Moscow laying groundwork for Moldova invasion, warn experts

The Kremlin is using “very similar” rhetoric towards Moldova as it did before its invasion of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

The think tanks says Moscow’s methods are “likely” designed “to set conditions to justify possible future Russian escalation against Moldova”.

Addressing the Transnistria conflict, yesterday, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, made a series of allegations that mirror those directed at Ukraine ahead of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its full-scale invasion.

His allegations included falsely claiming that the US and EU control the Moldovan government. He also claimed that there are about 200,000 Russian citizens in Transnistria, and that Russia is “concerned about their fate” and “will not allow them to become victims of another Western adventure.”

The Kremlin has used the idea of protecting its “compatriots abroad” to justify Russian occupation of Transnistria since 1992 as well as its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the ISW reported.

“The timing of a possible Russian hybrid operation in Moldova is unclear, but the Kremlin is setting informational conditions to make it possible soon,” it said.

03:20 PM GMT

That's all for today

Thank you for tuning in to today’s live blog. We’ll be back tomorrow bringing you all the latest updates from the war in Ukraine.

Key moments from today:

• Ukraine has rushed more soldiers to the embattled eastern city of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military said, describing the situation there as “hell”.

• Ukrainians overwhelmingly trust the former armed forces chief over his newly-appointed replacement as confidence in President Zelensky drops, a survey has found.

• Five people, including a one-year-old child, were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia’s southern city of Belgorod, Russian officials said.

• A fire broke out at an oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region this morning after it was hit by a Ukrainian drone strike, the local governor said.

• Lord Cameron has reiterated his call for Congress to pass a $95 billion package that includes aid to Ukraine, warning China “will be watching”.

• The Kremlin has dismissed US warnings about the threat of Russian nuclear weapons in space as a “malicious fabrication” by the White House, designed to trick US lawmakers into approving more aid for Ukraine.

• Britain will supply thousands more drones to Ukraine as part of a £200 million support package, the Ministry of Defence reported.

• Vladimir Putin has said Joe Biden would be a better US president for Russia than Donald Trump, describing the incumbent as “more experienced and predictable”.

• Russia launched a series of missile attacks across Ukraine overnight, killing at least four and injuring nine, officials reported.

03:16 PM GMT

Fighting in Avdiikva is ‘hell’, says Ukraine military

Ukraine has rushed more soldiers to the embattled eastern city of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military said, describing the situation there as “hell”.

Kyiv has redeployed the Third Separate Assault Brigade to strengthen Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka, the unit posted on Telegram.

After arriving in the city, some battalions of the Third Assault Brigade raided the Russian-held parts of the city, inflicting “critical losses” to two Russian brigades, the unit said.

However, it described the situation in the city as “extremely critical” and said that Russia was throwing more resources at capturing the city.

Russian forces have been storming the city in the eastern Donetsk region since last October and have surrounded it on three sides, with reports of street fighting reaching the outskirts in recent days.

03:10 PM GMT

Bombing in Donetsk

02:50 PM GMT

Trust in Zelensky drops over sacking military chief, data shows

Ukrainians overwhelmingly trust the former armed forces chief over his newly-appointed replacement as confidence in president Zelensky drops, a survey has found.

Just 40 per cent of Ukrainians trust general Oleksandr Syrski, the new Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, while 94 per cent trust Valery Zaluzhny, his predecessor, according to the study.

Mr Zaluzhny was sacked last week after months of speculation of a rift between him and President Zelensky. The former commander is widely popular in Ukraine, and his replacement has been met with opposition from within military circles.

The survey, conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, quizzed 1,202 Ukrainian citizens between 5 Feb and 10 Feb to gauge trust in the country’s leaders.

It found that after the dismissal of Zaluzhny, trust in the president fell by five points to 60 per cent of respondents.

02:21 PM GMT

Watch: ‘Russian missile strike crater’

01:58 PM GMT

Polish farmers hurl eggs and light bonfire over Ukraine grain imports

Polish farmers pelted a European Commission office with eggs in the western city of Wroclaw, the state news agency PAP reported, in protest against EU agriculture policy which allows cheap grain imports from Ukraine.

Around 1,000 farmers, and 500 tractors, gathered in front of the regional government headquarters where they set off flares and lit a bonfire as part of their protest against measures to tackle climate change and rising costs, which they say is a result of unfair competition from abroad.

“The protest started at 10 am, at around 10:10 or 10:15 it was broken up by the organisers, they asked the people to disperse,” said Monika Dubec, a spokesman at Wroclaw City Hall.

The farmers plan a total blockade of all border crossings with Ukraine and a major protest in the capital Warsaw on Feb 20.

01:24 PM GMT

Turkey hopes to broker peace deal between Russia and Ukraine

Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his ongoing willingness to mediate between Russia and Ukraine for a “fair” peace deal between the two countries.

