February 2, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Tara Subramaniam, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales, Eliza Mackintosh, Jack Guy, Adrienne Vogt, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury and Matt Meyer, CNN

Updated 12:11 a.m. ET, February 3, 2023
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10:04 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Polish prime minister says he is open to sending fighter jets to Ukraine if decided by NATO partners together

From CNN’s Nadine Schmidt

Polish F-16 fighter jets takes part in the NATO Air Shielding exercise near the air base in Lask, Poland, on October 12.
Polish F-16 fighter jets takes part in the NATO Air Shielding exercise near the air base in Lask, Poland, on October 12. (Radoslaw Jozwiak/AFP/Getty Images)

Poland would be ready to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets if NATO partners collectively decide to do so, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with German daily newspaper Die Bild published Thursday.  

"If this was a decision of the whole of NATO, I would be in favor of sending these fighter jets," he said.  

"My assessment is based on what NATO countries decide together," the Polish leader said, stressing that Russia's invasion of Ukraine ''is a very serious war,” in which Poland and other NATO countries “are not participating.”  

The decision to supply Ukraine with fighter jets needed the "strategic consideration of the whole NATO alliance.” 

Top Ukrainian officials have in recent days escalated their public lobbying campaign for US-made F-16 fighter jets, arguing they need them urgently to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.  

The United States and Germany have ruled out any deliveries of fighter jets to Ukraine for now. Other NATO members such as France and the Netherlands have said they would be more open to the idea, however, neither the Netherlands nor France had received any official requests from Ukraine to send the fighter jets. 

In January, the German government — under pressure from allies including Poland — approved sending German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Kyiv.  

Berlin’s Ukraine policy has increased mistrust toward Germany, the Polish leader told Die Bild. 

"I would say that a year ago there was a lot of trust in Germany from many other countries. And now this pendulum has moved toward mistrust,” Morawiecki said, adding, "especially within the family of Central and Eastern European countries and also members of the European Union."  

''Germany has the potential to provide much more support than it has done so far, it has decision-making power within the European Union, it has money for Ukraine, it has diplomatic power," the prime minister went on to say.  

Morawiecki explicitly criticized German chancellor Olaf Scholz. Albeit Scholz' support for Ukraine, the chancellor "still seems to believe it should be business as usual with Russia," he said in the interview. 

The prime minister said that he believes talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin sends the wrong signal to the world. 

''I think it's wrong because it only gives Putin oxygen and doesn't achieve anything. Putin actually achieves his goals with such talks, because he shows the rest of the world and his own people, 'Look, I'm in great demand, everyone wants to talk to me, everything depends on me,'' the Polish leader said.  

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Alex Marquardt contributed to this post.

8:46 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Zelensky calls for more sanctions against Russia at EU-Ukraine meeting in Kyiv 

From CNN’s Arnaud Siad

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, center right, welcomes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center left, ahead of a summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 2.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, center right, welcomes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center left, ahead of a summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 2. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Thursday for more punitive measures against Russia by the European Union and said he had discussed a 10th EU sanctions package with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“And now the pace of sanctions has somehow slowed down in Europe, and the terrorist state on the contrary is adapting to the sanctions, and we need to catch up. We need to correct this,” Zelensky said, speaking alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who is in Kyiv on an official visit along with bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and other officials.

“This is a common European task, to reduce Russia’s capability of evading sanctions. And the sooner this task is achieved, the closer we will be to the defeat of the Russian federation,” he added.

“It is not enough to have success on the battlefield. We need faith in a free Europe, in a peaceful Europe, in a united Europe,” he also said.

“We are making [Russian President Vladimir] Putin pay for his atrocious war,” von der Leyen said, speaking after Zelensky.

“Before Russia started this war, we were very vocal about the severe economic costs we [would] impose on Russia if it invades Ukraine. And today Russia is paying a heavy price, as our sanctions are eroding its economy, throwing it back by a generation. The price cap on crude oil already costs Russia around 160 million euros ($176 million) a day and we will keep on turning up the pressure further,” she said.

“Europe has been by Ukraine’s side since day one, because we know that the future of our continent is being written here. We know that you are fighting for more than yourselves. What is at stake is freedom. This is a fight of democracies against authoritarian regimes,” the EU commission president added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "tries to deny the existence of Ukraine but what he risks instead is the future of Russia,” von der Leyen warned.

