February 22, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

President Vladimir Putin has committed to Russia strengthening its nuclear triad, a military force structure capable of launching three types of nuclear weapons.?

Putin’s remarks for Fatherland Day — a Russian holiday designed to celebrate the country’s military achievements — went on to emphasize the reliance on a “modern and efficient Army and Navy.”??

“Relying on actual combat experience, we will pursue balanced and high-quality development of all components of the Armed Forces, improve the system for training units. A solid foundation here is the soldiers, sergeants and officers who showed their worth in combat on the frontline,” Putin was quoted as saying.??

He added that Russia’s military manufacturing industry was “quickly increasing production”?as the government prioritizes investment in military hardware.??

US President Joe Biden met with the leaders of the countries that make up NATO's eastern flank on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden met with leaders of the eastern flank of NATO on Wednesday, praising the so-called Bucharest Nine and saying democracy and freedom are at stake in helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia.?

Here are the latest headlines:

Tank crews from Ukraine's armed forces, being trained to use a Challenger 2 battle tank by members of the British Army, prepare to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Lulworth Camp in Burngate, England, on February 8.

Challenger 2 battle tanks could start to arrive in Ukraine in “the spring,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.?

Britain could offer Ukraine more of its main battle tanks on top of the 14 already promised, but that would depend on the country’s defense needs, Wallace told the news agency.

Wallace was visiting a training site in southwest England where Ukrainian soldiers are learning to operate the tanks in combat conditions. The UK defense ministry said in a?statement?that?training was “continuing at pace” and would last several weeks.?

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida ?imonyt? talks to CNN's Isa Soares on Wednesday.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida ?imonyt? said on Wednesday that Russia suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty is Moscow’s “trick to increase pressure.”?

?imonyt? demanded more NATO forces on the ground in the alliance’s eastern flank, as well as higher investment in air defense to serve as “deterrence” against Russia.???

“There should be an upscale of the military presence on the eastern flank from battalion up to brigade,” she said.?

?imonyt? urged Kyiv’s allies to increase military support to Ukraine.?

“How can you push back Russia’s military forces if you do not have heavy weapons?” she questioned.?

The prime minister went on address the importance of getting resources to Ukraine quicker. In previous occasions, time was lost in conversations that led to weapons being delivered with a “delay of a couple of months.”?

?imonyt? admitted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “wakeup call,” which has created a “rush to review the policies towards the defense spending.”?

“Countries in this region, of course, have changed their attitudes or have increased their spending on defense and security significantly since the Crimea invasion and are continuing to do so in recent years because our defense spending will be somewhere between 2.5, 3% of GDP this year,” she said.?

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh speaks to reporters on Wednesday.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Wednesday there “will be consequences for China” if it were to provide lethal military aid to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Singh added that China providing lethal aid to Russia in its war against Ukraine would “certainly be a miscalculation.”

Officials previously told CNN that there are signs Chinese officials want to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Russia. The United States ambassador to the United Nations previously said that China doing so would be a red line.

While Russians involved in crimes against humanity in the Ukraine war could be prosecuted before the war is over, the main challenge will be getting them in custody while they reside in Russia, US State Department said.

“While individuals remain within Russia, they will probably enjoy impunity because there is no international police force who can go and make those arrests,” said Beth Van Schaack, State Department ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice.?

Van Shaack said the US is “trying to support accountability wherever it is being pursued” without commenting on whether the US has shared its evidence used to determine the crimes against humanity.

A recent report funded by the department on at least 6,000 Ukrainian children being deported or trapped within Russia could show evidence of genocide, she said, adding that the US would continue to watch for other indications of genocide in Ukraine.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda speaks to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview.

US President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv on Monday sends “an incredibly powerful signal, a political and strategic signal” Polish President Andrzej Duda has told CNN.?

It “sends a signal of the defense of the free world, of the defense of NATO, of the defense of every inch of the territory,” Duda said in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Warsaw.

He added this was a significant message to Polish people.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda speaks to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview.

Polish President Andrzej Duda told CNN modern weapons are key for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

Asked by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour if that even includes fighter jets, he responded: “If there is such a need, of course, yes.”

Poland’s Leopard tanks are “ready to be sent” to Ukraine, Duda said, adding that Ukrainian soldiers are currently being trained in Poland to operate those tanks.

He said those Ukrainian soldiers would be ready “within one month to come back to Ukraine together with tanks.”

However, Poland has “serious problems” with getting spare parts to tanks from Germany, the Polish leader added.

“It’s not only us — these problems are quite common. Other countries also have problems with Leopards, because Germans have got a serious problem with providing spare parts. We do not understand this situation, but that’s the way it is. Now, our Leopard tanks are ready for Ukraine today. In our training center, there are Ukrainian tankers training on Leopard tanks, we are preparing them right now, there is a training cycle going on,” Duda said.

The Polish president recalled talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on February 23, 2022, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine.?

