DW: Yana joined Ukrainian army last year. Nastia signed up in 2023.

“I’m already used to shelling. If something is flying, I know what to do. I’m not in such a panic. I can calm some guys sitting next to me, calm down, everything is fine, it will fly by.” 1/ DW: Women face many challenges in the army, even criticism about their appearance.

“Although we serve, we’re also women. We want to be well-groomed, beautiful. Why do they care? It’s upsetting that men who would never come here write this.” 2/

FT: Russia’s total losses estimated at 325,000 killed, with 30,000-35,000 soldiers killed or seriously wounded every month.

Russia’s army is advancing slower than during the Battle of the Somme, while suffering its heaviest losses in 4 years of full-scale war. 1/ Russian offensives now move 15-70 meters per day on key axes. That pace is slower than most wars of the last 100 years and reflects sustained attrition. 2/

Kremlin is promising $12T worth of deals to Trump administration in return for sanctions relief.

Zelenskyy: “Russia has already promised these deals. One Washington insider says a package has already been agreed on” — The Economist. 1/ Before Putin met Trump in August, a note was drafted for Russia's National Security Council explaining how to sell "the Greatest Deal" to Trump.

Since April, Dmitriev, who runs a Russian state fund, has met Witkoff at least 9 times. 2/

Soldiers may lead a revolution in Russia after the war ends.

James Rogers for Times: When hundreds of thousands of russian soldiers go home, they may find no clear jobs and become a disruptive force.

We’ve seen the same: defeat to Japan in 1905, and revolution after WWI.
1/ Rogers: Putin still believes he’s winning.

The war was supposed to end in days. Russian soldiers carried dress uniforms, expecting a victory parade.

Now it’s hard for him to change course. The economy is on a war footing. If that engine stops, serious problems could hit.

2/

First deserter from Russian army applied for asylum in Britain.

Alisher Hassanov, Tajik-born, moved to Russia in 2020. Arrested February 2024 because work permit expired. Police gave him a choice sign contract to fight in Ukraine or go to prison — The Times. 1/ Hassanov: "They worked on me psychologically. They said: "Sign a contract for one year. Everything will be fine.

If you don't sign, we'll make it so you're sent to prison, and from there they won't even ask you. They'll just send you straight to the front." 2/

Simon Tisdall: "The US failure to defend Ukraine against Russia is the greatest and most consequential of recent American betrayals.

What really shocks is the sheer bad faith shown by a country that Europeans always counted a friend. Europe will remember" — The Guardian. 1/ Tisdall: "Most Europeans now regard their foremost partner as unreliable, even a foe.

US global influence and leadership is fading fast, to China's huge advantage. Everywhere, autocrats rejoice, as do Europe's advancing far-right parties." 2/

Russia spent a decade ditching the dollar for China. Now Putin offers Trump a deal: Russia returns to dollar settlement system.

Kremlin memo proposes joint oil ventures, aviation contracts, nuclear cooperation in exchange — Bloomberg. 1/ The memo lays out 7 areas where Kremlin sees US-Russian economic interests converging after a Ukraine peace deal.

Joint investments in natural gas and offshore oil. US companies recovering past losses in russia. Preferential access to Russian consumer market. Raw materials cooperation. 2/

Clarissa Ward, CNN: We have celebrated Ukrainians as exemplifying superhuman resilience.

A Ukrainian woman said, I never want to hear the word resilience again. People don’t feel superhuman. They feel broken. They can barely get out of bed in the morning. 1/ Ward: After four years of war, in this bitterly cold winter, with rolling blackouts, buildings with no power and no heat, and no end in sight, it starts to get you down.

That sense is palpable in Ukraine at the moment. 2/

Hypersonica completed Europe's first privately funded hypersonic strike test. February 10 at Andøya Space in Norway.

Prototype exceeded Mar 6. Range over 300km. From design to launch in 9 months — United24. 1/ Co-founders Kerth and Ewenz: "This is a major milestone toward Europe's 1st sovereign hypersonic strike capability by 2029. Our test flight yielded invaluable datasets that will inform the design of future high-speed strike systems." 2/

Zelenskyy was supposed to fall in days — via assassination or flight.

Russian agents rented apartments near Bankova Street with orders to eliminate him. Instead, he posted a dark selfie: “We are here.”

Four years later, he’s still in office, CNN. 1/ Removal was central to Moscow’s plan. Kill him or capture him — and let panic finish the job.

