February 9, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude for all of the support his country has received so far from the European Union at a summit held in Belgium on Thursday. During the meeting he also appealed for EU membership, called for more modern tanks and long-range missiles for Kyiv. Later Thursday, King Philippe of Belgium held an audience with Zelensky at the Royal Palace in Brussels.

Here are more developments:

Zelensky’s Brussels visit. Speaking ahead of the special EU meeting in Brussels, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas proposed an EU procurement of weapons for Ukraine, which would be similar to EU’s vaccine procurement. Kallas said the move would speed up deliveries to Ukraine. The summit opened with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who emphasized the EU’s support for Ukraine. Then, after meeting with Zelensky in Brussels, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said discussions about supplying Ukraine with Western fighter jets were taking place “behind closed doors,” and declined to make a strong indication either way on the potential for his country to send aircraft. Zoltan Kovacs, the Hungarian secretary of state for international communication, also met with Zelensky in Brussels. Kovacs said Hungary will continue to provide humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine.

Battlefront updates. Russian forces have intensified their offensive efforts in the Luhansk region over the past week, with a slight increase in operations near Kupyansk and Lyman, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military administration, said Russia is on the offensive in the Luhansk region, though without “much success” so far. According to a new investigative report obtained exclusively by CNN, Iran appears to be modifying the attack drones that it’s providing to Russia so that the explosive warheads can inflict maximum damage on infrastructure targets inside Ukraine.

Military supplies. Marek Magierowski, the Polish ambassador to the United States, voiced a sense of urgency Thursday to arm Ukraine for a new Russian offensive. Former Russian President and Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will increase production of main battle tanks in response to supplies of the advanced armored vehicles to Ukraine. Poland has offered to send military planes to Ukraine, provided other NATO allies do as well. The British defense secretary said Thursday that training Ukrainian pilots would likely be about improving “post-conflict” resiliency. German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG is in negotiations with Ukraine, with the view of exporting its state-of-the-art Panther battle tank to Kyiv, CEO Armin Papperger said in an interview Thursday. 

King Philippe of Belgium held an audience with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday at the Royal Palace in Brussels, according to the Belgian Monarchy. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also attended.

“President Zelensky handed over a fragment of a Russian SU25 aircraft that was shot down in Ukraine. The Ukrainian riders wrote the words ‘Together we win’ on it,” the Belgian Monarchy said in a social media post. 

Pictures released by the Belgian Monarchy show photos of King Philippe shaking hands with Zelensky and the pair walking through the halls of the Royal Palace.

Private military contractor Wagner will have to look for new fighters beyond Russia’s prison system, a fertile recruiting ground for the past nine months, according to its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The Russian oligarch did not give any reason for the decision, but here’s a few plausible explanations for the change of tack:

The pool of recruits may have dwindled: After signing up between 40,000 and 50,000 prisoners from jails across Russia, the number of volunteers from prison may have shrunk so far that the campaign is no longer delivering.

The Ministry of Defense may have intervened: It is also possible that the Wagner way of war – despite the bombast of Prigozhin – no longer fits in with the Defense Ministry’s plans. Wagner fighters who had been recruited from Russian prisons interviewed by CNN said their units never had any interaction with Russian regular forces, even if there was artillery support for some Wagner assaults.

The convict campaign may have depleted Wagner’s finances: Prigozhin’s companies had to buy weapons and other equipment for the prison recruits, train them at camps in Russia and in occupied territory in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, transport them to combat areas and feed them.

Prigozhin’s declared halt to the prison recruitment campaign does not mean Wagner is out of business. Far from it.

It has built an experienced and hardened cadre of fighters over the past decade, many of them veterans of the Chechen wars who have also seen action in Africa and Syria. It still has sizable contingents in the Central African Republic and Mali, where Prigozhin combines training and security missions with lucrative concessions for raw materials.

But it may signal an evolution in Wagner’s role in the Ukraine conflict in the coming months, as it becomes less reliant on the poorly trained “cannon fodder” who have been thrown into assaults for places like Soledar.

You can read Lister’s full analysis here.

Russia is on the offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, though without “much success” so far, according to the area’s Ukrainian leader.

“We can conclude that a certain escalation has already begun. And we can say de facto that this is part of the full-scale offensive that Russia has been planning,” Serhiy Hayday, head of Luhansk region military administration, said in a television interview posted to his Telegram channel.

