Russian invasion of Ukraine: Day 721

Summary for Wednesday, 14th February 2024 - DAY 721

• Ukrainian armed forces have destroyed the large Russian landing ship Tsezar Kunikov off occupied Crimea in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces, together with the Defence Ministry’s intelligence unit, destroyed the large landing ship Tsezar Kunikov. It was in Ukrainian territorial waters near Alupka at the time of the hit,” the military said on the Telegram messaging app.
  Ukrainska Pravda, a major Ukrainian media outlet, published several videos showing a column of smoke over the sea off the southern coast of Crimea, as well as helicopters flying over the sea.  Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said the targeted ship was the Tsezar Kunikov, which took part in Russian military operations in Georgia in 2008.
  
  
• Russian bombing raids killed three people including a child late on Tuesday near Ukraine’s eastern city of Donetsk, the local council said. It reported that the strikes hit nine apartment blocks and a hospital in Selydove, about 20km (12 miles) west of the front line. Twelve people were also reported injured including four children.
  
  
• Russian state news said Ukraine launched nine drones over Russia’s Belgorod and Voronezh regions, as well as over the Black Sea. The report used the customary Russian official language that all the drones were intercepted – this was not independently confirmed.
  
  
• The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has welcomed the US Senate vote that approved $61bn in aid for Ukraine and sent it to the House of Representatives for a vote. “American assistance brings just peace in Ukraine closer and restores global stability, resulting in increased security and prosperity for all Americans and all the free world,” Zelenskiy said.
  
  
• The Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he was confident the bill – also providing assistance to Israel and other allies – would pass the House with support from both Republicans and Democrats if there were a vote, and called on House leaders to do the right thing.
  
  
• The House speaker, Mike Johnson, asked if he planned to put the bill to a vote, said “I certainly don’t” and suggested members were busy with other matters. But Republicans and Democrats in favour of supporting Ukraine could force a vote using a process called a “discharge petition” if enough of them banded together. The US president, Joe Biden, has urged members of the House to ignore the hectoring of Donald Trump and approve the bill.
  
  
• Russians forces blasted eight settlements and areas of Ukraine’s Sumy region 331 times on Tuesday, local officials said. Explosions were caused by mortars, artillery, a tank, kamikaze drones and other munitions. The communities that reportedly came under fire were Khotinsk, Yunakivsk, Bilopolsk, Krasnopilsk, as well as Myropilsk, Velikopysarivsk, Shalyginsk and Seredino-Budsk. There were no reports of casualties.
  
  
• Sanctions against Russia are having an effect but need to be broadened and more strictly enforced, according to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Nato secretary general. Rasmussen argued that Ukraine’s allies must tighten sanctions enforcement to stop western components getting into Russian armaments, increase sanctions against Russia’s war-mobilised heavy industry, and use frozen Russian assets to benefit Ukraine.
  
  
• Rasmussen writes in the Financial Times: “Victory will depend largely on whether Ukraine and its allies can outproduce Russia. We must realign our sanctions policy with this objective. We should recognise that although the measures will not force Moscow to end the war overnight, they are another tool to disrupt and degrade the country’s means of production. Every Russian tank we prevent from being built is one less that Ukrainian forces need to destroy.”
  
  
• Britain’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, will urge allies to increase defence production to help Ukraine, his office said ahead of a diplomatic tour to Bulgaria, Poland and Germany.
  
  
• Russia’s parliamentary speaker has said it will vote on 21 February on suspending its participation in the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE). The OSCE has 57 members including Russia and Ukraine.
  
  
• Russia attacked the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with missiles and drones on Tuesday, damaging a power plant and cutting off water supplies to some residents, Ukrainian officials and media said.
  
  
• Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the west within the next decade and could be deterred by a counter buildup of armed forces, Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service has said.
  
  
• Moscow has put the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, and other Baltic states officials on a wanted list, as Estonia warns of an imminent Russian military buildup along its border. The Russian foreign ministry said they were accused of “destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers”. Kallas said she would not be silenced and would continue her strong support for Ukraine and for “increasing Europe’s defence”.
  
  
• Russia has lost more than 3,000 tanks during its invasion of Ukraine – the equivalent of its entire prewar active inventory – but has enough lower-quality armoured vehicles in storage for years of replacements, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Ukraine had also suffered heavy losses but western military replenishments had allowed it to maintain inventories while upgrading quality, ISS analysts wrote.
  

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed nine Ukraine-launched drones over Russia’s Belgorod and Voronezh regions, as well as over the Black Sea

EU proposes sanctions on Chinese firms aiding Russian war effort

Bloc hoping to close loopholes that allow Moscow to route military technology via third countries

The EU is proposing to sanction companies in mainland China for the first time as part of its latest measures aimed at shutting down loopholes that allow Russia to route military technology via third countries to its weapons factories.
Three companies in mainland China, as well as four in Hong Kong and one in India, are on a 91-page document of companies and individuals who EU member states want to add to a growing sanctions list before the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As the EU, the UK and US representatives prepare to meet in Brussels on Wednesday, a source said more tools were needed to ensure Moscow could not get around existing restrictions.
A source said: “Russia is straining every sinew to get around our sanctions but we need to do more. We need to shut down loopholes, target circumvention routes, drive down revenues further.”