“When I said goodbye to Volodymyr, Volodymyr told me, ‘Andrzej, I do not know whether we would see each other again.’ That was a very powerful moment, a moving moment. And then he told me, ‘If Putin thinks that he would control Ukraine, conquer Ukraine, just as they did with Crimea in 2014, then he is mistaken. We have got eight years of combat experience and thousands of people who were fighting on the front. We are going to fight till the end, till we drop.’ And that is what has happened. And they’re fighting until today,” Duda said.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda speaks to CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Russia needs to leave behind its imperial ambitions.

Duda listed countries where Russia has attempted to force influence, including Georgia, Moldova and Syria. “Simply speaking, Russia is this kind of empire who has got colonial ambitions. It wants to subjugate other nations and other countries. It wants to profit from them. And the best example of that is Ukraine today,” he added.

In this November 2022 photo, Ukraines Energy Minister German Galushchenko speaks during a joint press conference in Kyiv.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko on Wednesday pleaded with Kyiv’s allies for air defense systems to help protect the country’s energy system.???

The minister accused Russia of attacking Ukraine’s energy system daily since last October.??

Around 50% of all energy systems in Ukraine have been hit by Russian attacks since the war began last year, he added.???

Galushchenko said the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently occupied by Russian forces, is becoming “worse and worse,” but stressed that it’s still safe because of Ukrainian presence.???

Some background: Zaporizhzhia, with six reactors, is the largest nuclear power station in Europe.?The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) maintains a team of three rotating experts to oversee operations at the plant.

The agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi on Tuesday called on Russia and Ukraine to facilitate this month’s rotation of independent experts at the plant, which has been delayed for more than two weeks. He said the situation there continues to be “dangerous and unpredictable.”

“Of course, the station is not in operation from September, but now it’s a very difficult situation for the Ukrainian staff which is still maintaining the security systems there,” the energy minister told CNN.?

“(Ukrainian staff at the plant) are under pressure, the Russians beat them and torture the people…the Russian military is still there and they use the plant to attack the Ukrainian army, so they put heavy vehicles there which is quite a challenging situation,” he alleged.???

Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska attends a special dialogue with CEO's meeting at the Congress center during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, on January 18.

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska said Wednesday that victory for Ukraine would mean victory for human rights, and she reiterated a call?for the establishment of a special tribunal for purported Russian crimes.?

Via video, Zelenska joined a United Nations special session on human rights violations due to aggression against Ukraine.

“Ukraine’s victory would mean the victory of human rights over lawlessness, torture and destruction. Therefore, justice for Ukraine is justice for the whole world,” Zelenska said in an emotional address.?

Zelenska shared pictures of several Ukrainian cities that have seen some of the most intense fighting and large civilian casualties.?

She first discussed the eastern city of Bakhmut, where her husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky, said?last Wednesday the situation?is “the most difficult out of all” areas in Ukraine.

Zelenska said there were about 80,000 people living in Bakhmut before the start of the invasion, and now there are about 5,000 left — among them about 150 children.

“Every day, these people go for humanitarian aid and water under heavy shelling. And they die every day,” she said.?

Zelenska also talked about the city of Dnipro, where a Russian missile?slammed into an apartment building, killing dozens. She discussed the city of Mariupol, where?she said the Russians demolished the ruins of the drama theater after they struck it while there were hundreds inside.?

Zelenska also talked about?Kramatorsk, where at least 50 people, including five children, were killed after Russian forces carried out a missile strike on a railway station as people were trying to evacuate. She also showed pictures of graves in Izium, Bucha and Irpin.?

“A dead city is a terrible monument to human rights,” she said.

US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One before departing Warsaw Chopin Airport in Warsaw on February 22.

The White House released a brief readout of President Joe Biden’s meeting with the Bucharest Nine in Warsaw Wednesday.

According to the readout, the leaders reaffirmed their “unwavering support for Ukraine and underscored their shared commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes.”?

Biden departed Poland after a critical 72 hours on the ground in Europe.

Air Force One took off from Warsaw at 5:51 p.m. local time (11:51 a.m. ET) and is now heading back to Washington.

Biden is flying aboard the usual modified Boeing 747 back home after arriving secretly in Europe on a smaller plane before taking a train into Ukraine Monday.

Switzerland has announced plans for a new $150 million humanitarian aid package for Ukraine and Moldova, according to a government statement published Wednesday.?

The Swiss parliament will now have to approve the package to provide approximately $123 million to Ukraine and $28 million to neighboring Moldova.??

Since the beginning of the war, Switzerland has allocated around $1.4 billion in aid for Ukraine. This includes over $291 million as support for Ukraine in cooperation with allies, as well as about $1.12 billion for hosting people from Ukraine seeking asylum, the statement said.??

Switzerland has already taken in more than 75,000 asylum seekers from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, and citizens have housed around 25,000 Ukrainians in their residences, according to the government.

The Swiss government on Wednesday reiterated its “condemnation of the attack in the strongest possible terms“ and called for the “cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine.”?

Remember: Last year, Switzerland broke with its tradition of neutrality in favor of adopting sanctions against Russia, which it said was in line with those adopted by the European Union.??

Weapons deliveries are still exempt due to the neutrality legislation.

Switzerland also prohibited Germany to transfer Swiss-made ammunition for German Gepard anti-aircraft systems Berlin provided to Ukraine.??

