live blog
IAEA boss Grossi discussed with the Energy Minister during his visit to Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Borrell also arrived in Kiev. Ukraine can expect further aid from the EU from March. All developments in the live blog.
The head of the UN nuclear regulator, Rafael Grossi, has arrived in the Ukrainian capital for a visit. There he met the Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galuschchenko. Grossi said on the social media platform
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he has arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kiev. “We are here to discuss with our Ukrainian friends the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine,” Borrell said on X, formerly known as Twitter. It is Borrell’s fourth visit to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against the country.
On Thursday, after weeks of blockade by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the EU agreed on new economic aid for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros.
As part of the billion-dollar aid package for Ukraine, the European Union wants to start making payments from March. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this in a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The EU will “be able to make important payments to Ukraine as early as March,” said von der Leyen. The funds will be used to keep Ukraine’s economy running and will give the country “a high degree of planning ability over the next few years.” She did not say what extent the first tranche of aid would be.
According to a media report, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin wants to present his election program in a state of the nation speech before the presidential election in March. The speech is expected to take place between February 23 and March 8, Russian daily Kommersant reported, citing four of its own sources. This year the election itself will run over three days from March 15th to 17th. In his speech, Putin will address Russia’s war aims in Ukraine, the country’s sovereignty, the economic and social situation and family values, the newspaper said.
According to Ukrainian reports, a small child was killed in a Russian attack. A three-story hotel in the Kharkiv region was hit early in the morning, said Governor Oleh Synjehubov. A two-month-old boy was found dead under the rubble. Three women were also injured and taken to hospital.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The EU’s new aid worth billions for Ukraine has cleared another hurdle. After Hungary gave up its blockade on financial aid last week, negotiators from the European Parliament and EU states also agreed on the 50 billion euro package that night. By the end of 2027, the sum will be used, among other things, for reconstruction after the Russian war of aggression and for reforms. The EU countries said that 33 billion of them will be loans and the rest will be grants.
The aid program should actually have been decided on at a regular EU summit in December. At that time, however, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed it and prevented an agreement. At a special summit last week, he gave up his blockade. The European Parliament and EU states still have to approve the aid package, but this is considered a formality.
About a hundred of the thousands of Ukrainian employees at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are refusing to sign contracts with the Russian nuclear company Rosatom. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told the French radio station RFI. They will no longer be granted access to the facility, it said.
Grossi will check the effects on the operation of the plant during a visit tomorrow. The six reactors there are currently shut down, but the fuel rods still need to be cooled. The Russian troops rely on the cooperation of Ukrainian employees.
According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russian armed forces have intercepted seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian border region of Belgorod. No drone reached its target. The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, also said on the Telegram text message service that there were no injuries or deaths. However, falling debris from the destroyed drones damaged four houses in the city of Gubkin.
Belgorod and other regions on the border with Ukraine are repeatedly shelled by the Ukrainian armed forces. The attacks primarily target the Russian military and transport infrastructure.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
Hatched: territories occupied by Russia
A senior representative of the Ukrainian secret service SBU has been fired for spying on investigative journalists. As reported from SBU circles on Monday, the head of the secret service’s state security department, Roman Semchenko, was fired. The decision was made by the management of the secret service and approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Recently, several cases of surveillance of Ukrainian investigative journalists became public. The case of the “Bihus.Info” platform, which is known for corruption revelations, caused a particular stir. In mid-January, their journalists found out that they had been secretly filmed and bugged over a long period of time. “Who poses the greatest threat to national security in wartime?” wrote “Bihus.Info” on Telegram. “Definitely journalists, according to the SBU.” According to the SBU, some employees of the disclosure platform are said to have been “customers of drug traffickers.” Other journalists were also spied on or put under pressure.
French Prime Minister Attal defends himself against criticism from Germany. Ukraine says it is producing more electricity than it needs and can export it. Monday’s developments to read.