‘There Has Been a False Narrative Describing Western Fatigue’ – War in Ukraine Update for Feb 21

Overview:

• G7 opens new talks on Russian sanctions this weekend
• Western components found in North Korean missiles, report says
• AFU continues to defend the left bank of the Dnipro
• Moscow’s troops take out the village of Shevchenko
• Two farmers killed in a car by drone strikes in Kharkiv region

Zelensky to attend weekend G7 meeting on new sanctions on Moscow. Will they work?

President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend a virtual meeting of the G7 on Saturday to talk about the imposition of new sanctions on Russia. The meeting was announced on Tuesday by the spokesmen surrounding Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, whose nation currently holds the Group of Seven’s rotating presidency.

“The EU will launch a new sanctions package and the United States will also approve a hardening of their sanctions,” a statement from Rome announced.

The AFP on Tuesday quoted an anonymous diplomatic source, when asked about the meeting, who said, “There has been a false narrative describing Western fatigue, which needs to be rectified,” a diplomatic source said. “It is important to reaffirm that we will stand by them as long as necessary.”

Sanctions on Moscow thus far have not delivered their intended economic payload, with rising oil prices among other factors failing to cripple Russia’s revenues; Russia’s GDP over the past year has grown more quickly than that of many Western countries.

Report says North Korea is sourcing US-made parts for its missiles

A group that tracks the provenance of weapons components has found that North Korean-made missiles that struck the Kharkiv region recently were largely made in the US. AFP reported Tuesday that fragments of a ballistic missile recovered in Ukraine contained all the “marks of companies headquartered in the United States and Europe.”

Other Topics of Interest

Shipwrecked Russian Tankers Pollute Kerch Strait Wetlands, Birds Covered With Oil

It seems probable the two ships were either part of Russia’s “shadow tanker” fleet, or en route to pump sanctions-evading Russian oil aboard a “clean” tanker.

The Conflict Armament Research (CAR) investigators “determined that a ballistic missile produced by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and recovered in Ukraine includes more than 290 non-domestic electronic components,” AFP reported.

About 75 percent of the parts “were linked to companies incorporated in the United States, while 16 percent were tied to firms in Europe,” it said.

Meanwhile, media reports on Tuesday showcased a new, Russian-made Aurus luxury vehicle presented by Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin to North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un as “a clear demonstration of the special personal relations” between the two dictators.

Operations: Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia border

According to footage geolocated by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Moscow’s forces made gains on Tuesday by the Donetsk village of Shevchenko (a name that will ring a bell with older international soccer fans of AC Milan, and younger Ukrainians who remember him as a politician) as fighting continued along the regional border with Zaporizhzhia.

These and similar images suggest that positional fighting continued southwest of Velyka Novosilka near Malynivka; south of Velyka Novosilka near Staromayorske; and southeast of Velyka Novosilka near Shevchenko.

According to ISW analysts, “elements of the Russian 35th Combined Arms Army (Eastern Military District [EMD]) are striking Ukrainian positions near Hulyaipole and elements of the Russian 11th Air and Air Defense Forces Army (Russian Aerospace Forces and EMD) striking Ukrainian positions near Malynivka.”

Operations: Dnipro River

According to reports assembled by the ISW, combat continued near Krynky on the left bank of the Dnipro River on Tuesday, “despite Russian military officials’ claims that Russian forces completely captured the settlement.”

The situation on the hard-earned river bank remains volatile: Geolocated footage published on Monday appears to show that Ukrainian forces successfully conducted a HIMARS strike against a Russian mobile Zala drone launcher near Stara Mayachka, while footage posted on Tuesday shows the Russian 81st Volunteer Spetsnaz Brigade operating near Krynky.

Russian soldiers hit pig farmers with a drone in the Kupyansk district

The head of the National Police in the Kharkiv region, Serhii Bolvinov, reported online that two civilian men were killed in the Kupyansk district on Tuesday by a Russian drone strike as they were driving in a car.

A 48-year-old woman in the same car was injured and taken to a local hospital. The men, 38 and 50 years old were killed as the three were driving home from work at a pig farm.

“These people have just been killed by a Russian kamikaze drone. Petropavlivka, Kupyansk district - a civilian car with just local people. There was a woman and two men inside - both men died on the hit site. The woman was evacuated to the hospital,” Bolinov wrote.

Last week, ten civilians were killed and 11 injured in the Kupyansk area as a result of Russian airstrikes.