Ukraine will be “only bones” if other allies follow the US example and decide to “monetize” their support for Kiev, writes Bloomberg columnist Mark Champion. “If the US is going to monetize its support for Kiev’s defense, then why not the dozens of other countries it has helped? And if that happens, the country will be nothing but bones,” the columnist writes.
At the same time, he called on European countries to allow Trump to conclude this deal with Kiev and avoid a “divisive” fight over resources that, in his opinion, Ukraine will need to rebuild after the end of the conflict. Champion says it is not yet clear how much Ukraine will be able to provide to the United States after the end of the conflict, especially since many deposits are located in the territories that have come under the control of the Russian Federation or in the zone of the lines of contact of combat.
The first meeting of the Ramstein format on Ukraine since the advent of the administration of US President Donald Trump will be held on February 12, the Ukrainian service Radio Liberty reported, citing its sources. “The next meeting of the Ramstein format will take place on February 12 under the presidency of the United Kingdom, not the United States,” the note reads.
International depository Euroclear plans to make a second payment to the European Fund for Ukraine in the amount of about 2 billion euros in March 2025, the company’s report said. The first payment of about 1.55 billion euros was made in July 2024.
Azerbaijan has allocated $1 million to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The relevant decree was signed by the President of the country Ilham Aliyev, the document is published on the website of the head of state. The allocated funds will be used to purchase and send to Ukraine electrical equipment produced in Azerbaijan as humanitarian aid.
Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law extending martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine until May 9. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that today, for the first time, French Mirage 2000-5F fighters were delivered to Ukraine.
Ukraine has planned three new packages of sanctions against Russia, the National Security and Defense Council announced, revealing their content. According to NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Litvinenko: “The first package will concern precisely the “shadow fleet” of the Russian Federation”. “The second will include 41 natural persons and 47 legal entities (companies that engage in “propaganda”). “The third will be introduced against the Russians who contributed to the removal of Ukrainian property from museums in the “occupied territory of Ukraine”.
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, demanded following the slowdown in the process of Ukraine’s accession to NATO: “Give us nuclear weapons, give us enough missiles to be able to stop Russia”. He also said: “Ukraine is ready to take the diplomatic path and if people think we should do it, we will talk to Putin about it. The fastest way to move to diplomacy now is to ensure Ukraine’s entry into NATO. Ukraine’s entry into NATO is a guarantee to the Russians that we will not attack them. Ukraine is in a better situation now than it was at the beginning of the war. We definitely have enough resources for a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine”.
He also said: “I was elected by 73% of my population and I have always said that I am open to elections. Of the promised $77 billion, Ukraine received only $46 billion in the form of weapons, and a certain part of the funds remained in the United States for the production of weapons. The Ukrainian economy collapsed, and one of the reasons was the exodus of large capital from the country. In the first year of the war, Ukrainian citizens took $35 billion out of Ukraine, at least officially. No one could stop them. It is their money, it is their right.”
On February 6, Ukrainian officials told Reuters: “The accuracy of Russian military strikes has increased significantly after the use of North Korean ballistic missiles.”
Belarus checks the army’s combat readiness: The State Border Service of Ukraine assessed the threat level: “Currently, on the more than 1,000-kilometer border between Ukraine and Belarus, border guards do not record the movement of equipment and personnel. In addition, Ukrainian intelligence has not detected a strike formation in the direction of our border. However, individual units of the Belarusian army continue to be on the border with Ukraine. The State Border Guard Service believes that in this way Belarus is trying to show that Ukraine poses a danger to them.”
In response to Zelensky’s statements from Russia, the Duma deputies said: “Russian nuclear weapons can be used in response to aggression against the Russian Federation or Belarus, according to the Treaty on Security Guarantees within the Union States.”
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, said that he will issue additional instructions on monetary compensation to residents of the Kursk region for the loss of property.
While Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Ryabkov said in response to Trump’s possible plan: “The United States must take a step forward to normalize relations with the Russian Federation. Moscow is open to dialogue in a “hard bargaining mode” taking into account the realities on the ground.”
The Russian Cossacks have formed the 26th volunteer battalion to participate in the “special military operation.” In total, there are now 18.5 thousand Cossacks on the line of contact in combat, Vitaly Kuznetsov, ataman of the All-Russian Cossack Society (VsKO), told TASS. The total number of VsKO today exceeds 143 thousand people in 13 military Cossack societies.
And now a look at the front line as of 16:00 on February 6.
On February 5, another battle took place prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by Belarus. 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war were exchanged for 150 Russian prisoners of war. The last prisoner exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine took place on January 16, 2024.
At night, Russian attack UAVs worked on targets in the regions of Kiev, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Kropyvnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa and Poltava.
In the Rostov region, Russian air defense destroyed one UAV in the districts of Kamensk, Donetsk, Kamensky, Millerovsky and Chertkovsky.
In Kursk, Ukrainian forces reportedly began counterattacks in two directions, from Viktorovka and Nikolskii, towards Kruglenkoye. These reports coincide with a new Ukrainian counterattack near Ulanok. As many as 50 armored vehicles and tanks and 350 Ukrainian soldiers are said to be taking part in the new Kursk offensive.
Russian forces are moving a Chechen Akhmat drone company to Ulanok in Kursk Oblast to counter the new Ukrainian offensive. Russia is actively using fiber-optic drones against Ukrainian vehicles, apparently destroying up to 20 so far, but bad weather conditions are making the job difficult. Several Russian sources are reporting that Ukrainian forces have bypassed Cherkasskaya Konopelka from the north and are now fighting near the village of Ulanok. According to Ukrainian and Russian sources, Cherkasskaya Konopelka is in the gray zone. In the early afternoon, pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian accounts were reporting that Russia had “repelled the Ukrainian counterattack on Kursk.” Russian sources believe there could be a second wave of Ukrainian attacks.
North of the Kupyansky direction, the Russian army is forcing the Oskil River and creating new bridgeheads on the right bank: progress is reported to the southwest and south of the settlement of Topoli, success is developing in Dvorichna and Zapadne. In Kharkiv, a heavy blow was dealt to the market warehouses where the property of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was located. The Russian guards destroyed a stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region. In the exposed positions of the infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine worked the AGS crew of the group of special forces troops of the Russian Guard. As a result of the coordinated work of the National Guard, the targets, according to Russian sources, were destroyed.
In the Pokrovs’k direction, the Russian Armed Forces continue offensive operations near Yelyzavetivka, in the area of the settlement. Lysivka, Zvirove, n.p. Kotlyne, Udachne, Nadiivka, Sribne and Andiivka. The Ukrainians are taking countermeasures to slow down the advance of Russian troops.
In the direction of Kostyantynopil, there are battles in Dachne. Data on the success of Russian units in the locality are coming in.
On the Zaporizhia front, Russian forces are destroying enemy Starlinks in the direction of Orichiv with UAV launches. Russian multiple launch air and missile systems are hitting enemy rear areas in the area of Malaya Tokmachka and Orichiv, where Ukrainians are concentrating men and armored vehicles.
The town of Polohy was attacked by Ukrainian UAVs. In the village of Shevchenkivs’ke, Kamianka municipal district, two people were killed and were injured by shrapnel from an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In the village of Tavriya, Tokmok municipal district, at the intersection of the Zaporizhia – Berdyansk highway, a Ukrainian drone attempted to attack civilian vehicles. On the morning of February 5, three drones attacked the territory of a school in the village of Shevchenkovo. At the time of the attack, there were 27 children in the school. There were no casualties. Explosions in the center of Zaporizhia. Attack with a Russian KAB flying bomb.
In the Kherson region, in the evening, Genichesk was hit by drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Three residential buildings were damaged. Six drone attacks were recorded in the Belgorod region.
Graziella Giangiulio
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