The Russian push is coming west from the area of the Russian-occupied city of Kreminna in northeast Ukraine. Ukrainian forces had for some time been trying to disrupt a key road between Kreminna and Svatove, to the north, which has represented the front line for months.

“There our soldiers constantly repulsed a large number of attacks by the occupation troops,” Hayday said. “They have not had much success. There is no breakthrough. The situation is difficult, but is still controlled by our defense forces.”

The uptick in Russian attacks has also been noted by the Ukrainian military’s General Staff in its regular updates.

Pro-Kremlin Russian military bloggers have also written cautiously about a push toward Ukrainian-held territory.

“We managed to locally recapture small settlements, which were occupied by the enemy in the course of action at the end of the fall,” blogger Evgeny Poddubny wrote on his Telegram channel. “Overall, the initiative is on our side, although the situation is difficult.”

CNN’s Vasco Cotovio and Yulia Kesaieva contributed reporting to this post.

Hungary will continue to provide humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine, according to Hungarian Secretary of State for International Communication Zoltan Kovacs, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met in Brussels on Thursday.

Kovacs tweeted a photo of Orbán and Zelensky shaking hands on the sidelines of the European Council meeting.

“We support an immediate ceasefire to avoid further deaths. Hungary belongs to the peace camp,” Orbán said to Zelensky, according to Kovacs. 

Some background: Back in April 2022, Orban — a longtime Russian ally — called Zelensky one of the “opponents” he had to overcome during his campaign to secure his fourth consecutive term as Hungary’s leader.

In December 2022, Hungary initially blocked a $19 billion aid package for Ukraine but later dropped its opposition in return for funding from the European Union.

There was also several weeks of speculation that Orban would delay Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership bid, but he eventually announced that Hungary’s Parliament will ratify it.

The Polish ambassador to the United States voiced a sense of urgency Thursday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brought his plea for fighter jets before a European Union summit.

Poland has offered to send military planes to Ukraine, provided other NATO allies do as well.

“This is an offer that has been on the table for a few days and it’s actually a very interesting topic to discuss among EU and NATO political leaders,” the ambassador, Marek Magierowski, told CNN of the Polish pledge on fighter jets.

“The one thing I’m sure of is — we’re now facing a race against time with the Russians mobilizing their forces and regrouping along the front lines in Ukraine, and the Ukranians awaiting more advanced weaponry from the West. And I believe it’s been mostly the Polish government which has been quite insistent on the necessity of continuing our support, in both military and political terms, for Ukraine,” Magierowski said.

“Doubtless it will take a while to train the crews and the pilots,” the Polish ambassador said, noting that Ukrainian airmen were trained on Soviet-era systems. 

Magierowski said it would be a “turning point” for the confrontation “if all EU and NATO countries chose to deliver the F-16 (fighter jets) or other Western-designed weapons to Ukraine right now.”

“My impression is that we have been using the wrong terms until recently. We should change a little bit our vocabulary and stop saying about the possibility of ‘not losing’ the war, but about Ukraine eventually winning this war,” the ambassador said. 

“We tended to overestimate the Russia’s military might before the invasion. Now, we underestimate. I think, unfortunately, the Russian military, and Russian society and Russian ruling elite are remarkably resilient in light of economic sanctions we have imposed on this country, and in the face of this miserable performance of the Russian forces in Ukraine,” the ambassador said.

“I do not believe in a diplomatic solution to this conflict. The solution should be military and, again, I think that militarily Ukraine will eventually prevail — also with our help,” the diplomat concluded.

The ambassador’s remarks came shortly after Zelensky addressed the EU summit in Brussels Thursday, taking his pitch for more military support directly to the assembly of world leaders.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Thursday that discussions about supplying Ukraine with Western fighter jets were taking place “behind closed doors,” and declined to make a strong indication either way on the potential for his country to send aircraft.

“I cannot say if that will ever happen,” Rutte told CNN affiliate RTL News on the sidelines of a meeting with the Ukrainian president in Brussels. “But those are discussions that are taking place behind closed doors. And that is not something that you can do in public.”

The Netherlands has been on the leading edge of countries saying they are willing to entertain giving Ukraine fighter jets. French President Emmanuel Macron, during a press conference with Rutte in The Hague last month, said that “nothing is off-limits in principle.”

“We do not say no,” Rutte said on Thursday. “But before, we also have not said no to other weapons systems. We are even somewhat forward leaning … when it comes to this type of deliveries.”

He reiterated his position that the Netherlands has “no taboos” about weapons delivery, so long as the “red line” of direct NATO-Russia confrontation is prevented.

