Key Events on Day 840 of the Russia-Ukraine War What's are Situation on the Ground: The Ukrainian military reports intense battles near Chasiv Yar, a critical hilltop location in Donetsk, where the situation remains "tense." A civilian was killed near Pokrovsk, and another man lost his life to Russian fire in the southern Kherson region.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian journalist Valery Kozhin, working for the state-run NTV channel, was killed by Ukrainian shelling in a Russian-occupied village in Donetsk. The mayor of Horlivka confirmed the incident, and NTV reported that three of its staff, including Kozhin, were injured and hospitalized.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted that Russia's advance in the northeastern Kharkiv region is slowing, with the front line stabilizing after some allies lifted restrictions on Ukraine's use of donated weapons on Russian soil.
Politics and Diplomacy:
At the G7 summit in Italy, member nations agreed to provide $50 billion in financial support to Ukraine by the end of the year, funded from profits on frozen Russian assets. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the deal.
US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement to bolster Ukraine’s defense and bring it closer to NATO membership. Ukraine also signed a similar 10-year security agreement with Japan, promising $4.5 billion in aid for 2024 and continued support throughout the agreement’s term.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that around 750,000 people were newly displaced within Ukraine last year due to Russia's invasion, bringing the total to 3.7 million internally displaced persons by the end of 2023. The number of Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers rose by over 275,000 to six million.
Global Rights Compliance released a report accusing Russian forces of deliberately using starvation as a military tactic during the 85-day siege of Mariupol in 2022. The report stated that Russian forces systematically attacked vital resources and blocked humanitarian aid.
Russian prosecutors announced they would send Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter detained in March 2023, to trial for allegedly collecting information for the US CIA about a Russian tank factory. Gershkovich denies the charges, calling them false and baseless. US President Biden condemned the detention as "totally illegal."
In the trial of director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, a judge agreed to close the proceedings to the public and media due to unspecified threats to witnesses. The two were arrested in May last year for "justifying terrorism" through a play about Russian women marrying Islamic State fighters, which they deny, stating the play aimed to prevent terrorism.
German-Russian lawyer German Moyzhes was detained in Saint Petersburg, with some independent Russian media suggesting treason charges. The German Federal Foreign Office confirmed it was in contact with Moyzhes's family, but Russia has not officially commented on the detention.
Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, accompanied by a tugboat and a fuel ship, arrived in Cuba for a five-day visit, signaling Moscow's show of force amid the ongoing conflict.
Weaponry and Military Aid:
President Zelenskyy announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping assured him during a phone call that China would not sell weapons to Russia. Zelenskyy did not specify when the conversation took place.
The Dutch Ministry of Defence confirmed that Ukraine’s allies will send approximately €350 million ($376.74 million) worth of 152mm shells to Ukraine. Additionally, Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair stated that Canada would send about 2,000 surplus unarmed rockets and other weapons to Ukraine.
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