Live blog: 23,000 people missing since Russia-Ukraine war began — Red Cross

Monday, February 19, 2024

1444 GMT — Two years after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the International Red Cross has said it is seeking to clarify the fate of 23,000 people whose families have no news of them.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the people are missing because they have either been captured, killed or because they lost contact after fleeing their homes.

The Red Cross did not say whether they were missing from Ukraine or territories seized by Russia after Moscow sent its forces into its neighbour on February 24, 2022.

"Not knowing what happened to a loved one is excruciating, and this is the tragic reality for tens of thousands of families who live in a state of constant anguish," said Dusan Vujasanin, who heads the ICRC's Central Tracing Agency Bureau for the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

More updates 👇

1619 GMT — Biden willing to meet with Republican US House speaker over Ukraine aid

US President Joe Biden has said he is willing to meet with House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss a funding bill for Ukraine's war against Russia, saying that Republicans are making a mistake by opposing the aid package.

The Senate in a bipartisan vote earlier this month passed a $95 billion aid package that includes funds for Ukraine, but Johnson so far has declined even to bring it up for a vote on the floor of the House, which Republicans control by a narrow 219-212 margin.

He has been demanding a meeting with Biden.

1436 GMT — Ukraine claims it downed two Russian fighter jets

Ukraine has claimed it downed two Russian fighter jets over the country.

An initial statement on Telegram by Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, said the country’s air defences shot down a Sukhoi Su-34 and a Sukhoi Su-35S in the country’s east, near the border with Russia.

Oleshchuk claimed in a later statement that the Su-35S crashed in the Sea of Azov, an inland sea leading into the Black Sea, while satellite systems showed the Su-34’s location to be near the coastal city of Mariupol in Donetsk.

Russian authorities have not yet commented on the claim.​​​​​​​

1430 GMT —Ukrainian children repatriated from Russia after Qatari mediation

Eleven Ukrainian children have set off from Russia to Ukraine to be reunited with their families in the latest transfer between the warring sides under a Qatari-mediated scheme.

The children, aged between two and 16, were hosted at the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday ahead of a long journey via Belarus which should see them cross into northwestern Ukraine on Tuesday.

This latest operation includes several children with special medical needs, including two aged five and six who have chronic conditions.

1341 GMT — Polish foreign minister supports idea of stationing German troops

In a shift from the previous leadership, the new Polish government would welcome German soldiers stationed in Poland, the nation’s foreign minister has said.

"German officers are already working here (in Poland) in several NATO outposts, in my hometown of Bydgoszcz, and also in Szczecin (near the German border)," Radoslaw Sikorski told Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

"After Russian missiles fell near the border, we temporarily deployed German Patriot batteries to secure the eastern border" with besieged Ukraine.

"We are done with demonising democratic Germany. This is a controversial topic for nationalists, but not for us. Germany is our ally, we are happy with allied cooperation to secure NATO territory," he said.

1245 GMT — Russia attacking with 'heavy fire' in south: Ukraine

Ukrainian troops have been facing "heavy fire" from advancing Russian forces in the southern Zaporizhzhia region after Moscow made its most significant territorial gain in nine months last week, Ukrainian army figures said.

Moscow's forces are back on the offensive across eastern and southern Ukraine, and have forced Kiev into a hasty withdrawal from the town of Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, securing their first major gain since the capture of Bakhmut in May 2023.

Senior Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Tarnavsky said that Russia was now launching multiple attacks near the village of Robotyne — one of the few places where Ukraine had managed to regain ground during last year's counter-offensive.

1241 GMT — Swedish Military Intelligence says Russia risks growing

The risks to Sweden's security have continued to grow in the last year as Russia ramps up its military capacity amid the war in Ukraine, the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST) said.

MUST last year said Russia poses a clear military threat in Sweden's immediate area, but added that Moscow's forces were largely tied up in the Ukraine war.

In the wake of Russia's offensive against Ukraine, Sweden in 2022 applied for NATO membership, abandoning its long-held non-aligned status. The Nordic nation hopes to complete the membership process and join the alliance in the near future.

