Here are the key developments on the 1,095th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Here is the situation on Sunday, February 23 – a day before the war’s third anniversary:
Fighting
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defence units intercepted and destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones overnight over six regions of the country on the eve of the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukrainian officials said Russia launched several waves of missile and drone attacks overnight, targeting Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, killing one civilian in Kryvyi Rih and damaging buildings and cars in Kyiv and elsewhere.
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One woman was killed and three others injured in Russia’s guided bomb attacks on the industrial city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said. Seven apartment buildings and 14 other buildings were damaged in the attack, the state emergency service added.
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Three people were injured when a private house caught fire after a drone attack on the Odesa region, said Oleh Kiper, governor of the region on Ukraine’s Black Sea.
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A 53-year-old woman was also injured and several residential houses damaged in an attack on the southeastern region of Zaporizhia, said regional Governor Ivan Fedorov on the Telegram messaging app.
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Multiple drone attacks on Kyiv damaged several residential houses and cars, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
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Ukraine’s air force said Kyiv and central and eastern parts of the country were under air raid alerts for about six hours overnight.
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Meeting the needs of troops fighting in Ukraine and boosting the armed forces are Russia’s key strategic priorities, President Vladimir Putin said early on Sunday, as Moscow marks its annual Defender of the Fatherland Day.
Politics and diplomacy
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French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will travel to Washington, DC next week amid alarm in Europe over United States President Donald Trump’s hardening stance towards Ukraine and overtures to Moscow on the three-year conflict.
- United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that London would unveil a significant package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, which marks three years since the start of its war with Ukraine.
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Trump said the US is close to a deal with Ukraine on sharing revenue from Ukrainian minerals as part of efforts to end the Ukraine war. He said the US wants to recover the billions of dollars in military aid it has given to Ukraine.
- The US presence in Poland and Central Europe should be boosted, Polish President Andrzej Duda told Trump during their meeting in Washington, DC. Trump reaffirmed a close alliance with Poland, praising Warsaw’s commitment to increase defence spending, the White House said on X following their meeting.
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Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said it has been paying for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription and would continue to do so despite sources saying the US could consider cutting Ukraine’s access to the satellite internet system.
- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that no peace framework for the war could be decided without Kyiv.
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The US wants the United Nations Security Council to vote on a brief draft resolution marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday before the 193-member General Assembly votes on the same text, diplomats said. The US proposal pits it against Kyiv and the European Union, which have been working on a separate draft.