European Union ambassadors “remain confident” that an agreement will be reached on Thursday for the bloc’s 10th round of sanctions against Russia, an EU diplomat told CNN on Wednesday.??

The diplomat spoke on the?condition of anonymity due to the?confidentiality of the negotiations between the 27 EU ambassadors.??

EU ambassadors made progress on a number of technical issues Wednesday afternoon, the diplomat said, but there are still some elements to be clarified, notably on reporting requirements and import quotas for certain goods.??

The bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this month that the new round of sanctions against Moscow will target Russian trade and technology fueling the war in Ukraine.??

Speaking during a press conference in Kyiv, von der Leyen said the bloc aims to have published the package, which will have a volume of $10.8 billion (10 billion euros) by this Friday.??

A woman receives medicine boxes from a volunteer at a heating tent, a “Point of Invincibility,” a government-built help station, in Kherson, Ukraine, on December 3.

Parts of Ukraine will heighten security this week for the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country, according to local officials.

Additional safety measures will be implemented in Ukraine’s Kherson region, the?region’s military administration said in a statement Wednesday.?

From February 23 to 25, additional security measures will be implemented “in connection with the possible escalation of hostilities by the enemy,” the regional military administration said.?

Most public offices and businesses will work remotely,?with the exception of critical infrastructure facilities, it said.?

The distribution of humanitarian aid and cash payments at post offices will be limited. Law enforcement officers will intensify patrols in places where possible crowds can gather, the administration said.?

However, the so-called invincibility points, where people can warm up and charge their devices, will work around the clock, it said.?

“We urge you to take care of your own safety and the safety of your family during this period,” the administration added.?

More on safety measures: The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said Wednesday that security measures in the city will also be strengthened on February 23 and 24.

“A lot of people now ask: what will happen? I cannot say what will happen, because it depends on our opponent, our enemy. Nobody understands what is in his head, nobody knows,”?Terekhov?said in a video address.?

“For those who are not afraid, we are operating in the mode we always have,” he added.”

Ukraine has suffered at least 802 attacks on health care facilities, resulting in the deaths of 101 doctors and patients, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

Ghebreyesus said the war has exacerbated the need for mental health support, rehabilitation, treatment for diseases such as cancer, HIV and tuberculosis, and vaccines for measles, polio, pneumonia, and Covid-19.

More than 700 attacks on Ukraine's health care system documented during Russia's invasion in 2022

Related article Report: Nearly one in every 10 hospitals in Ukraine have been damaged by attacks since Russia's invasion | CNN

Ukraine Finance Minister Sergii?Marchenko told CNN’s Julia Chatterley the country needs an extra $10 billion to cover its budget needs in 2023 and to start the reconstruction of the economy.?

Marchenko met with Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, in Kyiv on Monday which he called very productive.?He said, “now we see our relationship is quite stable and we are moving in the direction of a fully-fledged program with the IMF.”

Marchenko went on to say “we are ready to fulfill all requirements and conditions to be able to move on with the program.”?

He said that would include necessary measures to?stabilize the?macroeconomic situation and to create an environment for fiscal responsibility.

He told CNN they agreed to start discussing the new program within weeks.

Russian lawmakers attend a session at the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, on February 22.

Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, unanimously passed a bill on the suspension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) Wednesday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.?

The bill passed the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, earlier Wednesday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced it.

The decision to restore Russia’s participation in New START can only be made by Putin, according to TASS.

On Tuesday, Putin announced his decision to suspend Russia’s participation in the treaty in his address to the Federal Assembly.?

Hours after Putin’s speech, Russia’s foreign ministry said the decision to suspend participation in the treaty was “reversible” and that?“Washington must show political will, make conscientious efforts for a general de-escalation and create conditions for the resumption of the full functioning of the Treaty and, accordingly, comprehensively ensuring its viability.”

US President Joe Biden said Putin made a “big mistake” when he announced that his country was suspending its participation in New START.

Some context: The treaty was already essentially paused since Russia had recently refused to open up its arsenal to inspectors. CNN reported that Putin is not technically withdrawing from the treaty, so his declaration “appears to be formalizing its current position.”

CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf contributed to this post.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, left, and US President Joe Biden, center, attend the Extraordinary Summit of the NATO Bucharest Nine (B9) chaired by Polish President Andrzej Duda, right, at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on February 22.

US President Joe Biden met with leaders of the eastern flank of NATO on Wednesday, praising the leaders of the Bucharest Nine and saying democracy and freedom are at stake in helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia.?

“Article 5 is a sacred commitment the United States has made. We will defend literally every inch of NATO, every inch of NATO,” he added.?

About Article 5: It’s?the principle?that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members. It’s been a cornerstone of the 30-member alliance since it was founded in 1949 as a counterweight to the Soviet Union.

Two people were injured as a result of Ukrainian shelling in the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region, the region’s Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Wednesday on his Telegram channel.

The two hurt in the shelling were taken to the hospital. One is in medium-severity condition and the other is in critical condition, Gladkov said.?

Because of the shelling, a fire broke out in the local mall but was extinguished, he said.?

Gladkov said the village of Pervoye Tseplyaevo in the Shebekinsky urban district came under fire as well?There were no casualties, but the shelling caused damage to three private houses, he said.?

