‘Ask Yourself: Why Is Putin Still Able to Continue?’ – War in Ukraine Update for Feb 19

Overview

• Moscow forces raise flag over Avdiivka, Ukraine withdraws into prepared positions
• Ukraine shoots down another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber that reportedly “kamikazed” into a Ukrainian civilian neighborhood
• Ukrainians remember the “Heavenly Hundred” on 10th anniversary
• President Zelensky tells the world not to ask Ukraine when the war will end, ask about Putin

Kremlin captures the embattled city of Avdiivka in the first major advance for Moscow in months

Russian soldiers attacked multiple times to the west of Avdiivka, which was recently taken over, in an attempt to gain more ground, said a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military on Sunday.

Due to shortages in manpower and ammunition, Ukraine had to withdraw from the industrial center in the eastern Donetsk region, giving Moscow its first significant territorial gain in the war since May 2023.

“The enemy is actively pushing forward their attack,” said Dmytro Lykhoviy, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces commander, speaking on state TV on Sunday.

The Ukrainian general staff reported 14 failed Russian attacks on the village of Lastochkyne, about two kilometers to the west of Avdiivka. Lykhoviy suggested that Ukrainian forces are strongly positioned there.

There were also unsuccessful Russian attacks near the villages of Robotyne and Verbove in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

He said it would be “very difficult” for Russia to break through there, given heavy Ukrainian defensive lines and the topography of the terrain.

“The situation in the Zaporizhzhia sector is stable... No positions have been lost,” he said on state TV on Sunday.

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According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in the aftermath of Avdiivka’s fall into Russian hands:

“Ukrainian forces will likely be able to establish new defensive lines not far beyond Avdiivka, which will likely prompt the culmination of the Russian offensive in this area. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed on Feb. 18 that elements of the Russian Central Grouping of Forces completely captured Avdiivka, advancing 8.6 km in depth in the area and that Russian forces continue offensive operations to capture additional territory in the Donetsk Region.

“Several Russian milbloggers claimed on Feb. 18 that Ukrainian forces lack well-prepared defensive positions west of Avdiivka and that Russian forces will be able to advance further into western Donetsk Oblast behind ‘panicked’ and ‘disorganized’ Ukrainian forces withdrawing from Avdiivka.

“ISW has still not observed footage of disorderly Ukrainian withdrawals to support these Russian claims and would expect to observe such footage if the withdrawal was disorderly on a large scale given the normal patterns of Russian sources with access to such material.

“One Russian milblogger claimed that a large-scale collapse of the Avdiivka front is ‘unlikely’ as Ukrainian forces withdraw to prepared defensive lines, however, indicating that the Russian understanding (or presentation) of Ukrainian defensive capabilities on this sector of the front differs from source to source.”

Kyiv Post has updated information for the ongoing situation west of Avdiivka here.

Ukraine shoots down six Sukhoi fighter-bombers in three days

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) claim to have shot down six Russian fighter aircraft in less than 72 hours.

On early Sunday morning video of an aircraft, reported to be a Russian Su-34, crashing in the Luhansk region made the rounds on social media.

Ukrainian defenders “brought down” another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber on Sunday morning, according to Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, cited by the RBC Ukraine news outlet.

Some reports indicate the pilot, aware of his final fate may have purposely crashed into a civilian neighborhood.

According to a report in Ukrainska Pravda:

“A Russian pilot has flown his severely damaged aircraft towards villages in Antratsyt the Luhansk Regional Military Administration has reported

Artem Lysohor, head of Luhansk Regional Military Administration reported that the warplane had first dropped several guided bomb units on Ukrainian defenders’ positions on Feb. 17.

Quote from Lysohor: “And when it [the aircraft] had been hit, he [the pilot] was thinking only about himself, as he was flying the damaged warplane.

“That’s why he flew the aircraft towards the settlements of Antratsyt in the occupied Luhansk Region, not into fields and forests.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that “residents of the village of Dyakove saw this Russian fighter jet killing civilians.”

Earlier today, the AFU reportedly shot down two more Russian fighters. Details of these two engagements are not yet known.

Saturday, Feb. 17, Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down three Russian fighter aircraft – two Su-34s and one Su-35 – over the Donetsk region.

The Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) is Russia’s top, front-line fighter-bomber.

Its primary mission as designed is to launch laser-guided bombs or long-range guided missiles in precision strikes at ground targets, however, it also carries advanced radars and can be fitted with modern air-to-air missiles.

Costing around $36 million a copy, the aircraft is one of the Russian military’s most expensive.

The AFU General Staff claims to have shot down 335 Russian military aircraft since Feb. 24, 2022.

Ukrainian air defense also destroyed 12 Shahed attack drones and a Kh-59 cruise missile in separate incidents.

Ukraine remembers the “Heavenly Hundred” who were killed during the Maidan Nezalezhnosti protests 10 years ago this week

An evening memorial service in memory of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes of the was held in St. Michael’s Cathedral on Feb. 18.

Following the memorial service in the cathedral, a traditional monument procession started from St. Michael’s Cathedral to the Alley of the Heavenly Hundred.

One Kyiv Post journalist recalls a text received on the morning of Feb. 19, 2014, from a Ukrainian student learning English by the then-language teacher in the capital: “Can’t come today. My boyfriend died.”

He was a student who was killed overnight in the deadly sniper attack by Yanukovych’s Berkut special police against the protests on Maidan.

At a memorial service the following Sunday, his photograph was displayed from the stage at Maidan after the pro-Russian dictator fled to Rostov-on-Don. It was the last photograph taken by his girlfriend before he was gunned down in the initial shots of what has turned into the Russo-Ukrainian War.

President Zelensky tells the Munich Security Conference to ask how Putin is still able to continue in Ukraine

According to the Guardian, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “Please, do not ask Ukraine when the war will end. Ask yourself: why is Putin still able to continue it?” as he addressed delegates at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

Zelensky shared a video of the speech online and also wrote: “We can get our land back. And Putin can lose.”