Russia launched missile strikes across Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least one civilian, after Western allies pledged to ramp up military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces to support a planned counter-offensive. Follow FRANCE 24 to see how the day's events unfolded updates. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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03:30am: US support for Ukraine solid, says senator heading to Munich
The United States remains steadfast in its support for war-torn Ukraine, a leading Democratic senator told AFP in an interview Thursday before heading to the world's largest global security conference in Germany.
"The eccentrics get press attention, but I think the strong solid central weight of even House Republicans is behind continuing to support Ukraine, so long as there are not corruption concerns," said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, chairman of the powerful Budget Committee
03:00am: Ukraine prosecutor says probes Russian killing of civilians in Bakhmut
Russian Grad rockets and barrel artillery slammed into a residential district in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Thursday, killing three men and two women and wounding nine more, Ukraine's prosecutor general said, adding it was being investigated as a war crime.
"Five dead and nine wounded due to shelling of Bakhmut by the invaders," read a caption under blurred images of the victims shared on Telegram by the office of the prosecutor general. "Criminal proceedings have been initiated."
An investigation had determined that Russia fired barrel artillery and Grad rockets at Bakhmut on Feb. 16, the office said. "The occupiers' shells once again hit the city's residential quarter."
10:11pm: Italy calls on China to 'pressure' Russia over Ukraine
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday appealed to his Chinese counterpart, who was on a visit to Rome, to put pressure on Russia to find a "just peace" in Ukraine.
"China has to play a fundamental role to push in the direction of peace," Tajani said in a ministry statement after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
"I am sure that Beijing is ready to make a commitment in this direction," he added.
Wang is due to visit Russia at the end of a European tour.
In his talks with Wang, Tajani "reaffirmed the need to put pressure on Russia to foster conditions for a 'just peace', through support for diplomacy, effective sanctions, humanitarian assistance and justice for victims," the statement said.
7:21pm: US, allies plan 'big' Russia sanctions for war anniversary
The United States and its allies are planning a major array of new sanctions against Russia for the February 24 anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, a senior US official said Thursday.
"You will see around the 24th a big new package of sanctions from both the US and all of our G7 partners," Victoria Nuland, the under secretary of state for political affairs, told reporters.
"These sanctions will deepen and broaden in certain categories where we have been active before, particularly in limiting the flow of technology to the Russian defense industry," she said.
Nuland said the package will also target individuals, expand banking restrictions and crack down on evasion of existing sanctions, including in third countries.
"We are seeing the Russians get quite clever -- everything from importing laptops and refrigerators through third countries, including sometimes our own countries, which they then strip-mine for chips and other things that go into their war machine," she said.
4:06pm: Moldovan parliament approves new government under pro-Western PM Recean
Moldova's parliament approved experienced politician Dorin Recean as prime minister on Thursday to lead a government pledging to revive the economy and chart a course towards European Union membership.
A majority of 62 lawmakers voted in the 101-seat parliament to approve the new government after hearing Recean set out his policy programme.
3:33pm: Israeli FM visits Kyiv, says 'committed to sovereignty' of Ukraine
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Thursday his country was "committed to the sovereignty" of Ukraine during the first visit by an Israeli minister to the war-torn nation since the Russian invasion began nearly a year ago.
"Israel stands firmly in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and remains committed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Cohen said during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
12:05am: Norway approves $7 bn aid package for Ukraine
Norwegian parties have backed an aid package worth 75 billion Norwegian kroner ($7.4 billion) for Ukraine to be spread out over five years.
All parties in Norway's parliament backed the plan that the centre-left government first presented on February 6 apart from Rodt (The Red Party), a small far-left grouping. The plan pledges 15 billion kroner annually in civilian and military aid between 2023 and 2027.
"Now you're setting a very important precedent for long-term financial support to a country that defends its independence and the right of every nation to live in accordance with generally recognised international norms", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told MPs via a video link.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Norway rose to become Europe's main supplier of natural gas, and has thus benefitted from soaring prices – sometimes earning it the label of "war profiteer", a "notion" Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store "categorically reject[s]," he told AFP in an interview.
9:35am: Belarus will join Russian offensive in Ukraine 'only' if attacked, says Lukashenko
President Alexander Lukashenko has said Belarus would "only" join Russia's offensive in Ukraine if his country, which hosts Russian forces, was attacked first by Kyiv's army.