“We have brought the parties together in Turkey on multiple occasions. We can do this again and open the door to peace through a solution-focused process management, free from external influences,” a text of his comments en route from a visit to Egypt showed.

“In our meetings with both President Putin and President Zelenskiy, we continue our efforts in this pursuit.”

Turkey is among several countries including China and Hungary who have repeatedly called for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

12:55 PM GMT

Five killed in Ukrainian missile strike on Belgorod, Russia claims

Five people, including a one-year-old child, were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia’s southern city of Belgorod, Russian officials said.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said on social media that 18 other people were wounded, including five children.

Roman Starovoit, the governor of the neighbouring Kursk region, said a shopping mall, an outdoor sports facility and residential areas were hit. He did not provide an official death toll.

A correspondent from the defence ministry-owned Zvezda television channel said that six people had been killed in the vicinity of the Magnit shopping centre. The news outlet Mash put the total death toll at nine.

Video and photographs posted to social media showed a building sporting the Magnit logo with its windows shattered, as well as blown-out windows of apartment complexes.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

12:03 PM GMT

Hungary blocks Russian sanctions

Hungary has blocked a package of European Union sanctions against Moscow, once again impeding measures designed to assist Ukraine’s war effort, the Financial Times reported.

Hungary was the only naysayer at a meeting of EU ambassadors yesterday that otherwise would have signed off on a sanctions package, which targets almost 200 people and entities from Russia, China and other countries who are deemed to be helping Moscow’s war effort.

The EU is aiming to get its 13th package of sanctions against the Kremlin over the line ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The proposed measures would go hand in hand with a £43 billion support package for Ukraine as well as a move to requisition profits from seized Russian assets.

“The Hungarians did not agree due to Chinese companies,” one of the officials told the FT.

11:49 AM GMT

Ukrainian drone strike sets Russian oil depot on fire

A fire broke out at an oil depot in Russia’s Kursk region this morning after it was hit by a Ukrainian drone strike, the local governor said.

Footage of the blaze shows what appears to be an explosion at the facility in Polevaya, a village 90 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border, with flames coming from the building and plumes of black smoke billowing into the air.

The attack, which Russian media reports was carried out by two drones, resulted in no casualties, said Roman Starovoit, the local governor.

The strike caused three fuel tanks to catch fire, and 165 people were working to put out the blaze and stop it spreading, he said. 

Ukraine has repeatedly used drone attacks to target Russian energy infrastructure in recent months, most recently striking two oil refineries in Russia’s Krasnodar region last week.

As well as threatening Russia’s energy security, the strikes also require a “significant diversion of resources” from Russia, Meduza reported, as air defence systems must either be produced or taken from the front line to defend the facilities.

11:13 AM GMT

Lord Cameron warns of Chinese threat if Congress blocks Ukraine support

Lord Cameron has reiterated his call for Congress to pass a $95 billion package that includes aid to Ukraine, warning China “will be watching”.

After passing through the Senate earlier this week, the bill now faces an uphill battle to be voted for in the House after leading Republicans, swayed by Donald Trump, came out against it.

Speaking at a conference in Poland, the British Foreign Secretary described Europe and the US’s partnership in supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia as the “challenge of our generation”, describing Vladimir Putin as a “similar aggressive dictator” to Adolph Hitler.

Lord Cameron also cautioned Washington over the signal that reneging on support for Ukraine would send to its rivals. “It’s not just a European issue, there will be other people watching what the Americans do. They will be watching in China. They will be watching in Iran. And every country around the world will be watching to say are we, these Western countries, reliable allies,” he said.

10:50 AM GMT

Trump considers scaling back Nato security pledge, reports suggest

Donald Trump is considering downgrading commitments for some Nato members and a push for Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war with Russia if he returns to power later this year, Bloomberg reported, citing inside sources.

Mr Trump’s allies have discussed a two-tier Nato alliance, where only those nations who hit their defence-spending goals would be protected by Article 5 – the alliance’s collective security pledge – Bloomberg said.

Mr Trump’s advisers have also discussed getting Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin around a negotiating table soon after the election should Mr Trump win, it reported.

The initiatives, if pursued, would upend decades of US policy, fracturing a defence alliance that’s shaped European security since the Cold War.

10:35 AM GMT

Pictures emerge of overnight strikes on Lviv

10:12 AM GMT

France to sign new security agreement with Ukraine

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, will sign a security agreement with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, in Paris on Friday, the Élysée Palace said in a statement.

Although it did not release specific details about the nature of the agreement, Mr Macron said earlier this year that France was negotiating a bilateral deal on the model of the one Ukraine agreed with the United Kingdom, which agrees to provide security assurances for the next decade.

09:35 AM GMT

Zelensky to visit Germany and France on Friday

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, will travel to Germany and France on Friday for meetings with leaders Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron, his office announced.

