February 3, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Sana Noor Haq, Hannah Strange, Tara Subramaniam, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales, Adrienne Vogt and Elise Hammond, CNN

Updated 0044 GMT (0844 HKT) February 4, 2023

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7:37 p.m. ET, February 2, 2023

US expected to include longer-range missiles in new $2.2 billion Ukraine aid package, sources say

From CNN's Oren Liebermann and Kevin Liptak

The US is expected to include longer-range missiles in a new Ukraine security package worth approximately $2.2 billion, according to a senior administration official and multiple US officials.

The package will include a commitment to provide Ukraine with the Ground-launched Small Diameter Bomb, a guided missile with a range of 90 miles (145 kilometers), two officials said.

Though the missiles will effectively double the range of Ukrainian weaponry, the package won’t include the long sought-after ATACMS missile with a range in excess of 200 miles. The US has constantly rebuffed Ukraine’s requests for that system over concerns they may be used to hit targets deep inside Russia.

This is the first security package since the US committed to providing Ukraine with advanced M-1 Abrams tanks in January — a decision made in concert with European countries providing German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

The package, which could be announced as early as Friday, will be split between $500 million in weapons and equipment pulled directly from US inventories and approximately $1.7 billion in supplies purchased from military contractors, known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

Details of the package were first reported by Reuters.

On Tuesday, White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton said there would be another announcement of security assistance to Ukraine “soon” without providing further details.

Some background: The Ground-launched Small Diameter Bomb, which is fired from a HIMARS rocket launcher, has an effective range of some 90 miles, according to Saab, the company that developed the weapon in conjunction with Boeing.

That’s more than twice the range of the GMLRS munitions that Ukraine currently launches from the HIMARS rocket launchers. The long-range missile then unfolds small wings and uses a rocket engine to fly toward its target.

But the new weapon will not arrive in Ukraine immediately, since it will not come directly out of US inventories. Instead, the US will contract with the weapons manufacturers to provide the long-range missile to Ukraine, a process which could take weeks or months.

The package also includes ammunition for artillery and HIMARS, as well as support systems and equipment for the Patriot missile system, one official said. Ukrainian forces have not completed training on the Patriot system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma — but the US is making sure the logistics and maintenance are in place well before the first Patriot battery is operational in Ukraine, the official said.

Within the last month, the US has announced three of the largest aid packages to Ukraine in a sign of ongoing support as the war nears its one-year mark.

7:34 p.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Ukrainian military claims Russian forces are preparing covert mobilization in Donetsk

From CNN's Katharina Krebs

Russian forces are preparing for a "covert mobilization" in the eastern Donetsk region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Thursday on its official Facebook page.

"In the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk region, Russia is preparing for covert mobilization. In particular, in the city of Horlivka, all budget and communal institutions were ordered to submit lists of necessary persons to the occupation military commissariat. All these people will be examined by special commissions of the enemy, with subsequent conscription into the ranks of the enemy," it said in the statement.

Russian forces continue "active reconnaissance and preparation for an offensive in several directions,” it said, adding that "offensive operations" continue toward Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiiv and Novopavliv.

For context: Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that Russia planned on using its claimed annexations as a pretext to draft Ukrainians in occupied areas. In October, the military said Russian forces were carrying out “door-to-door” checks in occupied areas, looking for young men of conscription age.

11:09 p.m. ET, February 2, 2023

Ukraine's defense chief pledges not to strike Russian territory if given long-range missiles by allies

From Victoria Butenko and Lindsay Isaac

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov speaks during a press conference in Paris on January 31. (Julie Sebadelha/Pool/AFP/Getty Images/File)

Ukraine's defense minister said the country will provide guarantees that it would not strike Russia should it receive the long-range missiles it has been asking its allies for.

“As Ukraine needs long-range missiles that will not allow the enemy to maintain defenses and force them to lose, it is ready to coordinate targets with partners," Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said at a meeting with the European Commission Thursday, state media Ukriniform reports.

Reznikov called on other countries to help Ukraine establish anti-missile defense capabilities. He emphasized the need to get Patriot and SAMP/T systems at the first opportunity, along with more IRIS-T and NASAMS, which are both air defense systems.

"If we had the opportunity to strike at a range of 300 kilometers (about 186 miles), the Russian army would not be able to maintain defenses and would be forced to lose. Ukraine is ready to provide any guarantees that your weapons will not be involved in attacks on Russian territory. We have enough targets in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and are ready to coordinate targets with our partners," he said.

Ukraine also needs to increase the amount of artillery, shells and weapons capable of surpassing and destroying Russian e-warfare and air defense systems, he added. Ukraine will receive Western battle tanks after a long negotiation and is seeking fighter jets to push back against Russian and pro-Moscow forces.

8:05 a.m. ET, February 3, 2023

Russian missile strike on Kramatorsk sends terrified civilians scrambling to find shelter

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

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

A fresh barrage of missiles ripped through the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine Thursday, sending flames and thick plumes into the air as screaming civilians scrambled to find shelter.

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.

At least five people were wounded in Thursday’s attack, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk region military administration.

“They damaged 13 two-story buildings, three four-story buildings, a children’s clinic and school, garages and cars,” Kyrylenko said. “Russians confirm their status as terrorists every day,” he said.

Read more here.