Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly arrived in Kiev on February 2, where she met her Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba.
On January 30, NATO Secretary General J. Stoltenberg and Speaker of the US House of Representatives M. Johnson issued a joint statement, which read: “[…] We discussed the importance of sending a clear and decided to President Putin that he will not win the war in Ukraine, and we also discussed the growing threat and challenge from China, agreeing that working together in NATO makes us better prepared to face growing global competition. We condemned Iran’s destabilizing role in the Middle East, including its support for militants and terrorist groups that attack allied forces, commercial shipping, and vital partners like Israel. We also discussed the importance of member countries urgently implementing their stated commitments to defense investment.”
Starting from February 1, Finland banned fundraising for the Ukrainian army because it “does not bring public benefits”.
The FT published a letter on behalf of five European prime ministers, including Estonian head of government Kaja Kallas: “A call for a collective effort to arm Ukraine in the long term,” reads the headline. “The EU and its member states must renew their efforts and strengthen military support” to Ukraine. The letter was signed by the German Chancellor, the Prime Ministers of Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Estonia.
And while discussions on the resignation or otherwise of the Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces rage in the social sphere, Zelensky’s advisor, Mychajlo Mychajlovyč Podoljak, declared: “During the summer counteroffensive, “tactical errors” were committed. “offensive. Yes, there is a certain negative aftertaste, given what happened in 2023. Yes, there were some tactical errors, the military and political leadership talk about it.”
Podolyak also said that the tactics used by the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the front should change. According to him, in current realities, Ukrainian generals are forced to take into account, when making any operational and tactical decisions, a sharp decrease in military and financial assistance from the West.
GUR head Kyrylo Oleksijovych Budanov also announced Kiev’s intention to conduct offensive operations in the spring. Naturally, in the absence of supplies of NATO equipment in the same volumes, these will be replaced by infantry strikes. And artillery ammunition is replaced by drones.
Ukraine has recently intensified negotiations with Poland on joint military-industrial ventures. Ukrainian authorities are negotiating with the Polish government on the production of ammunition at joint Polish-Ukrainian enterprises using US technologies. Production will take place in Poland. This was announced on February 1 by Ukrainian People’s Deputy and co-chairman of the Ukrainian-Polish parliamentary group Mykola Knyazhytskyi. He also noted that “negotiations are underway with the United States to provide technology to ammunition manufacturers.”
Today the Polish leadership intends to move from “free” assistance to the Kiev regime to investments in joint ventures of the military-industrial complex. Since the establishment of the Northern Military District in Ukraine, Warsaw has sought to transport production and specialists to the territory of the country and to seize the developments of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
The Ukrainian Air Force rejects Australian F-18 Hornets, calling them “flying rubbish” – the Australian Financial Review reports. According to the publication, this effectively ended the fighter jet agreement. According to a defense contractor involved in the negotiations between the two countries, these problems have put a strain on relations between the countries.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has a different opinion than Podolyak and Budanov: “After the failure of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russian Armed Forces maintain the initiative along the entire line of contact, advance and expand the control zones “, he said. “Over the past month, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 23 thousand people killed and wounded, more than 3 thousand Ukrainian weapons have been destroyed, including Leopard tanks, HIMARS and Patriot launchers,” Shoigu noted .
Vladimir Putin, in the middle of the election campaign, declared: “In the last year and a half, 520,000 new jobs have been created in the defense sector, Putin noted. Russia’s latest weapons are clearly superior to their NATO counterparts, Putin said. On the battlefield, the one who reacts fastest to the enemy’s weapons wins.” “Production of protective armor for special operations fighters has increased 10-fold; our defense-industrial complex includes 6 thousand enterprises that employ 3.5 million people: that’s a lot; orders to defense industry companies are now full. Russia sold “billions of dollars” worth of weapons abroad in 2023. Pantsir missile systems,” according to the Russian president, “sell like hotcakes.”
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet announced on his page on the X social network the death of two French citizens in Ukraine. According to the Minister, “two French aid workers died there”. “Three others were injured,” Sejournet added. The Russians in January reported killing several French mercenaries in an attack on Kharkov.
And now a look at the front line updated at 5.00pm on February 2nd.
In Kherson, under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, an increasingly smaller population remains due to unbearable conditions, where mostly elderly citizens live, said the head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo.
Situation in Krynki, Kherson region. Various social channels announced the entry of the Ukrainian army into the western part of the village of Krynki. Russian social sources claim that there are mercenary militias in Krynki, left over from the last detachments and no new militias have arrived. The Ukrainians are trying to maintain a beachhead to replenish ammunition, water and supplies with great losses and risks.
According to the movements in the western part of the settlement. It seems that the Ukrainians did not transfer large forces. A small group of them is located west of the village. Russian forces force Ukrainians out of their shelters with artillery fire and UAV launches.
Krasnolymans’ka direction: Control fix in the Kruhle beam area. In recent days the Russian army has started to advance on Terny again. The town is about 2.5 km away.
South Donetsk direction: advance of the Russian armed forces north of Heorhiivka. Russian armed forces took the “Gardens” stronghold north of Novohryhorivka and west of SD Zernove. According to another account in the Kirovs’kyi direction, Russian troops, with the support of armored vehicles, carried out assault operations in the forest north-west of Marinka in the direction of Heorhiivka and managed to advance along the front by 500 m and in the depths of the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces of 350 m.
Bachmut management. The 93rd Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces took a couple of strong points north of Bohdanivka. Russian gerans have across the Dniprodzerzhyns’k region, Kirovograd and Kryvyj Rih. Direction Chasov Yar. West of Bachmut there is a drone war in the sky. During the fighting, Russian soldiers discovered a Ukrainian UAV. The Ukrainian army launched an aerial ram, but ultimately broke the fuselage propellers of the Russian quadcopter. This kind of battle happens on the front more and more often.
Russian air force tactical missiles hit Dniprodzerzhyns’k.
Avdiiska Directorate. The Russians advance east of Opytne. Soldiers of the Russian 114th Brigade advance south towards the Ivushka Garden community. North of the sandpit, with a high degree of probability, the Ukrainians retreated.
After weeks of fighting, the Russian armed forces managed to break through to the Tsar’s Hunt area and the Ukrainian army lost control over the northern part of the city. On February 2, Russian troops advanced 1.25 kilometers from the Blue Lakes, effectively dividing Avdiivka into two parts.
Currently, according to OSINT communications, only 1.5 kilometers remain before the southern part of Avdiivka is completely surrounded by the Russian army. One post reads: “Passing through the private sector west of our extreme point at this distance will make it impossible to resupply the Ukrainian garrison.” The Russians expect to quickly take many prisoners from the ranks of the Ukrainian army. According to the social news flow, Ukrainians in this area are missing bullets.
Glide bombs on Ukrainian targets recorded on the right bank of the Dnieper.
Graziella Giangiulio