Ukraine war latest: Poland to ramp up ammunition production amid fears Putin will attack NATO (2024)

Key points
  • Poland to ramp up ammunition production amid fears Putin will attack NATO
  • Russia continues heavy bombardment of Ukrainian cities
  • Seven killed in Lviv - including three children
  • Dominic Waghorn:Putin rubbing salt in wounds as Kyiv pleads for long-range attacks
  • Ukraine planning to hold seized Russian territory indefinitely
  • Watch: Zelenskyy discusses Kursk invasion in TV interview

17:30:01

We're pausing our coverage

That brings an end to our live coverage of the Ukraine war for this evening.

We'll be back with any major developments overnight and our rolling updates will continue soon.

Before we go, here's a reminder of the day's key events:

  • Seven people were killed in an overnight strike in the western city of Lviv. One injured man lost his wife and three daughters - aged 21, 18 and seven - in the strike;
  • Another strike in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown left five people injured;
  • Poland said it aims to ramp up ammunition production in anticipation of a Russian attack on NATO;
  • Ukraine's parliament approved the dismissal of four ministers in a mass Cabinet reshuffle to bring "new energy" to the war effort but the highest profile dismissal so far, of foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, has not yet been voted on;
  • Ireland and Ukraine signed a co-operation deal after Irish premier Simon Harris said it would provide a €43m (£36m) funding package.

17:17:01

Is Ukraine's Kursk invasion going to plan?

Military analyst Michael Clarke says the campaign, which started early last month, "is not hurting Russia as much as hoped".

Watch his full analysis here...

17:05:01

Three killed in Ukrainian shelling in border region

Three civilians were killedand two wounded by Ukrainian shelling in a village in Russia'sBelgorod border region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said.

The Belgorod region has come under frequent cross-bordershelling and drone attacks in the course of the war.

It isadjacent to the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces piercedRussia's western border last month in an incursion that Moscow'sforces are still fighting to repel.

16:49:13

US to accuse Russia of campaign to influence 2024 elections

The US is set to accuse Russia of a campaign to influence the 2024 elections using online platforms to target American voters with disinformation

CNN reported that Russian state media network RT will be a focus of theannouncement.

The news comes just hours before attorney general MerrickGarland is due to make public remarks at a meeting of theJustice Department's election threats task force.

The department had previously warned that Russiaremains a threat to November's presidential election.

In a speech last month, deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco warned that President Vladimir Putin "and his proxies are using increasinglysophisticated techniques in their interference operations".

She said: "They're targeting specific voter demographics andswing-state voters in an effort to manipulate presidential andcongressional election outcomes.

"They're intent on co-opting unwitting Americans onsocial media to push narratives advancing Russian interests.They’re working to diminish American support for Ukraine. Andthey’re always adapting."

Parts of the Republican Party has been hugely critical of billions worth of funding packages provided to Ukraine - with previous House of Representatives' bills caught up by divisions in the GOP.

Donald Trump has said he can resolve the Ukraine war withpossible peace talks that might require Kyiv to cede territory.

The Democratic Party has been broadly supportive of maintaining Ukrainian funding.

16:25:01

Lavrov warns US not to mock Russia's 'red lines'

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the US not to joke about Moscow's "red lines".

The US was losing sight of the sense of mutual deterrence that had underpinned the balance of security between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, he said.

He was commenting on a report that the US is close to an agreement to supply Ukraine with long-range JASSM cruise missiles that could reach deep inside Russia, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been lobbying for.

"I won't be surprised by anything - the Americans have already crossed the threshold they set for themselves. They are being egged on, and Zelenskyy of course sees this and takes advantage of it," Mr Lavrov told a Russian TV interviewer.

"But they should understand - they are joking about our red
lines here. They shouldn't joke about our red lines."

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the West
since launching what he called his "special military operation"
in Ukraine not to try to thwart Russia, which has the
world's biggest arsenal of nuclear weapons.