When the US offered evacuation, Zelenskyy’s line defined the moment: “I need ammunition, not a ride.” 2/

CBC: The UK is its weakest in the last 200 years. The Strategic Defence Review describes poor recruitment, falling morale, a workforce crisis, regulars and reservists in decline. In Germany a fifth of officer posts aren’t filled. The military has too little of everything. 1/ CBC: Europe’s top spenders are outpacing Russia, doubling Russia’s defense spending. But what will give Europe peace of mind will take more than money. The challenge is to stitch together a 44-nation patchwork to present a cohesive front against an opponent unified under one man. 2/

Hodges: Most of the Congress supports Ukraine, but they don’t get the sanctions package for vote because Trump doesn’t want them to.
Even though most Americans support Ukraine, the administration is going in a different direction. There’s no oversight of what they’re doing. 1/ Hodges: Putin’s the one that can end it today since he started it with his attack on Ukraine. He could pull his troops out.

Russia has paid an enormous price. For the Ukrainians it’s clear they cannot agree to giving up land. It’s sovereign territory and there is zero interest to give up. 2/

Dmytro and Denys alone held the position for 130 days. Killed 7 Russians, took one as POW. Dmytro “K2”: Russians die like flies. They’re losers.

They failed to take our position 3 times. Bombed us with mortars, thinking we died. But fuck them, we were alive. And kept working. 1/ “K2”: A russian walked right inside the house once. We were sitting, about to drink coffee. He shouted, ‘Guys, guys’.

“Bars”: I aimed at the doorway and fired. He fell. I went around and put a final shot in his head. He was shouting because he thought we were his own. 2/

Tetiana Tipakova: “It was the worst of all the prisons.”

A protest organizer in Berdyansk, she was abducted, beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and sexually assaulted by guards.

She was forced to film a propaganda video before being released, NYT. 1/ Tetiana: “The goal was to break me.”

She now speaks publicly, testifies internationally, and works with survivor groups documenting sexual violence in occupied territories. 2/

The CIA and MI6 uncovered Putin’s invasion plan months early — but most of Europe, and even Zelenskyy, dismissed it as irrational.

Washington predicted Kyiv’s fall in weeks. Berlin and Paris predicted no war at all. Both were wrong, The Guardian. 1/
In November 2021, CIA Director Burns went to Moscow to warn Putin — and got only a secure phone call.

Putin ignored the invasion warning and talked instead about a “US warship” threat near the Black Sea. 2/

Ukraine creates military satellite network UASAT-NANO.

Serial launches planned with SpaceX. Companies already have agreements in place. Will be used as test platform to validate technologies and management model for larger constellation — United24. 1/ Network appeared in BR IFIC Space publication on February 17. Project led by Ukrainian company STETMAN.

Constellation planned to begin deployment in 2026 with 120 satellites in initial phase. First satellite UASAT-NANO scheduled for launch in October 2026. 2/

Russian Major General Roman Demurchiev: “I will not take prisoners. I’ll piss on them first, then shoot them, then burn them.” — private voice message obtained by Radio Liberty. 1/ In messages to an FSB military counterintelligence officer (“Grek”), Demurchiev offers prisoners as “gifts”:

“I have one POW sitting in a pit. Should I utilize him or give him to you?” 2/

Russian Major General Roman Demurchiev on Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps: “Those guys come out of the trench, put out the fire, and fry eggs on a bonfire… We should write Zelenskyy to give them Hero of Ukraine.” — Radio Liberty 1/ Radio Liberty obtained gigabytes of Demurchiev’s chats and voice notes.

He is deputy commander of Russia’s 20th Combined Arms Army (“West”), fighting on the Lyman axis.

In one voice note he rants about a Ukrainian strongpoint his troops tried to erase. 2/

“Who is leading us[russians]? An army of idiots, sycophants and cowardly traitors.”

This is how Russian Major General Roman Demurchiev describes his own command in private messages obtained by Radio Liberty. 1/ Demurchiev, 49, from Kazan, was promoted to Major General by Putin in 2023.

In 2024 he became Deputy Commander of Russia’s 20th Combined Arms Army, operating on the Lyman axis in eastern Ukraine.

Schemes received gigabytes of his chats and voice messages covering 2022–2024. 2/

US Supreme Court rejects Trump’s global tariffs.

The Court ruled that Trump went too far when he used a 1977 emergency law (IEEPA) to impose tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner.

Trump does not have that power without Congress. — Reuters 1/ The Constitution gives Congress — not the president — authority over taxes and tariffs.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that if a president wants to take actions of “vast economic and political significance,” he must show clear approval from Congress. Trump could not. 2/

It’s a roulette road. Someone makes it through, someone doesn’t. — Tetiana Demukh, Ukrainian Witness.

This is the “road of life”, Kramatorsk-Kostiantynivka. Burnt equipment everywhere. Infantry walk the whole way to positions, cars can’t get there.

1/ Ukrainian soldiers: It takes two days to get out on foot. We were in position for a month.

We stop at night, but we walk in several groups. There was a lot of flying [FPV] tonight. It was fun.

2/