the General Staff, to work on the issue of creating unmanned systems forces within the structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a separate type of force and to submit appropriate proposals for consideration by the National Security and Defense Council.
18:56 Zelensky said that he held a meeting in Kiev with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on the eve of his visit to the Zaporozhye NPP. “The only way to prevent a nuclear incident at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is its complete demilitarization, deoccupation and restoration of control over the station by Ukraine,” the president emphasized.
18:37 The Russian military fired artillery at the village. Peschanoye, Kupyansky district, Kharkov region, one person was injured, the prosecutor’s office reported.
17:55 EU countries fear that Moscow will confiscate Western assets in response to the possible confiscation of frozen reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Politico writes, citing sources. According to them, “the more governments consider confiscation, the more difficult it becomes.” Europeans also fear that the confiscation will tarnish the EU's reputation for investors, deprive Putin of incentive to negotiate, and that Russian hackers will launch a large-scale cyber attack on Western financial institutions in an attempt to return the money.
Therefore, other options are now being considered - for example, using these assets as collateral for bank loans that will be used to restore Ukraine. And only if Moscow refuses to pay reparations after the end of the war will they be confiscated. In this way, they want to create an incentive for Putin to agree to negotiations.
17:28 Zelensky said that he met in Kiev with two Portuguese ministers - Foreign Affairs Joao Gomes Cravinho and Education Joao Costa. We discussed further defense cooperation, in particular in the context of Portugal joining the aviation coalition, and the issue of Portugal’s participation in the Global Peace Summit. The President also thanked Portugal for its readiness to take part in the restoration of educational institutions in the Zhytomyr region.
17:09 An X-59 guided aircraft missile was destroyed in the Dneprovsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, the Air Command of Skhid reported.
16:44 As a result of today's Russian shelling of Tokarevka, Kherson region, one person was killed and two were wounded, the OVA reported.
16:23 At the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the service life of nuclear fuel is expiring, the situation there is “fragile,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said during a briefing in Kiev. Among the main problems of the occupied station, he also named a significant reduction in technical personnel - of the required 10 thousand workers there are now only half. After Kyiv, Grossi will visit the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and from there he will go to a meeting with Russian officials in Moscow.
15:59 Belgium, which currently holds the presidency of the EU Council, confirmed its intentions to adopt the 13th package of anti-Russian sanctions on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The head of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, Aja Labib, also emphasized the need to speed up the supply of ammunition and missiles in order to keep the promise and provide Ukraine with a million 155-mm shells. "We are still very far from this. In March, according to forecasts, we will be able to reach a volume of about 524 thousand shells. This is very far from the goal that we have set. We absolutely need to do more and strengthen our production capacity," she added.
15:24 Hackers from the Prana Network group hacked the mail servers of the Iranian company IRGC Sahara Thunder and found out how much Iran received for the Shahed drones sold to Russia. Initially, Tehran asked for 375 thousand dollars for one Shahed-136, but after negotiations, the Russian Federation was able to reduce the price to 193 thousand per unit when purchasing 6,000 units and to 290 thousand when purchasing 2,000 units. In total, Iran earned $1.8 billion from selling martyrs to Russia. According to published documents, Moscow paid in gold.
15:06 The Russian missile boat Ivanovets was sunk as a result of an attack by ten MAGURA naval drones, six of which hit the target. A secret Ukrainian unit was behind the attack, one of the drone operators told CNN. MAGURA drones are only a few meters long and powered by water motors, but they have a long range of about 800 km, giving the unit the ability to launch them from large sections of the Ukrainian coastline for missions against Crimean targets, he said.
14:38 The Ukrainian Embassy in Georgia commented on Tbilisi’s statement about the discovery of the transit of explosives from Odessa to Voronezh on February 5. Kyiv called on Georgia to refrain from politicizing the case and expressed its readiness for “constructive interaction with law enforcement and other competent authorities of Georgia.”
13:55 The Russians fired at Tokarevka, Kherson region - two people were injured, OVA reported.
13:51 The Russian Army attacked Manganets, Dnepropetrovsk region, with a kamikaze drone - two people were wounded, four private houses were damaged, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak.
13:46 The Verkhovna Rada extended the martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine for another 90 days - until May 13, 2024.
13:38 The European Commission has involved Ukraine in the development of the EU defense industry strategy, said EC head Ursula von der Leyen: “As we look to the future, we must think of Ukraine’s defense capabilities as our own.”
13:03 Ukraine nationalized the oil and gas assets of the Russian oligarch Eduard Khudainatov for 500 million hryvnia, the SBU reported. 100% of his share in the authorized capital of LLC Oil Company Alliance-Ukraine was recovered from the country's income. According to the investigation, Khudainatov controlled the Ukrainian oil trader through a number of offshore companies and controlled entities. The investigation also established that Khudainatov is one of Putin’s confidants, heads the Russian oil and gas company NNK-Group and was on the board of directors of Rosneft.
