Civilians flee as Russians advance near captured Avdiivka
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Ukrainians have started to flee towns near the captured city of Avdiivka as Moscow’s troops advance across the front line.
Maryna Batrak, a resident of the town of Selydove, has been evacuated by minibus to a nearby train station after her apartment was destroyed.
“They have reached Nevelske,” she said, referring to the Russian advances. “Another 20-30 km and that’s it. They will destroy us too. Have you seen how those cities were wiped off the face of the earth?”
Valentyna Kitush, another local resident, described Avdiivka’s fall as the final straw. “The shelling has intensified. And after our troops left Avdiivka, it will now get even worse,” she said.
“They are bombarding and destroying everything. Shall I wait till they destroy us? I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving.”
The capture of Avdiivka was Russia’s biggest battlefield triumph since its forces seized Bakhmut in May 2023.
03:18 PM GMT
That's all for today
Thanks for tuning in to today’s live blog. We’ll be back tomorrow to bring you all the latest updates from the war in Ukraine.
Key moments:
Russia does not have sufficient domestic ammunition production to meet its needs in the Ukraine war, Western officials have said.
Alexei Navalny’s prison guards have been banned from the UK in the first sanctions over the opposition leader’s death.
Russian men arrested for paying tribute to Alexei Navalny have been forced to report to the military, according to a report.
Alexei Navalny’s mother has filed a lawsuit with a Russian court demanding the release of her son’s body.
More than 65 Russian soldiers have been killed in a HIMARS strike on a military base in the Donetsk region, it has been claimed.
The European Uninion has approved a 13th package of sanctions against Russia, in what has been hailed as “one of the broadest” measures to date.
Poland has threatened additional restrictions on Ukrainian food products as farmers displayed a pro-Putin banner.
Washington has confirmed it will unveil a “major sanctions package” against Russia later this week to hold Moscow “accountable” for the death of Alexei Navalny.
The Pentagon has warned that Ukraine could face a choice over which cities to give up if US aid falls through.
Ukraine’s army has denied it lost Krynky, its bridgehead on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro river, a day after Russia’s defence minister said the area had been taken.
Ukraine has shot down ‘seven Russian fighter jets in a week’
03:06 PM GMT
Russia cannot make enough ammunition for war, say Western officials
Russia does not have sufficient domestic ammunition production to meet its needs in the Ukraine war, Western officials have said.
Russia’s military is also struggling with the impact of sanctions, the officials said, adding that the country’s inability to access Western components was undermining its ability to produce new weapons systems and repair old ones.
“Russia’s domestic ammunition production capabilities are currently insufficient for meeting the needs of the Ukraine conflict,” the Western officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Sanctions are hitting the Russian military industrial complex hard, causing severe delays and increasing costs.”
03:05 PM GMT
Kremlin-owned French yoghurt company ‘plans sale to Chechen warlord’
Danone, the French yoghurt manufacturer, is planning to sell its Russian business to an individual linked to the nephew of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, the Financial Times reported.
The news comes seven months after Vladimir Putin ordered the seizure of the French company’s local operations.
The dairy products group is looking to sell the rebranded Life & Nutrition for £152 million to Vamin Tatarstan, a Russian dairy company owned by 29-year-old Mintimer Mingazov, according to documents seen by the FT.
Mr Mingazov was appointed to Life & Nutrition’s board this summer shortly after the Kremlin handed control of the business to Yakub Zakriev, Kadyrov’s 33-year-old nephew, as Moscow retaliated against western sanctions.
03:03 PM GMT
Navalny’s prison guards banned from UK in first sanctions over death
Alexei Navalny’s prison guards have been banned from the UK in the first sanctions over the opposition leader’s death.
Britain is targeting six individuals who head up the arctic penal colony where the Russian opposition leader mysteriously died.
They will have their assets frozen and will be banned from entering the UK, the Foreign Office said, in the first sanctions of their kind.
Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, said: “It’s clear that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and they tried repeatedly to silence him.
