Russian strikes hit critical infrastructure in western city of Lviv; UN to vote on new peace resolution

Service members in Ukraine's National Guard attend a presentation of the unit's interactive fire training simulator in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

— Yuriy Dyachyshyn | AFP | Getty Images

The White House said it has planned no stops other than Poland for President Joe Biden's trip next week.

"The president is looking forward to meeting with President [Andrzej] Duda and communicating with the Polish people in making remarks there in Warsaw. I don't have any other meetings to speak to or to detail or preview today," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters when asked if Biden may visit Ukraine.

"I would add that President Biden and President Zelenskyy have spoken regularly and routinely over the course of the last year, both face-to-face and over the phone. And we fully expect that direct communication between those two leaders will absolutely continue well into the future," Kirby said.

— Amanda Macias

Two vessels carrying more than 57,000 metric tons of grain and other food products have left Ukrainian ports, the organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from the country said.

The ships are destined for Ireland and the Netherlands and are carrying corn and soya beans.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered in July among Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, eased Russia's naval blockade and saw three key Ukrainian ports reopen.

So far, more than 700 ships have sailed from Ukrainian ports.

— Amanda Macias

The U.S. detected and intercepted four Russian aircraft approaching Alaska's airspace.

"Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace," the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, wrote in a statement.

It added that this was the "second intercept of Russian aircraft over two days."

NORAD said that Russian activity in this region occurs regularly and "is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative."

The Russian aircraft included TU-95 BEAR-H, SU-30 fighter aircraft and SU-35 fighter aircraft. Two NORAD F-35A fighters intercepted the Russian aircraft alongside two F-16 fighters, one E-3 Sentry (AWACS) and two KC-135 Stratotankers.

— Amanda Macias

The much anticipated Russian spring offensive has been "very pathetic" so far, a U.S. official said.

"Ukraine itself is planning its own counteroffensive," said Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department, on a conference call with reporters.

She declined to elaborate on the country's war strategy.

Nuland reiterated that the U.S. and its allies will support Ukraine "for as long as it takes." She added that the Ukrainian military has adapted well to using Western weapons.

— Amanda Macias

The Ukrainian military shows radio details of a new series of X-101 strategic air-to-surface cruise missiles that Russia uses to fire at Ukrainian cities.

— Oleksii Chumachenko/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin praised Estonia's contribution to Ukraine during a visit to the country.

"Estonia has provided more military aid to Ukraine than any other country in the world," Austin said during a joint press conference with Estonia Defense Minister Hanno Pekvur in Tallinn, Estonia.

"Even small countries can make a difference," Austin said, adding that Estonia has been a "shining example" of support for Ukraine.

Estonia has contributed slightly more than 1% of its gross domestic product to Ukraine aid during the war so far.

Tallinn has provided Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missiles, howitzers, anti-tank mines, anti-tank grenade launchers, mortars, vehicles, communications equipment, medical supplies, personal protective equipment and dry food packages.

Estonia also joined Germany in donating two field hospitals and medical supplies worth nearly 15 million euros to Ukraine. Estonia will work with the Netherlands and Norway to donate a third field hospital.

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian soldiers take part in a trench warfare training exercise in an unspecified location in the United Kingdom. The training program is part of the U.K.'s pledge to support Ukraine as the first anniversary of Russia's war nears.

The latest cohort of Ukrainian volunteers marks the 10,000th recruit to be trained in the U.K. A thousand U.K. service members have been deployed to run the program at sites across the U.K.

— Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in Kyiv and is expected to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Cohen is the first senior Israeli official to visit Ukraine since the start of the war.

Cohen wrote on Twitter that during his meetings in Kyiv, he plans to discuss the reopening of the Israeli embassy.

— Amanda Macias

U.S. President Joe Biden will welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House on March 3.

"The chancellor's visit is an opportunity to reaffirm the deep bonds of friendship between the United States and our NATO ally Germany," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Scholz's visit will come roughly a year since Russia's launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"The leaders will discuss our ongoing efforts to support Ukraine, impose costs on Russia for its aggression and strengthen transatlantic security. They will also review our continued cooperation on a range of regional and global security issues, including working together on shared challenges posed by China and our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific," Jean-Pierre added.

— Amanda Macias

Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified the date when Scholz will visit the White House.

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin slammed the heavy bureaucracy of Russia's defense ministry for the protracted progress Russian forces are making in eastern Ukraine's embattled Bakhmut.

"Progress is not going as fast as we would like," he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, according to a Google translation. "I think that Bakhmut would have been taken before the New Year, if not for our monstrous military bureaucracy, let's say, and not for the spokes that are put in the wheels daily."

"I think it's (going to be) March or in April," he said in another post. The battle for Bakhmut is one of the bloodiest and longest-running of Russia's nearly year-long full-scale war in Ukraine.

Wagner Group, the Russian private mercenary force operating in several countries around the world, has played a leading role in some of Russia's operations in eastern Ukraine. It has expanded its ranks by recruiting convicts from Russian prisons and is known for its brutally violent tactics.

Prigozhin claims that his group made significant gains independently of Russia's official army, which has created tension between Wagner and the Russian defense ministry.

— Natasha Turak

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Sweden and Finland have taken "some steps" toward its demands for gaining its approval to join NATO, softening the much more acrimonious tone of recent weeks.

