Here is the situation as it stands on Wednesday, February 15, 2023:
Fighting:
- Russian forces have made incremental progress in the last day or two in trying to capture Bahkmut, but it is unclear if it will fall, White House spokesperson John Kirby said.
- Moscow’s troops have been targeting Ukrainian positions along the front line in the Donetsk region, according to local officials. Only about 5,000 civilians are left in the city of a pre-war population of about 70,000, regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
- More than eight million Ukrainians have been forced to flee since the war broke out, the UN refugee agency said, in what has become the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
Weapons:
- Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has said that the United States and its partners are “working hard” to supply Ukraine with the equipment it needs before an expected offensive in the coming months.
- The Polish defence minister said that discussions on supplying F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would likely be fruitful, but pressure must be applied on allies to procure them.
- NATO defence ministers met in Brussels to discuss new arms provisions for Kyiv and maintaining existing supplies.
- The Norwegian government will send eight Leopard 2 battle tanks and other equipment to Ukraine to aid in the war with Russia.
Diplomacy:
- The Kremlin said NATO demonstrates its hostility towards Russia daily and is becoming increasingly involved in the conflict.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the Canadian foreign minister, Melanie Joly, about the support Ukraine’s forces need.
- Moldova temporarily closed its air space, the country’s national airline said, after Chisinau claimed that Russia is planning to destabilise the former Soviet republic.
- Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said that he founded and financed the Internet Research Agency, a company Washington says is a “troll farm” which meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.
- A US jury has convicted a wealthy Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud following a trial.
- The European Union will launch an ad hoc group to investigate how frozen Russian funds, including central bank reserves, can be used for reconstruction work in Ukraine, the Swedish government said.