Ukraine claims to have sunk Russian landing ship in drone attack

Ukraine claims to have severely damaged and sunk a Russian landing ship in its latest drone attack against Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.
Ukrainian military intelligence released video on Wednesday that it said showed several naval drones approaching the Ropucha-class large landing ship Cesar Kunikov off the coast of Crimea.
The drones hit the port side of the ship, the agency said in a statement, adding that it “suffered critical holes on the port side [of the hull] and began to sink”.
The Cesar Kunikov is a Project 775 large landing ship that can carry 87 crew members onboard and was active in the conflicts in Syria, Georgia, and Ukraine, the agency said.
Video released on social media also showed a plume of smoke rising from a ship said to be in the Black Sea, and there were reports in local Russian media of a search-and-rescue operation using helicopters under way over the water.
Russian military bloggers, who regularly publish information about incidents before they are confirmed by Russia’s military, also corroborated reports of an attack against the Cesar Kunikov.
If confirmed, the strike would be the second successful operation this month against a Russian warship operating in the Black Sea.
On 1 February, Ukrainian Magura V5 sea drones struck the Russian warship Ivanovets in a sophisticated nighttime attack that showed the vulnerability of Russia’s Black Sea fleet against unmanned naval vessels.

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law Wednesday that will allow authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country’s military

Russia’s 2nd strike on Selydove hits hospital, more injured and trapped under rubble, including a child

Closing Summary

• Russian bombing raids killed three people including a child late on Tuesday near Ukraine’s eastern city of Donetsk, the local council said. It reported that the strikes hit nine apartment blocks and a hospital in Selydove, about 20km (12 miles) west of the front line. Twelve people were also reported injured including four children.
  
  
• Russian state news said Ukraine launched nine drones over Russia’s Belgorod and Voronezh regions, as well as over the Black Sea. The report used the customary Russian official language that all the drones were intercepted – this was not independently confirmed.
  
  
• The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has welcomed the US Senate vote that approved $61bn in aid for Ukraine and sent it to the House of Representatives for a vote. “American assistance brings just peace in Ukraine closer and restores global stability, resulting in increased security and prosperity for all Americans and all the free world,” Zelenskiy said.
  
  
• The Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he was confident the bill – also providing assistance to Israel and other allies – would pass the House with support from both Republicans and Democrats if there were a vote, and called on House leaders to do the right thing.
  
  
• The House speaker, Mike Johnson, asked if he planned to put the bill to a vote, said “I certainly don’t” and suggested members were busy with other matters. But Republicans and Democrats in favour of supporting Ukraine could force a vote using a process called a “discharge petition” if enough of them banded together. The US president, Joe Biden, has urged members of the House to ignore the hectoring of Donald Trump and approve the bill.
  
  
• Russians forces blasted eight settlements and areas of Ukraine’s Sumy region 331 times on Tuesday, local officials said. Explosions were caused by mortars, artillery, a tank, kamikaze drones and other munitions. The communities that reportedly came under fire were Khotinsk, Yunakivsk, Bilopolsk, Krasnopilsk, as well as Myropilsk, Velikopysarivsk, Shalyginsk and Seredino-Budsk. There were no reports of casualties.
  
  
• Sanctions against Russia are having an effect but need to be broadened and more strictly enforced, according to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Nato secretary general. Rasmussen argued that Ukraine’s allies must tighten sanctions enforcement to stop western components getting into Russian armaments, increase sanctions against Russia’s war-mobilised heavy industry, and use frozen Russian assets to benefit Ukraine.
  
  
• Rasmussen writes in the Financial Times: “Victory will depend largely on whether Ukraine and its allies can outproduce Russia. We must realign our sanctions policy with this objective. We should recognise that although the measures will not force Moscow to end the war overnight, they are another tool to disrupt and degrade the country’s means of production. Every Russian tank we prevent from being built is one less that Ukrainian forces need to destroy.”
  
  
• Britain’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, will urge allies to increase defence production to help Ukraine, his office said ahead of a diplomatic tour to Bulgaria, Poland and Germany.
  
  
• Russia’s parliamentary speaker has said it will vote on 21 February on suspending its participation in the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE). The OSCE has 57 members including Russia and Ukraine.
  
  
• Russia attacked the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with missiles and drones on Tuesday, damaging a power plant and cutting off water supplies to some residents, Ukrainian officials and media said.
  
  
• Russia is preparing for a military confrontation with the west within the next decade and could be deterred by a counter buildup of armed forces, Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service has said.
  
  
• Moscow has put the Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, and other Baltic states officials on a wanted list, as Estonia warns of an imminent Russian military buildup along its border. The Russian foreign ministry said they were accused of “destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers”. Kallas said she would not be silenced and would continue her strong support for Ukraine and for “increasing Europe’s defence”.
  
  
• Russia has lost more than 3,000 tanks during its invasion of Ukraine – the equivalent of its entire prewar active inventory – but has enough lower-quality armoured vehicles in storage for years of replacements, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Ukraine had also suffered heavy losses but western military replenishments had allowed it to maintain inventories while upgrading quality, ISS analysts wrote.