Shooting of a Russian pilot, a strike on a factory in Volgograd and national selection for Eurovision: highlights
In Engels, Russia, a Tu—95 bomber pilot, who, according to Ukrainian intelligence, was involved in missile attacks on Ukraine, was shot. In another Russian city, Volgograd, Security Service drones hit an oil refinery. The final of the national selection for Eurovision 2024 took place, but viewers were unable to vote due to a glitch in Diia. Here are the main news for February 3.
Bomber pilot was shot in Russia
The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine has reported that the pilot of a Tu-95 strategic bomber, Oleg Stegachev, was shot in the Russian city of Engels. The intelligence service is clarifying whether he survived his injuries.
According to intelligence, Stegachev served at the Engels air base and was directly involved in launching missile strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine and killing Ukrainians.
SBU attacked a plant in Volgograd
On the night of February 3, a fire broke out at the Lukoil oil refinery in Volgograd, Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the wreckage of a Ukrainian drone had fallen. Russian emergency responders claimed that oil products were burning over an area of 300 square meters.
A source familiar with the matter told hromadske that the fire at the refinery was the result of a successful attack by SBU drones. Two drones hit the primary oil refining unit, without which the refinery will lose a significant part of its production capacity.
Eurovision national selection: the winner is unknown
On February 3, Ukraine held the final of the national selection for Eurovision 2024. As in previous years, the winner was to be determined by the jury and viewers. For the second year in a row, viewers voted through the Diia app.
However, the app malfunctioned. Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said that Diia had a record number of users in the history of the project. Ukrainians made 15 thousand requests per second.
Finally, they decided to announce the winner on February 4 at 7 pm. After Diia is restored, Ukrainians will be able to vote for their favorite until then.
You can listen to the finalists' songs here.
Duda is not sure about Crimea
Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed uncertainty that Ukraine will be able to return Crimea. He called the annexed peninsula “a special place that has been under Russian control for a long time”.
At the same time, the Polish president expressed hope that Ukraine would be able to return the seized territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, responded to the Polish president's statement by calling the de-occupation of Crimea “a common task and duty to the free world”. In his opinion, this will undoubtedly happen.
Note of protest to Nicaragua
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent an official note of protest to Nicaragua over the arrival of a Russian delegation from temporarily occupied Crimea.
The visit of the delegation of representatives of the occupation administrations to Nicaragua took place on January 23, 2024. They arrived to sign agreements on trade and economic cooperation, as well as on twinning between the temporarily occupied Yalta and Granada.
Reorganization of Taurida University was canceled
The government has revised the plan to reorganize the Taurida National University (TNU) by merging it with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The educational institution will remain independent.
The Ministry of Reintegration and TNU concluded that the university should develop a strategy to become an intellectual center for the return and restoration of Crimea.
HBO will not film Bykovic
The American television channel HBO will not be filming the Serbian-Russian actor Milos Bykovic in the series “White Lotus”, which has drawn criticism from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for his support of the Russian regime.
The actor said that he was leaving the series “because of external pressure”. He said that a “targeted campaign was launched against him”, and this could allegedly “create a disturbing precedent that obscures the essence of artistic freedom”.
Other important news of the day:
- It was decided to redistribute forces and equipment in the Kupiansk sector to eliminate defense problems.
- Canada offers to give Ukraine thousands of decommissioned missiles. However, not all of them are in combat condition.
- Police identified two children who were killed a month ago in a Russian strike in the Donetsk region.
- Civilian vehicles are banned from traveling to the border areas of the Sumy region. A week ago, a DRG killed two people there.
- A fatal accident happened in the Rivne region: 13 children were left without parents.
- Artist Andriy Danylko confirmed that the UAE recently banned him from entering the country. The singer believes that the Russians took revenge on him for his position.
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