This is an important development on the 1,092nd day of the full-scale invasion of Russia’s Ukraine.
The situation for Thursday, February 20th is as follows:
Fineting
The Russian army has reclaimed more than 800 square km (309 square miles) of territory from Ukraine in the Kursk region of western Russia. A Russian general staff member said:
Rudskoy also said that Russia currently controls 75% of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Zapolizia and Herson regions, and controls more than 99% of the Luhansk region. He said the four regions are now legal parts of Russia and will not be returned to Ukraine.
A man was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Belgorod region, region governor Vyakeslav Gladkov said. A “large” Russian attack on the port city of Odesa in southwestern Ukraine has caused four people to hospital, causing large residential areas covering 14 schools and around 160,000 residents to be in heat and water , leaving a large residential area without electricity. According to Governor Oleh Syniehubov of the Kharkiv region, the Russian guided bomb killed at least one person in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kpiansk. Ukraine said Russia fired 167 drones and two missiles in the overnight attack. The Ukrainian forces fired down 106 of these drones, but 56 people were unable to reach the target. They didn’t specify what happened to the remaining five. The Ukrainian forces also said they destroyed North Korea’s voluntary M-1978 Koksan Hautzer in the Luhansk region, marking the first time a weapon of this nature came into conflict. Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo interviewed two North Korean soldiers detained in Ukraine. The pair revealed that they were said to have been sent to Russia for training by a reconnaissance general, the North Korean secret operations intelligence agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that fighter jets from the 810th Brigade had travelled overnight to Ukrainian territory in the Smie region. Kiev denied the claim. Putin also suggests that Ukrainian drone attacks on the Caspia pipeline consortium in southern Russia may have been coordinated with European powers, and Kiev could not carry out such attacks without Western intelligence. He said that. The Kremlin forces are more than four miles (6.4 km) from the Shevchenkolithium deposit in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, and are moving it forward from three angles, Reuters reports open source data from the Ukrainian military’s blog Deep State was reported by quoting.
Politics and diplomacy
According to British media, Britain and France have led the efforts to create a European “secure power” of less than 30,000 troops to protect Ukraine after a ceasefire agreement with Russia. According to the Guardian Newspaper, the plan could likely focus on the ground with “minimal” powers and “minimal” powers near the eastern frontline. Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky criticized Kiev’s exclusion from recent talks between Russia and the US after speaking with reporters at Esenboga airport in Torkie following a meeting with Turkish leader Recept Tayp Erdogan I did. Putin assured Ukraine that they would not be ruled out from the ceasefire talks, but said their success depends on resetting bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington. Zelenskyy took him to social media to brand the Russian leader and warned him that “we must put pressure on them, not trustworthy for peace.” Trump has returned to Zelensky for his complaints that he was removed from peace talks after he denounced Ukrainian leaders for the 2022 Russian invasion. “You were there for three years,” Trump said. “You’d never started it. You could have made a deal,” Trump said during his official visit to Kiev by his Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent. He was treated “rudely”, accusing Zelensky of “sleeping” and complaining of not making a deal. Scott Bescent actually went there and told reporters to Trump because he essentially said “no,” so Bescent met Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital last week, and Washington access to rare earth minerals We discussed acknowledging the Air Force 1. Zelenskyy also condemned Trump’s proposed rare earth element deal, saying he is open to the US investing in Ukraine’s natural resources, but Kiev should also receive security guarantees. He said Trump’s previous $500 billion rare earth demand for US aid was “not a serious conversation,” claiming Washington had supplied Ukraine with just $67 billion and $31.5 billion with other financial aid. did. Zelensky also rejected Trump’s claim that his approval rating was 4%, dismissing it as Russian disinformation, saying the US president is trapped in a “bubbly of disinformation.” Trump called Zelensky a “no election dictator,” warning that the Ukrainian leader “moves fast or he has no intention of leaving the country.” According to Russian national media, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin and Trump will be able to meet in person by the end of February. Peskov said Thursday that the Kremlin had “absolutely” agreed with Trump after the Kremlin urged his Ukrainian counterparts to “moves fast” to end his country’s conflict. After speaking with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Frenchman Jean Noel Barro told the European Foreign Minister that he believes Washington wants a lasting peace deal in Ukraine. Barott said the White House’s “purpose is not a fragile ceasefire or a transitional suspension that allows Russia to rebuild its troops, and not a permanent peace.” Kazakhstan’s first vice minister, Akan Rahmeturin, said Astana contacted Ukraine after the drone attack in Russia this week. Keith Kellogg, a special envoy for Trump in Ukraine, traveled to Kiev before planning a meeting with Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials. “It’s very clear that (security guarantees) are important in the sovereignty of this country,” Kellogg said according to Ukrainian outlet Suspern. The European Union has agreed to a new sanctions package that would ban the import of Russian aluminum, a bloc diplomat said. This decision has not yet been formally approved by the EU Foreign Minister.