Sunday, February 4

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Workers of a Ukrainian NGO help an elderly woman who requested to be evacuated from her home in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, to a safer place on Feb. 02, 2024. (Photo by Ignacio Marin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Germany passes 2024 budget providing over $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine. “I welcome the German Bundestag’s approval of 7.6 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine in the 2024 budget. I appreciate that our agreements with (Chancellor Olaf Scholz) are being implemented,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the social media platform X.

Germany, France reportedly to sign security agreements with Ukraine within weeks. France is set to sign security agreements with Ukraine in the coming weeks, Ukraine’s President’s Office said on Feb. 3. The agreement with Germany is also “largely finished,” Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Feb. 2.

US House to vote on standalone Israel aid package, excluding Ukraine from funding bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed on Feb. 3 that the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a vote next week on a standalone $17.6 billion aid package for Israel, excluding a proposed $61 billion in military funding for Ukraine.

White House denounces planned House vote on Israel aid package that excludes Ukraine aid funding. The White House issued a statement on Feb. 3 denouncing House Republicans’ planned vote next week to support a standalone $17.6 billion Israel funding package that excludes additional aid to Ukraine, labeling the move as a “cynical political maneuver.”

Poland reiterates support for 20-billion-euro Ukraine military aid fund. Poland supports a proposal for EU member states to create a fund to provide Ukraine with 20 billion euros ($21.5 billion) in military aid in the next four years, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters in Brussels on Feb. 3.

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Minister: Odesa port exports in January almost at pre-war levels. A total of 6.3 million metric tons of goods were exported through ports in and around the city of Odesa in January 2024, which was “almost equal” to levels seen before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov reported on Feb. 3.

Journalists filming anti-mobilization protest detained in Moscow. Journalists who were filming an anti-mobilization protest outside the Kremlin were detained by the police, independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported on Feb. 3.

Japan to host over 200 businesses at conference promoting Ukraine’s economic recovery. Around 100 businesses each from Japan and Ukraine are slated to attend a Japan-Ukraine economic reconstruction conference in Tokyo later this month, Japanese media outlet Kyodo News reported on Feb. 3.

Estonia delivers Javelin anti-tank missiles, other military aid to Ukraine. The package worth 80 million euros ($86 million) was approved in December. It also includes machine guns, various vehicles and vessels, and diving equipment.

Read our exclusives

Latest defense corruption case goes after officials allegedly tied to deadly ammunition shortage

The officials worked for the Defense Ministry and were supposed to procure 100,000 mortar shells by February 2023. None ever materialized. This alleged Hr 1.5 billion ($39.6 million) scheme coincided with a severe ammunition deficiency at the peak of the bloodiest battle of the full-scale war.

Photo: Rustem Umerov / Twitter

Human cost of war

Kryvyi Rih suffers power outages again after Russian drone attacks. The city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast suffered power outages for the second day in a row after a new wave of Russian drone strikes on Feb. 3, said Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration.

Governor: Russian attack damages granary in Poltava Oblast. A Russian attack on Feb. 2 damaged a grain silo in Poltava Oblast, destroying a part of the harvest stored inside, Filip Pronin, the regional governor, said on Feb. 3.

Road in Sumy Oblast near Russian border closed to civilians following attack. Sections of road near the border with Russia in Sumy Oblast have been closed to civilian vehicles after a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group shot dead two people on Jan. 27, the region’s military administration reported on Feb. 3.

International response

Canada considers sending decommissioned air-to-ground rockets to Ukraine. Canada’s opposition Conservative Party asked the government to send tens of thousands of decommissioned rockets to Ukraine instead of destroying them, CBC reported on Feb. 2. The Canadian Defense Ministry has confirmed that the donation is under consideration.

Duda voices doubt about Crimea’s liberation, prompts responses from Polish, Ukrainian officials. Speaking at the interview, President Andrzej Duda said that Ukraine, with Western support, must resist Russian occupation and imperialism but added that it is “hard to answer” whether Kyiv will be able to liberate the occupied peninsula.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry issues protest to Nicaragua over Russian delegation from occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to Nicaragua in response to a visit by a Russian delegation from occupied Crimea, the ministry’s spokesperson, Oleh Nikolenko, said on Feb. 2.

What to know about corruption in Ukraine

In other news

Russia designates human rights campaigner a ‘foreign agent.’ According to the Russian Justice Ministry, Oleg Orlov “opposed the special military operation in Ukraine (the Kremlin’s official for its full-scale invasion), spread false information about decisions by official bodies of the Russian Federation, and participated in the creation of materials for foreign agents.”

General Syrskyi visits embattled Kupiansk sector amid ‘tense’ situation. General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, visited military units in the Kupiansk sector, facing heavy onslaught of Russian forces, the Ground Forces’ press service said on social media on Feb. 3.

HBO drops pro-Kremlin actor Bikovic from The White Lotus cast after Ukraine’s condemnation. HBO terminated the contract with Serbian-Russian actor Milos Bikovic, who will no longer be part of the White Lotus series, a week after Ukraine called out the television network over his casting, sources told the Deadline media outlet on Feb. 2.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Elsa Court, Oleg Sukhov, Vladyslav Kudryk, Dinara Khalilova, Liliane Bivings, Martin Fornusek, and Dmytro Basmat.

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