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.

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.

A Russian anti-aircraft missile system is seen in the Luhansk region of Ukraine on January 25.

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.

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.

“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.”

“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.

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 speaks to the press at EU parliament in Brussels on February 9.

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.

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.

KYIV REGION, UKRAINE - JANUARY 18, 2023 - Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi is seen at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine on January 1By: 

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.

Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace attends a press conference following a roundtable between Italy-UK Foreign Affairs and Defence ministers at Villa Madama, on February 9, in Rome, Italy.

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

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.

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

A member of the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade disconnects their Starlink on the front line in Kreminna, Ukraine, on January 6.

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.

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 attends a news conference during the European leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, on February 9.

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.

“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. 

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.”

Ukrainian firefighters works on a destroyed building after a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 17.

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.

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.

Volodymyr Zelensky during an extraordinary European Union leaders summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on February 9.

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.”

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 attends a European leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, on February 9.

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. 

“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.