US House Republicans are making a "big mistake" by not responding to Russia, Biden says
From CNN’s Nikki Carvajal and MJ Lee
U.S. President Joe Biden talks briefly with reporters after returning to the White House on February 19, in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
US President Joe Biden said House Republicans are “making a big mistake” in not responding to Russian aggression with more security funding for Ukraine. Biden added he’s willing to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson about the matter “if he has anything to say.”
“They’re making a big mistake not responding,” Biden said on Monday. “Look, the way they’re walking away from the threat of Russia, the way they’re walking away from the threat of NATO, the way they’re walking away from meeting our obligation, it’s shocking. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
He did not sound optimistic when asked if he thought Alexey Navalny’s death would do anything to nudge the House GOP toward taking up the bill. “I hope so, but I’m not sure anything is going to change,” he said.
He also said he was considering additional sanctions in the wake of Navalny’s death in a Russian prison camp.
11:16 a.m. ET, February 19, 2024
Navalny's widow says she will pick up his mantle after blaming Putin for his death. Here's the latest news
From CNN Staff
Three days after Russian prison services announced that Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny had died, his widow Yulia Navalnaya vowed to continue his mission to create a "happy, beautiful Russia."
The jailed Russian opposition figure died Friday at a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, according to the Russian prison service. He was serving multiple sentences for fraud, extremism and other charges that he dismissed as politically motivated.
In an 8-minute-long address on social media, Navalnaya accused President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death while saying authorities were hiding her late husband's body, suggesting he had been poisoned.
Separately, Navalny's spokesperson said on X that his body will not be returned to the family for at least another 14 days.
Meanwhile, on the battlefront, Ukrainian forces on Friday announced their withdrawal from Avdiivka, a key town that in recent months became one of the most fiercely contested battles on the eastern front.
Here's what else to know this morning:
Hundreds arrested: At least 366 people have reportedly been detained across Russia since Friday for attending vigils and rallies in honor of Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a human rights group that monitors Russian repression.
Mother denied access: Navalny's mother and lawyers were denied access Monday to a morgue where his body was believed to be held, a spokesperson says. Navalnaya claimed her late husband's body was being hidden as it would contain evidence of poisoning. The Kremlin has said the investigation into Navalny's cause of death was ongoing.
EU renames sanctions: The European Union will rename its human rights sanctions regime to pay homage to Navalny, changing the name to the "Navalny human rights sanction regime," the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
Pressure on Ukraine: In addition to withdrawing from Avdiivka, Ukraine’s army is also under pressure at several other points along the front line that meanders for about 1,000 kilometers from the border with Russia in the north to the Black Sea. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited positions in the Kupiansk sector in Kharkiv region.
Biden weighs in: US President Joe Biden said House Republicans are “making a big mistake” in not responding to Russian aggression with more security funding for Ukraine and said he’s willing to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson about the matter “if he has anything to say.”
US Army expenditure: As US funding for Ukraine faces an uncertain future, the US Army has been left to foot the bill for hundreds of millions of dollars in support for Ukraine’s war effort over the past few months. Army officials are also increasingly concerned that without new funding, they will have to begin pulling money from other critical projects to continue supporting Kyiv.
11:23 a.m. ET, February 19, 2024
Navalny's body will not be released to family for another 14 days, Navalny spokesperson says
From CNN staff
Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link from the IK-3 penal colony during a hearing of his complaint at the Supreme Court in Moscow, Russia, on January 11. Vera Savina/AFP/Getty Images
Alexey Navalny’s body will not be returned to the family for at least another 14 days, said Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmish, in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
His body will be under “some sort of chemical examination” in that period, she added.
Analysis: Ukraine’s defeat at Avdiivka threatens to transform war as outlook looks grim for US aid for Kyiv
CNN's analysis by Nick Paton Walsh
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the annual Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, on February 17. Wolfgang Rattay/Reute
Traveling from the Munich Security Conference toward Ukraine’s frontlines, the polite frustration and manicured pleas of Western leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky feel yet more desperate. The warnings that Ukraine might suffer setbacks on the frontline if the US Congress continued to hold up a $60 billion aid package have now curdled into a bitter, brutal reality.
The pledges and rhetoric have so far amounted to little; in the wait, or abyss, ahead, Ukraine is losing people and land. It is all very real, very immediate and stark. After months of stalemate, the possibility of sweeping changes on the frontlines is quite real.
The horrific death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny meant the brutality of President Vladimir Putin's regime was amplified and crystal-clear for European leaders who had feared the gathering would be dogged by doubts over a future Trump presidency’s adherence to the NATO alliance. Latvia’s president spoke of “murder,” Germany’s defense minister of how the death showed Russia was “willing and able to provoke” the West. Ukraine reasoned it was clear proof Putin was too irrational a man to negotiate with.
Yet still, the conference – often a talking shop, fixated on entourages and colored passes over concrete results – ended without major progress. US President Joe Biden had said in 2021 that Navalny’s death would lead to “devastating consequences” for Russia. Yet the White House’s toolkit has been somewhat emptied by the 2022 invasion and as of Monday morning – 72 hours after Navalny’s passing was announced – no measures have been announced.