The “Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to shell civilian targets,” Gladkov said. “As a result of the shelling, two outbuildings caught fire. Fire crews are already at the scene,” he said.?

CNN has not been able to independently verify Gladkov’s claims.??

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address at the Gostiny Dvor conference centre in central Moscow, Russia, on February 21.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement Tuesday that?Russia?would?suspend participation in?the New START, a key nuclear arms reduction treaty, is the latest in a series of ominous declarations in which he has made reference to his nuclear arsenal.

What specifically this latest move will mean in terms of the worldwide nuclear threat is something of a question mark.

The treaty was already essentially paused since Russia had recently refused to open up its arsenal to inspectors.

CNN’s report?notes that Putin is not technically withdrawing from the treaty, so his declaration “appears to be formalizing its current position.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry later clarified that Moscow will continue to respect the caps established in the treaty and that Putin’s suspension of the treaty is “reversible.”

New START – “START” is shorthand for “Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty” – is the last in a long series of nuclear treaties between the US and Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

The current extension lasts until February 2026, but both countries have complained about the other’s compliance.

What could happen next? Read more here for CNN’s conversation with the authors of the 2017?book “Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy.”

US President Joe Biden attends a Bucharest Nine (B9) meeting chaired by Polish President Andrzej Duda, center, at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on February 22.

US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” when he announced that his country was suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.

Biden – who was walking into a meeting with the Bucharest Nine at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday – first smiled and responded, “I don’t have time” when a member of the US press asked for his response to Putin.?

He then paused and said “big mistake,” before walking in for a photo with other leaders.

The Bucharest Nine group was formed in 2015 after the Russian annexation of Crimea, and it consists of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.?

Former Russian President and Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will “disappear” if it loses the war in Ukraine.

“If Russia stops the special military operation without achieving victory, Russia will disappear, it will be torn to pieces,” Medvedev said in a Telegram post on Wednesday, using the euphemism for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “If the US stops supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime, the war will end.”?

Medvedev’s comments follow US President Joe Biden’s speech in Poland on Tuesday.

During his speech, Biden said, “If Russia stopped invading Ukraine, it would end the war.?If Ukraine stopped defending itself against Russia, it would be the end of Ukraine,” which Medvedev claimed was “a refined lie.”??

“Why does he appeal to the people of another country at a time when he is full of domestic problems? With what fright should we listen to a politician from a hostile state that exudes hatred for our Motherland? Why should the citizens of Russia believe the leader of the United States, who unleashed the most wars in the 20th and 21st centuries, but reproach us for aggressiveness?” Medvedev said — repeating claims that American officials see as a whataboutism tactic — adding Biden’s aim is “to ensure that Russia suffers a “strategic defeat.”

Medvedev also commented on Putin’s state of the nation address on Tuesday, in particular an announcement that Russia is suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.?

He called it?“an overdue and inevitable decision.”?

“This is a decision that will have a huge resonance in the world in general and in the United States in particular,” Medvedev added.?

Rep. Michael McCaul speaks with reporters in Washington, DC, on February 6.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, told journalists he sees “increasing momentum” in Washington toward providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets.

McCaul said Zelensky had given him a list of weapons Ukraine needed, namely F-16s and ATACMS, which can be fired from US-supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and have a range of up to 300 kilometers (about 186 miles).

“I will be a very strong voice on both the ATACMS, the long-range artillery to hit the Iranian drones in Crimea, in addition to the F-16s,” McCaul said.?

Spain will send six Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, Spanish defense minister Margarita Robles told Spain’s parliament on Wednesday.?

The delivery is part of what other allies are sending, Robles said, adding that the number could be increased.?

The tanks are being repaired now to get them ready, Robles said.

The defense minister also said that Spain has trained 800 Ukrainian troops in Spain since start of war, including basic training and training on specific weapons systems, such as the Leopard tank.?

US President Joe Biden sits on a train as he goes over his speech after a surprise visit to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 20.

Transporting US President Joe Biden on a highly-covert, 10-hour-each-way train ride across Ukraine was a massive undertaking requiring significant preparation and the highest levels of secrecy. It also signaled an important moment for the country and its railway system, seen as a source of stability during unstable times, Ukrainian Railways CEO Alexander Kamyshin told CNN.

“Russians promised to take Kyiv. And in 362 day of the war, President Biden appears in Kyiv and walks around with my President Zelensky. So it’s kind of really historical moments. We were happy and privileged and honored to be the official carrier of the President Biden, so we called our train Rail Force One,” Kamyshin told Kaitlan Collins during an appearance on “CNN This Morning” Wednesday.?

Kamyshin said that his work – which has so far received around 300 official delegations from across the globe traveling on the railway since the start of the war nearly one year ago — is important to his country and its diplomacy.

But it also plays a broader role in the country’s morale amid Russia’s brutal invasion.

“For us, on-time performance is a really important focus. During the war, people should rely on something. Railways became a reliable transportation for our people,” he said.

Kamyshin?apologized on Twitter?after Biden’s train ride that “only 90%” of Ukraine’s trains were on time around the US visit.

Kamyshin told Collins he was “not nervous, but focused and determined until the moment he (Biden) left the borders of Ukraine.”

