The Biden administration is introducing more than 500 new sanctions against Russia. President Joe Biden said: “I have charged my team to strengthen support for civil society, independent media and those fighting for democracy around the world.”
The United States has decided to impose sanctions against 16 Turkish companies, among 93 organizations worldwide. It was announced that 63 of these companies are based in Russia, 16 in Turkey, 8 in China and 4 in the United Arab Emirates. Regarding financing towards Ukraine.
Victoria Nuland, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said on Ukraine: “And by the way, we have to remember that most of the money allocated goes back into the US economy to produce these weapons.”
According to CBS, the United States warned Russia against the development of anti-satellite nuclear weapons, and CIA chief Bill Burns himself addressed it with his Russian colleague Sergei Naryshkin.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Kiev together with the prime ministers of Canada, Italy, Belgium and Boris Johnson. French President Emmanuel Macron did not participate in the G7 summit, held on Saturday by videoconference from Kiev at the initiative of Italy, the rotating president.
As already reported by the Iranian media, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared: If “international legality” is not restored in Ukraine, the outbreaks of conflicts will multiply.” “If Russia had not invaded Ukraine, Hamas most likely would not have launched such an attack against Israel. It was inevitable that such a serious violation of the international law-based system, and by a permanent member of the Security Council of UN, would have had cascading consequences for other regions and actors in the world, from the Middle East to the Balkans, up to Africa. This is the game we are playing and we must be aware of it”, said Meloni. Italian Prime Minister Meloni has signed a bilateral security agreement with the President of Ukraine Volodymyrn Zelensky.
We recall that the Hamas attack which occurred on October 7th during the Jewish holiday of the Simchat Torah and the Shabbat, and one day after the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, which also began with a surprise attack was an attack, said by the Israelis themselves, planned for at least three years or in the aftermath of the killing of Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport in January 2023.
Responding to the words of the Italian Prime Minister was the deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev who explained the words of the Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni on the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine as “head problems”. “The number of idiots in power in Western countries is growing day by day,” Medvedev commented in English on his page on the social network past have emerged.”
Iran’s UN mission denies reports that Tehran has started supplying hundreds of ballistic missiles to Moscow: “Although there are no legal restrictions on the sale of ballistic missiles, Iran is morally obligated to refrain from transferring weapons during the war Russian-Ukrainian, so as not to incite war – and this has its roots in its commitment to international law and the United Nations Charter.”
In Ukraine, according to a parliamentarian from the Servant of the People party, Oleh Dunda, we are moving step by step towards total mobilization. Total mobilization will actually lead to the closure of the country and its economy and the concentration on its own production.
The total mobilization is not explained in Ukraine by the official numbers. Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference that Ukraine lost 31 thousand soldiers killed in the war with Russia. Taking into account the estimates cited by NATO sources, according to which for every death in the Ukrainian armed forces there are around six to seven wounded, this means that the total number of those who cannot participate in the war is around 250 thousand people. This figure therefore does not explain the need for total mobilization, which has been talked about for a long time in Ukraine, and the need to enlist around 500-600 thousand people if, as Zelensky always says, he has around a million people employed in the armed forces. Unless the figures given by the Ukrainian prime minister are incorrect.
Zelensky confirmed that the recent change in military leadership is linked to the upcoming counteroffensive and partly hinted at the presence of Russian agents in the high command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: “ There is a clear plan for a counteroffensive. I can’t say the details. I have no rights. This plan is also connected with a change of leadership. There will be different plans due to the information leak.”
Also according to Zelensky, Russia plans its offensive at the beginning of the summer or at the end of May, Zelensky_ “We will prepare for their battle. Their battle, which began on October 8 (the beginning of the assault on Avdiivka), did not bring any results, I think,” the president said. “Ukraine, for its part, will prepare its own plan. The turning point will be the elections in the United States, and on this occasion we will understand what will happen next,” Zelensky added.
Meanwhile, Russia took another 70km of Ukrainian territory in five months.
Amid concerns about the transfer of weapons from Ukraine to criminal and terrorist elements, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko says: “In the last two years, no weapons have crossed the border from Ukraine to European countries.” No comments were made on the weapons ending up in the Middle East and African countries.
The New York Times also denied Zelensky, stating that: “Ukraine, in the best case scenario, could try to launch a new counteroffensive in 2025”, citing sources who described the briefing attended by Christopher Cavoli, commander in chief of NATO forces in Europe.
In Russia, the electoral machinery is in motion, early voting for the presidential elections began on February 25 in remote and hard-to-reach areas and in courts.
Alexei Navalny’s body was handed over to his mother, Kira Yarmysh reported. Alexei Navalny’s funeral is scheduled for February 29 according to social media channels. Navalny may be buried in Moscow’s Borisov cemetery. And then there could be possible funerals in Troekurovskoye or Khovanskoye cemeteries.
India has reportedly asked Russia to demobilize Indian citizens recruited in the interests of the Northern Military District and repatriate them. Vladimir Putin recreated the Moscow and Leningrad military districts through a presidential decree. Furthermore, the president included the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in the Southern Military District.
And now a look at the Front line updated at 4:00 pm on February 26th.