"I'm ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus in one case only: if so much as one soldier from (Ukraine) comes to our territory with a gun to kill my people," Lukashenko said in a rare press conference with foreign journalists in Minsk.
Lukashenko, who has repeatedly denied claims from Kyiv and the West that his country could be dragged further into the war in Ukraine on the side of Moscow, also said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
Russia used Belarus as a staging post for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, launching its failed offensive on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv from the country. A flurry of military activity and joint air force drills between Russia and Belarus earlier this year rekindled concerns that Minsk could be preparing to take a more active role in the conflict.
9:16am: Wagner chief blasts Russia’s 'monstrous military bureaucracy,' eyes Bakhmut capture
The head of Russian mercenary outfit Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that Russian forces could capture the embattled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine "in March or in April".
In messages distributed online overnight, he said progress would depend on whether "the adversary sends reserves" and blasted Russia's "monstrous military bureaucracy" for its failure to seize the Donetsk region city before the end of 2022. "To take Bakhmut you have to cut all supply routes. It's a significant task," he said, adding: "Progress is not going as fast as we would like". "Bakhmut would have been taken before the New Year, if not for our monstrous military bureaucracy ... and the spokes that are put in the wheels daily," he added.
Prigozhin has previously accused the Russian military of attempting to "steal" victories from Wagner, a sign of his rising clout and the potential for dangerous rifts in Moscow.
9:15am: Some 1.1 million people came to Germany from Ukraine in 2022, the second largest foreign population in the country
Some 1.1 million people arrived in Germany from Ukraine in 2022, exceeding the influx of migrants from the Middle East around 2015, Germany's federal statistical office said on Thursday.
Two thirds of the immigrants from Ukraine arrived in the first three months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, between March and May of last year, it said.
Excluding those who returned to Ukraine, immigration from Ukraine to Germany was 962,000 in 2022, more than the total of 834,000 that came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq together between 2014 and 2016, it said. That made Ukrainian citizens the second largest foreign population in Germany after Turkish nationals by October 2022, it said.
8:57am: Moscow fires deadly barrage of missiles at targets in Ukraine
Russia again pummeled Ukraine with a barrage of cruise and other missiles on Thursday, hitting targets from east to west. Ukrainian authorities said one of the strikes killed a 79-year-old woman and injured at least seven other people.
Russian forces used a variety of missile types, firing 36 in all in a two-hour overnight burst, said Ukraine’s military chief, Valery Zaluzhnyy. He said Ukrainian air defence batteries shot down 16 of them — a lower rate of success than against some previous Russian waves.
Ukrainian authorities said targets in the north, west, south, east and centre of the country were struck. They said air defences in the south downed eight Kalibr missiles fired from a ship in the Black Sea.
One missile struck an industrial site in the western city of Lviv, causing a fire which was brought under control, authorities said.
8:53am Israeli Foreign Minister in first visit to Ukraine since start of war, could end neutrality
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in Kyiv Thursday on the first visit to Ukraine by an Israeli minister since the Russian invasion nearly a year ago, his office said.
Cohen "will make an official visit today to Kyiv, during which he will meet President (Volodymyr) Zelensky and Foreign Minister (Dmytr) Kuleba," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement after his arrival in the Ukrainian capital.
Israel has adopted a cautious approach since Russian forces invaded Ukraine last February, seeking to maintain neutrality between the warring sides.
During his visit, the foreign minister is due to fully reopen the Israeli embassy in Kyiv. The diplomatic mission "will return to continuous activity, with the aim of strengthening relations between the countries," Cohen said in a statement.
Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine during the conflict but has stopped short of delivering weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month he was "certainly looking into" military aid for Ukraine, in an interview with CNN.
10:15pm: China's top diplomat discusses Ukraine war on Paris visit
French President Emmanuel Macron and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi have agreed to contribute "towards peace" in Ukraine, Macron's office said following talks between the two men.
Macron has made no secret of his hope that Beijing will pressure Russia to return to the negotiating table. He and Wang discussed the war in Ukraine and its "consequences on the most vulnerable countries, particularly in terms of food security and financing capacity," according to the French presidency.
After his visit to France, Wang is set to attend the Munich Security Conference, scheduled for Friday to Sunday. He will also travel to Moscow.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