Zelensky at the EU summit: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke during a European Union summit in Brussels Thursday, taking his pitch for more military support directly to the assembly of world leaders.

Zelensky said he would have several bilateral meetings during his time in Brussels specifically to discuss the issue of providing fighter jets to Ukraine. 

CNN’s Radina Gigova contributed to this report.

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, held talks in Moscow Thursday with the head of Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom.

“The discussion focused on issues related to ensuring nuclear and physical nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhia (nuclear power plant),” according to a Rosatom statement.

The head of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, “informed the IAEA Director General about the steps that the Russian side is taking in this area, as well as about measures aimed at ensuring comfortable social and living conditions for workers of the plant and members of their families,” according to the statement.

“In addition, issues of current and future cooperation between Russia and the IAEA in other areas were touched upon. The parties confirmed the agreement to continue contacts,” the statement added.

Some context: Zaporizhzhia, with its six reactors, is the largest nuclear power station in Europe.

The IAEA serves as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency and has repeatedly raised concerns about the threat of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant since Russia invaded Ukraine last year and seized control of the facility.

Grossi has assured Ukraine the IAEA will never recognize Russia as the owner of the Zaporizhzhia plant, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Grossi also pledged a continuous presence of the IAEA at all of Ukraine’s nuclear plants.

What Ukraine is saying: Shmyhal has demanded control of the Zaporizhzhia facility be returned to Ukrainian authorities, plus a “complete withdrawal” of Russian troops and Rosatom personnel from the plant.

Last fall, as Moscow’s forces were tightening their grip on the facility, Ukraine’s military alleged that plant employees were being subjected to “moral and psychological pressure.” Some had been forced to obtain Russian passports and sign employment contracts with Rosatom, according to Ukraine.

CNN’s Yulia Kesaieva and Lauren Kent contributed to this report.

The British defense secretary said Thursday that training Ukrainian pilots would likely be about improving “post-conflict” resiliency.

“Britain hasn’t said it is necessarily going to send fighter jets to Ukraine,” UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said during a press conference in Rome. “What it’s said is we’re going to start training to improve the resilience of Ukraine, probably post-conflict.”

He said that was “no different” from what the UK and its allies did to help “reform” Ukraine’s defense following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Nonetheless, he said, “we obviously, all of us on this platform, know that over the last year, we shouldn’t rule anything in and we shouldn’t rule anything out.”

The UK government said Wednesday that it will being training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets. 

“The training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future,” according to a Downing Street statement.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has proposed a system similar to that of EU’s vaccine procurement, to its purchase of weapons supplies for Ukraine. 

Speaking ahead of a special European Council meeting in Brussels, Kallas said the move would speed up deliveries to Ukraine. 

“All of us have looked into the warehouses and seen what we have but we should do more. We should give a clear signal to the European defense industry to produce more,” Kallas told journalists.

“We could use a similar mechanism like we did with the Covid vaccines. European countries will provide funds, the European Commission will procure, and then it’ll be sent directly to Ukraine.” 

“The price goes up with every delay, with every hesitation and that could speed up the process,” she added. 

The president of SpaceX revealed the company has taken active steps to prevent Ukrainian forces from using the critical Starlink satellite technology with Ukrainian drones that are a key component of their fight against Russia.

“There are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that,” Gwynne Shotwell told reporters on Wednesday, referencing reports on Starlink and drone use. “There are things that we can do, and have done.”

Starlink was never meant to be used militarily in the way that it has, Shotwell argued, saying the company didn’t foresee how profoundly – and creatively – Ukrainian forces would rely on the technology.

“It was never intended to be weaponized,” Shotwell told an audience at a space conference. “However, Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement.”

Shotwell’s admission that SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, has prevented Ukrainian soldiers from fully using the technology confirms the long-standing belief that Musk and the company are uneasy with Ukraine’s military use of Starlink.

Speaking with reporters after, Shotwell argued that Starlink had sent units to Ukraine to “keep the banks going, hospitals, keep families connected.”

“We know the military is using them for comms, and that’s OK,” Shotwell added. “But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes.”

Read the full article here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he is grateful for all the support his country has received so far from the European Union, but said he is particularly thankful to the citizens of the EU for providing shelter to Ukrainian citizens.

“I want to thank all of you, I want to thank the citizens of the European Union for all your support. For the way you support our people, for giving us the refuge and the shelter for the Ukrainian citizens who are trying to protect their children from the bombs,” Zelensky said during a news conference in Brussels after an EU Council meeting. 

