overview
- Moscow troops raise the flag over Avdiivka, Ukraine retreats to prepared positions
- Ukraine shoots down another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber that reportedly flew into a Ukrainian civilian neighborhood
- On the 10th anniversary, Ukrainians remember the “Heavenly Hundred”.
- President Zelensky urges the world not to ask Ukraine when the war will end, but to ask about Putin
The Kremlin captures the embattled city of Avdiivka in Moscow's first major advance in months
Russian soldiers have carried out several attacks west of the recently captured Avdiivka to gain more ground, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Sunday.
Lack of manpower and ammunition forced Ukraine to withdraw from the industrial hub in the eastern Donetsk region, giving Moscow its first significant territorial gain in the war since May 2023.
“The enemy is actively pushing forward its attack,” Dmytro Lykhoviy, a spokesman for the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on state television on Sunday.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported 14 failed Russian attacks on the village of Lastochkyne, about two kilometers west of Avdiivka. Lykhoviy indicated that Ukrainian forces were strongly positioned there.
There were also unsuccessful Russian attacks near the villages of Robotyne and Verbove in the southern Zaporizhia region.
He said it would be “very difficult” for Russia to break through given the strong Ukrainian defense lines and the topography of the site.
“The situation in the Zaporizhia sector is stable… No jobs have been lost,” he said on state television on Sunday.
Image from WarMapper.org by X (formerly Twitter).
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the following followed the fall of Avdiivka into Russian hands:
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“Ukrainian forces will likely be able to establish new defense lines not far beyond Avdiivka, which will likely represent the climax of the Russian offensive in this area. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed on February 18 that elements of the Russian Central Grouping of Armed Forces had fully captured Avdiivka, advancing 8.6 km in depth in that area, and that Russian forces were conducting offensive operations to capture additional areas in the region Donetsk continued.
“Several Russian mibloggers claimed on February 18 that Ukrainian forces west of Avdiivka lacked well-prepared defensive positions and that Russian forces would be able to advance further into western Donetsk Oblast, behind the 'panicked' and 'disorganized.' ' Ukrainian forces withdrawing from Avdiivka.
“ISW has still not observed footage of disorderly Ukrainian withdrawals to support these Russian claims and would expect to observe such footage if the withdrawal had been disorderly on a large scale, given normal patterns of Russian sources pointing to such Access material.
“A Russian Milblogger claimed that a large-scale collapse of the Avdiivka Front was 'unlikely' as Ukrainian forces would retreat to prepared defensive lines, but this suggests that the Russian understanding (or representation) of Ukrainian defensive capabilities in this sector of the front varies from source to source.”
Kyiv Post has updated information on the current situation west of Avdiivka here.
Ukraine shoots down six Sukhoi fighter-bombers in three days
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) say they shot down six Russian warplanes in less than 72 hours.
Early Sunday morning, a video of a plane crash in the Luhansk region, reportedly involving a Russian Su-34, began making rounds on social media.
Ukrainian defenders “shot down” another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber on Sunday morning, according to Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk, quoted by RBC Ukraine news agency.
Some reports suggest that the pilot, aware of his ultimate fate, may have intentionally crashed into a residential area.
According to a report in Ukrainska Pravda:
“A Russian pilot flew his badly damaged aircraft towards villages in Antratsyt, the Luhansk Regional Military Administration reported
Artem Lysohor, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, reported that the warplane dropped several guided bomb units on positions of Ukrainian defenders for the first time on February 17.
Quote from Lysohor: “And if it [the aircraft] had been hit, he [the pilot] thought only of himself as he flew the damaged fighter plane.
“That is why he flew the plane towards the settlements of Antratsyt in the occupied Luhansk region and not into fields and forests.
Ukrainska Pravda reported that “residents of the village of Dyakove saw this Russian fighter jet killing civilians.”
The AFU reportedly shot down two more Russian fighters today. Details of these two engagements are not yet known.
On Saturday, February 17, Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down three Russian fighter jets – two Su-34s and one Su-35 – over the Donetsk region.
The Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) is Russia's best front-line fighter-bomber.
Its main role is to fire laser-guided bombs or long-range guided missiles for precision attacks on ground targets. However, it also has advanced radars and can be equipped with modern air-to-air missiles.
The aircraft costs around $36 million per example, making it one of the most expensive aircraft in the Russian military.
The AFU General Staff says it has shot down 335 Russian military aircraft since February 24, 2022.
Ukrainian air defenses also destroyed 12 Shahed attack drones and one Kh-59 cruise missile in separate incidents.
Ukraine remembers the “Heavenly Hundred” killed in the Maidan Nezalezhnosti protests a decade ago this week
On February 18, an evening memorial service in memory of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes was held in St. Michael's Cathedral.
Following the memorial service in the cathedral, a traditional memorial procession started from St. Michael's Cathedral to the Allee of the Heavenly Hundred.
A Kyiv Post journalist recalls a text message he received on the morning of February 19, 2014 from a Ukrainian student who was learning English with the then language teacher in the capital: “I can’t come today. My friend died.”
He was a student killed overnight in the deadly sniper attack by Yanukovych's Berkut special police against the Maidan protests.
At a memorial service the following Sunday, his photo was displayed on the Maidan stage after the pro-Russian dictator fled to Rostov-on-Don. It was the last photo his girlfriend took before he was shot in the first shots of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
At the Munich Security Conference, President Zelensky asked the question of how Putin is still able to continue in Ukraine
According to the Guardian, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Please don't ask Ukraine when the war will end.” Ask yourself: Why is Putin still able to carry on like this?” as he addressed delegates to the Munich Security Conference on Saturday .
Zelensky shared a video of the speech online and also wrote: “We can get our country back. And Putin can lose.”