Russia-Ukraine war updates: Borrell on Kyiv trip stresses EU’s support

Thanks for joining us in our live Russia-Ukraine war coverage on Tuesday, February 6. In case you missed it, here’s more in-depth piece about the developments on the battlefield:

In a sign of commitment, EU unlocks aid for Ukraine as it fights off Russia

Our daily live coverage is coming to an end. Here are the most important developments of the day:

• Josep Borrell is in Kyiv on a trip to underline the EU’s “unwavering support” to Ukraine as the war nears its third year.
• Ukraine says a group of its special forces blew up a drilling platform in the Black Sea that Russia was using to enhance the range of its drones. Equipment on the platform was used for drones involved in attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and to control the northwestern part of the sea.
• Parts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka are in a “critical” situation due to ongoing Russian shelling and incursions by Moscow’s forces, a local official says.
• The prosecutor leading Sweden’s probe into the Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts in the Baltic Sea in 2022 says it expects to make an announcement on the state of the case on Wednesday, his office has said.
• The Ukrainian parliament has extended both its martial law and army mobilisation law imposed after the full-scale Russian invasion by a further 90 days or until mid-May.
• UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has met Ukrainian energy sector officials ahead of his visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Wednesday.

Russian metals and energy group En+ is considering building a wind power equipment production site in Russia’s Far East with Chinese partners, the region’s development agency has said.

Russia’s wind power industry has faced difficulties in accessing necessary equipment after the withdrawal of Western manufacturers from Russia following Russia’s actions in Ukraine since February 2022.

In addition to constructing the wind farm, the parties are considering building facilities to produce wind power equipment in Russia, the government-linked Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, which coordinates development projects in Russia’s Far East, said.

The Kremlin is intensifying rhetoric pushing for the hypothetical partition of Ukraine in an attempt to normalise the partition narrative in Western discussions, the Institute for the Study of War finds.

The Washington-based think tank said Russia was “seizing on innocuous and unrelated topics” and promoting its narrative that the Ukrainian state is artificially fabricated and its invasion is historically justified.

The Kremlin is intensifying rhetoric pushing for the hypothetical partition of Ukraine by seizing on innocuous and unrelated topics, likely in an attempt to normalize the partition narrative in Western discussions about Ukraine. (1/3) https://t.co/rPn4G6IvkW pic.twitter.com/m5mH56BMin

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) February 6, 2024

Norway has rejected an asylum application from a man claiming to have deserted Russian mercenary group Wagner and fled to the country, his lawyer told a Norwegian newspaper.

Andrei Medvedev, 27, alleges he fought in Ukraine as a member of Wagner for four months before deserting. He sought asylum after fleeing to Norway in January 2023.

Medvedev claimed to have crossed the Russian-Norwegian border under dramatic circumstances, having to dash across the frozen Pasvik River in Norway’s far north while being chased by dogs and Russian border guards who allegedly fired at him.

His lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, told newspaper Dagbladet that if Medvedev had been a soldier in the Russian army, he could have been granted asylum in Norway, even if he has taken part in the fighting in Ukraine.

“But since the Wagner group was not formally part of the Russian forces, Norwegian authorities believe that he should not get protection as a refugee,” Risnes added.

Turkish defence company Baykar has started building a factory near Kyiv that will employ around 500 people and where it will manufacture either its TB2 or TB3 drone models, the company’s chief executive told Reuters.

“Our factory is being built, we need about 12 months to finish construction and then we will move on to internal machinery, equipment, and organisational structure,” Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said on the sidelines of the World Defense Show in Riyadh.

“The factory in Ukraine is a big one, we are planning to employ around 500 people,” he said. Bayraktar noted that capacity would total around 120 units every year, but said it was still not clear whether production at the Ukrainian factory would focus on the TB2 or TB3 drone model.

Turkish-made Bayraktar drones have gained prominence globally after being used by Ukraine’s military to thwart Russian forces by destroying armoured vehicles and artillery systems.

Russia has begun buying bananas from India and will boost such imports, its food safety watchdog says, after a spat with its biggest supplier, Ecuador, over Quito’s decision to swap Russian-made military hardware for US-made equipment.