“Millions of our citizens are now supported in Europe and I hope your citizens can see that the European values are real. Thank you very much for this, thank you for everything, friends,” he said. 

“That’s the only way I can address you: friends,” he added. 

Former Russian President and Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will increase production of main battle tanks in response to supplies of the advanced armored vehicles to Ukraine. 

“Yesterday, our enemy begged for planes, missiles and tanks while abroad. What should we do in response? It is clear that in this case, it is natural for us to increase the production of various types of weapons and military equipment, including modern tanks,” Medvedev said Thursday. 

“We are talking about the production and modernization of thousands of tanks,” he added. “This task has been set, it follows from the state defense order, it follows from the decisions that are made by the president of the country.”

Russia’s ability to renew its dwindling stocks of some types of military equipment has been called into question by some experts, citing the impact Western sanctions have had on Moscow’s arms industry’s ability to procure certain components. 

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG is in negotiations with Ukraine, with the view of exporting its state-of-the-art Panther battle tank to Kyiv, CEO Armin Papperger said in an interview Thursday. 

“We are talking to Kyiv about exporting the Panther,” Pappberger told German business daily Handelsblatt, adding that Ukraine is also interested in the Lynx, Rheinmetall’s most modern infantry fighting vehicle. 

Pappberger said deliveries of the Panther to Ukraine are feasible within “15 to 18 months,” adding that the tanks could be built in either Germany or Hungary. 

Rheinmetall is also the maker of the Leopard battle tank, which European countries have recently agreed to send to Ukraine, with the first units expected to arrive in the spring. As with the Leopard, the provision of the Panther and the Lynx to Kyiv would have to be approved by the German government. 

Pappberger’s remarks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed European Union leaders in Brussels Thursday, reiterating his country’s need for modern tanks to protect its security, adding that Ukraine’s security is also Europe’s security. 

More on the Panther battle tank: The Dusseldorf-based company introduced the Panther at a trade fair in Paris last summer, touting it as the strongest battle tank in the world. According to Rheinmetall, the Panther is still under development, but is eventually meant to replace its Leopard 2 battle tank and is “destined to be a game changer on the battlefields of the future.”

“Ukraine has to stand its ground in this war — and once it’s over, the country needs security,” Papperger said in the interview. “That’s why we are prepared to set up a plant for the production of the Panther in Ukraine as well.

Iran appears to be modifying the attack drones that it’s providing to Russia so that the explosive warheads can inflict maximum damage on infrastructure targets inside Ukraine, according to a new investigative report obtained exclusively by CNN.

An unexploded warhead from an Iranian Shahed-131 drone found in the Southern Ukrainian region of Odesa in October 2022 was examined last month by the UK-based investigative organization Conflict Armament Research, along with the Ukrainian military. CAR provided its findings first to CNN.

The group’s analysts believe the warheads, which measure just under two-feet long, were hastily modified with poorly fitted layers of dozens of small metal fragments that on impact scatter across a large radius. In addition to the fragments, there are also 18 smaller “charges” around the circumference of the warhead that, when melted by the blast, can pierce armor and create a kind of “360-degree” explosive effect.

The accumulation of those elements essentially maximize the warhead’s ability to shred targets such as power stations, distribution grids, transmission lines and large, high-power transformers. They also make repair efforts substantially harder.

“It’s as though they looked at the finished warhead and said, ‘How can we make this even more destructive?’” said Damien Spleeters, one of the investigators who examined the warhead.

Warheads targeting battlefield assets such as tanks or artillery pieces might be designed differently, Spleeters explained, with a frontal shaped charge that is used for more concentrated targets. The warhead examined by CAR, though, has a radial shaped charge effect, which can result in a larger area of impact.

Some background: Iran has given Russia hundreds of drones to use in its war in Ukraine, many of which have targeted Ukraine’s power grid and energy facilities, leaving civilians without heat, electricity or running water during the freezing winter months. Last month, the Institute for the Study of War found that Russian forces had become increasingly reliant on the drones – so much so that their stockpile of the drones is already running low, just months after Iran began sending them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday his country needs modern tanks, long-range missiles and modern fighter jets to protect its security, adding that Ukraine’s security is also Europe’s security. 

“We need artillery guns, ammunitions, modern tanks, the long-range missiles and modern fighter jets,” Zelensky said during a speech at the European Council. “We have to enhance the dynamic of our cooperation” and act “faster than the aggressor.” 