Biden spent 24 hours in Ukraine, 20 of which were aboard Ukraine’s rail system.

“Trust me, it was a complicated mission,” he said, and one that involved close coordination with the US Embassy in Ukraine, the US government, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure.

Russia's President Vladimir?Putin, right,?shakes hands with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on February 22.

China’s top diplomat told Russian President Vladimir Putin that China and Russia need to be more flexible while facing new international circumstances. The two were meeting at the Kremlin on Wednesday during an official visit by Wang Yi to Moscow.?

“[China and Russia] often face crisis and chaos, but there are always opportunities in a crisis and the latter could possibly turn into the former,” Wang Yi, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top diplomatic advisor said.

“But this requires us to identify changes more voluntarily and respond to the changes more actively to further strengthen our comprehensive strategic partnership,” he added.

Spain has harbored 168,000 refugees from the Ukraine war a year after Russia invaded, Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Of those, 63% are women and 33% are under the age of 18. Almost all are Ukrainian citizens, but 1.8% of the refugees are citizens of other nationalities who were legally residing in Ukraine when the war started last year, according to the ministry.

The refugees in Spain are under “temporary protection”?status.

According to the United Nations, more than 8 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe.

Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina of the Ukrainian band "The Hardkiss" performs during a concert organised by Ukrainian foundation Childhood Without War to raise donations for Ukrainian children in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 29.

Award-winning Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina has been announced as the Ukrainian host for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, according to?host broadcaster?BBC.

Eurovision is traditionally hosted in a city of the prior year’s winning country. Ukraine won the contest in 2022 but cannot host it due to the ongoing conflict.

The BBC?also announced that Ukrainian broadcaster?Timur Miroshnychenko will be the Eurovision correspondent in Liverpool.

President Joe Biden holds a speech at the Royal Castle after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw, Poland, on February 21.

US President Joe Biden will depart Europe three days later having loudly recommitted to backing Ukraine?as it enters a second year of conflict,?working to cast aside doubts about the durability of American support and directly blaming his counterpart in the Kremlin for thrusting the continent into war.

The 72 hours Biden spent on the ground in Ukraine and Poland have been among the most momentous of his presidency, the culmination both of careful, highly secretive planning by White House aides and the president’s singular, decades-held view of America’s role in the world.

In conversations with aides, foreign counterparts and even by phone with his wife over the course of his visit,?Biden has asserted his trip?this week was essential in showing the world the US wouldn’t waver in its support.

As Air Force One returns to Washington, however, it is difficult to ignore the looming questions Biden’s visit did little to answer: How and when will the war end?

Underneath Biden’s?pledges of continued support for Ukraine?remains a lingering concern, shared with his European allies, that the war could descend into a stalemate as each side sees small gains and losses without a clear trajectory.

Here’s what could come next.

Pope?Francis speaks during the weekly general audience at the Vatican, on February 22.

Pope Francis has renewed his appeal for an end to the war in Ukraine, calling it “absurd and cruel,” during his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

The Pope has frequently called for peace since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year.

The approaching one-year mark is “sad,” Francis said, as he once again appealed for a cease-fire.

“Let us ask ourselves,” the Pope said, “has everything possible been done to stop the war?”?

Francis said that the numbers of deaths and the toll of economic and social destruction caused by the war “speak for themselves.”

“Let us remain close to the martyred Ukrainian people,” he said. “Peace built on rubble will never be a real victory.”

Wagner founder Yevgeny?Prigozhin?has posted a picture showing dozens of dead Wagner fighters, blaming it on “shell starvation” and “those who should have solved the question of supplying us with enough ammunition.”

Prigozhin?also posted the photograph of a formal request asking the Russian military to provide Wagner with ammunition in order to capture Bakhmut, a request he says has not been fulfilled.?

“Ammunition was not given to us and is not being given to us. It is now 10 a.m. on February 22, no steps have been taken to provide ammunition,”?Prigozhin?said as he posted the photograph of the dead Russian soldiers.

“I’m publishing a photo below. This is one of the gathering places of the dead. These are the guys who died yesterday due to the so-called shell starvation,” he went on to say.

The Wagner founder had accused the leadership of the?Russian defense ministry of “treason” on Tuesday, for their alleged failure in providing the private military company with ammunition.?

“The Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Defense are handing out commands right and left, that the Wagner PMC should not receive ammunition, they are also not helping with air transport,” Prigozhin?claimed in a recording posted by his press service on Telegram.

“This can be equated to high treason now when Wagner PMC are fighting for Bakhmut, losing hundreds of their fighters every day.”

Russia's President Vladimir?Putin?attends a meeting with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi in Moscow, Russia, on February 22.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi that Moscow and Beijing are “reaching?new?milestones” on Wednesday.

“Russian-Chinese relations are developing as we planned in previous years. Everything is moving forward and developing, and we are reaching?new?milestones,” Putin said during a meeting at the Kremlin.

The Russian leader added: “International relations today are complex, they have not improved after the collapse of the bipolar system. On the contrary, they have?become more tense.”

Talking about trade, Putin said that “cooperation in the international arena between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, as we have repeatedly said, is very important for stabilizing the international?situation.”

