This Thursday marks 351 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenskyparticipate in Brussels at an extraordinary summit of European leaders after passing through London and Paris to ask for modern fighter planes and more weapons. While the president asks his European partners for fighters and long-range missiles on his trip to the heart of the European Union, in his country there is a “maximum escalation” at some points on the front of the eastern region of luganskwhich leads to some western analysts to affirm that the Russian offensive has already begun in this province.
Several people buried under rubble and one dead after explosion in kyiv
Six people remain under the rubble and one lost his life due to an explosion at the premises of a former factory in the Ukrainian capitalwhose causes are still to be clarified, the authorities announced today.
“six people are buriedthere is communication with four of them,” the kyiv Military Administration reported on its Telegram channel.
Belarus shoots down a Ukrainian drone, according to Minsk authorities
Border guards and the Armed Forces of Belarus shot down another drone on the border with Ukrainethe fifth since the beginning of last November, this time in Pinsk, the Belarusian authorities reported on Thursday.
“The incident took place near the state border in the Stolin region. Belarusian border guards detected a drone heading from the Ukrainian side towards Belarusian territory,” the State Border Committee noted.
Ukrainian troops hold out in Bakhmut, although they need more shells
Despite reports of a difficult situation in Bakhmut, Andriy Babichev, a soldier of the 93rd Brigade of the Ukrainian Army defending the areaensures that his troops continue to inflict heavy losses on the Russian attackers, although they need many more artillery shells to seize the initiative.
“My wife sometimes calls me after hearing doomsday predictions about Bakhmut and I have to calm her down. Everything is under control and we are not going to give up the city“, Babichev assures EFE.
US and UK launch new sanctions against nine Russian cybercriminals
The United States and the United Kingdom have issued this Thursday new sanctions jointly against seven people who would be part of a Russian group of cybercrime in relation to the Kremlin Intelligence services, for which their assets will be frozen and visa restrictions will be applied.
It is a joint operation between the Treasury offices of both countriesas well as the British Foreign Office and National Crime Agency. These individuals are accused of launching a wide variety of cyber attacks against companies and public sector organizations.
“Cybercriminals, particularly those based in Russia, seek to attack critical infrastructure, American companies and exploit the international financial system“, explained the US Undersecretary of the US Treasury, Brian Nelson.
UK rules out immediate shipment of planes to Ukraine despite Zelensky’s pleas
The Government of the United Kingdom has clarified that it will not send military aircraft to Ukraine immediately in any case, despite the fact that it does not rule out this possibility in the medium and long term, demanded on Wednesday in London by the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski. The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has acknowledged that the shipment of fighters is part of the conservations with kyiv, but the responsible for DefenseBen Wallace, has warned this Thursday in statements to the BBC that any step in this direction would take months.
Zelensky reveals a Russian intelligence plan to “destroy” Moldova
The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, has assured this Thursday before the leaders of the European Union that his country has intercepted Russian intelligence a “plan for the destruction of Moldova”.
Russia “significantly” increases its offensive in eastern Ukraine
The Russian Army has “significantly” increased its offensive in eastern Ukraine, especially in the lugansk region, when there are less than two weeks to go before the first year of the start of the invasion. This was confirmed this Thursday by Serhiy Haidai, head of the Lugansk Regional State Administration, on his Telegram channel, who specified that the number of “attacks by the occupiers in the Kreminna area has increased significantly.” The Russians “are trying to push our defenses in the direction of Kreminna. However, they do not have significant success,” the regional official told Ukrainian television. And he added: “The Russian Army also continues to shell our unoccupied villages around the clock: Nevske, Makiivka and Novoselivske are destroyed to the ground. It is premature to draw any final conclusions about Dibrova.” In recent days, attacks by Russian troops have focused on these strategic towns, which, according to kyiv, are trying to gain full control of Lugansk and neighboring Donetsk.
