Because the struggle enters its 708th day, these are the primary developments.
Right here is the state of affairs on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
Preventing
- A Russian bomb hit a hospital in northeastern Ukraine, forcing the evacuation of dozens of sufferers, smashing home windows and damaging gear. Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the Kharkiv regional department of the nationwide police, mentioned the bomb made a direct hit on the hospital within the city of Velykyi Burluk, northeast of Kharkiv, and a second bomb landed close by. 4 folks have been barely injured.
- Ukraine’s air defences shot down 14 out of 20 drones launched by Russia in an in a single day assault that injured one particular person and broken industrial buildings. The air power mentioned the Iranian-made Shahed drones and three Iskander missiles focused 5 Ukrainian areas within the south and the east.
- Russia mentioned it destroyed 20 missiles launched by Ukraine over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow invaded in 2014 after which annexed.
- Ukraine’s air power commander Mykola Oleshchuk mentioned its forces struck the Belbek navy airfield in Crimea. He didn’t go into element.
Politics and diplomacy
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged a whole bunch of prisoners of struggle. Russia’s Defence Ministry mentioned 195 of its troopers have been freed, whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned 207 folks, together with some civilians, had been returned to Ukraine.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz instructed his nation’s parliament that he would rally European companions to ship help for Ukraine that was “so large” it might weigh on Russian President Vladimir Putin. His feedback got here forward of a key European Union summit on 50 billion euros ($54bn) of funding for Ukraine that’s being blocked by Hungary.
- Victoria Nuland, america appearing deputy secretary of state, visited Kyiv and mentioned she was inspired by Ukraine’s strengthening defences and that Moscow ought to count on some “surprises” on the battlefield. A US navy help package deal for Ukraine is being held up in Congress by Republicans who need to hyperlink it to coverage adjustments on the US border. Nuland mentioned she was assured it might be adopted.
- The Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) rejected a lot of a case filed by Ukraine that accused Russia of bankrolling separatist rebels in japanese Ukraine a decade in the past, saying solely that Moscow had failed to research alleged breaches.
- Boris Nadezhdin submitted his bid to run for the Russian presidency in March’s election after delivering 105,000 signatures backing his marketing campaign to the Central Election Fee (CEC). The 60-year-old has emerged as a distinguished critic of the Kremlin and promised to finish the struggle in Ukraine.
Weapons
- The EU’s international coverage chief Josep Borrell admitted that the EU’s promise to provide Ukraine with a million artillery shells by March would fall brief, with simply over half that quantity anticipated to be delivered by that deadline. The remaining 155-mm artillery shells are prone to be delivered by the top of the 12 months, Borrell mentioned.