In the past “horrific” year, Zelensky said Europe made strong strong decisions despite doubts and discussions.

“This security cooperation has created a historic example for any aggressor,” Zelensky said. “Our brave soldiers are fighting against the terror of Russia with your support.”

Zelensky also said he’ll have several bilateral meetings in Brussels to discuss the issue of providing fighter jets to Ukraine. 

“I’ll have a number of bilaterals now and we are doing to raise the issue of the fighter jets and other aircraft,” he said during a news conference, following a European Council meeting earlier Thursday. 

Zelensky said that the discussions he has had so far in the Belgian capital have been “quite concrete.”

“I am very inspired by your statements that Europe will be with us until our victory. I have heard it from a number of European leaders and I am very grateful to them for this,” Zelensky said.

He added that during Thursday’s meetings, “we were talking about security, we were talking about saving lives and stability, we were talking about the return of justice.”

More on military support to Ukraine: On Wednesday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a news conference that the first battalion of Leopard 2 tanks delivered by Western allies could reach Ukraine by March or April of this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made an emotional appeal for his country to become a member of the European Union during a visit to Brussels, emphasizing the shared values between Kyiv and the bloc.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin says that deliveries of Western fighter jets to Kyiv would only make the war more “painful” for Ukraine.

Here are the latest headlines:

There is an “excellent connection” between Ukrainian and French officials, who are working towards a shared goal of defeating Russia, according to a senior Ukrainian official.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted that the pair had held discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron’s political adviser Emmanuel Bonn and diplomatic adviser Isabelle Dumont.

Zelensky met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that “a free Europe cannot be imagined without free Ukraine,” and thanked EU leaders for the “unwavering support” his country has received so far. 

“The unity of Europe is the fundamental way to security,” Zelensky said during a speech at the European Council in Brussels. “A free Europe cannot be imagined without free Ukraine.”

Zelensky said Ukraine and the European Union share the same values, but those values and regional security are threatened by Russian aggression. 

“At the moment our unity, our freedom requires one more component. One component without which everything else is fragile. That is security,” Zelensky said. 

“We all are protecting Europe against the [Moscow] regime, which wants to destroy the freedom of Europe, which wants to be the authoritarian leader on our continent,” he said. 

Zelensky also said he is grateful Ukraine has received EU candidate status as it aims to join the European Union and be a part of a united Europe. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has claimed that Germany provides the most aid to Ukraine of any European Union country. 

”Among the EU countries, we are the country that provides the most financial humanitarian and humanitarian aid, but also with the most concrete support when it comes to arms deliveries,” Scholz told reporters as he arrived at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. 

The EU leader’s meeting will be an occasion to “send this signal of unity, of solidarity once again and show that we will continue our support for Ukraine in defending its independence and integrity for as long as necessary,” Scholz added.

On Wednesday night, Scholz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to discuss further military aid for Ukraine.

The meeting between the two leaders came after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a news conference that the first battalion of Leopard 2 tanks delivered by Western allies could reach Ukraine by March or April of this year.

Later Thursday, Zelensky will attend the EU summit as a guest.

Earlier today, Zelensky addressed lawmakers at the European Parliament, where he was greeted with a standing ovation as he arrived on his first visit to Brussels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin accused Washington of having a “hostile attitude” towards Russia saying it perceives Moscow as an “adversary” and provokes further escalation.

“The United States remains hostile towards our country, perceives us as an adversary, states the political will to further expand its involvement in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov referred to US President Joe Biden’s address State of the Union address, in which he spoke of a need to protect the country from Chinese threats while simultaneously confronting Russia and supporting Ukraine.

Peskov accused Washington of refusing to “express readiness to recognize the legitimate concerns of the Russian Federation,” and said that the speech “on the contrary, provokes further escalation.”

On the battlefront: The Kremlin’s comments come on the heels of reports that Russian shelling has increased in parts of the Kharkiv region recaptured by Ukrainian forces last September and other areas of northern Ukraine.

Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said two civilians were killed in Dvorichna, a village east of the city of Kharkiv. Russian forces occupy positions on the east bank of the nearby Oskil River

CNN’s Tim Lister and Denis Lapin in Kyiv contributed to this post.

Possible UK deliveries of fighter jets to Ukraine will not change the outcome of the war, but will only “escalate and prolong it and will make it more painful” for Ukraine, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

During a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a plea for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets.

And British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to providing military equipment to Ukraine.