The visits come as Ukraine seeks to unlock billions of dollars in Western aid to help its troops on the battlefield.

“On Feb 16, the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Germany and France for talks with German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron,” Mr Zelensky’s office said in a statement.

Mr Zelensky will also address the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, where he will hold talks with US vice president Kamala Harris, Kyiv said.

09:12 AM GMT

Lord Cameron arrives in Warsaw

08:57 AM GMT

Russian nuclear weapons in space a ‘malicious fabriciation’, claims Kremlin

The Kremlin has dismissed US warnings about the threat of Russian nuclear weapons in space as a “malicious fabrication” by the White House, designed to trick US lawmakers into approving more aid for Ukraine.

The White House yesterday told Congress and European allies about intelligence reports of a “serious national security threat” posed by Russia developing a space-based nuclear weapons programme.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said he would not comment on the substance of the reports until the details were unveiled by the White House. But he said Washington’s warning was clearly an attempt to get Congress to approve more money.

“It is obvious that the White House is trying, by hook or by crook, to encourage Congress to vote on a bill to allocate money, this is obvious,” Mr Peskov said, as reported by Russian state news agency TASS. “We’ll see what tricks the White House will use.”

Sergei Ryabkov, Russian deputy foreign minister, accused the United States of “malicious fabrication”, TASS reported.

08:45 AM GMT

Russia is preparing to launch nuclear weapon into space, US fears

Russia wants to put a nuclear weapon into space, US intelligence indicates, in what was described as a “serious national security threat”, writes Rozina Sabur.

Joe Biden was urged on Wednesday night to declassify US intelligence on the military operation, which has been shared with every member of US Congress.

The weapons system could be used to target Western satellites in space, potentially knocking out communications and military targeting systems.

The US president is understood to have been tracking the threat, described as a “grave” but not “immediate”, for some weeks, according to White House sources.

Read Rozina’s full story here.

08:40 AM GMT

Ukrainian troops fire artillery in Donetsk

08:34 AM GMT

Britain to supply thousands more drones to Ukraine

Britain will supply thousands more drones to Ukraine as part of a £200 million support package, the Ministry of Defence reported.

The drone package is part of an international effort that Britain is co-leading with Latvia.

“Together, [we] will give Ukraine the capabilities it needs to defend itself and win this war, to ensure that Putin fails in his illegal and barbaric ambitions,” Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, said.

His comments came ahead of meetings with allies in Brussels and Munich this week.

08:22 AM GMT

Putin prefers Biden to Trump in US election

Vladimir Putin has said Joe Biden would be a better US president for Russia than Donald Trump, describing the incumbent as “more experienced and predictable”.

Putin’s comments late yesterday evening marked his first foray into this year’s presidential election as tensions between Democrats and Republicans escalate over Washington’s efforts to send more aid to Ukraine.

Asked in a state television interview to choose between Mr Biden and Mr Trump, the Russian president said the US leader was “more experienced, predictable, an old-school politician”, adding that Russia would “work with any US leader who wins the trust of the American people”.

Putin’s comments came a day after Mr Biden accused Mr Trump of having “bowed down to a Russian dictator” as he urged Republicans in Congress to defy Mr Trump and support more funding for Ukraine.

08:09 AM GMT

Four dead and multiple wounded as Russia launches massive strikes across Ukraine

Russia launched a series of missile attacks across Ukraine overnight, killing at least four and injuring nine, officials reported.

The strikes targeted seven Ukrainian regions across the country, including Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Lviv, the Ukrainian military said.

Three people died in strikes on Kharkiv, including a 74-year-old woman, with five injured and several still trapped underneath the rubble after 16 settlements came under attack, the regional governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.

In the western city of Lviv, Russian missiles damaged apartment buildings, two schools, and a kindergarten, leaving three people injured, mayor Andrii Sadovyi reported.

The attacks also hit an infrastructure facility in Zaporizhzhia, injuring six people, according to preliminary data cited by acting mayor Anatolii Kurtiev.

Ukraine’s air defence shot down 13 out of 26 Russian missiles, including all of the strikes on the capital, the air force said.

07:53 AM GMT

Have you signed up for our Ukraine: The Latest podcast live event yet?

This evening at 6:30pm (UK time) The Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast team is taking to the stage at the US Embassy in London for a live recording.

Hosts David Knowles, Francis Dearnley and Dominic Nicholls will be joined by special guests to discuss the latest developments from the conflict in Ukraine, as we approach the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

This event is free for Telegraph subscribers only. Sign up here: https://extra.telegraph.co.uk/events/ukraine-latest-london-embassy.

Here’s a taster from the team’s most recent event in Washington DC.

07:51 AM GMT

Footage emerges of the alleged strike on a Russian oil depot

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