Wang’s trip to Moscow has been closely watched in the West, amid concerns that the ongoing closeness between the two nations could impact the war in Ukraine, which approaches the one-year mark.

Though China has claimed impartiality over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has refused to condemn Moscow and parroted Kremlin lines blaming NATO for provoking the conflict.

Exhumation of bodies from a mass grave is carried out in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 13.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General said his office has identified 91 Russian soldiers responsible for war crimes in Bucha.?

“During the occupation, the Russian army committed more than 9,000 war crimes in the Bucha district of Kyiv region, and more than 1,700 civilians were killed, including about 700 in Bucha,” the office said in a post on Twitter Wednesday.

“So far, 91 Russian military personnel involved in these crimes have been identified. The work on bringing all those involved to justice is ongoing.”

Bucha is where the Ukrainian army found bodies of at least 20 civilians after liberating the suburb in early April. Some had their hands tied behind their backs.

“This is the true face of the ‘Russian world’ and the regime of the Russian Federation, which is based on a complete disregard for the principles of human rights and humanitarian law.”

“We count on your support in establishing an international tribunal to bring the Russian leadership to justice. Justice for the victims of war is justice for the world,” Kostin told a delegation from the US House of Representatives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in the Kremlin, television pictures show.

The two are sitting at the long table, with Putin talking about a “complex international situation.”

A video posted on social media, and verified by CNN, shows what appear to be dozens of coffins containing the bodies of Russian fighters, which had reportedly joined the Wagner private military company (PMC) to serve in Ukraine.?

Most coffins exhibited death certificates, names, the Russian region they were from and a combination of numbers and letters, seemingly number tags for each of the soldiers.?

One of the coffins shows the death certificate of Sergey Viktorovich Yumashev, who, according to local authorities in the Russian Republic of Khakassia, was 39 years old and died, along with another man from the same region, fighting for the Wagner group in Ukraine.?

“They served in the ranks of the PMC Wagner, selflessly participated in the liberation of territories from Ukrainian neo-Nazis and the protection of civilians,” the Government of Republic of Khakassia said in a statement Wednesday, the same day the video surfaced.?The statement repeats Moscow’s bogus justifications for its invasion of Ukraine, which it falsely casts as a “de-Nazification” project required to protect Russian interests.

The Khakassia government does not clarify whether Yumashev volunteered to serve with Wagner or if he had previously been convicted and was drafted into Wagner in exchange for having his sentence commuted.

“The head of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov, on behalf of himself and on behalf of the government of the republic, expresses condolences to the families,” the statement added. “All necessary assistance will be provided to the families of the fallen soldiers.”

CNN previously reported Russia, and specifically the Wagner PMC, were suffering heavy casualties as they tried to make gains in eastern Ukraine, specifically in the area around the Donetsk city of Bakhmut.?

Front line reports and social media videos over the past few months have showed numerous failed attempts by Russian infantry to break through Ukrainian lines with little to no armored support, taking heavy casualties in an attempt to overwhelm Kyiv’s forces.

Satellite pictures from late January, taken by Maxar near?the village of Bakinskaya, in the Krasnodar region of Russia, showed a rapidly expanding?cemetery?where many of those killed fighting for Wagner are being buried, according to founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose visit to the graveyard was reported by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.?

Analysis by the Institute for the Study of War at the time suggested the Bakinskaya cemetery?seen in pictures, as well as nearby secondary location in the town of Goryachy Klyuch, could have held 1,000 dead?Wagner?soldiers.?That number is thought to have expanded.?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pledged to assist Ukrainian athletes “in every way possible,” in a Wednesday statement that sidestepped an ongoing row over its controversial plans to allow Russian competitors to take part at next year’s summer games.

The organization said Wednesday it “reiterates its condemnation of the war in Ukraine,” and added that it stands by its existing ban on Russian and Belarusian flags and anthems being used at events, as well as a series of other sporting sanctions it imposed following February’s invasion.

But the IOC did not directly address criticism from a swath of Western countries, including Ukraine, the UK and the US, over its plans to allow the involvement of athletes from Russia and Belarus at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Western nations condemn IOC plans: More than 30 countries have asked the sports body to reconsider?its decision to create a pathway?for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in next year’s?Paris Olympics?as “neutral athletes.”

“We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as ‘neutrals’ – under the IOC’s conditions of no identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states,” the countries said in a statement released by the British government.

China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission?Wang?Yi in Moscow, Russia, on February 22.

Vladimir Putin is due to meet top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in the Kremlin on Wednesday, the Russian president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed.?

Wang Yi has already met the head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The sit-down with Putin is expected to start around 2 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).

It comes on the heels of Putin’s speech to the Federal Assembly, in which he pulled out of a key nuclear pact and signaled no end to fighting in Ukraine.

Some context: While China says it is neutral over the Ukraine conflict, it has not condemned Russia’s invasion and has expanded trade with its neighbor. The US and its allies are watching Chinese and Russian relations closely. When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Wang, he warned of “consequences” if China increases its support for Russia’s war effort.

China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi attends a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei?Lavrov?in Moscow, Russia, on February 22.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday that Beijing will “firmly pursue an independent and autonomous foreign policy.”?