The development testifies to the “growing involvement of the UK, Germany, and France in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” said Peskov on Thursday.

“We can only express regret and state that such actions lead to escalation, prolong the conflict, and make this conflict more painful for Ukraine,” he added.

“Fundamentally, these actions of countries will not change the outcome of the conflict and will not change the trajectory that our country is following in terms of achieving its goals within the framework of the special military operation.”

Interestingly, Zelensky took a different approach during a speech to the EU Parliament on Thursday.

The Ukrainian President focused on the values that Ukraine shares with Europe, but didn’t specifically ask for more weapons as he did in London on Wednesday.

Russian forces have intensified their offensive efforts in the Luhansk region over the past week, with a slight increase in operations near Kupyansk and Lyman, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

In its latest update published Thursday, the General Staff said 25 settlements had come under artillery fire and Russian forces had carried out several air strikes in the area.

Some analysts have suggested Russia may be starting a new offensive in the Luhansk region, while adding that the movement was not yet significant.

The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces were “gradually beginning an offensive” in the area, noting Russian operations had “increased markedly over the past week.”

However it added that Ukrainian forces had been able to prevent Moscow’s armies from securing significant gains. 

CNN teams on the ground noted that the tempo of attacks had increased slightly in the past few days, but it was “nowhere near the energy that could be described as an offensive.” 

Kupyansk and Lyman were seized early in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on February 28 and May 27 last year respectively.

They were then re-taken by Ukrainian forces during a counter offensive in September 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made a heartfelt appeal for his country to become part of the European Union during an address to EU lawmakers.

“This is our Europe, these are our rules, this is our way of life. And for Ukraine, it’s a way home, a way to its home,” Zelensky said, referencing Ukraine’s aim to join the European Union. 

“I am here in order to defend our people’s way home,” he added. 

The Ukrainian President underlined that Ukraine shares values with Europe, rather than with Russia, which he said is trying to take Ukraine back in time.

It was an emotional message designed to try to connect with EU parliamentarians.

Ukrainian President Voloydymyr Zelensky has told European lawmakers that Russia wants to return Europe to the xenophobia of the 1930s and 1940s.

“The answer for us to that is no,” he said. “We are defending ourselves. We must defend ourselves.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is addressing the European Parliament in Brussels.

“I’m here in order to defend our people’s way home,” he told EU lawmakers.

Zelensky said Russia wants to destroy the Ukrainian and European way of life.

“We will not allow that,” he said.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has introduced Ukrainian President Voloydymyr Zelensky ahead of his address.

“We have your back,” Metsola told Zelensky. “Freedom will prevail.”

Zelensky received a standing ovation as he walked into the chamber of the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday. 

“Ukraine is Europe and your nation’s future is in the European Union,” said Metsola at the beginning of an EU summit, as she stood next to Zelensky. 

“We will be with you for as long as it takes,” she said. 

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said his country did not have a red line when it came to providing fighter jets to Ukraine, but cautioned his country did not have the means to relinquish any of its own aircraft. 

“It’s not a red line,” Costa told journalists as he arrived in Brussels for a special European Council meeting on Thursday.

Portugal operates a total of 27 F-16 AM fighter jets but Costa says they are already tied to several NATO commitments.

“That’s an area where we simply don’t have the possibility [of giving to Ukraine], given that the means we have are all allocated to missions that we cannot do without,” he said.

Costa went on to say Portugal had done its best to support Ukraine since the beginning of the war, highlighting the recent commitment to send three of its Leopard 2 tanks. 

He added that supplies to Ukraine had the ultimate goal of achieving peace, but only on Ukrainian terms. 

“Peace is our objective,” he said. “War is a means to achieve peace and this war, it should be reminded, was not started by Ukraine, Ukraine is the victim of war.

“The moment, the terms and conditions for peace can only be defined by Ukraine,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the European Parliament in Brussels ahead of an EU summit on Thursday. 

He was greeted by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. 

Zelensky is expected to address the EU Parliament later Thursday as part of a campaign to persuade the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Brussels, where he is expected to address the EU Parliament later today.

Zelensky arrived from Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron as part of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at persuading the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

Zelensky made a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday in only his second foreign trip since the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago.

In a speech to British lawmakers, Zelensky repeated his consistent call for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets.

In a poignant but carefully crafted move, Zelensky handed the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, the helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot, signed with the message: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”

Earlier Wednesday, the UK announced it will begin training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets, in what CNN understands would be the first official training program for Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter aircraft.

