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Europe
Ukraine
Feb 19, (2025) Russia unleashed a mass drone attack on Ukraine's southern city of Odesa for the second night running today, knocking out power for some 5,000 residents. Nearly 90,000 people had been left in the dark in Odesa district in and around the city. Zelenskiy said a similar number was without heating. The temperature in the Black Sea port was about minus 6 degrees Celsius. The strikes had triggered a fire at a restaurant and a storage facility and damaged an administrative building. One person was injured. Photos on social media showed areas of the city in darkness. Four people, including a child, were injured in the initial attack yesterday. The Ukrainian military said Russia launched 167 drones overnight yesterday in the region and elsewhere in the country. Air defence units and mobile drone hunting groups shot down 106 of them, and 56 drones were 'lost' ’in reference to the military using electronic warfare to counter unmanned aircraft, it said’. Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure since March 2024, knocking out about half of the available generating capacity and causing widespread blackouts. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
Feb 19th 2025 Yesterday, Mr Zelensky cancelled a long-planned trip to Saudi Arabia, saying he did not want to be associated with talks held there without him: ’We were not invited…It was a surprise for us, I think for many others as well.’ Today, Mr Trump responded by calling Mr Zelensky “a dictator”. The country faces a fight for its survival. People, politicians and soldiers are exhausted. Hundreds of thousands are dead or wounded. Millions have left the country. Perhaps a third of the ’4.3m Ukrainians who fled to Europe’ are under 18; many of them will never return. A deal without long-term security will push more parents to send their children abroad, exacerbating Ukraine’s already pronounced demographic malaise. Either they send their boys to Europe while the law still allows them to, or they let them stay and risk everything. For all the turmoil, there is still nothing resembling a deal—yet. But so far much is developing according to Ukraine’s worst-case scenario. Many of its elite are apprehensive that the language coming from the Trump team 'echoes a Russian trap': calling for a ceasefire without security guarantees, and immediate elections that would shatter Ukrainian unity. ’Mr Trump appears to want to get rid of Mr Zelensky, whom he has never liked and who he thinks is difficult, says a former diplomat. ’This is not about elections, it’s about getting rid of Zelensky. In theory, Ukraine could fight on in defiance of a Trump deal. In practice, its hand will worsen with time. The war is brutal for both sides, but more so for the poorer and less numerous Ukrainians. There are serious problems at the operational level, and a notable absence of strategic planning. Front-line brigades are running out of men, with some down to less than a third of their regular size. As one senior American official says: ’If Zelensky can mobilise 18- and 20-year-old men, it might be worth fighting. If he can’t, he should take the best deal he can.’ Insiders worry Mr Zelensky is retreating into an ever narrower circle - right at a time he needs the broadest support. Standing up to an American leader who thrives on using enemies to define himself will be dangerous, and psychologically tough. ’There is no one who is ready to say no to him,’ complains one, ’and he is making mistakes.’ Many Ukrainians are clearly frustrated with their war leader too. Internal polling revealed shows that while Mr Zelensky would lose a future election by 30% to 65% to Zaluzhny, his former top general, who has yet to enter politics. Mr Trump, meanwhile, has many levers he might pull to enforce a solution. He can - and very likely will - cut or stop military aid. He might unilaterally lift sanctions on Russia. He might cut other vital support such as real-time targeting and Starlink, the backbone of Ukraine’s battlefield communications. There are new workarounds, but turning those systems off would hurt. If all this seems perilous, it is not the worst-case scenario. The true Ukrainian nightmare would come from Mr Trump enforcing the Kremlin blueprint in entirety: ceasefire without effective security guarantees; elections that result in political paralysis, a weak presidency, a fractious parliament; then demobilisation, mass emigration and the beginning of internal disintegration. The unity shown by Ukrainians in the early days of the war would be a distant memory. ’This is far from an impossible scenario,’ admits one official. ’Remember there are millions of weapons in the country. You can even buy a captured Russian tank on the frontlines for 100,000 hryvnia [$2,400].’ A senior Ukrainian official says it is unlikely Ukraine would ever formally recognise lost territories as part of a deal, but concedes NATO membership is understood to be a distant prospect. A bare minimum of what Ukraine could accept, he says, is continued ties with Western armies, no serious demilitarisation, continued flow of weapons and money, and a foreign peace-keeping force. The size of that force matters less than the fact it is present. ’Once they are here, we believe it will be hard for them to walk away.’ (Source: The Economist – Headquarters London, England)
North America
United States
19 Feb 2025 On his social media platform Truth Social today, United States President Trump accused Zelenskyy of taking US money and embroiling the country in an endless conflict. Trump’s broadsides against Zelenskyy followed after the leader had said the US president was inhabiting a Russian-made disinformation space when it came to his views on the war in Ukraine. Trump later was telling an audience at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute summit in Miami that Zelenskyy had done a terrible job, his country is shattered, and millions and millions of people have unnecessarily died. Trump in his speech in Miami was branding the leader a “dictator”. “A dictator without elections. Zelenskyy better move fast or he’s not going to have a country left. Gotta move. Gotta move fast cause that war’s going in the wrong direction”. “In the meantime, we’re successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia. Something I’ll admit that only Trump is going to be able to do and the Trump administration – we’re going to be able to do it. I think Putin even admitted that,” Trump said. “Biden never tried. Europe has failed to bring peace and Zelenskyy probably wants to, maybe he wants to keep the gravy train going. I don’t know what’s the problem, but he has been able. He’s very upset,” he added. (Source: Al Jazeera – Qatar)
Feb 19, 2025, 4:47 PM "Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn’t Sleepy Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us - We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation. On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden “like a fiddle.” A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the “gravy train” going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues….. (Source: Truth Social - U.S.)