Donetsk direction: According to Ukrainian sources, personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as of February 24 began to leave their positions in the village of Lastochkyne near Avdiivka. And on the 26th the village left the gray zone and now flies the Russian flag. The words of the OSUV spokesperson confirmed the posts on the social sphere: “The Ukrainian armed forces have left Lastochkyne” confirmed the OSUV spokesperson “Tavria”. “Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have left the village of Lastochkyne,” he said. According to him, such a maneuver was necessary to organize the defense along the line of the settlements of Horlivka, Tonen’ke, Berdychi and to prevent further advance of the Russian armed forces to the west. The speaker added that fierce fighting continues in this direction.
“The Russian Armed Forces constantly uses guided bombs, artillery and FPV drones,” noted the spokesperson of the Tavria OSUV. The head of the DPR, Pushilin announced the complete “cleaning” of Avdiivka. Which means that the area now is devoid of Ukrainian military presence and from tomorrow it is possible to bring Russian facilities and administration to the area. According to Ukrainian sources, Russian armed forces have reached the outskirts of Horlivka, the next settlement after Lastochkyne west of Avdiivka. Following a night missile attack on the Kostjantynivka station, trains with personnel and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit.
In the Kurachove direction, the Russian army knocks out the Ukrainian armed forces from the eastern part of Heorhiivka. In the Vuhledar direction, Russian troops are expanding the control zone near Novomykhailivka, there are battles in the village itself and the Russian MLRS Uragan is operational. In Orlovka, Pivnichne and Tonen’ke Ukrainian spokespeople express concern about the negative development of the situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as they do not have powerful defensive lines behind the Avdiivka fortified area.
Over the weekend, an infrastructure facility was hit in the city of Khmel’nytsky.
Zaporizhzhie Directorate. Reports from various sources claim that the Russian army is close to recapturing Rabotin, one of the towns under control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the summer counteroffensive in the south of the Zaporozhie region. Heavy battles and losses are recorded on both sides. The successful attacks of the FAB with the UMPC were carried out on enemy concentrations in Orichiv.
A large batch of reinforcements delivered to the Kharkov region was discovered by Russian intelligence and hit by three tactical ballistic missiles, the social sphere reports. There is no information to confirm or refute this news. The extent of Ukrainian Armed Forces losses is not known, but it was reported that one of the hit targets exploded several times, as did a large stockpile of ammunition.
A massive attack on objects is recorded in Ukraine on February 26. For the third night in a row, Russian troops conducted mass attacks on rear targets in Ukraine. Explosions were reported in the Kirovograd, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkov and Sumy regions, using ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as Geran-2 attack UAVs.
In Kirovograd: at least two MiG-29 fighters supplied to Kiev were destroyed at the Kanatovo military airport; Furthermore, the 62nd arsenal (military unit A1201) north of the village of Bohdanivka where one of the Western weapons depots is located was hit. According to information available on the social sphere, detonations and fires in the structure continued throughout the night.
Dnipro: An attack targeted the Dnipro International Airport, which is actively used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces for air operations and attacks in the eastern and southern directions. Following the impact, a fire with secondary detonations was observed in the plant. The construction of workshop no. 7 of the state enterprise “Southern Machine Building Plant” from which it takes its name. I AM. Makarov” was targeted, where the enemy operated a workshop for the assembly and maintenance of attack UAVs.
In Kharkiv: AFU ammunition depots on the southwestern outskirts of the city and in Pisochyn, which served as logistical supply points for Ukrainian groups in the Kupjans’k and Lyman directions, were destroyed.
Sumy: Updated information was received, via social media, about the daytime destruction of Polykhim LLC in Shostka the previous day. The plant was closely monitored by the Ukrainian special services and was involved in the military-industrial complex for the production of composite materials for armored vehicles and protective elements.
In the Ukrainian territory from the DPR according to the social sphere: “another target identified yesterday in Kostjantynivka was a temporary Ukrainian deployment point in the building of a former psychiatric hospital. Over 50 personnel were present at the time of the attack, of which at least half were eliminated or injured to varying degrees. Strikes were also carried out in places where Ukrainians were stationed in the villages of Kurachove, Maksymil’ianivka, Nykyforivka, Dzerzhinsk, Zalizne and Novoselivka Druha.”
From the Kherson direction come reports from the social sphere of the arrival of Ukrainian special units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on the Ukrainian-controlled bank. In Krynki, on the Russian-controlled coast, the clearing of the ruins of the village continues. Mutual attacks by artillery and drones do not stop.
In the direction of Časiv Jar, west of Bachmut, heavy fighting is taking place in the center of the village. In Ivanivske, the Ukrainians report his difficult situation and asked to retreat.
On the evening of February 25, two aircraft-guided missiles were destroyed by Russian air defense over the Black Sea. In the Kursk region, in the village of Kulbaki, Glushkovsky district, gas pipes and power lines were damaged due to bombings. In Troitsky, Korenevskij district, 3 families were damaged; in Nikolaevo-Daryino, Sudzhansky district, a family, a car and a combine harvester were damaged. In the settlement of the Belgorod Leninsky region, the Shebekinsky urban district, was targeted. Two Ukrainian UAVs were shot down in the region. Kiev forces fired about 100 rounds of ammunition at the civilian population of the DPR, three civilians were injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