The first batch of bananas from India was shipped to Russia in January and the next is planned for the end of February, Rosselkhoznadzor said, adding: “The volume of exports of Indian bananas to the Russian market will increase.”

Rosselkhoznadzor last week suspended banana imports from five Ecuadorian companies, saying it had detected pests in their products. Ecuador’s food safety agency said only 0.3 percent of banana shipments to Russia were found to contain insects and didn’t pose a risk, according to Ecuadorian media reports.

The suspensions came after Moscow condemned a pact under which Ecuador will hand over Russian-made military hardware that Ecuador called “Ukrainian and Russian scrap metal” to the United States in exchange for advanced US equipment worth $200m.

Georgia’s acting prime minister accuses Ukraine of trying to spread war to his country after authorities seized what they said was a truck loaded with explosives bound for Russia.

Georgia’s State Security Service said on Monday it had seized the clandestine shipment of explosives bound for the Russian city of Voronezh, hidden in a cargo of car batteries driven overland from Ukraine via Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

The incident recalls a blast on Russia’s bridge to Crimea in October 2022, which Moscow says was carried out by Kyiv using explosives hidden in a truck sent from Ukraine on a long route over third countries.

“This once again confirms what, in principle, the high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian government openly said that they wanted and probably still want: a second front in our country,” Georgian Prime Minister-designate Iralki Kobakhidze said, in remarks reported by media outlet Interpressnews.

Ukraine’s embassy said it was looking into the allegations by the Georgian security service “regarding the involvement of Ukrainian citizens in illegal activities”, and called on Tbilisi not to politicise the incident.

The Ukrainian parliament has extended both its martial law and army mobilisation law imposed after the full-scale Russian invasion by a further 90 days or until mid-May.

A clear two-thirds majority voted in favour of both bills introduced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, several members of parliament said.

Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zhelezniak posted on Telegram that the bills had been approved, saying this was already the tenth vote of the Council for martial law.

Regular parliamentary and presidential elections have also been suspended.

Ukraine says a group of its special forces blew up a drilling platform in the Black Sea that Russia was using to enhance the range of its drones.

In a statement on the Telegram messaging platform, special forces said equipment on the platform was used for drones involved in attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and to control the northwestern part of the sea.

The operation, dubbed Citadel, was conducted at night and resulted in the capture of “important enemy equipment” and the platform being blown up, the statement said.

“A successful special operation ensured safer movement of ships and limited the enemy’s capabilities in the northwestern part of the Black Sea,” it added.

A showy video published alongside the statement featured troops landing on the platform in the dawn hours, operating inside and moving away from it while a bright explosion is seen in the background.

Reuters could not independently verify the information. Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on whether far-right US commentator Tucker Carlson would be interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin after the former Fox News presenter visited the Russian presidential administration in Moscow this week.

“I am not commenting in any way on the movements of an American journalist,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Carlson’s visit.

Russian media showed pictures of Carlson at several spots around Moscow on Monday during a visit that fuelled speculation that he may become the first Western journalist to interview Putin during the war in Ukraine.

Parts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka are in a “critical” situation due to ongoing Russian shelling and incursions by Moscow’s forces, a local official says.

“While for several weeks we were saying the situation was very difficult but under control, now the situation is very difficult and in some places critical,” said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the town’s military administration.

Dozens of women have protested Russia’s war on Ukraine and called for the return of their husbands who were called up to fight 500 days ago.

Moscow police detained at least 20 journalists who were covering the event on Sunday before releasing them hours later without charge.

Civilians have been bombed, killed and injured in their thousands. Infrastructure has been shelled – and millions displaced.

Today, these images of conflict evoke Gaza but 120 days ago were more associated with Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic in February 2022.

For months, the millions of Ukrainians forced to flee their homes for countries across Europe have championed the cause of their nation from afar, and now they are considering what another war means for Ukraine’s fight.

Read our story here.

European Council President Charles Michel says support for Ukraine is “not charity” but a “moral duty”.

