New Zealand announces $26 million aid package for Ukraine
A large chunk of the money will be used to finance an extension of New Zealand’s training program for Ukrainian soldiers until 2025, the country’s government wrote in a press release.
Team
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
A large chunk of the money will be used to finance an extension of New Zealand’s training program for Ukrainian soldiers until 2025, the country’s government wrote in a press release.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a Kharkiv resident who was allegedly aiding Russian attacks on the city’s civilian infrastructure, including a Jan. 23 strike that injured nine people, the SBU's press service reported on Feb. 21.
President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the ongoing border blockade of Polish farmers with Ukrainian officials on Feb. 21 and said Kyiv would take the next steps "very quickly." He didn't specify what these steps would entail.
The share of Ukrainians who perceive Poland as "a friendly country" has decreased from 94% to 79% since June last year, according to a poll by the Sociological Group Rating published on Feb. 21.
Following the capture of Avdiivka, Russia has intensified its offensive efforts across several sectors of Ukraine’s front line over the past week, likely in order to stretch Ukrainian forces, the ministry wrote.
Russia targeted a total of nine Ukrainian oblasts — Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Sumy. Casualties were reported in the latter five regions.
The U.S. has told allies that Moscow could deploy a nuclear anti-satellite weapon or a mock warhead into space as early as this year, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 20, citing unnamed people familiar with the issue.
Ukraine's military shot down another Russian Su-34 fighter jet, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported on Feb. 21. This is the seventh Russian military plane destroyed by Ukraine over the past week, according to the Air Force.
Russian forces struck the Nikopol district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Feb. 20, wounding three residents, Serhii Lysak, the regional governor, reported.
"We do not consider such demands at all, especially from Mr. Borrell," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference, as cited by RIA Novosti.
Kyiv will "firmly respond" to any attempts to involve the Russian-controlled Moldovan region of Transnistria in Russia's war against Ukraine and destabilize the situation in Moldova, the Foreign Ministry said amid increased Russian pressure on the Eastern European country.
Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Feb. 20 he appealed to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to investigate the killings of Ukrainian prisoners of war at the Zenit strongpoint in Avdiivka.
The European Union demanded on Feb. 19 that Russia allow "an independent and transparent international investigation" into the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, for which many world leaders have blamed the Kremlin.
Russia targeted a total of 11 Ukrainian oblasts — Poltava, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy. Casualties were reported in the latter four regions.
Russian forces struck the Nova Sloboda community in Sumy Oblast in the early morning of Feb. 20, killing two residents, the regional administration reported.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a Feb. 19 conference that he urged member states to procure ammunition for Ukraine outside the bloc if this source of supply is "better, cheaper, and quicker."
Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's Presidential Office head, said that he considers press freedom "one of the most important parts of any democratic society" and "one of the values we are fighting for" when asked about his personal reaction to an investigation accusing the country's security service of surveilling independent journalists.
Kyiv's partners "need outside-the-box thinking" regarding providing Ukraine with sufficient weaponry to repel Russia's full-scale invasion, ex-NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17.
Russian forces struck Kherson on the afternoon of Feb. 17, killing a 49-year-old man and wounding two more residents, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
Ukraine's military shot down two Russian Su-34 fighter jets and another Russian Su-35 combat aircraft on Feb. 17, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported.
“We are discussing intensely now with (President) Volodymyr Zelensky’s team on coming up with security guarantees... And I’m cautiously optimistic that we can close these discussions pretty soon,” Rutte said in press comments at the Munich Security Conference.
Russian forces struck Zaporizhzhia on the afternoon of Feb. 17, damaging an infrastructure facility and leaving around 4,000 residents without heating, Anatolii Kurtiev, the city's acting mayor, reported.
A large fire broke out overnight at an industrial enterprise in the city of Izhevsk in Russia's Udmurt Republic, the regional emergency service said on Feb. 17. Russian media previously reported that a shopping mall located at this address had been turned into a drone factory.
Hungary has blocked the approval of the European Union’s latest package of sanctions against Russia due to the presence of Chinese companies in the list, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Feb. 15, citing unnamed European officials.
An explosion occurred in an industrial area of Biysk in Russia's Altai region, possibly at a military plant that produces ammunition, among other things, a local media outlet reported on Feb. 15, citing residents.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed European allies' efforts to strengthen their own defense capabilities but said that this policy "is not an alternative to NATO" when commenting on Donald Trump's recent anti-NATO comments.
Russian forces struck Kherson in southern Ukraine on Feb. 15, killing a 70-year-old woman, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to France and Germany on Feb. 16-17 to participate in the Munich Security Conference and meet with several European leaders, the Presidential Office announced on Feb. 15.
After arriving in Avdiivka, some battalions of the Third Assault Brigade raided the Russian-held parts of the city, inflicting "critical losses" to two Russian brigades, the Ukrainian brigade said on Telegram.
Rescuers retrieved the bodies of two women from the rubble of an apartment building in Kharkiv Oblast's village of Velykyi Burluk hit by Russia’s Feb. 14 missile strike, the regional prosecutor’s office reported on Feb. 15.
Russia launched another mass missile attack against multiple Ukrainian regions in the early hours of Feb. 15, injuring at least 11 people as well as damaging homes and civilian infrastructure, regional officials reported.
Russian forces struck Kherson and the village of Havrylivka in Kherson Oblast on Feb. 13, wounding three residents, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported.