Live blog: Finland approves $205M military aid package for Ukraine

Saturday, February 10, 2024

1520 GMT — Finland has approved the 22nd military aid package for Ukraine worth some $205M, local media reported.

The latest package would bring the total value of military aid packages Finland has approved for Ukraine since the war in Ukraine started almost two years ago to over $1.9B, the public broadcaster YLE noted.

Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said that the country is exploring long-term ways of supporting Ukraine.

"There is a lot of know-how in the Finnish industrial sector and we are working to ensure that this know-how and capacity can be used more effectively to support Ukraine, as well,” he said.

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1828 GMT — NATO chief calls on Europe to ramp up arms production

NATO's secretary general has called on Europe to increase its arms production to support Ukraine and prevent "potentially decades of confrontation" with Moscow, in an interview published by German media Saturday.

Ahead of a key meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels and the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, Jens Stoltenberg insisted that "we need to reconstitute and expand our industrial base faster, to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks."

"This means shifting from slow peacetime to high-tempo conflict production," he told the German Sunday daily Welt am Sonntag.

1816 GMT — Ukraine's Zelenskyy reboots military team

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced five senior military appointments, filling out a rebooted team after he named Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi this week as the new armed forces chief.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said he spent the day meeting his military leadership and government and that experienced "combat commanders of this war" would be taking on new duties. The country is closing in on two years of war since Russia's full-scale invasion.

Zelenskyy said he had also approved nominations of three brigadier generals as deputies of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - Volodymyr Horbatyuk, who would run operations and management, Oleksiy Shevchenko, in charge of logistics, and Mykhailo Drapatyi on training.

"We continue the reboot of the management team," Zelenskyy's Telegram channel quoted him as saying in the address.

1224 GMT — Russia foils Ukrainian drone attack on civilian cargo ships in Black Sea

Russia has said it had repelled without damage a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian "civilian transport ships" in the southwestern area of the Black Sea, a key artery for grain and oil exports from both countries.

In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging application, Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine had attempted what it called "a terrorist attack on Russian civilian transport ships using semi-submersible naval drones in the southwestern part of the Black Sea".

1207 GMT — Ukraine dismisses first deputy defence minister

Ukraine has dismissed first deputy defence minister Oleksandr Pavliuk, a lawmaker said.

Taras Melnichuk wrote on Telegram that Pavliuk "would assume another position," without specifying which one.

It is said that Pavliuk could take charge as the new ground forces commander.

Earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Oleksandr Syrskyi as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces after dismissing Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who had held the post since July 2021.

Zelenskyy said, “a reset, a new beginning is necessary."

0611 GMT — Ukrainian civilians killed in Russian drone attack — governor

A Russian drone attack killed seven civilians, including three children, in Ukraine's city of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Synehubov has said.

Synehubov said the Russian forces attacked the city of Kharkiv with Shaded drones late on Friday night.

"As a result of the strikes, seven people died, among them three children: seven-, four-years old, and a baby about six-months old," he said on the Telegram messaging app.

0055 GMT — Ukraine aid nears US approval, yet Republican hurdles remain

The US Senate has edged closer to passing a bill that includes $95.34 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but faces an uncertain path to becoming law due to Republican opposition in both chambers of Congress.

The Senate voted Friday 64-19 to advance the legislation one step along a chain of preliminary votes that could stretch into next week unless party leaders can reach an agreement with rank-and-file lawmakers to fast-track the bill. Lawmakers expect to take the next procedural step in a rare Sunday session.

Many Republicans want to make a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, to allow amendments to the legislation in exchange for quicker action.

But other Republicans, who reject the bill's $61 billion in Ukraine aid, have vowed to delay consideration for as long as possible by forcing the Senate to comply with a labyrinth of time-consuming parliamentary rules.

2111 GMT — Scholz, Biden warn on Ukraine aid amid US impasse

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden have urged US lawmakers to approve a long-delayed military aid package for Ukraine, warning that Kiev could not hold off Russia without it.

"The failure of the United States' Congress in not supporting Ukraine is close to criminal neglect," Biden said as he hosted Scholz in the Oval Office.

"It is outrageous."

2108 GMT — Officials report drone attack on Kharkiv

Drones attacked civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and officials reported explosions in the city.

Suspilne public television said its reporters had observed a glow from a fire over the city, a frequent target of Russian forces in recent weeks.

For our live updates from Friday, February 9, click here.