Here is where things stand on Tuesday, February 17, as the war in Ukraine enters its 1,454th day.
Fighting
Ukrainian forces recaptured 201 square kilometers (78 square miles) of territory from Russia between Wednesday and Sunday last week, taking advantage of a disruption to Russian communications caused by a Starlink communications shutdown experienced by Russian forces, according to analysis from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported by the AFP news agency.
Ukrainian intelligence assesses that further Russian attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy sector are likely and that such tactics will complicate efforts to reach a peace agreement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his nightly video address on Monday.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 62 long-range strike drones and six missiles of various types at Ukraine overnight.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed to have downed 345 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours. The ministry also stated it had captured the settlements of Pokrovka and Minkivka in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian state media.
Officials in Russia’s Krasnodar region reported a fire broke out at the Black Sea port of Taman, which handles oil products, grain, coal and commodities, and was subsequently extinguished. The port sustained damage from a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday.
Military Aid
Ukraine has received 4.4 million rounds of large-caliber ammunition under a plan involving Czech arms producers and funding from foreign donors, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel told a local news website.
Ceasefire Talks
Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s negotiating team, arrived in Geneva for the next round of trilateral talks with the US and Russia. In a Telegram post, Umerov stated he anticipates “constructive work and substantive meetings on security and humanitarian issues” on Tuesday.
Russian news agencies reported the departure of Moscow’s delegation to the Geneva talks, led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Russian negotiating team’s primary focus will be “to discuss a broader range of issues,” including territorial questions and “everything else related to the demands we have put forward.”
Peskov added that Russian military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Galuzin will also participate in the Geneva talks, while Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, will engage in a separate working group focused on economic issues.
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban said he assured US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Hungary continues to support US peace efforts in Ukraine and remains open to hosting a peace summit.
Politics and Diplomacy
Hungary and Slovakia have requested assistance from Croatia in securing Russian oil supplies following disruptions through Ukraine, which both countries have blamed on Kyiv. Both Hungary and Slovakia have exemptions to European Union sanctions on Russian oil that is currently piped through Ukraine.
In response to allegations of disrupting Russian oil flows, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha posted a photo on X depicting firefighters battling a fire at the Druzhba pipeline. He accused Hungary of failing to publicly comment on the incident for two weeks, suggesting Russian culpability for the attack on the oil pipeline.
The Kremlin stated on Monday that it agreed with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s assessment from the previous day, in which Fico accused Ukraine of delaying the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline in an attempt to pressure Hungary to drop its opposition to Ukraine’s potential future EU membership.
Ukraine’s anticorruption police accused former Energy Minister German Galushchenko of involvement in money laundering and participation in a criminal organization, a day after he was detained while attempting to leave the country. The National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) stated it is collaborating with 15 foreign jurisdictions to expand its corruption investigation.
Russian oil producers may be forced to significantly reduce output in the coming months as pressure from the US and European powers restricts Moscow’s exports and storage tanks reach capacity. Such a development could impact the Kremlin’s war chest, which funds its war on Ukraine, according to Reuters.
France has agreed to grant safe haven to Russian activists Alexei and Nadezhda Ishimov, who were detained by US law enforcement. Nadezhda, however, was prevented from leaving the US due to using a temporary travel permit instead of a passport. The couple left Russia in 2022 following the Kremlin’s increased crackdown on opponents after its invasion of Ukraine.
