The 358th day of the Ukrainian war. Latest information [papildināts 21:25]

Live text broadcast – short and concise about the most important things in the Ukrainian war on February 16. Ukraine has been heroically defending its land against the invasion of the aggressor for a year

21.25. The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court decided to transfer the companies owned by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaskas to the ownership of the Ukrainian state: the Mykolaiv aluminum oxide factory, the Gluhiva quartzite quarry, the Khusta and Zheshelyva quarries, etc., the “Pravda” portal informs.

20.21. Russia and Ukraine have carried out another exchange of prisoners, and Ivan Samoidyuk, the vice-mayor of Enerhodar, has returned to Ukraine as a result of this exchange, the Coordination Staff for the Exchange of Prisoners of Ukraine said.

“100 soldiers and one civilian – Ivan Samoidyuk, the first deputy of the head of Enerhodar city, have returned home. He did not break down, he refused to cooperate with the enemy, and the occupiers kidnapped him last year on March 19 at the checkpoint near Blahovishchenko. After 333 days of captivity, he is returning to his relatives,” the statement said.

20.00. In Kherson region on February 16, three people were killed and seven were injured as a result of Russian army shooting.

19:25. Israel will grant Ukraine 200 million dollars for the creation of medical infrastructure, as well as help with the development of an early warning system, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.

“We support the guarantee of more than 200 million dollars for the creation of infrastructure, which will be used in the field of health protection and psychological assistance. I also announced that we will help with the development of an intelligent early warning system for Ukraine,” the Israeli minister was quoted as saying by the Ukrinform news agency.

18:16. NATO must be ready for a long confrontation with Russia beyond the current crisis caused by Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine launched a year ago, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

“[Krievijas] the president [Vladimirs] Putin wants a different Europe, he wants a Europe where he can control his neighbors, where he can decide what countries can do,” the alliance leader said in an interview with the AFP news agency. “We have to be ready for a long test, it can last many, many, many, for many years.”

18:00. The Estonian Police and Border Guard Department, following the recommendation of the Security Police, canceled the long-term residence permit of non-citizen Sergej Chaulin, who has been spreading Russian propaganda for years. After the cancellation of the residence permit, Chaulins left Estonia for Russia on February 14, the Security Police said.

17:15. Ukraine will be able to launch a large-scale counter-offensive in the next few months if the West provides it with the military assistance it needs, according to analysts at the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

16:13. Members of the European Parliament (EP) call for serious consideration of the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Western combat aircraft, helicopters, appropriate missile systems, as well as significantly increasing ammunition supplies, Jānis Krastiņš, press secretary of the EP in Latvia, informed LETA agency.

14:50. Russia is waging war not only against Ukraine, but also against the architecture of European peace and security, the chairman of the European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister, told journalists today.

Next week will mark one year since Russia launched an aggressive war against Ukraine, which McAllister stressed is unjustifiable. He emphasized that on February 24, one year will pass since the war has returned to Europe.

He pointed out that it is important to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and support it, and it is also necessary to increase economic, financial, humanitarian and military support, because the stakes are high.

14:22. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived on Thursday for a visit to Kyiv, where he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleb.

This will be the Israeli foreign minister’s first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 last year.

Israel has tried to maintain a neutral position in this conflict.

13:45. Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs (JV) met today with Ukrainian Ambassador to Latvia Oleksandrs Mishchenko, thanking him for his personal contribution to strengthening relations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that the minister expressed gratitude for the ambassador’s contribution to strengthening bilateral relations and active cooperation since the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Rinkēvičs reaffirmed all possible support of Latvia to Ukraine, expressing hope for a quick victory of Ukraine in the war against Russia. He praised the heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people for the freedom and independence of their land. Rinkēvičs confirmed Latvia’s close support for Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.

12:53. British intelligence believes that Russian forces still have a fairly large number of aircraft, but it is unlikely that Russia will therefore decide to dramatically expand the scale of the attack with them. Russian fighter jets operate almost exclusively from Russian-controlled territory, which reduces both the effectiveness of their use and the risks of being shot down, reports pravda.com.ua.

11:46. On Thursday night, the Russians fired 32 cruise missiles at Ukraine, 14 of which were destroyed by air defense, the press service of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced. Two H-59 missiles were also destroyed. 32 cruise missile missiles launched from ships and bombers and aimed at critical infrastructure facilities.

10:34. The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Aleksej Danilov states that the Russian invaders are preparing a new massive missile attack on Ukraine, which could take place on February 23-24. “It should be taken calmly, besides, we are ready for it,” emphasizes A. Danilovs, reports pravda.com.ua.

08:59 During the past 24 hours, defenders of Ukraine repelled enemy attacks in more than 15 settlements.

As stated in the morning summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy is concentrating its main forces on conducting offensive operations in the directions of Kupyansk, Limansk, Bakhmutsk, Avdeyevsk, and Shakhtyorsk, in the districts of Hryanikovka, Bakhmut, Avdiyevka, Maryinka, and Vugledar.

08:45 The loss of Russian troops in Ukraine has reached 140,460 soldiers by Thursday morning, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.

08:11 In the vicinity of the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, local residents have found a new mass grave with 42 burials, where members of the Russian private mercenary group “Vagner” may have been buried, reported the Russian service of the British broadcasting company BBC.

The mass grave was found in early February near the village of Kirovka. The inhabitants of the village said that no one visits these graves and they did not know any of those buried there.

The BBC’s Russian service found information in open sources about 37 men whose data match those on the tombstones.

“35 of them were Russian citizens, one was a citizen of Belarus, and another was born in Uzbekistan. Russian court websites have published court verdicts against 20 people who are brothers of the name buried in Luhansk. All of them should now have served their sentences in prisons,” noted BBC kgod service.

Most of the brothers of the names of the men buried near Luhansk have pages on social networks. “Judging by the publications, only one of them was an orphan, a few others spent most of their lives in prison and probably did not have close people outside the colonies. Most of them, however, were in constant contact with relatives and friends,” the journalists added.

The mass grave found near Luhansk is already the third burial place found, where dozens of prisoners who fought against Ukraine as part of “Wagner” were buried.

07:47 Ukraine will receive less Leopard 2 tanks from Western allies than promised, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

Pistorius noted after a meeting with colleagues from other NATO countries that it would be difficult for Western allies to assemble two full battalions of Leopard 2 tanks to send to Ukraine as promised.

Germany and Portugal are the only countries that have undertaken to send “Leopard 2A6” tanks to Ukraine. Germany has promised 14 tanks of this model, and Portugal – three. “We’re not going to be battalion size,” Pistorius said.

According to him, Poland has collected about 30 units of the old version of the “Leopard 2”, which is almost enough for a Ukrainian standard battalion of 31 tank units, however, many of these tanks are in poor condition and in need of repair. Pistorius added that these tanks will arrive in Ukraine only at the end of April.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced at the end of January that Germany and its allies will quickly create two battle tank battalions for Ukraine, while the US promised to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks.

07:04 On the night of February 16, a wide air alert was announced throughout Ukraine. Air defense works in some regions.

Dmitry Lunin, head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration, announced the missile threat. He also added that anti-aircraft defense is operating in the Poltava region.

“There is anti-aircraft defense in the Poltava region. We are staying calm! We are in shelters until the end of the airstrike!” – he wrote in Telegram.

00:10 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi will meet with US President Joe Biden in Poland. “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna” writes about the possible visit to Poland and the upcoming meeting. The Polish side does not comment on news of the planned visit, citing security concerns. However, according to sources in Ukraine, Zelensky’s “diplomatic initiative” can be implemented in Poland and the UN forum.