Wang said that “under the strategic leadership” of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the relationship between the two countries “continues to operate at a high level.”

China will “insist on promoting an open strategy of mutual benefit and win-win situation,” Wang said, adding that China was “willing to maintain the good development of our new type of major-power relations with Russia,” no matter how the international climate changes.

Some context: Wang’s trip to Moscow has been closely watched in the West, amid concerns that the ongoing closeness between the two nations could impact the war in Ukraine.

Though China has claimed impartiality over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has refused to condemn Moscow and parroted Kremlin lines blaming NATO for provoking the conflict.

He added that China “will open up new prospects and inject new connotations into China’s cooperation with other countries in the world, including Russia, through the process of Chinese-style modernization.”

Wang said that both countries have “advocated for multilateralism, resolutely opposed any unilateral and hegemonic actions, and unswervingly safeguarded our respective security and development interests.”??

Russia’s lower house of parliament has voted to suspend the country’s participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, according to TASS state-owned news agency, one day after Vladimir Putin announced the move in a major speech.

The suspension was unanimously agreed in the Duma, according to TASS. Parliament’s approval is a formality following Putin’s decision that Russia will formally halt its engagement.

The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides would soon need to begin negotiating on another arms control agreement.

Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the United States and?Russia?are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites.

While Russia is not withdrawing from the pact completely, it appears to be formalizing its current position; for months,?US officials have been frustrated?over Russia’s lack of co-operation with the agreement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Putin’s decision on Tuesday “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin attends a news conference in Beijing on February 21.

China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said the country was not considering sending lethal support to Moscow to use in its war in Ukraine, accusing the United States and NATO of spreading falsehoods about Beijing’s potential role in the conflict.

His comments come after NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday said the alliance is?“increasingly?concerned?that China might be planning lethal support for Russia’s war.”?

In his remarks Wednesday, Wang said China urges NATO “to stop smearing China with unfounded speculations on Ukraine, abandon the old Cold War mentality of zero-sum game and bloc confrontation, and stop fomenting confrontation.”?

Wang also claimed the US and other NATO countries are “the largest source of weapons to the battlefield of Ukraine.”

Some context: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken?met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday and warned “about the implications and consequences” if Beijing increases its support for Russia’s war effort, according to a US readout of the meeting.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned China not to give any support to Russia, saying it could lead to?another world war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on February 22.

A meeting between Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi has begun in Moscow, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry and state media.?

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted a photograph on Telegram of Wang and Lavrov shaking hands.?

Wang arrived in Moscow just days after?US officials?went public with concerns about how China’s continuing partnership with Russia could have an impact on the war in Ukraine. The Chinese leadership has claimed impartiality in the conflict but refused to condemn Russia’s invasion, instead?expanding trade ties?and continuing joint military exercises,?including this week.

Commercial radio stations in parts of Russia falsely broadcast news of an air raid alert and a possible missile attack on Wednesday after their servers were attacked by hackers, the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry said.

News of the false warning spread across social media on Wednesday morning. It is unclear who is behind the alleged hack.??

“This information is fake and does not correspond to reality. We kindly ask you to monitor the messages in official sources.”

A general view of Russian military frigate 'Admiral Gorshkov' docked in the harbour in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 13.

Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, arrived in the South African port of Richards Bay on Wednesday, ahead of planned naval exercises with South Africa and China, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.?

The exercises, scheduled to begin on Feb. 27,?will take place?off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal province in the area between Richards Bay and the port of Durban, which serves as the main base of the South African Navy in the Indian Ocean, according to TASS.?

China will use a destroyer, a frigate and a support ship during the drills, while South Africa will take part with one frigate and two support ships, TASS said.?

Joint maneuvers: Earlier this month, TASS quoted a source close to Russia’s defense industry saying the frigate “will perform a training launch of a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic missile during a joint exercise with South African and Chinese navies.”

The joint maritime exercise is expected to include some 350 South African National Defense Force personnel participating alongside their Russian and Chinese counterparts, according to South Africa. An earlier exercise between the three navies took place in 2019.

It’s the first time that the drills will include the Admiral Gorshkov frigate carrying Zircon hypersonic missiles, which were?first tested in late 2021.

The long-range weapons travel more than five times the speed of sound and are harder to detect and intercept.

The frigate was actively involved in testing the missiles, designed and produced by the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building, part of Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation, according to TASS.

Xi Jinping addresses an academic conference on February 7.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is planning to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in “the coming months,” the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Arrangements for the trip are at an “early stage” and the timing has not been finalized, the Journal said, citing the people familiar with the visit, adding that Xi could travel to Russia in April or early May.

Russian state-run news agency TASS referenced the Journal’s report, saying Xi “may soon” visit Russia.

Putin extended an invitation to Xi during a customary end-of-year call between the two leaders, but China’s Foreign Ministry has yet to confirm any plans.

“No-limits” partnership: Though China has claimed impartiality over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has refused to condemn Moscow and parroted Kremlin lines blaming NATO for provoking the conflict.

Beijing and Moscow are?as close as ever?since their leaders declared a?“no-limits” friendship?a year ago — partly driven by their shared animosity toward the United States. And as the US and its allies reaffirm their support for Ukraine and step up military aid, China’s deepening partnership with Russia has raised alarms in Western capitals.

