WAR IN UKRAINE: February 8, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 350
Biden to Congress: US will stand with Ukraine ‘as long as it takes’. U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to support Ukraine as long as needed during his annual State of the Union address as Russia’s all-out war approaches its one-year anniversary on Feb. 24 - Kyiv Independent
Late Tuesday, Russian forces reportedly fired at least 6 S-300 missiles at the central part of Kharkiv. The information about the victims and the scale of the destruction is being clarified, said the head of the OVA Synegubov
Neely mobilized Russian troops are finishing their training and entering the field in Ukraine; the forces include as many soldiers as took part in the initial invasion last year. They could be ready to fight in as little as two weeks, said Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk Region, which includes Nevske — much sooner than new Western weapons, including tanks and heavy armored fighting vehicles, are expected to arrive in Ukraine - NYT
“There are so many,” Mr. Haidai said of the new recruits. “These are not professional soldiers, but it is still 200,000 people who are shooting in our direction.”
The UK's defence intelligence briefing said Russia's aim was almost certainly to capture parts of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region that were not already under occupation - BBC
According to the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, more than 6,400 objects damaged as a result of the full-scale war have already been restored in the Kyiv region; 3,700 more have been partially repaired. “Despite the difficult weather conditions, we continue to rebuild our region step by step. During 2023, we plan to complete the current repairs in the Kyiv region. There are also more than 4,000 housing stock objects in the region that need capital repairs. Now we are actively preparing to start the restoration of such facilities,” said Deputy Head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration Mykola Boyko.
The Kremlin ordered the preparation of bomb shelters throughout Russia, – The Moscow Times. Although officials have not publicly announced a national campaign to modernize bomb shelters, the publication's sources say it has been ongoing for several months.
Russian President Vladimir Putincould "disappear at any moment," sending Moscow into a civil conflict amid its floundering invasion of Ukraine, warned former commander Igor Girkin. Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, rose to prominence for his role in the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. He has become increasingly critical of Kremlin leadership as its military struggles to achieve substantial military gains in Ukraine nearly a year after Putin launched the "special military operation." Although he supports the goals of the Russian military, he has recently offered grim assessments of the war for Putin. During a recent discussion, Girkin weighed in on whether a change in Kremlin leadership would benefit Russia's military operation in Ukraine, acknowledging that there is a chance Putin could "disappear" amid longstanding questions about his health. A video of his remarks was posted to Twitter by Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry - Newsweek