© Reuters. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, meet to discuss how to help Ukraine defend itself2/3
(Reuters) – Russia launched missile strikes across Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, after Western allies pledged to ramp up military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces to support a planned counter-offensive.
FIGHTING
* Ukrainian officials said air defences in the south downed eight Kalibr missiles fired from a ship in the Black Sea, but other missiles struck northern and western Ukraine as well as the central regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd.
* One missile struck an industrial site in the western city of Lviv, causing a fire which was brought under control.
* The Russian Defence Ministry on Wednesday said Ukrainians forces had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in the Luhansk region, although it provided no details.
* Ukrainian forces have repelled some Russian attacks but the situation remains difficult, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said on Wednesday.
* Russian forces have launched attacks on several settlements, including Paraskoviivka on the northern approaches to Bakhmut, and on Opytne and Klishchiivka villages on its southern approaches, Ukrainian military analysts said.
* Six Russian balloons were spotted over Kyiv and most were shot down after being engaged by air defences, the capital’s military administration said.
* Russia has lost around half its best tanks in the year since it invaded Ukraine and is struggling to replace them, a research centre said.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
AID, POLITICS
* The UN General Assembly will vote next week on a draft resolution stressing the need to reach a “just and lasting peace” in line with the founding United Nations Charter.
* The EU’s top diplomat urged countries to join Germany in sending tanks to Ukraine after media reports that Denmark and the Netherlands said they would not deliver the Leopard 2 battle tanks.
* NATO countries are ramping up production of artillery munitions as Ukraine is burning through shells much faster than the West can make them, the alliance said.
* Ukraine’s state arms producer said it had launched joint production of shells with a central European country in NATO, and that it plans to develop and produce other arms and military hardware with allies.
* The upper chamber of Russia’s parliament will hold an extraordinary meeting on Feb. 22 that will focus on adoption of laws on the integration of four regions into the Russian Federation, RIA Novosti reported, citing a senior lawmaker.
