Good news for Kiev comes from Sweden, which will send a $1.4 billion (SEK 12.9 billion) military aid package to Ukraine, announced Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson at a press conference. “The need to strengthen air defense is urgent… The Swedish systems we have provided have proven very effective on the battlefield,” Jonson said.
The majority of the funding, approximately $475 million (SEK 4.3 billion), will be allocated to the purchase of Swedish TRIDON mobile air defense systems. Approximately $618 million (approximately SEK 5.6 billion) will be allocated to the production and development of missiles and drones. Another $331 million (about 3 billion kronor) is earmarked for the purchase of grenade launchers and artillery ammunition, as well as for training Ukrainian armed forces personnel.
The intelligence chiefs of five European countries, who told Reuters that they do not believe Russia and Ukraine will reach an agreement by 2026, are more pessimistic. They say Moscow is using negotiations with the United States to ease sanctions and promote economic agreements, but has no intention of accepting the demands and will not end the war without achieving all its objectives, primarily removing Zelensky from power in Kiev and consolidating Kiev as a neutral buffer zone between him and the West. One of the intelligence leaders emphasized that Russia is in no rush and, contrary to some reports, is not on the verge of economic collapse.
The European Commission has confirmed the cessation of diesel supplies to Kiev from Hungary and Slovakia and is analyzing the situation. According to Fico, Slovakia has halted diesel exports to Ukraine and may cut off electricity supplies if Kiev does not restore the Druzhba pipeline. “If Zelensky believes that all this is worthless, that there is no need for it, then we can make a decision and refuse cooperation in the field of electricity supplies,” the Slovak Prime Minister stated. Hungary has also halted diesel supplies to Ukraine and will not resume them until oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline resume, according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó.
“Poland will be able to mine the borders with Russia and Belarus within 48 hours if threatened,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated.
The next round of negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict will be held in Switzerland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored. A RIA Novosti source confirmed this information, specifying that Geneva was being discussed. Ukrainian President Zelensky also said: “Ukraine and Russia are close to an agreement on procedures for monitoring a potential ceasefire to be reached during negotiations.”
Meanwhile, on social media, Ukrainian OSINT units are beginning to pull the strings: “Any counteroffensive is no longer possible: we don’t even have enough men to hold the line,” says Roman Pogorely, co-founder of the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState.
Furthermore, the Russian armed forces are abandoning FPV drones for drones using Ukrainian LTE SIM cards, a news confirmed by an advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Minister. He reported that they are working around the clock to counter this situation, but the Russian military is constantly looking for alternative solutions.
Regarding the decisions of Slovakia and Hungary: “The actions of Hungary and Slovakia ‘resemble drug addiction,'” said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tykhyi. He stated that the countries have alternative oil supply options, particularly through the Adria pipeline, and therefore “can free themselves from dependence on Russian oil.”
300,000 troops have received demilitarization orders over the past year. Currently, 1.3 million people in Ukraine are subject to demilitarization orders, said Economy Minister Sobolev.
In the late afternoon of February 18, the Russian delegation returned from Geneva. Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that the two-hour closed-door meeting in Geneva was with the Ukrainian side. Earlier, a source on the negotiating team told Izvestia that Medinsky had held two hours of closed-door talks at the Intercontinental Hotel before leaving for the airport. He did not comment on the status of the negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov, speaking to Al Arabiya, said: “Russia and the United States have agreed to create a bilateral economic working group, in addition to negotiating on military-political issues.” The main points of Lavrov’s statements in the Al Arabiya interview were: “Russia does not seek or want war; Kiev is currently the main obstacle to resolving the conflict; All the slogans of the Munich Conference boiled down to the fact that Russia is an enemy and must be eliminated.” Lavrov expressed hope that the current political class in Europe will “lose its way” and that stronger forces will prevail; “Those who seek to label Hungary and Slovakia as Russia’s ‘accomplices’ are nostalgic for their Nazi past; the United States is currently trying to exclude Russia from global energy markets, despite statements about future cooperation.”
Russian Presidential Special Representative Kirill Dmitriev dismissed as “fake news” the Economist report that Russia is offering the United States $12 trillion in projects in exchange for sanctions relief. “This is incorrect. Ultimately, the lifting of sanctions will be dictated by the interests of the United States itself: American companies have already lost over $300 billion by abandoning the Russian market,” he said.