Wang Yi speaks during a meeting with the Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister in Budapest on Monday.

China’s?top?diplomat Wang Yi met?with?Nikolai Patrushev, the?head?of?Russia’s?Security Council, in Moscow on Tuesday, according to?a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.

Wang and Patrushev also “exchanged their opinions” on the issue of Ukraine, the statement added, without offering details.

Wang will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, Russian state media TASS reported, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry. While neither country has specified whether Wang will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that “we do not exclude” such a meeting.

China-Russia partnership: Wang arrived in Moscow just days after?US officials?went public with concerns about how China’s continuing partnership with Russia could have an impact on the war in Ukraine. The Chinese leadership has claimed impartiality in the conflict but refused to condemn Russia’s invasion, instead?expanding trade ties?and continuing joint military exercises,?including this week.

Russia carried out a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed around the time?President Joe Biden was in Ukraine?on Monday, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.

Russia notified the United States in advance of the launch through deconfliction lines, one official said. Another official said that the test did not pose a risk to the United States and that the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation.

The test of the heavy SARMAT missile — nicknamed the Satan II in the West and capable of delivering multiple nuclear warheads — appears to have failed, officials said. It has been successfully tested before and had this one worked, US officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin would have highlighted the test in his State of the Nation address?on Tuesday.

Instead, Putin made no mention of the launch in the speech that lasted an hour and 45 minutes. He did, however, formally declare that Russia will be suspending his country’s participation in the?New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US, imperiling the last remaining pact that regulates the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

Read more here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has not seen any official peace plan from China and is counting on international support for Ukraine’s own peace formula.

During a joint press conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Zelensky said Ukraine is interested in all countries being involved in ending the war.

On Monday, China said it is willing to work with other countries to achieve an?early ceasefire and lasting peace?in Ukraine,?the country’s top diplomat?Wang?Yi?told state news agency Xinhua. Wang?arrived in Moscow?on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wang shared with him key points of China’s peace plan, but Ukraine’s peace formula purposed by Zelensky remains the priority.?

“We look forward to receiving the text, as this is not a place where you can jump to conclusions just by hearing what the plan is about. We need to find out all the details. Once we receive the document, we will carefully study it and draw conclusions,” Kuleba said.?

Czech President-elect Petr Pavel on Tuesday called US President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv and Warsaw an “extremely strong signal” of Washington’s commitment to Ukraine and its European allies.

The former Czech army chief, who was elected as the country’s new leader in January, warned against negotiating with Russia, saying eastern European countries that were part of the Soviet Union-era Warsaw Pact defense treaty were highly aware of Russia’s capabilities.?

He said the Russians had suffered several “fatal mistakes” in Ukraine but cautioned Moscow shouldn’t be underestimated.

Pavel gave a note of caution on the question of supplying Ukraine with military aircraft, given it takes at least half a year to train pilots and ground and support crews. “It’s much easier to train crews for tanks and artillery,” he said.

Poland will deliver 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in the “next two or three weeks” once the training of the Ukrainian troops is complete, the country’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.

?ukasz Jasina, spokesperson for Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Warsaw supported sending fighter jets to Kyiv but there was still some way to go in achieving a consensus among NATO countries.

“But we are a member of NATO, and we want to reach agreement in all such issues to participate in this together because the alliance is stronger when we are together,” he said.

President Joe Biden vowed in a fiery speech Tuesday to continue supporting Ukraine as it enters?a second year of war, repeatedly denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin and promising the United States would not waver even as the conflict enters a new, more uncertain phase.

In his second major address in less than a year from the same Polish castle, Biden said before a large, energetic crowd that Western resolve was stiffening in the face of Putin’s assault on democracy.

He used his trip to the Ukrainian capital a day earlier as evidence that the democracies of the world are growing stronger in the face of autocracy, repeatedly noting Kyiv remained in Ukrainian hands despite the early expectations inside the Kremlin.

In remarkably pointed terms, Biden accused Putin of atrocities and said his attempt to subjugate a sovereign nation wouldn’t succeed.

By contrast, Putin didn’t name Biden once in a lengthy and belligerent address from Moscow earlier in the day. In other ways as well, the two presidents’ speeches could not have been more different. Biden was introduced to a driving electronic pop anthem; meanwhile in Moscow, some members of Putin’s audience appeared to fall asleep during his one-hour-and-45-minute speech.

Read more here.

Russian President?Vladimir Putin?said he is suspending his country’s participation in the New START?nuclear arms?reduction treaty with the United States, imperiling the last remaining pact that regulates the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.

Putin made the declaration in his much-delayed annual?state of the nation address?to Russia’s National Assembly on Tuesday.

Hours after Putin’s speech, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the decision to suspend participation in the treaty was “reversible.”

The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. It was last extended in early 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides would soon need to begin negotiating on another arms control agreement.

Some context: Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the United States and Russia are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, though inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Russia is not withdrawing from the pact completely, it appears to be formalizing its current position. For months,?US officials have been frustrated over Russia’s lack of co-operation with the agreement.

Read more here.