“Those responsible for Navalny’s brutal treatment should be under no illusion - we will hold them accountable.”
The Russian embassy responded by accusing the UK of “hypocrisy”.
“Bluntly intervening into Russia’s internal affairs while paying lip service to the principle of sovereignty is trademark UK government hypocrisy,” the embassy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
02:44 PM GMT
Just 10 per cent of Europeans believe Ukraine can defeat Russia
Only 10 per cent of Europeans believe that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, a survey has found.
The poll, conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations, quizzed people across 12 European countries and found that around 20 per cent of respondents thought Russia would win the war.
While the majority of people were “desperate to avoid a Russian victory”, even in Poland Portugal and Sweden – the countries most optimistic about Ukraine’s chances – only 17 per cent thought Kyiv could win.
Across Europe, around 37 per cent of people though a “compromise settlement” was the most likely outcome. Meanwhile, more than 40 per cent though that Europe should push Ukraine towards negotiating a peace deal.
02:40 PM GMT
Lukashenko: ‘Grounds for fear of Third World War’
Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, has said there are legitimate concerns that a third world war could erupt.
The world “has again come to the edge of the abyss”, said the president of Russia’s closest ally at a meeting with senior officials in Minsk.
But it was “complete stupidity” to think Russia “is preparing to attack the Baltic countries”, he added.
“Now we are literally covered with an information wave of the so-called premonition of the third world war, which just a lazy one still hasn’t mentioned. And there are grounds for these fears,” said Mr Lukashenko.
“I would like to characterise the current phase of the civilisational confrontation between East and West as follows: the masks have been completely dropped.”
02:16 PM GMT
‘Putin will spark a third world war if Russia claims victory in Ukraine’
Vladimir Putin will spark a third world war if the Russian president is allowed to declare victory in Ukraine, according to the boss of the country’s biggest private employer, Szu Ping Chan reports.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, chief executive of Metinvest, which ran the sprawling Azovstal steelworks that became the site of a relentless Russian assault at the start of the 2022 invasion, warned of the consequences of a Kremlin victory.
“I don’t believe that if Ukraine fails, Putin will stop,” he said in an interview ahead of the two year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. “The Baltic states, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia are the next targets.”
Ryzhenkov’s comments were made just days before Putin threatened the US with a global war that will “bring humanity to the brink” if Capitol Hill deploys troops to Ukraine.
01:48 PM GMT
Arrested Navalny mourners ‘forced to report to military’ on release
Russian men arrested for paying tribute to Alexei Navalny have been forced to report to the military, according to a report.
On their release from Moskovsky 95, a detention centre, the men arrested in St Petersburg were ordered to sign summonses to the city’s military recruiting office, RUSNews reported.
One of the men told the independent local news outlet that prison officers threatened to break his fingers if he did not sign the document.
“Two hours before release, we were taken into a room where some men were sitting and handing out summonses,” he was quoted as saying.
“They said if we don’t sign, our fingers will be broken. They repeated all the time: ‘Well, will you go to fight for us?’”
More than 200 people were detained in St Petersburg while paying tribute to Mr Navalny, according to rights group OVD-Info.
01:18 PM GMT
Navalny's mother files lawsuit demanding return of son's body
Alexei Navalny’s mother has filed a lawsuit with a Russian court demanding the release of her son’s body.
Lyudmila Navalnaya has brought the case to a court in the city of Salekhard to challenge officials’ refusal to release Russian opposition, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported.
A closed-door hearing has been scheduled for March 4, the report said, quoting court officials.
Ms Navalnaya has been trying to retrieve her son’s body since Saturday, following his death in an arctic penal colony a day earlier. She has been unable to find out where his body is being held, Navalny’s team reported.
Navalnaya appealed to Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to release her son’s remains so that she could bury him with dignity.