Zelensky calls for Ukraine’s accession to the EU
The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has claimed this Thursday in front of the plenary session of the European Parliament Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, insisting that de facto The fight of the Ukrainian troops against the Russian Army is an example of the defense of the European model: “Europe will be Europe as long as we take care of it”. In an extraordinary session called by the presence of Volodímir Zelenski in Brussels, the Ukrainian leader has defended before the parliamentarians the steps taken by kyiv in European reforms, some advances that he undertakes at the same time that he is waging a war against Russia. “We are not going to take a step back. We are not going to waste time, we are changing and Europe will always be Europe as long as we take care of it and the European way of life”, he declared. He has also framed the struggle of the Ukrainian forces in the defense of Europe itself, insisting that the Russian aggression is not limited to Ukraine alone but affects all the values that the EU stands for. Ukrainian troops are fighting Moscow’s “anti-European” forces, he stressed. “We Ukrainians on the battlefield defend Europe from the most anti-European forces”has indicated to refer to the eventual entry of Ukraine into the bloc as “the way home” for Ukrainians to share the “common European history.”
Zelensky: “For Ukraine, Europe is the way home”
The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, said Thursday that his country sees Europe as “the way home” and has stated that, with the “total war” started by Russia, the Kremlin is trying to “annihilate the way of Ukrainian European life”. This is how the Ukrainian president expressed himself before an extraordinary plenary session of the European Parliament, who has received him with cheers and a long applause in the first of his commitments in the day in Brussels, before going to the summit of leaders. “For Ukraine, Europe is the way home. I am here to defend the way home for all Ukrainians, of all ages, social status and religious convictions,” she said.
Map of the situation in Ukraine from British Intelligence
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
The map below is the latest Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 9 February 2023.
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/xbcMPPZRLH
?? #StandWithUkraine ?? pic.twitter.com/qmVIqtshQw
— Ministry of Defense ?? (@DefenceHQ) February 9, 2023
Zelensky arrives in Brussels to meet EU leaders
The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, has arrived this Thursday in Brussels, where he plans to meet with the heads of State and Government of the Twenty-seven. The president, who has flown in from Paris together with French President Emmanuel Macron, will begin his day at the European Parliamentwhom he plans to address in a short speech before attending the summit of European leaders.
???? Welcome to Brussels, dear @ZelenskyyUa
The heart of the European family, in which Ukraine belongs.
We will support Ukraine every step of the way towards our Union. pic.twitter.com/eELXeZYmM5
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 9, 2023
The Wagner Group announces that it stops recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine
The Wagner Group has stopped recruiting convicts to fight in Ukraine alongside the Russian Armyas its founder declared this Thursday, Yevgeny Prigozhin. “Yes, indeed it is so. The recruitment of inmates by the Wagner private military company has been completely completed,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a comment posted on his Telegram channel.
Data update of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
“I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings.”
Gustave Flaubert#wingsforfreedomTotal combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Feb 9: pic.twitter.com/lq7NaEVp29
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 9, 2023
Russia shoots down 10 Ukrainian drones in Bryansk region
The Russian authorities have assured this Thursday that they have shot down ten drones launched by “Ukrainian nationalists” against the Briansk region, located near the common border, incidents that have been caused without victims or material damage. “Tonight, Ukrainian nationalists have attacked the territory of the Starodubsky district with drones. The air defense system of the Russian Armed Forces has repelled the attack,” Briansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said through his Telegram account. Briansk, like other Russian regions located near the border with Ukraine, They have been the scene of several attacks in recent months, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, unleashed on February 24, 2022.
Russian offensive begins in Lugansk, according to Western analysts
Russian forces have regained the initiative in Ukraine and have begun their next major offensive in the eastern Lugansk region, according to the latest report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) Which collects Guardian. Citing Russian sources, the think tank has asserted that Russian troops are attacking Ukrainian defensive lines and making marginal advances along the Kharkov-Lugansk border, particularly northwest of Svatove, near Kupiansk and west of Kreminna.
NEW: Russian forces have resumed the initiative in #Ukraine and have begun their next major offensive in #Luhansk Oblast. ?(1/8)https://t.co/RJk789ogNT pic.twitter.com/imKBU7d5Rq
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) February 9, 2023