WORLD BRIEFING: February 19, 2024
Alexei Navalny's mother and lawyers have been blocked from entering a mortuary where his body could be being kept, representatives say. One of the lawyers was "literally pushed out" and staff refused to answer questions about the whereabouts of the Russian opposition leader's remains, his spokeswoman says. They had been directed to a mortuary in the town of Salekhard near the remote Arctic prison where Navalny suddenly died last week. Prison authorities say he suffered "sudden death syndrome" but his allies believe he was murdered on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. His widow, Yulia, is due to address European foreign ministers in Brussels today. Navalny, 47, one of Russia's most significant opposition figures, had been in jail on charges widely viewed as politically motivated. Protests and vigils have been held near Russian embassies in many countries and hundreds of people have been detained in Russia, reports say, amid warnings not to rally - BBC
A White House statement said President Joe Biden tied the loss of the stronghold of Avdiivka in the southeastern Donetsk region to the stalled U.S. aid for Ukraine in a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday. The Ukrainian withdrawal from Avdiivka — almost two years to the day since Russia invaded Ukraine — came "after Ukrainian soldiers had to ration ammunition due to dwindling supplies as a result of congressional inaction, resulting in Russia's first notable gains in months," the statement read. Russia's defense ministry said its troops had advanced 8.6 km (5.3 miles) in that part of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and that Russian troops were pressing forward after a deadly urban battle that has left the city a nearly depopulated wreck - VOA
The Associated Press has interviewed over a dozen Ukrainian commanders - including heads of artillery units, in the war’s most intense combat zones - who said that dwindling stockpiles of Western-supplied long-range artillery had inhibited Ukrainian forces from striking high-value targets deep behind Russian lines, where heavy equipment and personnel have accumulated. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said Sunday they had opened an investigation into alleged shootings by Russian forces of six unarmed Ukrainian soldiers in the seized city of Avdiivka, and two at a village in the same region. The Donetsk prosecutor's office said a video fragment taken by a drone showed a Russian soldier shooting two captured Ukrainian soldiers at close range at the village of Vesele. “Not wanting to leave the prisoners alive, the occupier kills them with automatic weapons," the office added, without saying when the incident had occurred - VOA
"20 Days in Mariupol" just won the BAFTA for Best Documentary. The producer, Mstyslav Chernov, thanked judges for empowering the voices of Ukrainians and said “let’s keep on fighting.” The film is described as “a raw and horrifying look into the pure evil of russia's war against Ukraine.”
The World Health Organization has said Gaza's Nasser hospital has ceased to function following an Israeli raid. Israel Defense Force (IDF) troops entered the complex on Thursday, saying intelligence indicated hostages taken by Hamas were being held there. The WHO said it had not been allowed to enter the site to assess the situation. The IDF has described its operation in Nasser as "precise and limited" and accused Hamas of "cynically using hospitals for terror" - BBC
The US on Saturday conducted strikes against Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and vessels, including on the first unmanned underwater vessel the Iranian-backed rebel group has used since the attacks in the Red Sea began, according to US Central Command. The US conducted five strikes against three anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel between 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday local time, CENTCOM said. The unmanned underwater vessel attack marks a new strategy for the Houthis and comes in spite of continued US airstrikes against the rebel group - CNN
“Hostile elements" attempted to take over the communication network of an El Al plane flying from Phuket to Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday night and divert it from its destination, Israel's national airline confirmed on Sunday. The plane reached its destination safely. This is the second time such an incident has occurred in the past week, according to a KAN Reshet B report. The incident took place over an area where the Iran-backed Houthis are active, although sources in Somalia told KAN that a group in the de-facto state Somaliland, which recently signed an agreement with Ethiopia, is responsible for the attempted attack. During the incident, instructions were given to the crew that were different from their set route, raising concerns that someone was trying to damage the plane or lead it to dangerous areas, maybe even to conduct a kidnapping - Jerusalem Post
Two peaceful marches took place in Kyiv Sunday as the countdown continues to the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Around midday along Maidan Square hundreds gathered to push for the release of prisoners of war detained by Russia - especially the hundreds captured who belonged to the Azov battalion that defended Mariupol. A dusk march of several dozen paid tribute to the unarmed civilians -also known as the ‘Heavenly Hundred’ - who were killed by pro-government forces in February 2014.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is seeking to clarify the fate of 23,000 persons whose families have no news of them, either because they have been captured, killed, or because they lost contact after fleeing their homes. “Not knowing what happened to a loved one is excruciating, and this is the tragic reality for tens of thousands of families who live in a state of constant anguish. Families have the right to know what happened to their relatives and, when possible, to exchange news with them,” said Dusan Vujasanin, the head of the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency Bureau (CTA-B) for the international armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
