Auchan supplying to Russian army, German spy caught, Orban invited to Kyiv

• Israel can hand over an early aerial threat warning system to Ukraine in three to six months, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

After the meeting, Zelenskyy said that they discussed the deepening of bilateral cooperation in various areas and Israel's participation in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. The president called on Israel to join the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula and thanked for the humanitarian assistance the country continues to provide.

• The Russian division of France’s Auchan supermarket chain has been supplying goods to Russian invasion forces in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.

According to a joint investigation by The Insider, Le Monde, and Bellingcat, the supplies to the military were positioned as "humanitarian aid" and consisted of both goods from Auchan's warehouses and goods collected by volunteers at Auchan stores in various Russian regions. In some regions, deliveries were organized in direct cooperation with local authorities.

• A suspected spy in Germany’s BND Federal Intelligence Service was intending to reveal the locations of HIMARS rocket systems and IRIS-T air defenses in Ukraine to Russia’s FSB security service.

Der Spiegel writes that last fall, the FSB tried to obtain data on the location of Ukrainian artillery and air defense through an employee of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, named as Carsten L., who was later arrested. According to the investigation, the BND officer was supposed to provide the FSB with GPS data for the HIMARS rocket systems, provided by Washington, and the IRIS-T air defense system, supplied by Berlin.

• The International Monetary Fund mission and the Ukrainian government have agreed to review the exiting monitoring program with the involvement of the fund’s Board of Directors.

The IMF mission, led by Gavin Gray in Warsaw, assessed how Ukraine fulfills its obligations under the monitoring program. “The IMF staff and the Ukrainian authorities have reached staff-level agreement on the review of the Program Monitoring with Board Involvement (PMB),” says the report.

• Ukraine is ready to talk about “all aspects” of its relations with Hungary if the country’s notoriously pro-Russian prime minister, Viktor Orban, takes up Kyiv’s latest invitation to him to visit the Ukrainian capital.

Orban was rumored to have avoided Zelenskyy during a recent EU summit, though deputy chief-of-staff Ihor Zhovkva stated that there was indeed a meeting between the two leaders. “Indeed, the Hungarian Prime Minister was the first to approach the President of Ukraine and shake his hand,” Zhovkva said.

• The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival has held the premiere of Superpower, a movie about Russia's war against Ukraine by U.S. actor and director Sean Penn.

Before the premiere of the documentary, Penn thanked the Ukrainian people for their support as they bravely fight for their freedom. He also mentioned that he had returned from Ukraine just a few days before the premiere, which was his sixth trip to the war-torn country, and added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already seen his film — for him, the premiere took place earlier in the week.

• The U.S. sanctioning body has launched an investigation into Raiffeisen Bank International and its operations in Russia and the Russian-occupied territories of Donbas, Reuters news agency reported on Feb. 18.

The report also mentioned that the scope of the inspection of the Austrian lender, which plays a crucial role in the Russian economy, has also been broadened. As the agency noted in response to the journalists’ questions, the bank said it has received a request from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January to “clarify the payment business and related processes supported by the RBI, in light of recent developments, connected with Russia and Ukraine.”

• Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has confirmed that Ukraine will receive assistance worth EUR 7.5 billion ($8 billion) over the next five years.

"When we are facing a full-scale aggressive war, there is only one answer," Støre said. “We intend to support it with EUR 7.5 billion over the next five years. In military terms, through economic and humanitarian aid. This is our response.”

• A gas company linked to exiled Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash has dismissed its CEO Oleh Nykonorov.

Nykonorov, who had been heading the Regional Gas Company (RGC) since October 2017, wrote that he has resigned from his position. "Yesterday (Feb. 17, 2022 - NV Business) was my last day as the head of RGC," Nykonorov wrote, without giving any reasons or details about his decision to resign. RGC's press service also declined to comment.

• Less than quarter of the modern Leopard main battle tanks pledged by the West will arrive in Ukraine before the anticipated Russian spring offensive campaign.

Barely 50 tanks would have been be sent to Ukraine by the beginning of April, giving cause for concern as this will not be enough to make any significant effect on the front line. About 320 modern western tanks have been promised to Kyiv by Ukraine’s partner nations, the Sunday Times wrote.

• The day’s long read: How a Kharkiv LGBT activist and bat expert returned from Belgium to join the military

Everyone in Ukraine should consider the possibility they will join the army, says Anna Kazhan, a soldier of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Mahura". Talking to NV, she recalls how and why she decided to join the army. Before the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine, she was studying bats and researching bats, which is how her nickname came about. In her hometown of Kharkiv, she was also actively involved in LGBT activism and co-organizing KharkivPride.

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