Ukrainian officials accused Russia of launching missile attacks on the capital Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities during rush hour on the morning of February 7 (local time), killing three people and injuring at least 10, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that two people were killed in the capital Kyiv and one in the southern Ukrainian province of Mykolaiv.
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"Another major attack on our country. Six regions have been hit by the enemy. All our agencies are now working to deal with the consequences of this terrorist attack," President Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian army Valeriy Zaluzhnyi announced that Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 29 missiles and 15 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) out of 44 missiles and 20 UAVs launched by Russia in several attacks.
Smoke rises from a building during a missile attack allegedly carried out by Russia in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on February 7.
The new attack comes as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is in Kyiv on a two-day visit to underline EU support for Ukraine. "I started the morning in the shelter when an air alert sounded over Kyiv," Borrell wrote on social media X.
Officials in Kyiv said at least 14 people were injured in different areas. Fragments from the Russian missile also damaged some power lines, leading to power outages in parts of Kyiv. About 40 private cars and an auto repair shop were damaged, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on the evening of February 7 that in the previous 24 hours, Russian air defense forces had intercepted four rockets from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), destroyed more than 100 Ukrainian UAVs and shot down a MiG-29 aircraft, according to TASS News Agency.
As of late February 7, there was no information about Ukraine's or Russia's response to each side's new accusations and statements.
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Russia gains more advantages in Avdiivka?
Several Ukrainian Telegram channels warned that the Russian military was gaining ground in the city of Avdiivka, posing a "grave" situation for Ukrainian forces, according to Newsweek .
In October 2023, Russia launched an attack on Avdiivka, seen as the gateway to the nearby Russian-controlled city of Donetsk and a pillar of Moscow's goal of gaining control of the entire Donbass region of southeastern Ukraine.
Russia has suffered heavy losses in troops and equipment in the campaign to capture Avdiivka, but Ukrainian Telegram channels have offered pessimistic assessments of the ability of Ukrainian forces to hold the city, according to Newsweek on February 6.
The Ukraine Fights Telegram channel warned on February 4 that "the situation in the city has become critical", asserting that Russian attack aircraft had entered the city from the northeast and that Russian soldiers had overcome Ukrainian combat formations and captured a number of buildings.
"This means they are just hundreds of meters away from the main logistical artery of the Ukrainian defense forces. The fate of Avdiivka is being decided," Ukraine Fights wrote.
In addition, the Butusov Plus Telegram channel confirmed that street battles were taking place in the northern suburb of Avdiivka, where Russian units were entrenched less than a mile from the entrance to the city. The Ukrainian 110th Mechanized Brigade and its units are fighting with a larger and constantly reinforced Russian force.
Ukrainian servicemen fire an SPG-9 anti-tank grenade launcher at Russian soldiers in the frontline city of Avdiivka, Donetsk region (Ukraine) on November 8, 2023.
"Avdiivka urgently needs new reserves and rotation of units from the heroic 110th Brigade," Butusov Plus stressed, noting that "the situation is critical."
Also on February 4, The Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov wrote on the social network X that Avdiivka "is increasingly at risk of becoming the first Ukrainian city to fall since Bakhmut was captured in May 2023." Mr. Trofimov also wrote that Ukraine's severe shortage of ammunition was due to the US Congress ' refusal to provide additional military aid to Kyiv.
The decline in funding, ammunition and weapons to Kyiv, as well as Ukraine's problems with mobilisation, means "there is a high risk that Avdiivka will fall soon," said Čedomir Nestorović, professor of geopolitics and Islamic business at ESSEC Business School in Singapore.
Leon Hartwell, an expert at the London School of Economics' LSE IDEAS consultancy, said that Russia's control of Avdiivka could strengthen the views of skeptical Westerners who support reducing military and financial support for Ukraine.
"The loss of Avdiivka will limit Ukraine's ability to conduct counteroffensive operations against Russia in Donbass, and retaking the city, with its strong fortifications, will pose a particularly difficult task," he told Newsweek .
“Russia has invested heavily in capturing Avdiivka, deploying large numbers of troops and military equipment to the city,” Hartwel added. “The capture of Avdiivka is of significant political importance to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin…to demonstrate victories for Russia ahead of presidential elections and a potential new wave of troop mobilization.”
As of late February 7, there was no information about Kyiv's or Moscow's reaction to the above comments.
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Ukraine creates army unit specializing in unmanned systems
On February 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the creation of a new military branch focusing on unmanned systems, a group of weapons that Kyiv believes will play an important role in the battlefield situation.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had signed a decree ordering the government and the military chief of staff to move towards creating a special branch for unmanned vehicles.
"This is not a question for the future, but a question of concrete results in the immediate future. This year (2024) will be decisive in many ways, and obviously also on the battlefield. Unmanned systems have proven their effectiveness on land, in the air and at sea," AFP quoted Mr. Zelensky as saying to the nation on the night of February 6.
Turkish company starts building UAV factory near Kyiv
Turkish defense company Baykar has begun construction of a factory to produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Reuters reported on February 6, citing Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar.
Baykar received a license to produce combat UAVs in Ukraine in June 2023. Mr. Bayraktar said that UAV production will begin in 2025 and the total investment in the project will amount to about $95 million.
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Kyiv and Ankara signed an agreement to open the Baykar plant in Ukraine in February 2022, before Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The Ukrainian parliament ratified the deal in December 2022.
The factory's expected UAV output is around 120 units per year, but it is not yet clear exactly which UAV models will be produced.
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