A Ukrainian soldier looks out of a self-propelled artillery vehicle at the front line, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, February 18, 2023 – LIBKOS
A senior US general told US lawmakers in a private meeting that sending F-16 fighter jets, drones and missiles to Ukraine would help the nation launch a successful offensive against Russia.
General Christopher Cavoli said Friday morning at a briefing for more than 10 senators and members of the House of Representatives that F-16 jets would help Kiev overwhelm Vladimir Putin’s forces.
When asked if the F-16 jets could help Ukraine win, he said yes, according to five people who were not named.
The general, who serves as both top Allied commander for Europe and head of US European Command, argued that Ukraine needed more advanced weaponry to “intensify deep combat.”
Mr Cavoli said the long-range missiles would allow Ukrainian forces to disrupt Russia’s wartime operations in Ukraine by allowing forces to hit more distant targets such as headquarters and supply lines.
Speaking further at the Munich Security Conference, the general urged the US and its allies to send the most advanced weapons they could part with, like the Army Tactical Missile System, which has a range of over 62 miles.
Those weapons would better position Kiev to repel Moscow’s forces, Mr Cavoli said.
12:47 p.m
Chat GPT is live in Ukraine
Ukraine has been removed from the list of countries where artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT is blocked.
OpenAI, the startup that created it, put Ukraine on the sanctions list along with other countries like Russia and Iran until yesterday.
The program does not work in the territories currently occupied by Russia.
12:30 PM
Labor will forever support Ukraine, says Starmer
A Labor government would continue its support for Ukraine “forever”, said Sir Keir Starmer.
Addressing delegates at the Scottish Labor Party conference in Edinburgh, the party leader spoke about his recent visit to the country, almost a year after the Russian invasion.
Describing the visit as “important” and “humiliating,” he added that he told President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people that “should there be a change of government next year, support for Ukraine will remain the same.”
He added: “We stand by Ukraine today and we stand by them forever until they defeat Russia.”
12:16 p.m
The US warns China against military aid to Russia
The US has warned that China is preparing to send “deadly” military aid to Russia for the first time since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Chinese officials at a meeting on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich that any aid to Russia would have “serious consequences”.
“We are very concerned that China is considering deadly support for Russia and its aggression against Ukraine,” he told NBC News after meeting China’s top diplomat Wang Yi.
Riots over Taiwan and an alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down by the US Air Force in early February have already seriously strained China-US relations.
Read the whole story here.
11:50 a.m
In pictures: scenes in Ukraine this weekend
A self-propelled artillery vehicle fires at the front in Donetsk – AP
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Volunteers restore a house after it was destroyed by shelling in Irpin – Anadolu
11:45 a.m
Russia has shelled nine regions in Ukraine in the past 24 hours
Russian forces have shelled nine regions in the past 24 hours, regional governors say.
The worst hit is the village of Nevske, near the Luhansk border, which suffered “massive” shelling, injuring an elderly woman. The governor said she was taken to a hospital in Donetsk.
Western Ukraine, a relatively safe part of the country, came under attack this morning when Russian troops fired rockets at the town of Khmelnytskyi.
Meanwhile, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov, a man was killed at his home in Vovchansk, in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russian shelling in a village near liberated Kupyansk in Kharkiv injured a man (53) and a woman (57). The attack also “seriously damaged” an educational institution.
The Kherson military administration reported that Russian forces shelled the liberated areas of the region 55 times, wounding two civilians.
11:23 a.m
In pictures: More calls for fighter jets in Munich
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called on NATO allies to supply more fighter jets to Ukraine, saying he does not understand the restrictions on arms sales.
Mr Klitschko said today at the Munich Security Conference that the bureaucracy preventing European nations from sending ammunition, weapons and jets must be lifted to speed up the process, although some nations are refusing to send jets because the Training of pilots takes a long time and crews.
He said: “We urgently need more weapons, ammunition and fighter jets for this. I don’t understand why there are always new red lines. One thing is clear: we must take back our country, and for that we need everything that is necessary.”
Mayor Vitali Klitschko, left, shakes hands with US Governor Philip Murphy at the security conference – AFP
11:02 a.m
Putin uses spy balloons over Ukraine, British intelligence says
The Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update today that Russia may have sent the balloons as part of a new war tactic to force Ukrainian forces to squander valuable ammunition reserves and gather data on the country’s air defense systems.
Ukrainian forces spotted several balloons with reflectors flying over Kiev on February 15 – the third sighting in a week.
10:46 a.m
Photographer says capturing Ukraine conflict helped her ‘not go crazy’
A photojournalist who captured Kiev through a series of images on the day Russia invaded Ukraine said it helped her document her “strange” feelings and “not go crazy.”
Alina Smutko, 30, a photojournalist with Ukraine’s Suspilne News channel, said she took a Nikon D3 camera and a bag with basic supplies to Maydan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).
She said: “I took some photos just for me in case I see ‘Ukrainian’ Kiev for the last time.”
“It was a completely empty place when it’s usually very crowded and a noisy place – really weird feelings.”
Her photos from that day show journalists from the local broadcaster masking windows to “protect them from possible shelling” in the dark.
Other images show reporters sheltering during an air raid, trying to find comfort in one another through technology and smiles, and military cars driving down Khreshchatyk Street – the main street of Kiev, Ukraine – at night.
10:44 a.m
US is using Russia as a scapegoat to justify escalating conflict in Ukraine, says ambassador
According to Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador in Washington, the United States is trying to excuse its own activities in escalating the crisis in Ukraine with allegations of crimes against humanity attributed to Russia.
Mr Antonov accused Washington of trying to justify its own actions that fueled the Ukraine crisis.
He said: “We view such allegations as an unprecedented cynicism attempt to demonize Russia in a hybrid war unleashed against us. There is no doubt that the purpose of such attacks is to justify Washington’s own actions.” To fuel the Ukraine crisis, first of all concerns the rampant militarization of the Kiev regime.
He added: “At one point the Americans said they would only supply the Republic with defensive weapons, but would now ship heavy armored vehicles, artillery and multiple missile systems with long-range ammunition.
“The US provides information to the Kiev Nazis, trains militants. By the will of the White House, a monstrous act is being committed – just as it was 80 years ago – tanks with crosses are attacking our country. Basically, they told us one thing, but acted the other way.”
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