12:29 IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that he arrived on a visit to Kiev before his trip to the occupied Zaporizhia NPP.
12:24 President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Pia Kauma is on a visit to Ukraine and speaks in the Verkhovna Rada, People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak said.
12:07 Ukrainian military will soon be able to get married remotely - via video via Diyu, said the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Mikhail Fedorov. According to him, this is a unique opportunity for the whole world. The Deputy Prime Minister also assured that no agendas or elections are planned in the application.
11:23 Berislav, Kherson region, was again attacked by Russian drones. Russian troops dropped explosives from a drone three times near the humanitarian headquarters, wounding one person, OVA reported. Over the previous 24 hours, five people were killed and one was injured as a result of Russian shelling in the region.
10:52 The first tranche of the Ukraine Facility program worth 50 billion euros will arrive in Ukraine in March 2024, said the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. According to the terms, the fund's total budget for Ukraine of 50 billion euros will be distributed between 33 billion euros in loans and 17 billion euros in grants. The European Parliament must finally vote on this document at the plenary session from February 26 to 29.
10:45 North Korea provided Russia with weapons in exchange for unfreezing its assets in a Russian bank, frozen due to UN sanctions, The New York Times writes, citing intelligence sources in US allied countries. According to them, the Russian Federation allowed the release of $9 million from 30 million frozen North Korean assets. The DPRK is going to use this money to buy oil.
10:39 Law enforcement officers neutralized a powerful intelligence network of the Russian FSB, which included former and current officials of the Ukrainian special services, the SBU reported. Five members of the enemy group were detained in different regions. Among them are former officials of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, as well as an employee of the regional department of the SBU.
10:18 Due to attacks by Ukrainian drones, Russian refineries in January reduced refining by 4% compared to January 2023, Kommersant writes. The newspaper notes that the main factors for the decline were repairs, as well as the failure of some installations due to the increasing frequency of drone attacks.
09:43 The EU Council and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on the creation of a new special instrument to support the recovery, reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine, as well as to support its efforts in carrying out reforms on the path to EU accession. As reported in the Council of the EU, the Ukrainian fund in the amount of 50 billion euros will combine the budgetary support of Ukraine from the European Union into one single instrument that will provide consistent, predictable and flexible support for the period 2024-2027.
09:05 The head of the US Army procurement department, Doug Bush, said that the army intends to double the production of artillery shells used in Ukraine by October of this year.
08:46 High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell arrived in Kiev. Along with him came his special adviser, diplomat Zaiki Laidi.
08:34 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of February 6:
- personnel - about 390,580 (+1020) people,
- tanks - 6365 (+17),
- armored combat vehicles - 11,857 (+35),
- artillery systems - 9367 (+18),
- MLRS - 979 (+0),
- air defense systems - 665 (+1),
- aircraft - 332 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 7173 (+0),
- cruise missiles - 1848 (+0),
- ships/boats - 24 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 12,453 (+41),
- special equipment - 1496 (+10).
08:19 As a result of a night Russian strike with two S-300 missiles on a three-story hotel in Zolochiv, Bogodukhovsky district, Kharkov region, a two-month-old child was killed and three women were wounded, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. Seven private houses, 19 civil infrastructure facilities (shops, cafes, kiosks), two administrative premises, and cars were damaged.
07:58 Over the past 24 hours, 126 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 29 enemy attacks in the area of Novobakhmutovka, Avdeevka and another 16 attacks south of Tonenky, Pervomaisky, Nevelsky, Donetsk region. In the Maryinsky direction, 26 attacks were repelled (near Georgievka and Novomikhailovka, Donetsk region), in Limansky - 20 attacks (near Belogorivka, Luhansk region and Yampolevka, Ternov, Torskoye, Grigoryevka, Donetsk region).
In the Kupyansk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled eight attacks near Sinkovka, Kharkov region; on Bakhmutsky - ten attacks near Bogdanovka, Ivanovsky and Kleshcheevka, Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - two attacks in the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region. The enemy did not conduct offensive actions in the Shakhtarsky direction. In the Kherson direction, the Defense Forces hold their positions and repelled three assaults by Russian troops.
06:30 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems allegedly intercepted seven drones over the Belgorod region. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the city of Gubkin was attacked - there were no casualties as a result of the fall of the UAV followed by detonation.
03:27 A high alert regime was introduced in four ports of the Leningrad region - in Vyborg, Vysotsk, Primorsk and Ust-Luga - “due to the increased likelihood of a man-made emergency from attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” authorities said.
03:14 The Russians attacked Zolochev, Bogodukhovsky district, Kharkov region - a three-story hotel was destroyed. A person is believed to be under the rubble; three have been rescued, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA.