“Europe will not break” – Ukraine war, updated February 2nd

overview:

• U.S. Senate passes southern border bill to pave path for aid to Kiev, but Trump Republicans vow not to provide military aid to Ukraine
• President says EU’s 50 billion euro package is a ‘clear signal to Russia’
• Foreigners reported dead in Russia’s Kherson airstrike
• AFU increases in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
• Moscow continues its march on Avdiivka and other Donetsk fronts

US Senate announces vote on border/Kyiv, House Republicans say dead on arrival

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that a vote on border security, a precursor to a bipartisan agreement on aid to Ukraine, will be held in the Senate as early as next Wednesday.

Schumer said the text of the Senate bill would be released by the end of this week, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said the bill had already arrived in the House without confirming its contents. Said to be disabled. of suggestion.

For more than a month, House Republicans have refused to consider Democratic President Joe Biden’s $60 billion aid proposal for Kiev without a companion agreement on U.S. border security.

But in recent weeks, House Republicans have been hesitant to vote in favor of aid to Ukraine, with claims reflecting former President Donald Trump’s pro-Kremlin stance.

Zelenskyy thanks ‘long-awaited’ agreement in Brussels

In an evening address to the nation on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to Brussels for approving 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in aid to Kiev. The president said this would send a “clear signal” to Russia.

“Today, the EU has taken a long-awaited decision,” he said. “This is a clear signal to Moscow that Europe will endure and Europe will not collapse.”

Other interesting topics

Charm offensive complete, EU leaders slam Orbán

The Hungarian prime minister got what he wanted from Brussels, but now “Orbán fatigue” has set in.

The 27 member states had been battling Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for approval of the bill, which passed in the 11th hour with lukewarm support from Hungary.

Two foreigners killed, three injured in Kherson airstrike

On Thursday, two French nationals were killed and three other foreigners were injured in a Russian airstrike on Kherson, AFP news agency reported.

“As a result of the enemy attack on Belislav, foreign volunteers were killed and injured,” the region’s governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced on social media.

The drone attack on the outskirts of Kherson along the Dnipro River is one in a long series of attacks on frontline settlements throughout Russia’s two-year invasion.

Business content: Zaporizhzhia region

Geolocation footage released on Thursday appears to show that troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) recently advanced southwest of Staromayorske, near the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk region border, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported. .

Both Russian and Ukrainian sources said fighting also continued southeast of Velika Novosilka, near Zolota Niva. South of Velika Novosirka near Urozain, southwest of Velika Novosirka near Priyutne. A Kremlin-affiliated military blogger noted that Russian infantry groups were “attacking north of Priyutne with the support of armored vehicles and tanks,” ISW wrote.

Russian intelligence sources also claimed that the AFU had captured forested areas northwest of Verbove, but ISW analysts said they had not observed any support for these claims.

Operation: Donetsk region

ISW reported that Moscow’s forces on Thursday seized territory from Ukraine along several fronts in the Donetsk region, including around Donetsk, Avdiyivka and further north on the Kupyansk Front in the Kharkov region. There is.

Geolocation footage posted on Thursday shows Russia advancing slightly to the northeast of Heolhivka (west of Donetsk), but bloggers loyal to the Kremlin also say Russian forces are advancing slightly northeast of Heolhivka (west of Donetsk). He claimed that he was advancing towards the south-west.

ISW reported that images published on the same day showed that Russian troops had recently barely advanced into “the dacha area on the northern outskirts of Avdiivka,” but a prominent Kremlin-aligned military blogger said Moscow soldiers had moved into Sportivka, Soborna made unconfirmed claims of continuing further along Chernyshevskoho, ISW reported. A street at the southern end of town.

Fighting continues northwest of Avdiivka, near Stepove. Near the city’s coke and chemical factories. Near the ruins of the Czarska Ochota restaurant district on the southeastern outskirts. West of Avdiivka, near Chevernet. Southwest of Avdiivka, near Pervomayske and Nebelske.

ISW noted that a spokesperson for a Ukrainian brigade operating in the region said that Russian forces had not changed their tactics on the ground and were relying on “continuous infantry attacks.”

Thursday’s geolocation images also show that along the Kharkiv-Luhansk border, Russian troops have advanced on part of the P07 Kupyansk-Svatove highway east of Tavaivka.