by @realDonaldTrump
17:23 GMT, 19 February 2025 The US Air Force launched a hypersonic missile early today to demonstrate the nation's nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure, reliable and effective. The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) exercise kicked off at 1am PT (5am ET) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, just a few hours after Russia deployed its 'Yars' ICBM for combat training. The Air Force said today's launch was a scheduled exercise. The nuclear missile took off in the dead of night, traveling 15,000 miles per hour to a test range near Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It completed the 4,200-mile journey in about 22 minutes. /Photo, video/ (Source: Daily Mail - United Kingdom)
19/02/2025, Wednesday Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, US President Trump said the Ukrainian leader should have never started the war, criticizing Zelenskyy after he expressed concern that Ukraine was not included in talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia. "But today I heard, 'oh, well, we weren't invited.' Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it in three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal," he said. Trump reiterated that it's a senseless war. „It should have never happened. Would have never happened if I was president. And it's a shame to see." Stating that he likes Zelenskyy personally, Trump said his leadership however has "allowed a war to go on that should have never even happened, even without the United States.” “Look, we had a president who was grossly incompetent. He had no idea what he was doing. He said some very stupid things, like going in for portions and all those things. He made a lot of bad statements, but he's grossly incompetent. And I think everyone knew that,” referring to former President Biden. In response to a question on whether he would support an election in Ukraine, Trump said there has not been an election under the Ukrainian president since the war. "We have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he's down at a 4% approval rating, and where a country has been blown to smithereens, you got most of the cities are laying on their sides," said Trump. "You know, when they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to, wouldn't the people of Ukraine have to say, like, you know, it's been a long time since we've had an election. That's not a Russia thing. That's something coming from me and coming from many other countries also," he said. "Ukraine is being just, just wiped out." "Look at what's happening to the cities. There's not even a building standing. It's massive. You talk about Gaza, I mean, it's literally, these cities look like Gaza. Actually, many have, percentage wise, more buildings knocked down than in Gaza. So, you know, people are tired of it," he added. US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia earlier in the day for the first high-level talks since Russia began its war on Ukraine in February 2022. The talks concluded with the delegations agreeing to hold additional rounds of discussions aimed at ending the war and improving bilateral ties. Trump also commented on the talks in Riyadh, saying he has emerged much more confident that a peace deal can be struck to end the war on Ukraine. The president described the discussions, which included Secretary of State Rubio, his Russian counterpart Lavrov and other senior officials, as very good, saying he believes the Kremlin wants to stop the savage barbarianism of the war. Earlier yesterday, Zelenskyy voiced dissatisfaction over Kyiv's lack of inclusion in the talks. ’We learned about it from the media’, he said, speaking alongside Turkish President Erdogan in Ankara. He emphasized the need for the European Union, Türkiye, the UK and the US to be involved in negotiations to secure guarantees for the Russia-Ukraine war. ’If these negotiations are fair, and if Ukraine, the US and Europe are at the table, these guarantees will be developed with the participation of all these countries. Of course, Türkiye is among them', he said. Trump further strongly supported the possibility that European countries deploy troops to Ukraine as part of any prospective deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine. "If they want to do that, that's great. I'm all for it. If they want to do that, I think that'd be fine," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate. "If we have a peace deal, I think having troops over there, from the standpoint of Europe, we won't have to put any over there because we're very far away, but having troops over there would be fine. I would not object to it at all." Trump further claimed that Zelenskyy "said last week that he doesn't know where half of the money is that we gave him. Well, we gave them, I believe, $350 billion, but let's say it's something less than that. But it's, it's a lot." He was likely referring to an interview the Ukrainian president gave to The Associated Press, which was published on Feb. 2. "When I hear, and I heard before, and today we hear from the United States of America that America gave Ukraine hundreds of billions, 177, to be more precise. That's what the exact figure sounded like, which was supported or voted by the Congress, etc. Look, as the president of a warring country, I will tell you that we received just over 75," he said, according to a clip of the interview that has English-language captions. "That is, 100 billion of these 177 billion, or 200, some people even say, we have never received. And this is important, because we are talking about specific things," he said. ’Congress has allocated some $175 billion to aid Ukraine's war effort, but much of that sum goes towards domestic and other spending outside of Ukraine. A summary of the spending compiled by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank indicates that of the total sum, roughly $106 billion went directly to Ukraine’. (Source: Yeni Şafak / Anadolu Agency = Turkey)
NATO
February 19, 2025 The Steadfast Dart 2025 drills comprise about 10,000 military personnel from nine nations as part of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force. They are taking place over six weeks in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Today’s combat exercises in Romania saw live-fire training and trench warfare drills. Britain leads the operation with 2,600 military personnel and 730 vehicles. The drills also include Romania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey and involve 1,500 military vehicles, more than 20 aircraft and more than a dozen naval assets. (Source: AP - U.S.)
Space
19 February 2025 Our civilisation is changing. At about 03:30 GMT today, the sky across northern Europe was illuminated by an object zooming through the air in flames, caused by a Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by Musk's company SpaceXr, re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. There are reports of sightings in Denmark, Sweden and England. The rocket is used to transport people and payloads into the Earth's thermosphere, sometimes beyond. It is designed to be reusable. It was supposed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in a controlled manner and crash into the Pacific Ocean. Pieces of the rocket then crashed into Poland, measuring around 1.5m by 1m behind a warehouse in Komorniki. Experts say, may also have landed in western Ukraine. It was launched by SpaceX from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 1 February. Space debris from rockets and satellites re-enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a month. This is the fourth incident recently with a SpaceX Falcon which is causing concern. (Source: BBC – United Kingdom)
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