Green light from the European Union for the new aid package for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros. Hungary said yes, after the annual renewal clause was approved. Now European legislators will have to tell their citizens where these billions will come from.
German Chancellor Scholz called on EU countries to “urgently” start discussing an increase in military supplies to Ukraine. Kiev hopes to receive the first 4.5 billion euros in March under the European Union’s new support program, Ukraine’s Economy Ministry said. The department also noted that the Ukrainian government is now “working on an adequate agreement on financing the transition together with European partners.”
The allocations will be divided as follows: a total of 50 billion for 4 years. Every year Ukraine will receive 12.5 billion. Of the 50 billion, 33 billion are loans and 17 billion are non-repayable grants. Viktor Mihály Orbán received several benefits for rejecting the veto. Once every 1-2 years an analysis of expenses for Ukraine with a blocking option will be carried out. Part of the 50 billion funds will be spent in Europe.
The UN has found almost all of Ukraine’s allegations against Russia to be unfounded in a case alleging violations of the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. This was stated by the president of the court, Joan Donoghue, when reading the refusal to open an independent case.
Rumors continue about the dismissal/resignation of Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to what we learn from Ukrainian sources, Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs arrived in Kiev to assess the situation of tensions between Zelenskyj and Zaluzhny, but not to reconcile them.
Mikhail Podolyak from President Zelensky’s office called Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Zaluzhny a “manager” who is appointed and fired. Podolyak said he did not understand why information about Zaluzhny’s possible dismissal caused a large reaction and called it mysterious.
“To be honest, I didn’t always quite understand what the problem was here. This is not a political process, this is not political competition, this is war. We need to evaluate what is happening today, we need to evaluate the effectiveness of some measures. Actions “It’s not the first time we discuss some speculative topics. We have some stagnation at the forefront and, of course, people are looking for some kind of informational reason to excite society and get some kind of publicity,” Podolyak said.
The resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny, we read in the Ukrainian social sphere, could be “a matter of hours”, but it is still delayed due to difficulties in finding a successor. Syrsky and Budanov would be the natural replacements but both have given up their positions. Zelensky never liked Zaluzhny and now there is the question of the shooting down of the II-76 with Ukrainian prisoners on board, which occurred on January 24, for which someone will have to pay. The Russians said on February 1 that they had evidence that a MIM-104A missile launched from the US Patriot complex hit the plane – according to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Committee’s statement reads: “This type of air defense system was jointly developed by the Raytheon and Hughes companies and produced by Raytheon. During the examination of the objects, many signs in English were found on the fragments seized from the scene of the accident: a total of 116 such fragments were found. It was previously established that our military aircraft was shot down by an air defense missile system launched on January 24, 2024 from the area of the Liptsy settlement, Kharkov region of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Two American missiles were fired at the Il-76.”
Due to the incident, the Russians also collected the DNA of the victims and are ready to give it to the Ukrainians for examination. Submitted by the State Duma an appeal to the US Congress due to the attack on the Il-76 using the American Patriot air defense system
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba acknowledged the difficulties in obtaining shells and weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to him, “Ukraine is looking for bullets and weapons for the army in several places at once.”
The Russians have posted online the first satellite images from the crash site of the Il-76MD near Belgorod. The track left by the plane at the moment of the fall is about 500 meters long. Vladimir Putin at a press conference said that the Il-76 in the Belgorod region was shot down by the American Patriot system. He continued by stating that “this will not stop prisoner exchanges with Ukraine.” And again: “I don’t know and I don’t understand why Ukraine shot down the plane with its prisoners.”
The demilitarized zone in Ukraine should be located at such a distance as to ensure the safety of peaceful cities from shelling, including attacks with foreign-made long-range weapons, Vladimir Putin said at an election meeting with delegates. The Russian leader noted that moving the front line deeper into Ukraine is the most important thing along the entire line of contact. Russian fighters are acting to drive Ukrainians out of populated areas of the Russian Federation, he later said.
And now a look at the front line updated at 16:00 on February 1st.
Long night in Crimea. Russian air defense shot down an aerial target in Sevastopol, the debris fell into an abandoned lot, according to Governor Razvozhaev. According to the Ukrainians, an airport was hit.
Russian air defense destroyed 17 Ukrainian missiles over the Black Sea and three more over the Crimean peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Debris fell on the territory of a military unit in the Lyubimovka region of Crimea; there was no damage to the planes, the Russian Department noted.
Russian sources note that shortly before the attack US, British and Italian aircraft flew over Crimea several hours before the attack on the peninsula. “Reconnaissance planes from the United States, Great Britain and Italy were flying near Crimea on the eve of the air strike on the peninsula. What they were doing there remains a mystery, but a couple of hours later the territory of the Russian Federation was attacked.”
According to Flightradar, a few hours before the announcement of the siren, the following aircraft were flying in the skies of Romania near Crimea: a P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft of the US Navy, an RC-135W Rivet Joint electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the British Air Force and an E-550A early warning aircraft of the Italian Air Force, as well as an American RQ-4B Global Hawk drone was previously registered.
What is certain is that off the coast of Crimea. Ukrainian GUR published footage of the battle between the Russian ship Ivanovets and naval drones launched from the Ukrainian coast.
