Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Wednesday, Feb. 15

Good morning from Kyiv where it’s a gloriously sunny morning though temperatures are chilly minus 2 degrees Celsius.

Yesterday morning’s air raid alert did not turn into a missile attack on the capital but there were reports of explosions in Kramatorsk later in the day.

And there’s more positive news on the energy front: another day with no scheduled blackouts planned.

What’s happening today?

It’s day 2 of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels today as Ukraine’s allies look to speed up deliveries of ammunition and arms to Kyiv ahead of an expected escalation of fighting in the coming weeks.

Estonia’s defense minister told Kyiv Post yesterday that any talk of sending F16 fighter jets to Ukraine – which President Zelensky has repeatedly asked for – is “not on the table.”

As we’re only halfway through the two-day meeting, no firm commitments have yet been made, but there has been some movement on badly needed ammunition and heavy tanks.

You can read more about that story here.

What was in President Zelensky’s latest message?

During his daily address on Tuesday evening, President Zelensky gave a report of the day’s events in Brussels.

“Of course, not everything about Ramstein can be reported in public,” he said. “Much of the agreements and discussions should be kept behind the closed doors of the Contact Group.

Other Topics of Interest

N. Korean Troops Massed in Russia to Enter Ukraine War ’Soon’: Pentagon Chief

Austin said he had "not seen significant reporting" of North Korean troops being "actively engaged in combat" to date.

“But I can say for sure that the basic trends remain unchanged. Ukraine and its partners are doing everything together to make the terrorist state lose. And to make it happen as soon as possible.”

He also had some positive news from Turkey where rescue efforts to save people affected by the devastating earthquake there and in neighboring Syria continue. Despite being ravaged by Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has managed to send a small team of rescuers to assist.

“On the ninth day after the devastating earthquake, they managed to rescue a woman,” Zelensky said.

“Our rescuers pulled her out of the rubble and handed her over to doctors.”

What’s the latest military situation?

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) update on Feb. 15 focuses on Russia’s domestic arms industry and its ability to sustain the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The MoD notes: “Senior Russian leaders are likely aware that the state’s military industrial output is becoming a critical weakness, exacerbated by the strategic and operational miscalculation of invading Ukraine.

“Production is almost certainly falling short of the Russian MoD’s demands to resource the Ukraine campaign and restore its longer-term defense requirements.”

The MoD also highlights how President Vladimir Putin last month castigated Denis Manturov, the deputy prime minister with responsibility for the defense industry, for “fooling around,” adding it was “one of the president’s strongest public outbursts since the invasion”.

The Institute for the Study of War’s Feb. 14 daily assessment covers a multitude of topics, most notably:

·      The Washington Post reported that US officials have privately signaled to Ukraine that Western security aid to Ukraine is finite.

·      Western reporting indicates that there continue to be Western concerns about Ukraine’s determination to hold Bakhmut.

·      The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reportedly recruiting convicts and mimicking the Wagner Group’s treatment of convicts as cannon fodder.

And that’s it for today’s Morning Memo.

Kyiv Post will bring you the latest news throughout the day and we’ll be back with another edition tomorrow.