Death of dissident Stepan Khmara, Zelenskyy's offer to meet with Duda near border: highlights for February 21

Death of dissident

Ukrainian human rights activist, dissident, and political prisoner of Soviet concentration camps Stepan Khmara has died at the age of 86.

"My dearest man in the world has died. That's it. We all did everything we could and even more. We wanted him to be with us so much when our Victory was announced! I wanted so much to see his happy face, his beautiful face! Because he was so beautiful even at 86," his wife Rocksolyana wrote.

Zelenskyy's offer to meet at the border

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk to meet at the border with Ukraine. Representatives of the Ukrainian government will also be there.

"I have instructed our government to be on the border between our countries in the near future, by February 24. And I ask you, Donald, Mr. Prime Minister, to come to the border as well. Andrzej, Mr. President, I ask you to support this dialog," the head of state said.

Later, presidential spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said that Ukraine and Poland are already discussing a meeting of government representatives at the border, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed today.

Refutation of the NYT article

The New York Times claimed that during the retreat of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka, up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers were captured by the Russians. The Tavria troop grouping denies this, said Dmytro Lykhoviy, head of the public relations department of the Tavria unit, in a comment to hromadske. According to him, the data on prisoners is still being verified, but it is definitely not about hundreds of soldiers, as the NYT writes.

Other news

• The National Bank has amended a number of currency restrictions to prevent unproductive outflow of money abroad, which will help preserve Ukraine's foreign exchange reserves and ensure stability in the foreign exchange market. These changes come into force today.
• During a conference call, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the blockade on the Polish border with government officials. He promised "quick steps" from the government in response to the blockade.
• The Ukrainian military appears to have launched a missile strike on a Russian training ground in Donetsk Oblast near Volnovakha. At least 60 Russian troops could have been killed there. According to media reports, motorized riflemen from Trans-Baikal were lined up at the training ground, waiting for the arrival of their commander, the Russian service of the BBC reports.
• A well-known Zaporizhzhya-based scholar and researcher of Mennonite history, Maksym Shtatskyi (call sign Historian), died at the front.
• An elderly couple in Zhytomyr were charged of driving their own granddaughter, over whom they had custody, to commit suicide.