February 9, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Thursday that discussions about supplying Ukraine with Western fighter jets were taking place “behind closed doors,” and declined to make a strong indication either way on the potential for his country to send aircraft.

The Netherlands has been on the leading edge of countries saying they are willing to entertain giving Ukraine fighter jets. French President Emmanuel Macron, during a press conference with Rutte in The Hague last month, said that “nothing is off-limits in principle.”

“We do not say no,” Rutte said on Thursday. “But before, we also have not said no to other weapons systems. We are even somewhat forward leaning … when it comes to this type of deliveries.”

He reiterated his position that the Netherlands has “no taboos” about weapons delivery, so long as the “red line” of direct NATO-Russia confrontation is prevented.

Zelensky at the EU summit: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke during a European Union summit in Brussels Thursday, taking his pitch for more military support directly to the assembly of world leaders.

Zelensky said he would have several bilateral meetings during his time in Brussels specifically to discuss the issue of providing fighter jets to Ukraine. 

CNN's Radina Gigova contributed to this report.

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, held talks in Moscow Thursday with the head of Russia's state nuclear energy company, Rosatom.

“The discussion focused on issues related to ensuring nuclear and physical nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhia (nuclear power plant),” according to a Rosatom statement.

The head of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, “informed the IAEA Director General about the steps that the Russian side is taking in this area, as well as about measures aimed at ensuring comfortable social and living conditions for workers of the plant and members of their families,” according to the statement.

"In addition, issues of current and future cooperation between Russia and the IAEA in other areas were touched upon. The parties confirmed the agreement to continue contacts," the statement added.

Some context: Zaporizhzhia, with its six reactors, is the largest nuclear power station in Europe.

The IAEA serves as the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency and has repeatedly raised concerns about the threat of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant since Russia invaded Ukraine last year and seized control of the facility.

Grossi has assured Ukraine the IAEA will never recognize Russia as the owner of the Zaporizhzhia plant, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Grossi also pledged a continuous presence of the IAEA at all of Ukraine's nuclear plants.

What Ukraine is saying: Shmyhal has demanded control of the Zaporizhzhia facility be returned to Ukrainian authorities, plus a "complete withdrawal" of Russian troops and Rosatom personnel from the plant.

Last fall, as Moscow's forces were tightening their grip on the facility, Ukraine’s military alleged that plant employees were being subjected to “moral and psychological pressure.” Some had been forced to obtain Russian passports and sign employment contracts with Rosatom, according to Ukraine.

CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Lauren Kent contributed to this report.

The British defense secretary said Thursday that training Ukrainian pilots would likely be about improving “post-conflict” resiliency.

He said that was “no different” from what the UK and its allies did to help “reform” Ukraine’s defense following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Nonetheless, he said, “we obviously, all of us on this platform, know that over the last year, we shouldn’t rule anything in and we shouldn’t rule anything out.”

The UK government said Wednesday that it will being training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets. 

“The training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future,” according to a Downing Street statement.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has proposed a system similar to that of EU’s vaccine procurement, to its purchase of weapons supplies for Ukraine. 

Speaking ahead of a special European Council meeting in Brussels, Kallas said the move would speed up deliveries to Ukraine. 

“All of us have looked into the warehouses and seen what we have but we should do more. We should give a clear signal to the European defense industry to produce more,” Kallas told journalists.

“The price goes up with every delay, with every hesitation and that could speed up the process,” she added. 

The president of SpaceX revealed the company has taken active steps to prevent Ukrainian forces from using the critical Starlink satellite technology with Ukrainian drones that are a key component of their fight against Russia.

Starlink was never meant to be used militarily in the way that it has, Shotwell argued, saying the company didn’t foresee how profoundly – and creatively – Ukrainian forces would rely on the technology.

“It was never intended to be weaponized,” Shotwell told an audience at a space conference. “However, Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement.”

Shotwell’s admission that SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk, has prevented Ukrainian soldiers from fully using the technology confirms the long-standing belief that Musk and the company are uneasy with Ukraine’s military use of Starlink.

