Sunday, February 11

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A view of the burnt house in Kharkiv on Feb. 10. On the night of Feb. 9, Russia attacked Kharkiv with Iranian-Russian kamikaze drones. As a result of hitting a critical infrastructure facility, fuel leaked and ignited, causing 15 private residences to burn down. At least seven people died, including children (Pavlo Pakhomenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Zelensky announces more changes to military leadership. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced more changes to Ukraine’s military leadership during his evening address on Feb. 10, naming two new deputies of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and three new deputies of the Chief of the General Staff Anatolii Barhylevych.

Top German general: ‘We must be ready for war (with Russia) in 5 years.’ Carsten Breuer, the inspector general of the German Armed Forces, said that Russia has both the military potential and intention to extend its aggression beyond Ukraine.

Stoltenberg: West must be prepared for ‘decades-long confrontation’ with Russia. “If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wins in Ukraine, there is no guarantee that Russian aggression will not spread to other countries,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned.

Zelensky on latest Kharkiv attack: ‘Terror cannot go unpunished.’ A Russian drone attack struck a gas station in Kharkiv overnight on Feb. 10 creating a large fire that engulfed 15 residential homes and killed at least seven people, including three children.

Air Force: Ukraine downs 40 drones overnight. Ukrainian air defense destroyed 40 of the 45 Shahed-type drones Russia launched from the occupied Crimea, the Air Force reported on Feb. 11.

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VOA: F-16s are ‘exceeding expectations’ of Ukraine’s pilots. Ukrainian pilots are “very impressed” with American-made F-16 fighter jets, the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America reported.

Media: Russian military increasingly using Starlink terminals on battlefield. According to Militarnyi, the Starlink terminals are likely being procured through intermediaries in third countries via parallel imports, making it near impossible to trace.

Russia shells 8 communities in Sumy Oblast. Russian forces launched 28 attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy Oblast on Feb. 10 targeting eight communities, the regional administration reported. The shelling caused at least 150 explosions in the area.

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Fate of Avdiivka uncertain as Ukrainian forces defending it struggle with fortifications, resources

While Russia continued to strengthen its defense lines even as it launched an offensive on multiple axes over the winter, Ukraine appears to have done little to prepare for a long attritional battle during its summer counteroffensive.

Photo: Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent

# Ukraine Explainer: Why did Zelensky fire Zaluzhnyi?

Human cost of war

Prosecutor General’s Office: Family of 5 killed in Kharkiv attack, mother was district prosecutor. A woman who worked as a district prosecutor, her husband, and their three young children were among those killed in a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv late on Feb. 9, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Feb. 10.

Russian attack in Kherson Oblast kills woman, injures son. Russian forces attacked the village of Tokarivka in Kherson Oblast, killing a woman and injuring a man, her son, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Feb. 10.

Russian drone attacks in Odesa Oblast injure 4. The four injured people were all employees of port facilities. All were hospitalized, Governor Oleh Kiper said.

International response

Media: NATO may start coordinating Ukraine aid instead of US. One of the alleged reasons behind this consideration is the possibility of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to Handelsblatt.

Biden, Scholz meet in Washington to discuss US aid for Ukraine. The Republican holdup on supporting new aid packages is “close to criminal neglect,” U.S. President Joe Biden said as he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the White House.

Romania scrambles F-16s amid Russian drone strikes on Odesa Oblast. Romania’s Defense Ministry said that jets stationed at an airbase near Fetesti, some 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, were summoned in response to perform reconnaissance.

Trump says he would urge Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to NATO countries that fail to meet financial obligations. Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 10 if reelected, he would endorse Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO member countries failing to meet defense spending criteria, in a declaration indicating his disregard for the alliance’s collective-defense principle.

In other news

Poll: 26% of Ukrainian teenagers want to move abroad after finishing school. According to the poll, 53% of students want to stay in Ukraine after school, but 23% want to change their current place of residence. While 26% expressed they want to move abroad, the remaining 20% have not yet decided where to live.

Movement of trucks at checkpoint on Polish border resumed after blockade by farmers. Polish farmers launched a blockade at the Medyka-Shehyni crossings with Ukraine on Feb. 9. According to border control, the protest ended at 11:30 a.m. local time and 220 trucks are now expected to enter Ukraine.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Francis Farrell, Nate Ostiller, Oleg Sukhov, Kate Tsurkan, Olga Rudenko, Elsa Court, and Olena Goncharova.

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