For today, links to reports from Agence France-Presse, Reuters, the Kyiv Post, and the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date, so far, is HERE.) — MCM
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Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of POWs. From AFP. The exchange occurred today, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 195 of its soldiers were freed, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 207 people — both soldiers and civilians — had returned to Ukraine. READ MORE . . .
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Zelenskiy set to replace Ukraine’s top commander Zaluzhny — FT. From Reuters. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is preparing to replace top commander Valery Zaluzhny in what would be the biggest shake-up of its military brass during Russia’s almost two-year-old invasion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Zelenskiy offered Valeriy . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine says Russia not handing over alleged POWs’ bodies from crashed plane. From Reuters. A Ukrainian military spy official said on Tuesday that Russia was showing no willingness to return the bodies of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war Moscow says died in a military plane crash in Belgorod region last week. Kyiv has said Moscow . . . READ MORE . . .
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Putin says U.S. Patriot missile used to shoot down POW plane. From AFP. Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that a U.S.-made Patriot missile was used to shoot down a plane that Moscow says was carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers. A Russian Il-76 cargo plane crashed on Jan. 24 with Russian authorities saying . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine stages new drone attack on Russian oil refinery: Kyiv source. From AFP. Ukraine carried out another drone attack on an oil facility deep inside Russian territory, a military intelligence source in Kyiv told AFP today. Kyiv has . . . READ MORE . . .
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Germany’s Scholz vows to ‘do all’ to secure ‘huge’ EU aid to Ukraine. From AFP. “We will do everything,” Chancellor Olaf Schotz said to the German parliament today, “to ensure that the joint contribution from Europe is so huge that Ukraine can build on it and that . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine’s drone operators race into the future, mostly with overclocked copters, by Stefan Korshak | Kyiv Post Over the past 23 months, in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, hobby drones have gone from a nice-to-have combat tool operated mostly by geeks and usable only for short-range reconnaissance, into a weapons system so critical that deployment of an AFU combat brigade without a dedicated drone unit would be considered . . . READ MORE . . .
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These are the most important Russian ships destroyed by Ukraine, by Dinara Khalilova | The Kyiv Independent One of the most unexpected developments of the full-scale invasion was how many big, expensive Russian ships were taken out by Ukraine, a country that technically has no navy. Around 20% of Russia’s Black Sea fleet has been destroyed as of December 2023, according to . . . READ MORE . . .