As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 347th day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, February 5, 2023:
Fighting
In an overnight address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation on the front lines in the east was getting tougher.
Ukraine officials reported shelling in the Chernihiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv Luhansk, Donetsk and Mykolaiv regions
Russia and Kyiv traded about 200 prisoners of war in a swap, both sides said, with the bodies of two British volunteers – Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw – also being sent back to Ukraine.
Germany has collected evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the country’s prosecutor general said in a newspaper interview, adding that he saw a need for a judicial process at the international level.
Odesa restored power to critical infrastructure after a fire broke out at an overloaded substation, leaving nearly 500,000 people in the Ukrainian port city without electricity after months of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. Officials said repairs could take weeks.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a mortar on a front line in Bakhmut, Donetsk, Ukraine [File: Yan Dobronosov/Reuters]
Diplomacy
US President Joe Biden will visit Poland, the Polish president’s foreign policy adviser said. This comes among reports that Biden’s European trip might coincide with the February 24 anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Zelenskyy agreed on the importance of the international community speeding up assistance for Ukraine, Sunak’s office said after the two leaders spoke.
Portugal will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said, without specifying how many.
Canada shipped the first of four promised Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Canadian defence minister Anita Anand said on Twitter.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the supply of more advanced US weaponry to Ukraine will only trigger more retaliatory attacks from Russia, up to the extent of Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
The US warned Turkey recently about exporting to Russia chemicals, microchips and other products that can be used in Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, saying it could move to punish Turkish companies or banks contravening sanctions.
Zelenskyy revoked the citizenship of several former influential politicians in the latest step to “cleanse” Ukraine of pro-Russian influences.
State media said they included several top politicians from the office of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s pro-Russian president who was removed from office in 2014.