Past EU sanctions: In December, the European Union implemented its ninth sanctions package against Russia that added nearly 200 individuals and entities to its sanctions list. It included armed forces, members of the Russian parliament and defense industrial companies.

8:37 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

There have been attacks in Kramatorsk today. Here are some pictures of the devastation.

From CNN's Tim Lister, Fred Pleitgen and Sana Noor Haq

A fresh barrage of missiles ripped through the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine Thursday, wounding at least five people and damaging 13 two-story buildings, three four-story buildings, a children's clinic and school, garages and cars, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration.

A CNN team had just arrived at the scene and heard the first incoming strike on Kramatorsk. CNN saw the second attack, with two impacts about one minute apart.

Two women jumped from their car and ran yelling while other civilians took shelter wherever they could. Shrapnel bounced off the blastproof glass of one CNN vehicle. 

Paramedics rushed to the scene to treat at least one wounded civilian. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko also confirmed that there had been a strike on the city, and urged residents to stay in bomb shelters. 

Here are some visuals from the ground following the first attack:

Rescuers remove debris to search for survivors at a destroyed apartment building hit by a rocket in downtown Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1.
Rescuers remove debris to search for survivors at a destroyed apartment building hit by a rocket in downtown Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)

Rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after a Russian missile hits a residential building in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1.
Rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after a Russian missile hits a residential building in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1. (Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after a Russian missile hits a residential building in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1.
Rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after a Russian missile hits a residential building in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 1. (Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2.
Rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)

Rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2.
Rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters)

An aerial view of an apartment building hit by a Russian rocket in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2.
An aerial view of an apartment building hit by a Russian rocket in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Yevgen Honcharenko/AP)
8:05 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Anti-Russia events won't be the "only ones to gain world's attention" on the anniversary of war, Moscow says

From CNN’s Anna Chernova

Moscow “will do everything” to ensure that anti-Russia events allegedly being planned by the West to mark one-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine are “not the only ones to gain the world's attention,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday. 

“Our diplomacy will do everything to ensure that the anti-Russian sabbaths planned for the end of February – as if timed to coincide with the anniversary of the special military operation, both in New York and at other sites that the West is now actively working on together with the Kyiv regime – so that this will not turn out to be the only events that will gain the world’s attention,” he said in an interview to state TV Russia 24 and RIA Novosti.  

Providing further details about Moscow’s plan to overshadow the alleged events being planned by Ukraine’s allies, Russia is preparing “reports” about what happened in the past year, and what they have “managed to find out” — alleging “direct participation” of the US in the Nord Stream pipelines explosions without any evidence.

Lavrov also dismissed the approach of western countries toward the war. "We see how the whole of NATO is now fighting against us. And those conversations that ‘we do not fight, but only arm,’ are ridiculous.” 

However, he said Russia has not requested military help from former Soviet countries under the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) agreement. “We have everything necessary to solve the tasks of the special military operation, to end the war that the West waged through the Ukrainian regime after the coup [in 2014]."

Some background: The members of the CSTO includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

7:54 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

It's mid-afternoon in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know.

From CNN's Jack Guy

Russian missile strikes have targeted the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk for the second time in two days, hitting near the site of an ongoing rescue operation on Thursday.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv ahead of a summit with Ukrainian officials on Friday, as the country cracks down on corruption.

Here are the latest headlines:

  • Russia strikes Kramatorsk again: The eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has come under renewed Russian attack Thursday, one day after a strike left at least three people dead. Two missiles landed near an ongoing rescue operation in a residential neighborhood that was hit on Wednesday night, causing further civilian casualties, according to local officials.
  • Two dead in Kherson region: Russian shelling has killed two people in Ukraine’s Kherson region overnight, according to local officials. In Kherson city, a 25-year-old man was killed in his home, and a 44-year-old woman was killed in Komyshany, a western suburb of the city.
  • Diplomats gear up for EU-Ukraine summit: Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has arrived in Kyiv ahead of Friday's summit. The meeting in the capital is “a very strong signal” of support for Ukraine, according to a senior EU official. “It is a signal, of course also to Russia,” the official added. 
  • EU promises further assistance: The European Union (EU) will train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers as part of its Military Assistance Mission, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Thursday. Borrell also said the EU would provide €25 million ($27.5 million) in equipment and training for mine-clearing operations in Ukraine. 
  • US and Ukrainian generals hold phone call: Top generals from the United States and Ukraine discussed recent military developments and what Russian forces might do next during a phone call, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday. “The interlocutors were briefed on the current situation on the frontline, particularly in the Donetsk and southern directions,” according to a Ukrainian readout.
  • Russian defector recounts torture methods: A former Russian army officer has claimed that he witnessed torture of Ukrainian soldiers while stationed in the south of that country last year. Konstantin Yefremov told the BBC in an exclusive interview that he witnessed torture while stationed at an air base in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.
  • Lavrov claims Russia will be "stronger" after invasion: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Russia will be stronger after the “special military operation” in Ukraine. “I think that we will come out of the current situation stronger, and we’ll be able to protect ourselves more effectively in any situation,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV Rossiya-24. 

