Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kyiv says it has shot down attack helicopter in blow for Moscow’s forces

Ukrainian troops have shot down a Russian attack helicopter in eastern Ukraine near the city of Avdiivka as soldiers step up street fighting, Kyiv claimed.

Troops used a portable anti-aircraft missile to take down the Ka-52 Alligator aircraft, according to commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi.

It comes after the UK ministry of defence said Avdiivka remained the primary focus of Russian operations with offensive pressure highly likely to continue over the next few weeks.

“Over the past four weeks, approximately 600 guided munitions have been launched against Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka from tactical aircraft,” the MoD said.

“Russian sorties increased guided aerial munitions strikes from 30 to 50 per day on 5 February 2024, an increase of 66 per cent over the last two weeks.”

Putin’s troops have repelled 10 Ukrainian attacks over Russian-occupied Donetsk, according to Moscow’s defence ministry.

The ministry said units had also killed or wounded up to 290 members of Ukraine’s military.

It said Russian forces had taken “more advantageous lines and positions” and “hit clusters of manpower and hardware” along defence brigades in the region.

Italy will help with the rebuilding of a cathedral in the Ukrainian city of Odesa that was badly damaged by a missile strike last year, the Italian foreign ministry said.

Italy and UNESCO signed an agreement in Kyiv to provide 500 million euros ($539 million) towards the restoration of the roof of Odesa’s Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral, or Transfiguration Cathedral.

“Italy is very committed, through its institutions and its industrial capacity, to the reconstruction of Ukraine,” ambassador Pier Francesco Zazo said.

Two officers have been injured in an overnight Russian drone attack, Ukraine’s national police has said.

The force said Russia launched a “mass attack” on the city of Odesa overnight, damaging a six-storey building and an “educational institution”, according to a post on Telegram.

It said the two policeman were patrolling and on their way to help residents when they were hit. They have both suffered mine-explosive injuries but they are in a stable condition, it added.

US president Joe Biden’s leadership is critical in ensuring a united response to Russian aggression, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

“Our message is clear: We have to do our utmost to prevent Russia from winning” in Ukraine, Mr Scholz wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

“The long-term consequences and costs of failing to stop Mr. Putin’s aggression would dwarf any of the investments that we are making now.”

A huge explosion has rocked a Russian missile plant in what state media claimed was a “planned rocket engine test”, footage appears to show.

The blast was recorded near the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, which manufactures missile engines and strategic ballistic missiles in Izhevsk, Russia.

“We received a notification from the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant. It was a rocket engine test. A planned event, not an emergency,” Zavyalovsky District united dispatch service said.

Vladimir Putin’s troops have launched around 600 guided munitions at the besieged town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, over the last month, the UK’s ministry of defence said.

The MoD said the town remained the primary focus of Russian operations with offensive pressure highly likely to continue over the next few weeks.

“Over the past four weeks, approximately 600 guided munitions have been launched against Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka from tactical aircraft,” the MoD said.

“Russian sorties increased guided aerial munitions strikes from 30 to 50 per day on 5 February 2024, an increase of 66 per cent over the last two weeks.”

President Joe Biden has blamed Donald Trump for sinking a bill set to deliver billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine after Republicans ditched their support over pressure from the former president.

The $118bn deal would also include aid to Israel and Taiwan, as well as securing immigration along the US’s southern border with Mexico.

“He’d rather weaponise this issue than actually solve it. For the last 24 hours, he’s done nothing at all but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate and threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal. And it looks like they’re caving,” Mr Biden said.