Rostekhnadzor reportedly issued a 10-year operating license for Unit 2 at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on February 18.
Controversy continues over the use of Telegram in Russia. “The Kremlin still has an official Telegram channel,” Kremlin spokesman Dmty Peskov told Life journalist Alexander Yunashev that there are no difficulties managing it. “Many foreigners are interested in the presidential agenda. And it is in our interest to communicate it to them.”
And now a look at the front line updated at 3:30 PM on February 19. After the latest combined missile strike against Ukraine, half of the aircraft involved (one Tu-160M and two Tu-95MS) landed at Engels-2 air base in Saratov Oblast. The other one Tu-160M and two Tu-95MS landed at Olenya air base in Murmansk Oblast.
Since then, one Tu-160M and one Tu-95MS have been redeployed from Engels-2 air base to Ukrainka air base in the Far East. One Tu-160M has also been redeployed from Olenya air base to Ukrainka air base. This leaves three Tu-95MS aircraft at Engels-2 and three Tu-95MS aircraft at Olenya. A Tu-160M also remains at Engels-2, but is currently only present for training purposes.
An IL-76MD cargo plane landed yesterday at Olenya air base, delivering a batch of Kh-101 cruise missiles for the three Tu-95MS aircraft stationed there. Some/all of these aircraft are now airborne, along with some aircraft from Engels-2 air base, which are redeploying to Ukrainka air base.
A Tu-160M has been redeployed from Borisoglebskoye air base in the Republic of Tatarstan to Ukrainka air base after undergoing repairs/modernization. It will likely be used to train young pilots or fly combat missions.
An IL-76MD cargo plane landed at an airbase in Rostov Oblast, likely to deliver Iskander-M ballistic missiles to OTRK facilities near Taganrog.
One IL-76MD landed at Shaykovka airbase in Kaluga Oblast, likely carrying Kh-22/32 cruise missiles for the two to three Tu-22M3 strategic bombers recently deployed there from Olenya airbase.
Slovyansk direction (including the Seversky sector). Northern and Seversky sectors. The Russians have taken up positions in the forest strips south of Zakitne and are advancing, with clashes between Ukrainians and Russians, along the heights towards Kryva Luka. The situation remains tense near Riznykivka.
The Russians continue to target military vehicles and personnel. Near Rai-Oleksandrivka, the Russians are attempting to block the rotation of Ukrainian personnel and receive reinforcements towards Riznykivka and south towards Pryvillya. To disperse the logistics route, Ukrainian forces are using a nearby paved dirt road in addition to the main paved road.
Southern sector. From the western outskirts of Nykyforivka, the Russians are advancing along the heights towards Pryvillya.
North of Pryvillya, Russian drone operators are regularly striking Ukrainian strongholds. From here, Taking advantage of the natural advantage (the high ground), Ukrainian forces are monitoring the situation and directing fire on the village itself. The Russians are destroying Ukrainian bunkers, drone control posts, and firefighting teams.
Clashes between Russians and Ukrainians in HoLubivka. The western part of the village is located on high ground, which complicates the active Russian advance.
The Russians are advancing from Minkivka toward the southern part of Holubivka.
Active work is underway on Ukrainian Armed Forces fortifications, concentrated in the area from the southwestern outskirts of Minkivka to the village of Markove. According to Russian social media sources, there are over 20 Ukrainian fortifications in this area.
The Russian military is preparing a bridgehead to reach the second line of defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the eastern sector of the Zaporizhia direction.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense: “Units of the ‘East’ Group of Forces continued to advance deep into enemy defenses and liberated the village of Krynychne in the Zaporizhia region.”
Russian forces are preparing a bridgehead to reach the second line of defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the eastern sector of the Zaporizhia route, encircling the village of Verkhnya Tersa to the south and eliminating this Ukrainian transport hub. On February 18, the village of Krynychne (47°41′06″ N 36°07′59″ E – population 20 in 2001) was garrisoned by Russian forces.
In the Tsvitkove-Zaliznychne sector, Russian forces have reached the crest of the Haichur River drainage basin and the sources of the Verkhnyaya Tersa and Zherebets Rivers. Further downstream, the descent towards the T-04-08 highway begins, which extends into the valley of the Verkhnyaya Tersa, Zherebets’ Rive and Konka River rivers, where Ukrainian armed forces have created a line of defensive positions and engineering barriers to protect the Orechiv sector towards Zaporizhia from the east.
Graziella Giangiulio
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