6:54 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

EU to train 15,000 additional Ukrainian soldiers, says foreign policy chief 

From CNN’s Arnaud Siad

The European Union (EU) will train an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers as part of its Military Assistance Mission, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Thursday. 

“Russia brought war back to Europe, but Ukraine keeps fighting back,” tweeted Borrell.

“Glad to announce to [Ukraine's Prime Minister] Denys Shmyhal that EU Military Assistance Mission #EUMAM will train additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, taking the total number of EUMAM trained personnel to 30,000."

Borrell also announced the EU would provide €25 million ($27.5 million) in equipment and training for mine-clearing operations in Ukraine.  

“Protecting civilians and their livelihood is a priority,” he said. 

8:43 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

CNN is on the ground in Kramatorsk, which is under renewed attack from Russian missiles

From CNN’s Tim Lister, Frederik Pleitgen, Konstantin Hak, Matthias Somm and Yulia Kesaieva

The site of a missile strike in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2.
The site of a missile strike in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 2. (Konstantin Hak/CNN)

The eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has come under renewed Russian attack Thursday, one day after a strike there left at least three people dead, according to a CNN team in the city.

Two missiles landed near an ongoing rescue operation in the residential neighborhood that was hit on Wednesday night.

CNN bore witness to the missile strikes on the city – hearing the first incoming strike, and then seeing the second.

According to preliminary information, Thursday’s strikes have resulted in civilian casualties, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the regional military administration, but it was not clear how many.

“Kramatorsk shook again with explosions as the Russians launched two more missile strikes,” Kyrylenko said on the messaging app Telegram. “Again, they hit the city center, residential buildings.”

The city's mayor, Oleksandr Honcharenko, confirmed that there had been a strike on Kramatorsk and urged residents to stay in bomb shelters.

Wednesday night's attack left eight people wounded, two of whom are in critical condition, Honcharenko said.

7:35 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Top US and Ukrainian generals discuss "current situation on the frontline" in phone call

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Mick Krever

Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, right, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhny had a phone call with U.S. President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley.
Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, right, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhny had a phone call with U.S. President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. (President of Ukraine)

Top generals from the United States and Ukraine discussed recent military developments and what Russian forces might do next during a phone call, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday.

“The interlocutors were briefed on the current situation on the frontline, particularly in the Donetsk and southern directions,” the Ukrainian readout said. “In addition, the parties exchanged views on possible actions of the enemy in the near future.”

On the call were Valerii Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President’s Office; Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor. 

Yermak thanked the US "for its powerful support of Ukraine and strengthening our defense capabilities," according to the readout.

He also underlined the Ukrainian government's commitment "to cleansing the authorities from corruption risks.”

6:13 a.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Russian shelling kills two in Kherson region

From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Russian shelling has killed two people in Ukraine’s Kherson region overnight, according to local officials.

In Kherson city, a 25-year-old man was killed in his home, and a 44-year-old woman was killed in Komyshany, just west of Kherson city.

“At night, residents of the central part of Kherson city woke up to explosions,” the Kherson regional civil-military administration said on Telegram.

"Despite the danger of repeated attacks, the locals went to the most damaged house where a 25-year-old man lived. The body of the young Kherson resident was lying in the open air. The medics who arrived at the scene could do nothing to help – a fragment of a Russian shell had taken his life instantly,” it added.

In the village of Komyshany, the regional administration said a 44-year-old woman was killed by shrapnel at home.

The Kherson region prosecutor's office said it had opened criminal proceedings.