Contents
Here are the main developments of the 1089th day of the large -scale invasion of Ukraine in Russia.
Here is the situation on Monday, February 17:
Struggle
- At least four people were killed by Ukrainian drone strikes in two separate incidents in the Belgorod region in Russia, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. In an incident, a woman was instantly killed by an attack on the car in which she was traveling. Three men were then killed in a similar attack.
- More Ukrainian drone attacks then injured a person and damaged 12 houses in the Krasnodar region in Russia, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.
- The Moscow Ministry of Defense said that nine Ukrainian drones had been killed above the Azov Sea and the southern Krasnodar region in Russia.
- The Ukrainian army said Russia had launched 143 drones in a night attack, 95 of which were slaughtered. 46 Others have not achieved their objectives, said the Air Force.
- At least one person was injured and a critical infrastructure building caught fire in the south of Ukraine, Mykolavi due to Russian night attacks, said the governor of the Vitaliy Kim region. Several houses in Kyiv have also been damaged, said state emergency service.
- A thermal power station has been damaged in Mykolav’s attacks, leaving tens of thousands of people without heating at temperatures below that, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at least 100,000 people were without power.
- According to Ukraine soldiers, Russian forces have intensified their attacks in eastern Ukraine, mainly targeting the Pokrovsk logistics center. The army said it has recorded 261 clashes within 24 hours.
- Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the Pokrovsk region, said Kyiv had recovered a mining village near the city. “A certain number of counterattacks from Ukrainian forces have been successful,” he said, adding that they could “already speak of the release of the Village of Pishchane”.
- Moldova said that two Russian drones had violated the country’s airspace, just a few days after the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a similar incident.
Politics and diplomacy
- Zelenskyy said that he had asked his ministers not to sign an agreement with the United States to provide rare land minerals in exchange for aid to the previous and future United States. He told the Associated Press news agency that the agreement did not protect the interests of Ukraine.
- The spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House, Brian Hughes, without confirming the offer made to kyiv, said that Zelenskyy was “short-sighted” on this subject and that a mineral agreement would allow taxpayers to “recover” previous aid while increasing the economy of Ukraine.
- Zelenskyy warned that Russia “would put war” to NATO if US President Donald Trump reduced the support of the military alliance. He also said Trump had a lever to push Russian President Vladimir Putin in cease-fire talks, but said Putin should never trust him.
- Reuters reported that the United States has asked European allies what they needed Washington to participate in the Ukraine security agreements. According to the news agency, the process had six points and questions by asking what countries would contribute to the guarantees and which allies would be willing to deploy troops in kyiv.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the coming days would determine Putin’s seriousness about peace in Ukraine, adding that he had spoken with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, what he Described as the difficult operating conditions of the American Embassy in Moscow.
- Rubio also said that the process towards peace could not be completed with a single meeting and that it would not be easy. While talks were planned between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia, Rubio said he was not sure who sent Moscow and added “nothing has yet been finalized”.
- Zelenskyy said he would reject any peace agreement between the United States and Russia, which did not include kyiv’s contribution.
- The first Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, Yulia Svyrydenko, said that a delegation went to Saudi Arabia for meetings before a possible visit to Zelenskyy. According to the Minister, the delegation is focused on strengthening economic ties while kyiv “is preparing to sign significant economic agreements with the countries of the region”.
- Zelenskyy announced that he had arrived in the United Arab Emirates for talks on the repatriation of captured Ukrainians, investments and economic cooperation.
- French president Emmanuel Macron said he had spoken on the phone with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to discuss the role of Saudi Arabia in the peace talks in Russia-Ukraine and the role that Europe should play.
- The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Europeans will not support any peace process which supports the demilitarization of Ukraine. “Ukraine must remain a democratic and sovereign nation-no decision can be made above their heads,” he said.
- Trump said he could meet Putin “very soon” to discuss the Russian war against Ukraine. He also said he thought that the Russian and Ukrainian presidents wanted to see the end of the fighting.
- The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the United States and Russia would hold talks in Saudi Arabia during the war in Ukraine on Tuesday.
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send troops to kyiv and contribute to security guarantees if she became necessary to protect her country and the security of Europe.
