Russia-Ukraine war updates: Borrell in Kyiv as Russia attacks

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You can find our daily updates about Russia’s war on Ukraine here.

Read more about Ukraine’s new mobilisation law here.

We will be closing the live blog soon. Here’s a review of some of the day’s main events:

• Jarno Habicht, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Ukraine, and Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF representative to Ukraine, expressed deep concern about “the recent drastic increase in attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects across Ukraine”.
• A senior Russian foreign ministry official, Vladimir Ermakov, said that Western countries carrying out long-range missile deliveries must be aware of the inevitable consequences of such steps.
• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said it was vital that the US Congress approves long-term funding for Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) claimed that Russia was recruiting mercenaries in Syria to participate in hostilities against Ukraine.

The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine has asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Paris Olympics following alleged breaches of neutrality.

“I would like to address to you again on the issue of potential participation of AIN athletes [neutral individual athletes] with Russian and Belarusian passports, in particular those who compete in wrestling sport, in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and their adherence to the IOC Recommended Conditions of Participation,” Vadym Huttsait, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, wrote in a letter to IOC chief Thomas Bach.

In December, the IOC said Russians and Belarusians who qualify for this year’s Olympics could take part in individual events as neutrals without their national flags, emblems or anthems.

Ukraine’s front-line Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is in a physically “stable” condition at the moment, the head of the United Nations nuclear energy watchdog (IAEA) says.

The plant has been at the centre of fighting since it was captured by Russian forces in March 2022, and both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of compromising its safety.

“The physical integrity of the plant has been relatively stable,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said after visiting the Russian-controlled plant.

“There have been less episodes of direct attacks or shelling around it, which is a positive development, although we take it with enormous caution,” he said.

Russia’s air defence systems have destroyed seven Ukraine-launched rockets and two drones over the southwestern region of Belgorod, according to the Russian defence ministry.

The Ukrainian attack was carried out with Czech-made Vampire rockets, the ministry said – the same type which, according to Moscow, was used in attacks on the city of Belgorod in late December.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said two people had been injured.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says it is vital that the US Congress approves long-term funding for Ukraine.

“Debates continue in Washington over funding on a number of key fronts. It is vital that the US Congress decides on long-term support for Ukraine in the near future,” he said at a news conference in Brussels.

Vladimir Ermakov, the director of the department for non-proliferation and arms control of Russia’s foreign ministry, has said that countries carrying out such deliveries must be aware of the inevitable consequences of such steps.

“The range of missiles transferred to Ukraine is steadily increasing. Countries carrying out such deliveries must be aware of the inevitable consequences of such steps, including ultimately for their own security,” he said.

“It has been repeatedly emphasised that progress along the escalatory spiral twisted by the West may at some point come out of ‘under control’,” Ermakov added.

Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, has strongly condemned the rocket attacks that the Russians launched on Ukrainian cities this morning.

“As a result of these strikes, a significant number of civilians were affected, which is extremely upsetting. Also, for a large number of consumers, in particular in Mykolaiv and in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, basic services were disrupted, including electricity, water and gas supply, when they are especially necessary in the cold winter season,” she said in a statement.

“Millions of people need these services for heating, cooking or transportation. They are critical to the operation of medical and educational institutions,” Brown added.

She also said that “Ukrainians should live without fear that their lives will be destroyed due to strikes.”

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) is claiming that Russia is recruiting mercenaries in Syria to participate in hostilities against Ukraine.

“Moscow implements the recruitment of the male population in Syria, where ruin and the poor prevail – in particular, because of Russia’s participation in the war on the territory of the Arab republic, through tourist companies,” the agency said.

The training takes place on Syrian territory near the city of Aleppo and Kuweires airfield. The first batch – about 1,000 mercenaries – is undergoing training with an emphasis on conducting combat operations in urban areas.

After completing the training, the Syrian mercenaries will be taken to the Hmeimim airbase, and from there to the territory of Russia. After arriving in Russia, they are issued Russian passports and then mobilised into the occupation army.

The air raid sirens have sounded in the Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine, according to the official resource for alerting the population.

When the full-scale war in Ukraine broke out, tens of thousands of Ukrainian men eagerly volunteered to fight. Two years on, with the growing realisation it will not end any time soon, that enthusiasm has faded. And many of those first volunteers still on the front lines, are simply exhausted.

The new legislation will reportedly swell the ranks of the military by up to half a million. But that would still mean soldiers serving now, not being discharged for three years. Many families who regularly hold street protests believe that’s unfair.

With Russia still managing to find waves of new recruits for its assaults, there’s a growing feeling from these protesters that their husbands and sons will be lucky to to make it home again.

Jarno Habicht, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Ukraine, and Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF representative to Ukraine, have expressed deep concern about “the recent drastic increase in attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects across Ukraine”.

Habicht and Mammadzade said in a joint statement: “These attacks have endangered the lives of children, health-care workers and civilians.”

“Attacks on schools and hospitals and other civilian infrastructure are unacceptable and may be a violation of international humanitarian law,” they added.

Ukraine has urged the EU to take “urgent steps” to increase deliveries of artillery shells, stocks that Kyiv says are desperately needed to defend itself against Russia.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told top European diplomat Josep Borrell he expected the EU to ease regulations and sign long-term contracts with defence companies to boost production.

Russia will immediately respond if the EU restricts the movement of its diplomats, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

The remarks came after the Politico newspaper, citing diplomats, reported that the 13th proposed package of EU sanctions against Russia will limit the movements of Russian diplomats in the countries where they are accredited.

“We will, of course, record how this all ends. I think that for any restrictions, they will receive appropriate ‘rewards’. We will respond immediately as we do every time,” Zakharova said during a news conference.

The US Treasury Department says the country faces heightened risk from Russia, which is trying to acquire goods with military applications.

Russia has expanded efforts to illegally buy US-origin goods that could be used for military purposes, hiding transactions by using front companies and transshipments, to support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the department said in a National Risk Assessments on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing report.

“Whether it’s terrorism, drug trafficking, Russian aggression, or corruption, illicit finance is the common thread across our nation’s biggest national security threats,” Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces says its soldiers also have destroyed 22 Russian armoured vehicles, 20 artillery systems, seven tanks and 33 units of auxiliary vehicle equipment.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian air defence systems have intercepted four HIMARS multiple launch rocket system projectiles and shot down 104 drones launched by Ukraine, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry.

The air battles came “in the areas of the settlements of Mirnoye, Novoe in the Zaporozhye region, Novaya Kakhovka, Schaslyve in the Kherson region, Vasylivka of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Stelmakhovka, Zhytlovka and Ploshchanka Lugansk People’s Republic”, the statement said.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine, according to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Grossi arrived at the plant accompanied by Russian soldiers and his staff from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), RIA reported.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said financial, humanitarian and military aid for his country from the European Union has reached almost 85 billion euros ($91.5bn) since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“We are grateful,” Shmyhal said at a briefing with the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell in Kyiv.

In turn, Borrell noted that if we take into account all the aid provided, it amounted to 88 billion euros ($94.7bn), of which 28 billion euros ($30.2bn) was aid in the form of military support.

The upper house of Russia’s parliament has unanimously endorsed a bill that would allow authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country’s military.

The bill, which was approved by the lower house last week, is expected to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signature and become law soon.

The lower house speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, has said the measure would strengthen the punishment for the “traitors who sling mud at our country and our troops” and “strip those scoundrels of honorary titles, confiscate their assets, money and other valuables”.