Day 359 (17 February)
Zelenskyy has given an interview to the BBC, and has stated that there will be no territory deal. That means the war will not end until Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, Mariupol, and other occupied regions are vacated by the Russians completely.
At the Munich Security Conference, the US has stated that Russia has committed crimes against humanity, and that these actions will affect political and diplomatic ties in the future.
Zelenskyy stated at the conference that there was no alternative to a Ukrainian victory, and that the land an people need to be liberated.
There is no alternative to our unity. Therefore, there is, and will be no alternative to getting rid of Russian aggression once, and for all, operate in the land and the people. (Zelenskyy
Another high ranking Russian official dies suddenly. Marina Yankina, the Head of Department of Financial Supply of Russian Western Military District has allegedly committed suicide by falling out of a window. Too many Russians seem to be falling out of windows.
6,000 people still live in Bakhmut, despite the government urging them to evacuate. Some may be waiting for the Russians to take over, some won’t care, but they are making it harder for the Ukrainian army to defend Bakhmut by being there.
The G7 have said a new sanctions package aimed at limiting technology and equipment for the Russian military will be announced on the anniversary of the invasion. It doesn’t take a genius to know that this action is a year late, and these types of sanctions usually take months before they are effective if at all.
Estonia has proposed that EU countries invest in €4 billion to purchase ammunition for Ukraine. The document has been sent to all EU member states. Somehow, I don’t think Hungary or Austria will be interested in reading the proposal.
David Smith, a British spy who was caught selling secrets to the Russians from the Berlin embassy, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. He had been working as a guard, and was caught in an undercover operation. Evidence included documents with personal details of staff in the embassy , taking photos of secure areas, and collating ‘official-sensitive’ information to be passed to the Russians. He was convicted of eight charges under the Official Secrets Act.
Zelenskyy has announced a reserve army is to be created to allow the soldiers to be rotated. The mobilisation has not been popular, but when we see men in parts of Ukraine carrying on as normal while others are scarfing their lives so that they can carry on going to dinner, going to clubs and the like—is that right or moral?
The French company Auchan, has been caught providing goods to the Russian army, under the guise of humanitarian aid. They also recruited for the mobilisation and passed on details of staff, who were handed draft notices at work and were ‘offered’ the choice to resign. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister will address the issue with his French counterpart.
On 21 February 2023, there will be a meeting between Ukraine, NATO and the EU to discuss defending Ukraine and Europe. The Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kulba, Will meet with NATO, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and Josep Borrell the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Russia has been systematically deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, obviously illegally and are brainwashing them and they are re-homed with Russians. Calls for the children to be returned to Ukraine and to be reunited with their families has been ignored. This is like a scene from Gilead in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ where the children are taken away and given new identities while being brainwashed.
France is said to be supplying Ukraine with 25 tracked armoured vehicles. It seems countries now are happier to provide tanks to avoid supplying jets.
The UK has been developing a drone for use by Ukraine, that can be created by 3-D printing, these drones are called suicide drones and would be used at the front line.
In the Luhansk, Iranian drone instructors arrived to train Russians on how to use the Shahed drones. They were spotted in Kherson, Crimea and Belarus. It’s time for Belarus and Iran to be sanctioned by the world or countries that support Ukraine.
A Russian propagandist, Anton Krasovsky has been sentenced in absentia for 5 years for calling for the genocide of Ukrainians. Unfortunately, these sentences made in absentia do little except to show the world that they can name and shame those who attack Ukraine. In itself, that is propaganda and the Ukrainians should be wary of too many sentences given in absentia.
The Czech Republic and Netherlands will work together to produce mobile air defence systems that will help to combat drones.
The prisoner exchange on 16 February, included one of the collaborators that was from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and was handed over to Russia. This shows that collaborators were imbedded in many places for a significant period of time.
Day 360 (18 February)
The Netherlands will be expelling a number of Russian diplomats who they suspect are spies. The consulate in St Petersburg will close and also the Russian trade office in Amsterdam.
Scholz of Germany seems to have woken up, and is urging all countries to supply tanks to Ukraine, or to support via supplies and training. This comes after Germany hesitated to give permission for countries to re-export the Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Perhaps he wants to do this to avoid having to discuss or provide aircraft to Ukraine?
Poland has said it will not send F-16 jets to Ukraine as they don’t have enough, or that they know they may have to use them to defend themselves if Russia attacks. However, they have not ruled out other jets being sent.
The UK has said (so far) that they will not supply any aircraft (Typhoon fighters) to Ukraine until the war is over. What is the message here? Is this to assure the Russians that there is no chance of escalation in their minds? Most reasons have revolved around practicalities of training personnel to operate the aircraft and to maintain it. I also believe the statements made just before the 1 year anniversary serve to de-escalate matters as Russia was claiming talk of jets being supplied was an act of provocation.
Raiffeisen Bank in Austria has continued to carry out business with Russia, and has been investigated by U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The bank has been asked to respond to queries over transactions in Russia, Donbas, Syria and Ukraine, and has said they will respond in April, May and June. Their activities are assisting the Russians and are prolonging the war, and OFAC want clarity on the transactions being processed.
The corruption clean-up continues. In Donetsk, a woman has been detained, suspected of aiding the Russian missile strikes targeting schools and energy infrastructure. They have also been accused to passing on information of the location of Ukrainian troops in Dobropillya, near Kramatorsk. The SBU also detained four accomplices who were gathering intelligence on the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut. The offenders were sentenced to 8 years imprisonment.
Obviously I feel for the Ukrainian people, especially the families of those who have perished, but to take Ukrainian children away from their families to be brain washed and re-homed with with Russian families is something I can't even express - it is beyond anything I can put into words.