But Washington and its allies have increased military aid to
Ukraine, including by providing tanks, advanced missiles and
F-16 fighter jets.

That has prompted some Western politicians to suggest Putin's nuclear rhetoric is a bluff and that the US and NATO should go all-out to help Ukraine win the war.

Mr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine's incursion into Russia in recent weeks makes a mockery of Putin's red lines.

15:53:01

Poland aims to ramp up ammunition production

Poland wants to ramp up its production of 155mm artillery rounds in the hope of ensuring sufficient supplies if Russia attacked NATO, a senior official has told Reuters.

Some NATO officials say the Kremlin might be ready militarily to attack countries that are members of the alliance in five to eight years' time, once it has rebuilt its forces after the war in Ukraine.

Moscow has regularly dismissed Western suggestions that it might consider an attack on NATO.

"Our ambition... is to have the ability to fill up Polish warehouses in parallel to achieving a full, independent capacity to produce ammunition in Poland, within five to eight years," Maciej Idzik, board member of the state-owned Polish Armaments Group, said.

Demand for 155mm artillery rounds has soared in the wake of
the invasion of Ukraine. Allies' supplies for their own defence have been run down as they have rushed shells to Kyiv.

The European Union is seeking to expand the bloc's ammunition production capacity to two million shells annually by the end of 2025 by allocating€500m (£421m) in funding to increase shell supplies to Ukraine and replenish EU stockpiles.

15:23:32

Watch: Injured man who lost wife and three daughters comforted by emergency workers

We brought you news earlier about a father who lost his family in the overnight strike in Lviv.

New footage shows EvgenyBazylevych being comforted by emergency workers after losing his wife and three daughters, who were aged seven, 18 and 21.

The eldest daughter, Yaryna, was a programme manager at the European Youth Forum, a platform of the continent's youth organisations, her colleagues wrote on Facebook.

"We will neither forget nor forgive" the attack, they said in the post.

Lviv's mayor said Evgeny was in a critical condition after the strike.

Ukrainian authorities have since updated the number of people injured in the attack to 53.

14:50:31

Switzerland offers Ukrainian refugees protection until 2026

The Swiss government has said it will notlift its protection status for Ukrainian refugees fleeingRussia's invasion before 4 March 2026, as the situation intheir country is not expected to change in the foreseeablefuture.

Switzerland granted Ukrainian refugees protection status"S," which grants temporary protection to those in need as longas they are exposed to serious general danger, in March 2022.

14:18:31

Energy facilities hit in nine Ukrainian regions - as firm cuts power at nuclear plant

Russian airstrikes hit energy facilities and critical infrastructure in nine Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials have said.

Energy facilities in the western region of Lviv, Sumy and Kharkiv in the northeast, Donetsk in the east, east-central Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv in the south were attacked, the energy ministry said on Telegram.

The ministry did not provide additional details on the scale of recent damage to the energy grid.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has cut nuclear power output afterRussian attacks damaged the country's electricity transmission system, nuclear firm Energoatom said today.

It said output was reduced after "hostile shelling of infrastructure" and "significant fluctuations in the parameters of the grid".

13:38:01

Zelenskyy signs co-operation deal with Ireland

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he wanted to "express his gratitude to Ireland" after signing a co-operation deal with the Irish prime minister Simon Harris in Kyiv.

Mr Harris announced earlier that Ireland would provide a€43m (£36m) funding package for Ukraine (see 8.56am post).

The deal includes work on demining Ukraine, which Mr Zelenskyy said would save Ukrainians and improve the resilience of Europe.

The deal also includes work on cyber security.

The taoiseach also expressed Ireland's full support for the Ukrainian bid for EU membership while also discussing continued humanitarian assistance.

Following the bilateral meeting, Mr Zelenskyy told a press conference that he thanked Ireland for its support of work on returning abducted Ukrainian children to the country.

"Ireland's participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine will be a substantial support for our people and our countries and our European way of life."

Ukraine war latest: Poland to ramp up ammunition production amid fears Putin will attack NATO (2024)
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