Live blog: At least 45,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine: media probe

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

1525 GMT — The BBC Russian Service and news outlet Mediazona have confirmed the identity of around 45,000 Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine since the offensive began in February 2022.

The issue of military casualties is extremely sensitive in both countries. Russia has banned criticism of the conflict and no official figures have been released since 2022.

"The BBC, together with Mediazona... and a team of volunteers managed to establish the names of 45,123 Russian militaries who died in the war in Ukraine since February 2022," the report said.

It only included the names of soldiers publicly identified in open-source data -- mainly obituaries — and warned the real toll may be twice as high.

"Two-thirds of the dead we have identified had no links to the army prior to the invasion: volunteers, mobilised, prisoners and private company recruits," the BBC's Russian language service said.

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1812 GMT — UNSC 'paralysis' on Gaza, Ukraine 'unacceptable,' Brazil tells G20

Brazil's foreign minister has criticised the "paralysis" of the UN Security Council on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as he opened a G20 meeting where the international community's deep divisions are on display.

"Multilateral institutions are not properly equipped to deal with the current challenges, as has been demonstrated by the Security Council's unacceptable paralysis on the ongoing conflicts," Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told the opening session of a two-day meeting of top diplomats from the world's 20 biggest economies.

1757 GMT — Czechs in talks to secure up to 30 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany

The Czech Republic is in talks with Germany to get 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks as a gift compensating Czech military support for Ukraine and to possibly buy 15 more from the German defence industry, the Czech Defence Ministry has said.

The Czechs already received 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany as a previous donation, and also plan to order dozens of the most modern 2A8 versions to be delivered in the coming years.

1705 GMT — EU states back plan to shield farmers from Ukraine imports

EU member states have backed a push from Brussels for "safeguards" to stop cheap Ukrainian farm imports from flooding the market amid angry demonstrations in Poland.

A European diplomat said that the proposal "was widely supported, with the exception of the 'frontline' member states" bordering Ukraine, such as Poland.

Polish farmers have been blockading routes out of Ukraine to protest what they call "uncontrolled" imports and demand a change to EU agricultural policy.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a meeting with the Polish government to try to solve the dispute, which he said only benefitted the Kremlin.

1646 GMT — Ukraine: no official information on Iran supplying Russia with ballistic missiles

Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson has said there was no official information on Iran supplying Russia with hundreds of ballistic missiles.

"So far, our official sources do not have information about receiving missiles, especially such a large number," Yuriy Ihnat said on national TV.

Six sources have told Reuters that Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.

1509 GMT — Sweden warns of Russia threat on eve of NATO membership

Sweden's Security Service (Sapo) has said Russia posed a threat to its territorial security amid heightened interest in the Arctic as the Scandinavian country prepares to join NATO.

Moscow also increasingly poses a threat of industrial espionage, as Sweden was seeing a rise in undercover agents from several countries, Sapo said as it presented its annual threat assessment report.

Sweden dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and applied for NATO membership in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine. Stockholm expects Hungary, the last holdout, to ratify its membership on Monday.

1502 GMT — Brussels to finalise Ukraine EU talks framework 'by summer'

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has said that Brussels aimed to present its framework for EU accession talks with Ukraine by the "beginning of summer".

For the European Union and Ukraine to start negotiations, the executive, led by von der Leyen, must draw up a framework for the talks, which must be approved by all 27 EU member states.

Von der Leyen said her "best guess" was that the framework would not be ready before European Parliament elections in June.

1452 GMT — France's Macron hails Bulgaria's stance since start of war in Ukraine

France’s president has hailed Bulgaria's support for embattled Ukraine, and its stance since the start of the war in 2022.

"We act together with our European partners to support Ukraine," Emmanuel Macron told a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov in Paris.

Mentioning the European Union’s $54 billion aid package for Ukraine announced on February 1, he praised Bulgarian authorities' "bravery since the start of the conflict to change the paradigm of relations with Russia."

1402 GMT — Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant's supply line damaged in Russian shelling: Ukraine

Ukraine has said the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's energy supply line was damaged due to shelling by Russian forces.

"After another attack by the Russians, the line that provided the energy supply to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station was damaged," Ukraine's power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.

The statement said the operator's specialists established the damage inflicted and are carrying out emergency and restoration work — but depending on the security situation and with the permission of the Ukrainian army due to ongoing military operations in the area.

1229 GMT — BAE profit jumps as Ukraine war boosts defence spending

British military equipment maker BAE Systems has announced a 17-percent jump in annual net profit as government defence spending increased amid the war in Ukraine.

