“The United States will not interfere in the possible decision of the Ukrainian authorities to fire the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhny,” US presidential assistant for national security Jake Sullivan told CBS television channel.
“We have made it clear that we will not interfere with this particular decision. We have stated this directly to the Ukrainian side,” Sullivan said, stressing that Washington considers personnel decisions to be a matter solely for Ukrainian authorities. “This is not a matter on which the US authorities should make this or that decision. Therefore, we do not interfere in these personnel decisions. This is the sovereign right of Ukraine and the Ukrainian president,” the US official noted.
Sullivan did not respond to TV host Margaret Brennan’s question about how Zaluzhny’s possible resignation would affect the situation at the front.
US Undersecretary for Army Procurement and Equipment Douglas Bush said that by the end of 2024 the United States will be able to produce 70-80 thousand artillery shells per month, in particular to “better support Ukraine”.
Despite the European decision to allocate 50 billion euros to Ukraine over four years, we remember that Kiev in 2024 has a projected budget deficit of 43.9 billion dollars. The country’s authorities plan to cover most of it with the help of Western allies.
The 13th package of sanctions against Russia includes restrictions for 200 Russian people and companies that will be subject to new EU sanctions, which are expected to be ready by February 24, the second anniversary of the start of the military operation in Ukraine, writes DPA . The new package includes a “significant expansion” of the list of sanctioned individuals and companies whose assets in the EU will be frozen; The sanctions will include companies “contributing to Russia’s military and technological strengthening or the development of its defense sector”.
Restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats within the EU could become part of the 13th EU sanctions package against the Russian Federation, writes the European edition of Politico. While we learn from social sources that Russian aluminum will not fall under sanctions also at the behest of Italy which needs it.
Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive in Kiev in the middle of the month to sign, among other things, an agreement on the supply of Mirage 2000D fighter planes by France to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is expected to arrive in Paris this week to conclude agreements with his French counterpart Sebastian Lecornu, and in particular with the General Directorate of Armaments of the DGA and defense industrialists in the framework of the Bilateral Committee on Armaments. To prepare for the visit, the president’s military chief of staff, Fabien Mandon, flew to Kiev over the weekend.
Both sides have given themselves until February 8 to prepare for the visit of the French president and finally reach an agreement on the supply of Mirage 2000D aircraft, and while the original plan called for the transfer of six aircraft, their number has now been increased to 12. These aircraft could be just the beginning, as the French Air Force would still have 52 serviceable Mirage 2000D aircraft that it no longer uses.
While an agreement with Germany providing security guarantees to Ukraine is expected to be signed at the Munich Security Conference from February 16 to 18, sources tell Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense has decided to prepare for the transfer of six more F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Kingdom’s Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren said. In December, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Dutch government had decided to prepare 18 F-16 fighter jets for onward transfer to Kiev. The Netherlands has promised Ukraine 42 F-16 fighter jets, a small part of which will be earmarked for combat training.
Confirming the news, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Sergei Naev said that F-16 fighter jets will be delivered to Ukraine along with missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Yevgeny Shevchenko says that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny has agreed to leave as ambassador to the United Kingdom, while at first he had refused; according to the deputy, the commander in chief could be fired in the next few days. As announced in the aftermath of the incident, Volodymyr Zelensky intends to blame the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny for the crash of the Russian Il-76 plane to avoid responsibility. This opinion was also expressed by a Politika columnist.
In his opinion, Zelensky and his entourage want to avoid responsibility by “covering it up” with calls for Valery Zaluzhny’s resignation, accusing him of a tragic misunderstanding and calling for an international investigation into the fall. The author separately emphasizes that Zelensky and the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, have lost their bearings and do not want negotiations, but the continuation of the war at any cost.
News comes from Moscow that Russia’s strategic nuclear forces have now been almost completely renewed, their naval component is almost 100%, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia will not attack any NATO country, but will respond in case of attacks on its integrity, explained Dmitry Medvedev, vice-president of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference: “The forced transfer of the European economy to a war footing, with which the European Union intends to overcome the financial crisis, represents a potential security challenge for the world whole,” he said.
“We note that the unrolling of the “military flywheel” always causes a financial and economic crisis. For European countries, due to their high debt and expensive energy resources, such an intention could lead to an increase in the mood of protest and , consequently, to a change of government coalitions into nationalist coalitions.”
And now a look at the front line updated at 16:00 on February 6.
At Pervomajs’kij, Russian infantry advanced along Voroshilov and Pershotravnevaya streets along the front up to 570 m and to a depth of 730 m. The fighting continues.
In the direction of Liman heavy fighting continues east of Terny and Yampolivka. Russian infantry advanced east of Terny, in the eastern part of the Kruglaya ravine and in the central part of the Laptev ravine, along a front up to 1 km long and to a depth of 420 m. East of Yampolivka, Russian troops advanced into the southeastern part of the Blizhny ravine along a front up to 600 m and to a depth of 450 m.
On the northern flank of Avdiivka and in the northern part of the city, Russian troops continue assault operations on the eastern outskirts, along the streets vulytsia Lesi Ukrayinky, vulytsia Sapronova and Zaliznychnyi. The advance of Russian assaults along the front was up to 820 meters at a depth of up to 230 m.
In the Kurachove direction, Russian troops had partial success along the forest northwest of Marinka to a depth of 220 meters. Russian armed forces manage to break through Ukrainian defenses in the Novomykhailivka area. On the evening of February 5, we learned from social media sources that Russian units had reached the eastern outskirts of the village towards Mira Street.
This became a logical development of the late December attack, when an armored group of the Russian Armed Forces, having passed through minefields, arrived on the north-eastern outskirts of Novomykhailivka.
At the same time, before the assault, Ukrainian UAV activity against armored and passenger vehicles was active, which could not but affect the supplies and, consequently, the stability of the defense. However, even taking into account the semi-covered position of Novomykhailivka, the situation for the Ukrainians cannot be considered critical. Through Novomykhailivka and nearby Paraskoviivka there are roads to Kostyantynivka, one of the main supply, and therefore defense, hubs in the direction of Donetsk. Therefore, the village is one of the most important in the current configuration, and the Russians cannot hope for easy progress.
During the night between 5 and 6 February, intense bombing was recorded in various areas of Kherson
The Russian army launched intense artillery and missile attacks on the Kharkov and Sumy regions. Bombings of this scale have not been recorded for a long time. This could be a possible attack of exhaustion and distraction. On the other hand, with the intensification of the offensive and the bombing of Kupjans’k, Kreminna and Svatove, Ukrainian troops can draw a thin line of defense towards the north. There are many deaths on both sides.
Graziella Giangiulio