Speaking with reporters after, Shotwell argued that Starlink had sent units to Ukraine to “keep the banks going, hospitals, keep families connected.”

“We know the military is using them for comms, and that’s OK,” Shotwell added. “But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes.”

Read the full article here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he is grateful for all the support his country has received so far from the European Union, but said he is particularly thankful to the citizens of the EU for providing shelter to Ukrainian citizens.

"Millions of our citizens are now supported in Europe and I hope your citizens can see that the European values are real. Thank you very much for this, thank you for everything, friends," he said. 

"That's the only way I can address you: friends," he added. 

Former Russian President and Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will increase production of main battle tanks in response to supplies of the advanced armored vehicles to Ukraine. 

“Yesterday, our enemy begged for planes, missiles and tanks while abroad. What should we do in response? It is clear that in this case, it is natural for us to increase the production of various types of weapons and military equipment, including modern tanks,” Medvedev said Thursday. 

Russia’s ability to renew its dwindling stocks of some types of military equipment has been called into question by some experts, citing the impact Western sanctions have had on Moscow’s arms industry’s ability to procure certain components. 

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG is in negotiations with Ukraine, with the view of exporting its state-of-the-art Panther battle tank to Kyiv, CEO Armin Papperger said in an interview Thursday. 

“We are talking to Kyiv about exporting the Panther,” Pappberger told German business daily Handelsblatt, adding that Ukraine is also interested in the Lynx, Rheinmetall's most modern infantry fighting vehicle. 

Pappberger said deliveries of the Panther to Ukraine are feasible within “15 to 18 months,” adding that the tanks could be built in either Germany or Hungary. 

Rheinmetall is also the maker of the Leopard battle tank, which European countries have recently agreed to send to Ukraine, with the first units expected to arrive in the spring. As with the Leopard, the provision of the Panther and the Lynx to Kyiv would have to be approved by the German government. 

Pappberger's remarks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed European Union leaders in Brussels Thursday, reiterating his country's need for modern tanks to protect its security, adding that Ukraine's security is also Europe's security. 

More on the Panther battle tank: The Dusseldorf-based company introduced the Panther at a trade fair in Paris last summer, touting it as the strongest battle tank in the world. According to Rheinmetall, the Panther is still under development, but is eventually meant to replace its Leopard 2 battle tank and is “destined to be a game changer on the battlefields of the future.”

Iran appears to be modifying the attack drones that it’s providing to Russia so that the explosive warheads can inflict maximum damage on infrastructure targets inside Ukraine, according to a new investigative report obtained exclusively by CNN.

An unexploded warhead from an Iranian Shahed-131 drone found in the Southern Ukrainian region of Odesa in October 2022 was examined last month by the UK-based investigative organization Conflict Armament Research, along with the Ukrainian military. CAR provided its findings first to CNN.

The group’s analysts believe the warheads, which measure just under two-feet long, were hastily modified with poorly fitted layers of dozens of small metal fragments that on impact scatter across a large radius. In addition to the fragments, there are also 18 smaller “charges” around the circumference of the warhead that, when melted by the blast, can pierce armor and create a kind of “360-degree” explosive effect.

The accumulation of those elements essentially maximize the warhead’s ability to shred targets such as power stations, distribution grids, transmission lines and large, high-power transformers. They also make repair efforts substantially harder.

Warheads targeting battlefield assets such as tanks or artillery pieces might be designed differently, Spleeters explained, with a frontal shaped charge that is used for more concentrated targets. The warhead examined by CAR, though, has a radial shaped charge effect, which can result in a larger area of impact.

Some background: Iran has given Russia hundreds of drones to use in its war in Ukraine, many of which have targeted Ukraine’s power grid and energy facilities, leaving civilians without heat, electricity or running water during the freezing winter months. Last month, the Institute for the Study of War found that Russian forces had become increasingly reliant on the drones – so much so that their stockpile of the drones is already running low, just months after Iran began sending them.