There was no mention of providing Ukraine with Western fighter aircraft that Zelensky has been calling for.

But British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did say that “when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table” when asked whether the UK will provide fighter jets to Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron are on their way to Brussels, where they’ll attend a European Union summit.

The leaders are flying together to the Belgian capital on a plane that departed from Vélizy-Villacoublay airport southwest of Paris on Thursday morning.

Zelensky is expected to address the EU Parliament in Brussels later Thursday. Ukraine officially became an EU candidate state last year, but it is still likely to be years before Kyiv is able to officially join the union.

On Wednesday, Zelensky visited London and Paris as part of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals aimed at persuading the West to send more weapons and military support to counter an expected Russian spring offensive.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group says it has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine. 

“We have completely discontinued the recruitment of prisoners into Wagner PMC (private military company). Those who work for us now are fulfilling all their obligations,” Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s press service said on Telegram.

CNN could not independently confirm the group’s claims. 

Some context: Wagner has recruited tens of thousands of fighters from Russian jails, offering freedom and cash after a six-month tour, with Prigozhin even traveling personally to prisons to recruit convicts.

The group has emerged as a key player in the war, especially in the ongoing fight for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian assessments of Wagner tactics and accounts from defectors suggest the convicts are used as “cannon fodder” — pushed to the front lines in a human wave.

At least 1,000 Russian tanks have been destroyed in Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a war monitoring group says, a number that, when coupled with Russian tanks captured or abandoned, could represent half of all operational tanks available to Moscow at the start of the war.

Oryx, an open source intelligence website, has been collecting visual evidence of military equipment losses in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on February 24, 2022.

The group said this week it has verified 1,000 distinct Russian tank losses in the war. It said a further 544 Russian tanks had been captured by Ukrainian forces, 79 damaged and 65 abandoned.

That toll does not include losses Oryx has not been able to visually confirm, said Jakub Janovsky, a military analyst who contributes to the Oryx blog. He estimated the actual toll could be nearer 2,000 tanks.

Read more here.

French President Emmanuel Macron has awarded visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with France’s highest order of merit, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

The award is the highest distinction a French president can give to another head of state.

“It’s too much for me,” Zelensky said, adding he wanted to dedicate the award to the Ukrainian people. 

Earlier, Macron told Zelensky that France is “determined” to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia. “We stand by Ukraine, determined to help it to victory,” Macron said. “Ukraine can count on France and its allies to win the war, Russia should not and will not win the war.”  

Macron also said France would continue to provide military support to Ukraine and Paris will “adapt and re-adapt” to Kyiv’s needs. “Ukraine can count on us to build peace,” the French leader said, speaking alongside Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

EU summit: The three leaders dined at the Elysée Palace on Wednesday night ahead of Thursday’s European Union summit meeting in Brussels. Macron and Zelensky will fly to the Belgian capital together on Thursday morning, according to the Elysée. 

A former Chechen commander wanted by Ukraine for alleged war crimes is leading the Russian earthquake relief effort in Turkey.  

Daniil Martynov was in several locations in Ukraine last year in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. He is thought to be close to the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and has been featured in several videos on Kadyrov’s official Telegram channel.  

In recent days, he has given interviews to Russian media outlets from the earthquake zone in Turkey, after being appointed last year as an adviser in Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.

Last August, the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, alleged that Martynov had committed a series of war crimes in the town of Borodianka, north of Kyiv. 

The SBU described Martynov as the deputy head of the National Guard troops in the Chechen Republic and said he was “responsible for the training of Kadyrov’s personal security detail.”  
The SBU alleged that Martinov managed the occupation of the Borodianka psychiatric hospital in March. It said that on his orders “almost 500 people were taken hostage (patients, staff and local residents), including more than a hundred bed-ridden patients.”  
The SBU alleged that the hospital had been “turned into a firing position of the occupiers” and said that Martynov was accused of “violation of the laws and customs of war, and abuse of prisoners of war or civilians.”  

There is no record of Martynov responding to the Ukrainian allegations. While dismissing the SBU accusations last August, Kadyrov said: “With regard to Martynov, he does not work for us. He’s working with the MES [Ministry of Emergency Situations.]” 

Martynov was sanctioned in 2020 by the US Treasury Department for “serious human rights abuse in Russia.” It said he was “a personal security advisor for Kadyrov, [and] has acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Kadyrov.”  

CNN is reaching out to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry for comment on Martinov’s role, as well as to the Ukrainian Security Service.

