Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 00:19 Canada wants to deliver 800 drones to Ukraine +++

02/20/2024

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 00:19 Canada wants to deliver 800 drones to Ukraine +++

Canada plans to send Ukraine more than 800 SkyRanger R70 multi-purpose unmanned aerial systems. Canada wants to support the country in its war against Russia, says Defense Minister Bill Blair. “Today’s announcement ensures that Ukraine has the drones it needs to detect and identify targets critical to Ukraine’s ongoing fight. Canada will stand by Ukraine for as long as it is needed ” said Blair. The drones would be worth the equivalent of around $700 million.

+++ 23:36 France seizes suspected Gazprom villa on the Côte d’Azur +++
As part of a money laundering investigation, France has seized a luxury villa that is said to belong to the Russian energy giant Gazprom. With an estimated value of around 120 million euros, Villa Maria Irina – formerly known as Villa del Mare – is one of the most opulent villas on the French Riviera. According to the Paris public prosecutor’s office, the purchase of the villa in the name of various companies probably concealed the actual profiteer, Gazprom. According to the French daily Le Monde, this is the largest seizure by the French authorities since Russia invaded Ukraine.

+++ 22:29 Great Britain stops one of two admission programs for Ukrainians +++
The British government is making it more difficult for people from Ukraine to access Great Britain: As of Monday afternoon, Ukrainians can no longer apply for the Ukraine Family Scheme. Since March 2022, this program has allowed more than 200,000 Ukrainians to enter the UK if they can prove they have family on the island. Under this visa, holders can work, study and also receive social benefits. The Home for Ukraine program remains open, in which people from Ukraine stay with British citizens who receive money from the government. The end of the program has been widely criticized: Family Scheme visas expire after three years, so the first ones expire in March next year. Many users are threatened with returning to Ukraine or at least moving to an EU country because there are few other options for obtaining a legal residence permit in Great Britain.

+++ 21:54 Man killed in Russian shelling in Zaporizhia +++
According to Ukrainian reports, a man was killed by Russian shelling on Monday in the Zaporizhzhia region, which is partly occupied by Russia. “In Lisne, a man died at the bloody hands of the enemy. In Lyubytske, a civilian building was damaged,” writes Ivan Fedorov, head of Zaporizhia’s military administration, on Telegram. Accordingly, Russian fighters shelled the Ukrainian-held community of Ternuvata, to which the above-mentioned towns belong, in the afternoon.

+++ 21:30 Zelenskyj: Situation at several points on the front “extremely difficult” +++
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky admits that his country’s army is in an “extremely difficult” situation. “The situation is extremely difficult at several points on the front line, where Russian troops have concentrated maximum reserves,” Zelensky said in his daily video message. The Russian army is benefiting from the “delay in aid to Ukraine,” the president complains about the lack of arms and ammunition deliveries from Western allies. His country lacks artillery, air defense and longer-range weapons. Moscow’s forces are currently on the offensive in the south and east of Ukraine and have, among other things, forced Ukraine into a hasty retreat from the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine.

+++ 21:09 Migration as a weapon: Finland tightens legislation +++
Finland wants to strengthen its borders through legal changes and thus curb illegal migration. “The legislation is being changed to protect Finland from threats to its national security,” the Finnish Interior Ministry said. This will enable the authorities to deal with the most serious cases of instrumentalized migration. The ministry does not provide any details. The government in Helsinki closed its border crossings with Russia last year and extended the closures in February until April 14. The Scandinavian country accuses Russia of deliberately smuggling migrants into Finland. The government in Moscow rejects this.

+++ 20:13 Biden is considering additional sanctions against Russia after Navalny’s death +++
The US government is not ruling out further sanctions against Moscow following the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. “We have already imposed sanctions, but we are considering additional sanctions,” Biden said Monday in response to a question from a reporter in Washington. A few days earlier, he had blamed Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for the death of the opposition figure. With a view to passing billions in Ukraine aid in the US Congress, the Democrat said that he was not sure whether Navalny’s death would make a difference and whether the Republicans would give up their blockade stance. The behavior of the Republican members of the House of Representatives was “shocking.” They would run away from the Russian threat and their obligations.

You can read all previous developments here.