1236 GMT — Ukrainian President Zelenskyy visits northeastern front line

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited the northeastern sector of the front line where he met troops fighting against invading Russian forces, his office reported.

He paid a visit to the command post of the brigade that defends Kupiansk, a target of intensified Russian assault since mid-autumn.

0850 GMT — EU must send 'message of support' to Russian opposition: Borrell

EU foreign ministers meeting with the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Monday will send a "message of support" to the Kremlin's opponents after his death in jail, the bloc's top diplomat said.

"We have to send a message of support to the Russian opposition," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told journalists.

0846 GMT — Polish border blockade a 'security threat': Ukraine

Ukraine's infrastructure minister has said that Polish farmers blocking the countries' shared border posed a "direct threat to the security" of Ukraine.

"Blocking the border is a direct threat to the security of a defending country," Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a statement posted on Facebook.

"Such actions have a negative impact on our confrontation with the common enemy called Russia."

0838 GMT — Japan, Ukraine sign 56 agreements for post-war recovery

Japan and Ukraine signed around 56 agreements in a range of fields including post-war recovery.

The agreements were signed during the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction in Tokyo.

Addressing the conference, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said fighting was still going on in Ukraine and "that the situation is not easy," Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

Tokyo hosted the one-day conference as the Russia-Ukraine war completes two years this month.

0821 GMT — EU needs to 'sharpen' Russia sanctions after Navalny's death: Landsbergis

Lithuania's foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the EU needs to "at least sharpen" sanctions against Russia after Alexei Navalny's death.

"If Ukraine falls, everybody is very clear to understand: we will be next. Putin has no intention to stop, he wouldn't be able to stop," Landsbergis said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, where they will be joined by the widow of Navalny.

Navalny, prominent Russian opposition leader, died on Friday at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence.

0752 GMT — Russia has yet to establish official cause of Navalny death, spokeswoman says

Russian investigators have not yet established the cause of Alexei Navalny's death and it is unclear how long it will take for official conclusions to be made, his mother was told, Navalny's spokeswoman said.

Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.

Navalny's mother, Lyudmila, was told on Saturday at the prison colony that he had perished from "sudden death syndrome," a vague term for different hearth conditions that end in death, according to Navalny's team.

0500 GMT — Navalny's widow joins EU foreign ministers as Ukraine war nears two-year mark

The widow of Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition figure who died in an Arctic prison last week, joins EU foreign ministers in Brussels, days before the two-year mark of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Yulia Navalnaya told a Western gathering of leaders, diplomats and other officials in Munich on Friday that Putin and his allies would bear responsibility "for what they did to our country, to my family, to my husband."

The chairman of the bloc's 27 foreign ministers' discussions, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, announced Navalnaya's visit, saying the gathering would highlight "support to freedom fighters in Russia and honour the memory of Alexei Navalny."

0434 GMT — Russian forces in full control of Avdiivka coke plant: Moscow

The Russian military has taken full control of the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant, Russian state news agencies reported, after Russian forces seized control of most of the town over the weekend following months of devastating combat.

Russia said on Sunday it was in control of the town in the Donetsk region, but that Ukrainian units were entrenched at the plant — Ukraine's last stronghold on the northwestern edges of Avdiivka.

"Russian flags were hoisted on the administrative buildings of the plant," TASS state news agency cited a statement from the defence ministry.

RIA state news agency published a short aerial muted video showing sporadic blasts across what it seem like an industrial plant.

0357 GMT — Ukraine PM seeks reconstruction help in Japan

Ukraine's prime minister urged Japan's government and private sector to step up support for the country's reconstruction, promising an "economic miracle" once the almost two-year-old war with Russia ends.

"Since the full-scale invasion started Japan has provided Ukraine with over $10 billion of various support," making it the fourth-biggest donor, Denys Shmygal told a conference of around 300 government and business leaders from Japan and Ukraine.

"Thanks to this funding during this terrible war caused by Russia, millions of Ukrainian people have been able to survive," Shmygal said through an interpreter.

Zelenskyy had also been due to address the gathering in Tokyo by video link but this was cancelled, organisers said without elaborating.

For our live updates from Sunday, February 18, click here.