French President Emmanuel Macron told his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that France is “determined” to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia.  

“We stand by Ukraine, determined to help it to victory,” Macron said. “Ukraine can count on France and its allies to win the war, Russia should not and will not win the war.”  

Macron affirmed to Zelensky that France will continue to provide military support to Ukraine and Paris will “adapt and re-adapt” to Kyiv’s needs. 

“Ukraine can count on us to build peace,” the French leader said, speaking alongside Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris.   

After arriving in Paris Wednesday, Zelensky said he is “thankful for the spontaneous idea for us to meet and talk” in a joint news conference with Macron and Scholz.  

“France and Germany have the potential to be game changers,” Zelensky said in his opening remarks, adding that “the sooner Ukraine manages to get long-range weapons and modern planes, the stronger our coalitions will be.”  

Scholz said Germany will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine “as long as it needs.” 

Zelensky’s presence at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday would send “a strong signal” of solidarity, he added.  

The Russian embassy in London described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to the United Kingdom on Wednesday as a “hasty event,” “theatrical performance,” “fundraising event,” and “ex-comedian in a green sweatshirt now on tour around Europe.”

In response to the UK saying it’s “actively looking” at whether to send fighter jets to Ukraine, the embassy warned that “Russia will know how to respond to any unfriendly actions by the British side.” 

“We would like to remind London: in the event of such a scenario the death toll of yet another round of escalation, as well as its military-political consequences for the European continent and the whole world will be on the United Kingdom’s hands,” the embassy said in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table” when asked whether the UK will provide fighter jets to Ukraine.

And Zelensky hailed his visit, noting the two countries had reached an agreement on a “powerful defense package.”

The Russian embassy in London warned the United Kingdom against providing Ukraine with fighter jets, saying such a move would have “military and political ramifications” for the whole world, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

“I would like to remind officials in London: such a scenario as the ‘bloody harvest’ of the next wave of escalation, as well as the resulting military and political ramifications for the European continent and the entire world, should weigh heavy on its conscience,” the embassy said, according to RIA.

What the UK is saying: Earlier, Britain’s PA media reported that the UK is “actively” considering whether to send jets to Ukraine, citing the prime minister’s official spokesperson.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table,” adding, “when it comes to fighter combat aircrafts, of course they are part of the conversation.”

Sunak said he had discussed the topic with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. The two leaders were visiting a British military facility where Ukrainian troops were being trained on Challenger 2 tanks. 

CNN’s Jessie Gretener contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday, sweeping in to London on the first stage of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals with a powerful message for British lawmakers.

In only his second foreign trip since the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, Zelensky gave a speech to the joint houses of the British parliament that deftly stroked the national ego at the same as making a direct plea for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets.

“London has stood with Kyiv since day one,” he said. “Since the first seconds and minutes of the full-scale war. Great Britain, you extended your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react.”

In a poignant but carefully crafted move, Zelensky handed the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, the helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot, signed with the message: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”

Zelensky’s message was directed firmly at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and members of the Cabinet standing in front of him in the historic surroundings of Westminster Hall — the oldest part of of the Palace of Westminster, where the late Queen Elizabeth lay in state and where US President Obama stood for a similar address in 2011.

He thanked the British leader — “Rishi” — who had earlier announced that the UK would begin training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets.

Read more here.

There are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the decision to provide separatists in Ukraine with the missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, Dutch investigators said Wednesday.

Citing intercepted telephone conversations by Russian government officials, the Public Prosecution Service’s Joint Investigation Team said there were “strong indications that in Russia, the president made the decision about the provision of the Buk-TELAR to separatists of the DPR,” or the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, in eastern Ukraine.

Investigators nonetheless said “the high bar of full and conclusive evidence is not met,” and that regardless, as a head of state, Putin has immunity from prosecution. The Joint Investigation Team said it had shared its findings with the families of the 298 victims.

CNN has reached out to the Kremlin for reaction. Moscow has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the attack, and Russian officials and state media have put out a range of often contradictory explanations for the tragedy.

Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed.

Dutch investigators had already concluded that the missile that downed MH17 was a Russian Buk rocket, fired from a launcher belonging to Russia’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade. A Dutch court in November found two Russians and a separatist Ukrainian guilty of mass murder for their involvement in the downing of MH17.

In their newest finding, investigators say that DPR leaders appeared to be in “close contact” with Kremlin advisers and the Russian intelligence service.

Read more here.