It is an investment “in our security & peaceful future,” Michel said on X, quoting his speech at the European Parliament plenary session.

“We owe it to the generations to come, for our children and grandchildren. Just as those that came before us had the vision and responsibility to build this project based on values,” he said.

Support for Ukraine is not charity. It is our moral duty. An investment in our security & peaceful future.

We owe it to the generations to come, for our children and grandchildren. Just as those that came before us had the vision & responsibility to build this project based on… pic.twitter.com/LBtR9wcrbB

— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) February 6, 2024

Here’s what has happened in the past few hours:

• The governor of Donetsk says the eastern region is pounded daily with as many as 2,500 strikes as Russia attempts to secure its hold on eastern Ukraine.
• Ukraine is seeking more support from Europe. The EU has announced 50 billion euros ($54bn) in grants and highly concessional loans, while Portugal’s foreign minister is in Kyiv to meet his Ukrainian counterpart.
• The prosecutor leading Sweden’s probe into the Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts in the Baltic Sea in 2022 says a decision will be announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, German media report the prosecutor will announce closing the investigation after apparently failing to identify a suspect.
• UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is holding meetings in Kyiv ahead of a visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Wednesday. He will be assessing the security of the plant and the impact of recent personnel reductions.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has met his Portuguese counterpart Joao Cravinho in Kyiv to discuss Zelenskyy’s “Peace Formula, Ukraine’s EU and NATO membership, and increased military support from Portugal and the EU”, the Ukrainian minister said on X.

Ukraine is attempting to secure support from European states as well as prioritise its own defence production capabilities amid concerns that supplies from the West might be faltering.

I welcomed my Portuguese counterpart @JoaoCravinho in Kyiv and thanked him for his personal firm position in support of Ukraine.

We discussed @ZelenskyyUa’s Peace Formula, Ukraine’s EU and NATO membership, and increased military support from Portugal and the EU.

Ukraine counts… pic.twitter.com/NBEqS8e1uY

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 6, 2024

We earlier quoted Governor Vadym Filashkin as saying the eastern city of Avdiivka, home to the largest coking plant in Europe, is under heavy attack.

“They are totally destroying it,” he said.

Here is why the city is important to Russia:

• Russian-backed officials say Ukrainian fighters are holed up in tower blocks that cannot be stormed head-on without huge losses and are using the coking plant as a base and weapons depot.
• Both sides see the city as key to Russia’s aim of securing full control of the two eastern “Donbas” provinces – Donetsk and Luhansk – among the four Ukrainian regions Russia says it has annexed but does not have full control of.
• Avdiivka is seen as a gateway to Donetsk city, whose residential areas Russian officials say have been shelled by Ukrainian forces, sometimes from Avdiivka.
• Seizing it could boost Russian morale and demoralise Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a broad counteroffensive since June.
• Ukrainian and Western analysts say Russia’s offensive on Avdiivka is taking a huge human toll.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says a military and political shake-up confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have no impact on Kyiv’s relations with its Western allies.

“I do not think that any changes in the government can influence our relations with our partners,” Kuleba said at a joint news briefing in Kyiv his Portuguese counterpart.

Zelenskyy on Monday said a “reset” is necessary and he was considering replacing several senior officials beyond the military sphere amid intense speculation that Ukraine’s army chief will be fired.

“We can have discussions about tactics inside of the team, but we are all united around our strategic goal, which is the defeat of Russia in Ukraine and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. And there are no discussions whatsoever on this strategic goal,” Kuleba said.

Several German media outlets are reporting that Sweden plans to close its investigation into the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea in 2022 after apparently failing to identify a suspect.

According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit newspapers, and broadcasters NDR and WDR, the prosecutor leading Sweden’s investigation will announce the end of the proceedings in the country in the coming days.

The prosecutor’s office said earlier that it expects to make an announcement on the state of the case on Wednesday.

Since the blasts occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark, both countries are investigating, as well as Germany, where the pipes land.

The end of the Swedish investigation will have no impact on the proceedings in Germany, according to the media outlets.