“For the fifth day, I have been unable to see him. They wouldn’t release his body to me. And they’re not even telling me where he is,” a Navalnaya, 69, said in the video, in front of the barbed wire of Penal Colony No. 3 in Kharp, about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
“I’m reaching out to you, Vladimir Putin. The resolution of this matter depends solely on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body is released immediately, so that I can bury him like a human being,” she said in the video, which was posted to social media by Navalny’s team.
12:54 PM GMT
Estonian billboards warn of Russian invasion
12:19 PM GMT
More than 65 Russian troops killed in Himars strike
More than 65 Russian soldiers have been killed in a HIMARS strike on a military base in the Donetsk region, it has been claimed.
Russian military bloggers reported that three HIMARS struck the training ground of Russia’s 39th Separate Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade in the occupied village of Trudivs’ke in Southern Donetsk, killing over 65 troops.
Pictures shared on social media appeared to show dozens of bodies strewn across a field, with others being lined up by survivors.
The strike was launched at around 9am yesterday when the military brigade was forming up, it is reported. An unknown number of Russian soldiers were injured.
12:11 PM GMT
EU targets nearly 200 entities with Russian sanctions
The European Union has approved a 13th package of sanctions against Russia, in what has been hailed as “one of the broadest” measures to date.
The fresh wave of sanctions target nearly 200 entities and individuals accused of helping Moscow procure weapons or of involvement in kidnapping Ukrainian children.
The Belgian presidency said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “EU Ambassadors just agreed in principle on a 13th package of sanctions in the framework of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
The account called it “one of the broadest approved by the EU”.
The new package will see 193 entities and individuals added to the list of those banned from travelling to the EU or doing business there but no fresh measures against specific economic sectors, EU diplomatic sources said.
11:46 AM GMT
Polish farmer protests fly pro-Putin banner
Poland has threatened additional restrictions on Ukrainian food products as farmers displayed a pro-Putin banner.
Poland’s government has ramped up pressure on Ukraine as its farmers continue their blockade of the border in protest against EU agricultural policy, which permits cheap grain imports from Ukraine.
Polish farmers have used their tractors to block border crossings with Ukraine to protest against the grain shipments, which they say threaten their livelihoods, with one tractor flying a Soviet flag and bearing a poster that read: “Putin - sort out Ukraine, Brussels and our government”.
“Either they want to reach an agreement with us, or we will have to introduce further restrictions on the import of Ukrainian goods,” Michal Kolodziejczak, the Polish Agriculture Minister, said.
Volodymyr Zelensky has called for emergency talks with the Polish president and prime minister as well as the European Union to resolve the situation.
11:22 AM GMT
Russia ‘increases ground attacks around Robotyne’
It is “highly likely” Russia has increased its ground attacks around in southern Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported.
This is one of several points on the front line where Russia has intensified attacks within the last week in an attempt to “stretch Ukrainian forces”, it added.
The Robotoyne axis in southern Ukraine was re-captured by Ukraine during its counter-offensive in summer 2023 and has remained on the front line ever since.
During the the Ukrainian offensive, the Russian army and air force operating in the area sustained heavy casualties but the ebb in tempo since – combined with a recruitment drive – have “likely enabled” Russian forces to reconstitute, the MoD said.
10:41 AM GMT
Three killed in Russian strikes
Three people have died and 22 others injured in Russian strikes over the past 24 hours.
Russian attacks targeted nine regions of Ukraine in total, with casualties reported in Dnipro, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Sumy.
In an update to our previous report, a strike on Kramatorsk injured at least seven people, with one person buried under the rubble according to local military officials. One person was killed in the village of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk and two more injured, the regional governor said.
Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said a Russian drone strike on a civilian vehicle in Kupiansk killed two passengers and injured a third.
Elsewhere, three people were injured in strikes on the Nikopol district in Dnipro which also damaged power lines and a gas pipeline.
Vadim Filashkin, governor of Donetsk Oblast, said on Facebook that Russian troops launched 19 strikes against multiple settlements in total, destroying and damaging around 15 houses, 19 apartment buildings and two industrial buildings.
