By Kathleen Magramo, Deva Lee, Jack Guy, Antoinette Radford, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury and Tori B. Powell, CNN
From CNN’s Mariya Knight
Ukraine shot down two Russian fighter jets in the eastern part of the country, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Monday.
The two aircraft destroyed were an Su-34 and an Su-35S, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. No further details were provided.
This comes after three Russian fighter jets, two Su-34s and an Su-35, were shot down on February 17 in the east as well, the Air Force added.
From CNN staff
International pressure is growing on the United States to act on more funding for Kyiv as Russia advances in some parts of Ukraine and ammunition is low.
With US aid for Ukraine facing an uncertain future, US President Joe Biden said House Republicans are “making a big mistake” in not responding to Russian aggression with more security funding.
The $95.3 billion foreign aid bill with assistance for Ukraine that passed in the Senate last week faces an uncertain future in the House where Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled he will not bring it for a vote — despite growing international pressure.
Here's what to know:
From CNN's Paula Newton
Canada is donating 800 drones to Ukraine to help fight Russia's invasion of the country, the Minister of National Defense Bill Blair said on Monday.
"Drones have emerged as a critical capability in Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. With these drones, Ukrainian troops will be able to gather more situational awareness and information, so that they can assess targets more quickly, and more accurately," a release from the Press Gallery Secretariat said.
Remember: Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, prompting a war that has thrust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an international stage, with many countries, including the US, offering help.
Pressure is now mounting to offer more aid as Russia advances in some parts of Ukraine and ammunition is low.
“As we approach the second anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion, Canada stands firmly with Ukraine in defence of freedom and democracy," Blair said.
From CNN's Melanie Zanona, Annie Grayer and Haley Talbot
US House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing international criticism over his lack of swift action on Ukraine aid, adding pressure to make a decision that will have massive implications for his rookie speakership and for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
Johnson has resisted calls to bring a Senate-passed aid package up for a quick vote — a move that would require Democratic support and almost certainly spark a revolt from his right flank, something he is eager to avoid.
The speaker has said the legislation, which includes over $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine, would not pass in its current form, and privately told Republicans during a closed-door meeting last week there is “no rush” to address the issue, with Congress since having left town for a nearly two-week recess.
The high-profile debate's stakes became even greater focus over the weekend. Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny died in prison, and Ukraine suffered a significant setback to Russian forces on the battlefield.
Those developments have injected a new sense of urgency for Congress to act as the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches this weekend.
While there is a contingent of House Republicans who support additional Ukraine aid, and it has majority support from the chamber as a whole, Johnson has to manage a right flank that is resistant to additional aid.
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has injected himself into the debate, urging Republicans to oppose Ukraine funding and continuing to rail against NATO.
Here's more about the House speaker and Ukraine aid.
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Svitlana Vlasova
The Ukrainian military is monitoring how Russian forces are regrouping and preparing for their next moves after capturing the eastern town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Monday.
Illia Yevlash, the spokesperson for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said many brigades who had been involved in taking Adviivka, including intelligence units, special operations units, artillery, paratroopers, and motorized infantry units, could now be redirected.
"So now we will be actively monitoring how they will regroup. Usually, they need some time, about a week, to regroup, move their units, and then we will monitor where they will start to pressure," Yevlash said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Russian forces have been attacking areas near Bakhmut and Mariinka in the Donetsk region, pushing towards the city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv region in the north, and amassing forces in Zaporizhzhia region in the south.
From CNN Staff
After the death of her husband, Yulia Navalnaya has made a promise: She will not be deterred by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny died Friday in a Russian prison north of the Arctic Circle after being arrested in 2021 upon returning to Russia.
On Monday Navalnaya vowed to continue her late husband's legacy, saying "no one except ourselves will protect us."
Now a more defiant symbol than ever for Navalny's cause, Navalnaya has promised she will continue his fight for a democratic Russian government.
“Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul. But the other half of me remains and it tells me that I don’t have the right to surrender," she posted on Monday.
From CNN staff
The body of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny will not be returned to the family for at least another 14 days, his spokesperson Kira Yarmish said.
Navalny died at a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle on Friday. The cause of his reported death is unclear.
His body will be under “some sort of chemical examination” in that period, the spokesperson said.
Navalny's widow has accused President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death.
Yulia Navalnaya said Monday that the Russian authorities are hiding her husband's body and “lying pathetically,” while waiting for traces of poisoning to disappear.
Her remarks, part of an 8-minute address shared on her husband's social media platforms, referenced “traces of another of (President Vladimir) Putin’s Novichoks’s to disappear.”
Remember: Novichok is a poison used on Navalny in August 2020. A CNN and Bellingcat investigation later uncovered that a Russian intelligence service squad planted the poison on his underwear.
Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On arrival, Navalnvy was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated.
From CNN's Tim Lister and Victoria Butenko
Ukainians have had little to celebrate as the second anniversary of the Russian invasion looms, but continuing successes in the Black Sea are one surprising bright spot.
Last week, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence announced it had attacked and destroyed a large landing ship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet – the Caesar Kunikov – with maritime drones off the coast of Crimea.
Ukraine has virtually no navy of its own, but technological innovation, audacity and Russian incompetence have given it the upper hand in much of the Black Sea.
It has now destroyed or disabled more than 20 Russian naval ships in the region, a third of Russia’s total Black Sea fleet.
That has secured a maritime corridor that allows Ukraine to export much of its grain and other produce from ports such as Odesa – an economic boon at a time when the economy has been battered by the conflict.
Remember: In July last year, Russia quit the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative, which had allowed Ukraine safe passage to ship 31.5 million tons of grain and other food products from its ports to world markets. The deal had lasted just under a year.
Rather than fold, the Ukrainians declared a unilateral “Black Sea Humanitarian Corridor” for merchant shipping and stepped up its use of maritime drones and missile attacks against Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The corridor hugs the Ukrainian coast before reaching the waters of two NATO states, Romania and Bulgaria.