Profit after tax stood at almost £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion) for 2023, BAE said in a statement. Revenue climbed nine percent to £23 billion.

"Our performance, combined with our global footprint and record order intake, means we're well-positioned for sustained growth in the coming years," chief executive Charles Woodburn said in the earnings statement.

1136 GMT — Europeans pessimistic on Ukraine's chances of victory: survey

Only 10 percent of Europeans believe Ukraine can defeat Russia on the battlefield, according to a survey released ahead of the second anniversary of the war.

The European Council on Foreign Relations poll comes as Kiev has acknowledged facing frontline difficulties and doubts swirl over Western backing.

The survey conducted last month across 12 EU countries showed that on average 20 percent of those asked believed Russia could win, and 37 percent thought the conflict would end in a compromise settlement.

1118 GMT — Moscow 'open to resolving conflict in Ukraine peacefully': Lavrov

Moscow is open to resolving the conflict in Ukraine peacefully, and Kiev's self-imposed ban prevents the start of negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Speaking in an interview with the Brazilian daily O Globo, Lavrov doubted that Ukraine would engage in talks with Russia, saying:

"Kiev and the West are focused on promoting Zelenskyy's formula, which contains an unacceptable ultimatum for Russia, and flat out rejects other initiatives, including Brazil's."

0933 GMT — EU approves new wave of Ukraine-related Russia sanctions package

The European Union has approved its 13th package of sanctions against Russia, the EU's Belgian presidency said on social media platform X.

"EU Ambassadors just agreed in principle on a 13th package of sanctions in the framework of Russia's aggression against Ukraine", the Belgian presidency said, calling it "one of the broadest approved by the EU".

The new package will see nearly 200 entities and individuals added to the list but no fresh sectoral measures.

The package will be formally approved in time for the second anniversary of the start of Russia's "special military operation" of Ukraine on February 24.

0857 GMT — Ukraine claims it shot down Russian Su-34 fighter jet

The Ukrainian Air Forces shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter jet killing the crew, commander Mykola Oleshchuk has claimed.

The Air Forces also targeted another fighter jet, Su-35 but its pilot managed to dodge the attack, Oleshchuk said in a statement on Telegram.

In a separate statement, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed it shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet, a missile of the US-made air defence system Patriot, and three rockets of the American HIMARS multiple launch rocket system.

0753 GMT — Ukraine denies losing Dnipro river bridgehead to Russia

Ukraine's army on Wednesday denied that it had lost Krynky, its bridgehead on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro river, a day after Russia's defence minister said the area had been taken.

Ukrainian troops last year established positions around the tiny east bank village on the war, crossing into the Moscow-controlled side of the river in what was touted as a major success.

The Dnipro river marks the frontline along the southern end of the front.

"We officially inform that this information is not true," the command of the Ukrainian army on the southern front said on social media.

"The defence forces of southern Ukraine continue to hold their positions (in Krynky)."

0553 GMT — Russia's top general visits troops in Ukraine to discuss next steps

Russia's top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, visited troops fighting in the war in Ukraine to discuss the next steps after the taking the town of Avdiivka, state media has reported.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russian troops would push further into Ukraine to build on their success on the battlefield after the fall of the town of Avdiivka where he said Ukrainian troops had been forced to flee in chaos.

Gerasimov was shown awarding medals to Russian troops involved in taking Avdiivka and he was given a report by the commander in charge of the Russian assault on Avdiivka, Colonel-General Andrei Mordvichev, state media said.

0043 GMT — G20 Ukraine discussion is 'destructive': Russia

The inclusion of the topic of Ukraine at the Group of 20 meetings is destructive and the politicisation of the Group is unacceptable, Russia's Foreign Ministry said ahead of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Brazil.

Russia said that the topic of Ukraine is "non-core" for the G20.

"The Russian delegation intends to draw special attention of partners to the unacceptability of politicisation of the G20, which, according to its mandate, is designed to focus strictly on socio-economic challenges," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.

"The inclusion of non-core issues, including the Ukrainian issue, on the G20 agenda at the instigation of the West is destructive."

2348 GMT — Eleven Ukraine children returned from Russia

Eleven Ukrainian children crossed the border from Belarus to Ukraine, in the latest return of children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the nearly two-year Ukraine conflict.

The children were received by the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday before travelling to Belarus and walking across the one-kilometre border zone — while some relatives were able to meet the children directly in Moscow.

For our live updates from Tuesday, February 20, click here.