But Sweden needs to take more steps, Cavusoglu said from Ankara. This includes cracking down on certain Kurdish groups that the Turkish government deems to be terrorists, and which are operating and living in Sweden.

The Kurdish militant group PKK is still able to recruit and stage anti-Turkey demonstrations in Sweden despite tougher anti-terrorism laws, the Turkish minister said. He suggested that Turkey's approval for Finland and Sweden need not come in at the same time.

"We can separately evaluate the membership process of Finland and Sweden," he said.

The two Nordic states and close allies made their bids to join the NATO alliance in May 2022, ending their long-held policy of non-alignment in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Accepting a new member state to the alliance requires unanimous approval from existing members, and so far Turkey and Hungary are the only states who have no given the green light for Sweden and Finland's applications.

"Turkey is not against the expansion of NATO, we are in favor of a stronger NATO," Cavusoglu added.

— Natasha Turak

Russian missile strikes hit critical infrastructure in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Thursday morning, but there are no casualties, according to the head of the Lviv Regional State Administration Maksym Kozytskyi.

"During the air alert, a critical infrastructure object was hit in the Lviv region. There are no victims. The fire was extinguished. Details later. Keep yourselves. Don't ignore the sirens," Kozytskyi said via Telegram. Air raid sirens have been activated across numerous cities and regions in the country.

Lviv, close to the border with Poland, is considered one of the safer parts of Ukraine, as it is on the opposite end of the country from the eastern front. Still, it has seen a number of Russian strikes since the full-scale war began in February 2022.

— Natasha Turak

The U.N. General Assembly is set to vote next week on a resolution calling for a cease-fire and lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.

The resolution, first circulated by the EU, calls for a halting of hostilities and peace that ensures "sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity" for Ukraine.

The 193-member General Assembly will likely vote on Feb. 23, just a day before the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This will not be the first time the United Nations has voted on such a resolution.

While General Assembly members do not have veto power, the ratio of votes in support of the resolution compared with "against" and abstentions are an important barometer of global opinion. The vote is not legally binding.

The first General Assembly resolution adopted after Russia's invasion began called for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. It was approved by an overwhelming vote of 141 to five and had 35 abstentions.

Ukraine and its allies are hoping for the same level of support this time around, if not higher.

"We count on very broad support from the membership," said EU Ambassador Olof Skoog, who helped draft the resolution. "What is at stake is not just the fate of Ukraine, it is the respect of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of every state."

— Natasha Turak

Russian forces are carrying out constant strikes on Ukrainian troops in the country's east, Ukraine's deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said.

"The enemy's offensive continues in the east, round the clock attacks. The situation is tense. Yes, it is difficult for us," Maliar wrote in a post on Telegram.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier that the situation in Luhansk remains "difficult." Still, Ukrainian officials say that their troops have inflicted heavy losses on Russian soldiers, and have not mentioned any potential retreats.

— Natasha Turak

Daria Herasymchuk, commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights and Rehabilitation, said that Russian forces have forcibly removed more than 16,000 children from Ukraine.

"We cannot forgive the fate of more than 16,000 children who were forcibly removed from the territory of Ukraine. Actually stolen. And these are only those we know for sure," Herasymchuk said, adding that the number of missing children could be higher.

"There are no accurate data on the number of forcibly displaced and deported children since we do not have any diplomatic relations with Russia and Russia refuses to communicate not only with us but also with international organizations about Ukrainian children," she added in remarks announcing a new portal that will help Ukrainians track and report crimes against children.

The platform, dubbed "Children of War," was established at the direction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and aims to quickly collect and report information about children lost, displaced or deported during the war.

— Amanda Macias

Russia's estimated to have lost about half of its mightiest battle tanks in its unprovoked war against Ukraine, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Russia's pre-invasion fleet of T-72B3 and T-72B3M main battle tanks stands at about 50% of its pre-invasion levels, and it has about a third of its pre-war fleet of T-80BV and T-80BU tanks, according to the British group.

"Industrial production continues but remains slow, forcing Moscow to rely on its older stored weapons as attrition replacements," said John Chipman, International Institute for Strategic Studies Director-General and Chief Executive, during a launch event of the annual Military Balance report.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military is able to strike at longer ranges with its arsenal of Western weapons.

"Ukraine's forces also demonstrate adaptation in war and decentralization of command. While threats from Russian artillery have forced Ukraine's artillery to disperse to avoid destruction, persistent battlefield surveillance and improved communications have nonetheless enabled Ukrainians to effectively concentrate their artillery fire," Chipman said.

— Amanda Macias

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told NBC News that Iran is working to extend Russia's war in Ukraine by supplying the Kremlin with additional weapons.

"I think Iran is working to extend this conflict unnecessarily and inflict casualties on civilians," Austin told NBC's Courtney Kube on the sidelines of the NATO defense ministerial.

Austin added that so far the U.S. has identified Iranian drones used by Russian forces in Ukraine but has not seen Iranian ballistic missiles yet.

"We don't put it past Russia to request that from Iran. I think the Ukrainians will soon be getting some Patriot batteries and I think that will be very helpful in addressing any capabilities like that in the future," Austin said, adding that the Kremlin has also reached out to North Korea for weapons as well.

— Amanda Macias

EU announces new Russia sanctions package; Ukrainian children sent to Russian 're-education' camps, study says