[Jimbuna]

Ukrainian counter-attacks were holding Russians back from taking full control of Avdiivka, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence report. Russian forces have suffered heavy personnel and armoured vehicle losses, frequently caused by Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicle munitions. Though they continue to attempt to bypass Ukrainian fortifications by entering the city edges via service tunnels – a method of infiltration they have been attempting since October 2023 – “Ukrainian counter-attacks are holding Russian forces from progressing further within the city”.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has provided no credible evidence to back its claims that their own forces shot down a military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be swapped for Russian POWs.

Joe Biden will host the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at the White House on 9 February to discuss aid to Ukraine. This comes as the US president has been pressing Congress to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures with aid for Ukraine. The talks have hit a critical point as Republican opposition mounts. Some Republicans have set a deal on border security as a condition for further Ukraine aid.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, are in Russia’s Leningrad oblast today to attend the opening ceremony of a memorial complex. The ceremony marked the 80th anniversary of the battle that lifted the siege of Leningrad.

The Biden administration has announced the approval of a $23bn deal to sell F-16 warplanes to Turkey, after Ankara ratified Sweden’s Nato membership, the state department said.

The US is planning to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years amid a growing threat from Russia, according to a report. Warheads three times as strong as the Hiroshima bomb would be located at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk under the proposals, the Daily Telegraph reported.