The ship was most likely sunk. The Project 12411 and 12421 missile ships, similar to the Ivanovets, carry two P-270 Moskit anti-ship missiles on each side (P-15 Termit in the first version and X-35 in the export version). The Russian Black Sea Fleet therefore lost the Ivanovets missile launcher built in 1989, 493 tons of displacement, armed with Moskit missiles.
Each of these missiles weighs approximately 4,000 kg, including the warhead and full fuel load. The detonation of such an “explosive mixture”, following the nearby explosion of a Ukrainian kamikaze boat, leaves practically no chance of salvation for the ship.
What happened was the end of a three-day combined attack on Crimea through the so-called tactic Ukraine’s “mosquito fleet” is now being deployed by sending entire swarms of marine drones.
According to the Russian social sphere, the missile launcher was sunk by a British-made naval drone, controlled by a British operator guided by a US drone, controlled by American military personnel.
According to other sources, the duel at sea lasted more than 12 hours: from the afternoon of January 31 until the morning of February 1, when Ukrainian formations launched an attack on the Crimean peninsula.
At least three Su-24M bombers from the Starokonstantinov airfield and several more Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters from the Kanatovo airfield flew towards the Nikolaev region. After reaching Bashtanka, Ukrainian fighters fired ADM-160 MALD decoy missiles, which distracted the air defense systems.
At the same time, AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles with a maximum range of 150 km were used in the Kherson region. Subsequently, six Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles were launched from the Su-24M in the direction of Crimea. One was shot down over Krasnoperekopsk, another over Gvardeyskoye.
The third missile was intercepted by a Su-30 fighter 50 km northwest of Sevastopol, and three more were approaching the Sevastopol – Belbek airport. Subsequently, the Ukrainian bombers formed a second circle and launched six cruise missiles towards Belbek airport. The targets, around Tarkhankut, came from the sea.
Three were intercepted northwest of Sevastopol, two were intercepted over the airfield and one was directly on the ground. Its debris crashed to the ground and exploded without causing damage to the runway.
The attack of the Ukrainian formations continued at night. Nine unmanned boats left Odessa and the mouth of the Danube towards Crimea. Four of them were discovered by Russian sailors at the entrance to Lake Donuzlav. Fire was opened on them, as a result of which four drones were destroyed.
One of the Ukrainian drones exploded right next to the side of the vessel, damaging it. At the moment there is no data on the extent of the damage. Two patrol boats, two helicopters and a fighter plane were sent to search for the four remaining drones. During the operation they were hit and sunk.
As can be seen from this attack, the Ukrainian Air Force clearly targeted the peninsula’s network of airfields: Dzhankoy, Gvardeyskoye and Belbek. Considering that Tempest/Scalp have a penetrating effect, the targets of the attack were most likely checkpoints.
Moreover, a few hours earlier, an Italian G-550 CAEW aircraft of the Italian Air Force and, in addition to it, five more US and NATO reconnaissance aircraft were operating in the air off the coast of Romania. And the day before the raid, Crimean air defense was checked with drones. A certain change in the enemy’s tactics looks quite interesting: if earlier attacks were carried out immediately, now the Ukrainian Armed Forces deliberately delay the launch of missiles, which is why the duration of the missile threat exceeds two hours.
And the next attack by unmanned craft came after a long pause. But this once again confirms the Ukrainians’ intention to strike the Black Sea Fleet with the ultimate goal of weakening its capabilities.
As for the land front line in the direction of Zaporozhie, the Russian Armed Forces again attempted to take the initiative west of the village of Rabotino. The Ukrainian Armed Forces maintained their positions. Tactical battles near Novoprokopivka and Verbove.
In the southern direction of Donetsk, the Russian army stopped six attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strengthen forward positions. Russian armed forces try to advance along the southern outskirts of Novomykhailivka. The settlement itself continued to be attacked from the north-east. Furthermore, Russian troops resumed offensive operations in Pobieda, continued on the left bank of the Osykova River from Marinka and along the M-04 highway to Pervomajs’kyj. The front line did not change significantly. Battles are taking place on the south-eastern outskirts of Avdiivka. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to regain the lost positions in the Tsarskaya Okhota fortified area, and the Russian Armed Forces are trying to expand the control zone of the city. In the Stepne area (not to be confused with the settlements of the same name in the Zaporozhye and Ugledar directions) counter-battles occurred. Their intensity has significantly decreased. Both sides appear to be focusing on the southeastern sector.
In the Bachmut direction, the Russian armed forces continue to press on the heights north-west of Kleshchiivka, on Ivanivske and in the Bohdanivka area. The Ukrainian Armed Forces hold positions in all areas.
In the Lugansk direction, Russian troops launched an offensive in Bilohorivka and Ternove. No progress. Hard battles continued at Berestove, Krokhmal’ne and Tabaivka. The Russian Armed Forces have taken up new positions in the Syn’kivka area. But they did not break through the Ukrainian defense in this area.
Explosions were heard in the city of Kherson, which is under the control of Ukrainian troops, the Public publication reported. Kiev spoke of an attack on abandoned military areas.
Graziella Giangiulio