Russia is assembling a huge number of troops near Zaporizhzhia, sources say
From CNN staff
On Ukraine's southern front, both Russian and Ukrainian sources speak of a massive Russian build-up in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Kyiv tried to launch its counteroffensive last summer.
It comes as Russian forces look to push their advantage on the eastern front after raising their flag in several parts of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region.
9:57 a.m. ET, February 19, 2024
Zelensky visits troops on the front lines near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Svitlana Vlasova
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, center, poses for a picture with Ukrainian servicemen as he visits their position in a front line near Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, in Ukraine on February 19. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited frontline positions in the Kupiansk sector in Kharkiv region on Monday and was briefed on the situation on the battlefield, his office said in a statement.
He met Lt. Col. Oleksiy Trubnikov, commander of the 14th separate mechanized brigade, which is defending Kupiansk. Here's what they discussed, according to the statement:
The operational situation in the section of the front line and the interaction with adjacent units
The experience of using various types of drones and details on combating Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with electronic warfare systems
Supply of equipment, ammunition "and other urgent needs" of the troops
Zelensky also congratulated the troops and thanked them for defending Ukraine, the statement said.
Some context: Russia has been pushing toward Kupiansk to recapture areas lost to the Ukrainian military. The city of Kupiansk and parts of the Kharkiv region were occupied by Russian forces from February 2022 to September 2022. The Ukrainian military managed to regain the areas, but the Russian military has been trying to advance and capture them again.
2:32 p.m. ET, February 19, 2024
Yulia Navalnaya attends meetings with European officials in Brussels
From CNN's Stephanie Halasz and Chris Stern
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, right, shakes hands with European Council President Charles Michel before a meeting in Brussels on February 19. Yves Herman/AP
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, is in Brussels on Monday for meetings.
Upon arrival at the European Council, she shook hands with its president Charles Michel, before meeting with him behind closed doors. The council is composed of the heads of state or government of all EU member states and serves as its chief decision-making body.
On Sunday, the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said he would welcome Navalnaya at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.
"EU Ministers will send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia and honour the memory of Alexey Navalny," he added in his post on X.
Borrell also expressed his "deepest condolences" to Navalnaya on X, and said Russian President Vladimir Putin and "his regime will be held accountable."
Navalnaya met Friday with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Von der Leyen posted on X that she was "deeply disturbed and saddened" by news of Navalny's death.
Meanwhile, Germany and Spain said they have summoned their Russian ambassadors to the country in the wake of Navalny's death. The Swedish Foreign Ministry also summoned the Russian ambassador, and said Sweden backed calls for the European Union to introduce a new sanctions regime targeting “the internal repression in Russia,” the statement outlined.
Some context: The Russian prison service said Navalny died on Friday. The cause of his reported death remained unclear. Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On arrival, Navalnvy was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated.
CNN’s James Frater, Eve Brennan, Benjamin Brown and Caitlin Danaher contributed to this report.
8:16 a.m. ET, February 19, 2024
Who is Yulia Navalnaya, who has vowed to continue her husband's legacy?
From CNN Staff
Yulia Navalnaya at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on September 28, 2022. Stephanie Lecocq/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Following the death of her husband, Yulia Navalnaya has made a promise: She will not be deterred by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the spotlight: While she is now front and center of her husband's fight, Navalnaya used to largely avoid the spotlight.
The couple met shortly after Yulia, a Moscow native, graduated from Plekhanov University of Economics, where she studied international relations. She worked in a bank before leaving to care for their eldest daughter, Darya.
Returning from maternity leave, Navalnaya helped her parents-in-law sell furniture for a few years, but after their son, Zakhar, was born – and with Navalny increasingly in the spotlight – she decided to focus solely on the family.
However, the opposition leader fell gravely ill in August 2020 while on a return flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk. The pilot made an emergency landing in Omsk, where Navalny was taken to hospital for urgent treatment before being transferred to Germany, still critically ill.
As Navalny lay comatose in a clinic in Omsk, Navalnaya suddenly stepped into the center stage – and her image of a stoic, calm, and collected woman became a story of its own.
Independent Russian media outlets compared her to former US First Lady Michelle Obama, and supporters wondered if the day would come when she would lead the country's opposition movement. On Instagram, supporters dubbed her "the First Lady" for risking arrest to protest for her husband's release.
No surrender: Now a more defiant symbol than ever for Navalny's cause, Navalnaya has promised she will continue his fight for a democratic Russian government.
“Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul. But the other half of me remains and it tells me that I don’t have the right to surrender," she posted on Monday.
1:10 p.m. ET, February 19, 2024
Where things stand on the front lines of Russia's war in Ukraine
From CNN staff
Russia made one of its first notable gains in months when it forced the Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern town of Avdiivka, and appears poised to pressure Kyiv's defenses further all along the eastern front.