10:02 AM GMT
Biden to announce ‘major package’ of Russian sanctions
Washington has confirmed it will unveil a “major sanctions package” against Russia later this week to hold Moscow “accountable” for the death of Alexei Navalny.
A state department spokesperson said: “As the White House announced this morning at President Biden’s direction, we will be announcing a major sanctions package on Friday to hold Russia accountable for Navalny’s death in prison.”
President Biden said there is “no doubt” the death of the Russian opposition leader in an arctic penal colony last week was a “consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did”.
The White House announcement comes as the EU approved its 13th package of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, which will see nearly 200 entities and individuals added to its list.
A foreign office minister said the British government is “working at pace” on sanction options on Tuesday.
09:45 AM GMT
Ukraine could be forced to choose which cities it can hold, says Pentagon
The Pentagon has warned that Ukraine could face a choice over which cities to give up if US aid falls through.
Sabrina Singh, the US defence spokeswoman, said: “If we don’t get the funding needed...Ukraine will have to make choices and decisions on what cities, what towns they can hold.”
Ms Singh urged the House of Representatives to pass a $95 billion aid package “immediately” that includes around $60 billion for Ukraine and warned that not doing so would leave the US unable to deliver critical support.
She added that the US can start delivering defence aid to Ukraine “pretty quickly” once Congress passes the bill.
“As soon as Congress gives us that authority, we will be able to, I think pretty quickly, deliver a PDA to the Ukrainians,” she said.
09:21 AM GMT
Pictured: A Ukrainian survivor from Avdiivka
09:00 AM GMT
Ukraine denies losing front line town despite Kremlin claims
Ukraine’s army has denied it lost Krynky, its bridgehead on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro river, a day after Russia’s defence minister said the area had been taken.
“We officially inform that this information is not true,” the commander of the Ukrainian army on the southern front said on social media. “The defence forces of southern Ukraine continue to hold their positions.”
It claimed Russian forces made an assault on Krynky but suffered “significant losses” and retreated.
Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, told Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Krynky had been “cleared” of Ukrainian forces.
Footage that has surfaced online shows Russian troops raising a flag in the town before hastily retreating to their defences.
“The Kremlin likely prematurely claimed the Russian seizure of Krynky to reinforce its desired informational effects ahead of the March 2024 presidential election,” the Institute for the Study of War said, adding that the Russian military may “may fail to meet” these expectations.
Ukrainian troops established positions around the tiny east bank village in 2023, crossing into the Moscow-controlled side of the river.
08:29 AM GMT
Ukraine downs 13 drones and one missile overnight
Ukraine shot down 13 out of 19 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight and one Kh-59 guided missile, the country’s air force reported.
The drones were launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk, on Russia’s Azov Sea coast, while the Kh-59 missile came from Belgorod.
A Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk, Donetsk, injured six people on Tuesday evening, local officials reported.
Four rescue workers were wounded after a drone attack on a residential building in Donbas, Ukrainian emergency services said.
Elsewhere, Russian forces shelled settlements in Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine, a total of 236 times in 38 separate attacks, injuring one person, the military reported.
08:13 AM GMT
Ukrainian drones take flight
07:50 AM GMT
Ukraine downs ‘seven Russian fighter jets in a week’
Kyiv has shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter jet, Ukraine reported.
Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, the Ukrainian air force commander, wrote on Telegram: “This time I can say that the Su-35 pilot was lucky — he manoeuvred and no longer takes risks. But the crew of the Su-34 joins our column.”
The latest jet marks the seventh war plane Ukraine has shot down in the last week, according to the Ukrainian military.
It shot down an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35 fighter on Monday, according to Oleksandr Syrsky, the army chief who did not disclose the area where the aircraft was downed. At the weekend, Ukraine said it shot down three Russian Su-34s and one Su-35 in eastern skies.
On Monday, Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraine’s new ground forces chief, said on Telegram: “In just three days, the enemy lost six aircraft.”
