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Morning Headlines
Reuters: Leading politicians, military officers and diplomats from around the world gather in Munich on Friday for a security conference that will be dominated by the wars in Israel and Ukraine as well as fears over the U.S. commitment to defending its allies.
WSJ: “Cubans are cannon fodder and they will kill them all.” For military recruiters working for Russia, Cuba’s worsening poverty makes for easy pickings as Moscow attempts to fill the holes in its front lines (archive).
Reuters: The space-based weapon U.S. intelligence believes Russia may be developing is more likely a nuclear-powered device to blind, jam or fry the electronics inside satellites than an explosive nuclear warhead to shoot them down, analysts said on Thursday.
ISW: Russian forces are conducting a tactical turning movement through Avdiivka likely to create conditions that would force Ukrainian troops to withdraw from their positions in the settlement.
Bloomberg: A coalition of allies aims to deliver 1 million drones to Ukraine within a year, as the country struggles to cope with ammunition shortages and a funding fight in Washington.
The Guardian: An FBI informant has been charged with lying to his handler about ties between Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.
More News
Reuters: Russian troops in Ukraine are using thousands of Starlink satellite communications terminals made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, the Ukrainian military intelligence chief told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Thursday.
The Kyiv Independent: Germany's military inspector general visited Ukraine last week and pledged to Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi equipment worth 100 million euros in short-term support.
Reuters: Poland detained a man working for Russian intelligence who planned to commit acts of sabotage including setting fire to facilities in the western city of Wroclaw, security services said on Thursday.
AFP: US President Joe Biden will host Poland's squabbling premier and president next month, the White House said Thursday, to shore up solidarity for Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion.
Reuters: The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it disrupted a Russian intelligence-controlled hacking network. "The Justice Department is accelerating our efforts to disrupt the Russian government's cyber campaigns against the United States and our allies, including Ukraine," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Meduza: Russian troops have captured the main entrance to Avdiivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Russian war blogger Poddubny published a video on Thursday showing a Russian flag planted on the northern outskirts of the city.
CTP, ISW: Russia’s Wagner Group established control over its first gold mine in Mali and will likely attempt to expand its influence over northern Mali’s artisanal mines to bolster the Kremlin’s sanctions evasion efforts.
The Kyiv Independent: NATO and Ukraine will create a joint analysis, training, and education center in Poland, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Feb. 15 during a press conference in Brussels.
The Insider: German drill manufacturer announced withdrawal from Russia but continues to supply Russian military industry. The Insider's new investigation reveals that Gühring KG has been delivering high-precision drills for clients in Russia's arms industry via Turkey.
RFE/RL: A law that allows authorities to confiscate vehicles with Russian license plates came into force in Latvia on February 15.
The Kyiv Independent: Hungary has blocked the approval of the European Union's latest package of sanctions against Russia due to the presence of Chinese companies in the list, the Financial Times reported.
The Moscow Times: The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been sacked after Ukraine said it had destroyed another Russian warship, according to unconfirmed reports by pro-war bloggers.
Reuters: Rebuilding Ukraine's economy after Russia's invasion nearly two years ago is expected to cost $486 billion, 2.8 times its 2023 expected economic output, a new study by the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and the Ukrainian government found.
The Kyiv Independent: An explosion occurred in an industrial area of Biysk in Russia's Altai region, possibly at a military plant that produces ammunition, among other things, a local media outlet reported on Feb. 15, citing residents.
Reuters: Ukraine said on Thursday it was withdrawing troops from some parts of the eastern town of Avdiivka to better positions after months of heavy fighting, and battle-hardened reserve fighters from a crack brigade have joined the battle.
Bloomberg: Swiss prosecutors say they have a number of preliminary investigations underway into suspected cases of Russian sanctions evasion.
Reuters: Russia's war in Ukraine is draining state coffers, but the fiscal buffers Moscow has built up over the last two decades will be enough to last for years, even if oil prices slump as low as $60 a barrel.
AP News: French President Emmanuel Macron will sign a bilateral security agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Friday in Paris to provide “long-term support” to the war-ravaged country which has been battling Russia’s full-scale invasion for nearly two years.
Britain said on Thursday it would supply thousands of more drones to Ukraine as part of its 200 million pound ($251 million) drone package, in an international effort it is co-leading with Latvia.
Australia PM: Ahead of the second anniversary of Russia's brutal full-scale invasion, Australia will provide a $32 million grant to the International Fund for Ukraine, directly supporting the procurement of priority military capabilities.
worth mentioning
Johnson intended to stop Ukraine aid, not pass an immigration bill
Putin urges Russians to have more kids, says ethnic survival at stake
Kremlin fake claims Ukraine planned to assassinate French President Macron
‘Alcoholics and criminals’ dominate Russian army recruits, says Siberian city MP
EU chief backs calls for new defence tsar
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