February 9, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

French President Emmanuel Macron has awarded visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with France's highest order of merit, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

The award is the highest distinction a French president can give to another head of state.

Earlier, Macron told Zelensky that France is “determined” to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia. “We stand by Ukraine, determined to help it to victory,” Macron said. “Ukraine can count on France and its allies to win the war, Russia should not and will not win the war.”  

Macron also said France would continue to provide military support to Ukraine and Paris will "adapt and re-adapt" to Kyiv’s needs. "Ukraine can count on us to build peace," the French leader said, speaking alongside Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

EU summit: The three leaders dined at the Elysée Palace on Wednesday night ahead of Thursday’s European Union summit meeting in Brussels. Macron and Zelensky will fly to the Belgian capital together on Thursday morning, according to the Elysée. 

A former Chechen commander wanted by Ukraine for alleged war crimes is leading the Russian earthquake relief effort in Turkey.  

Daniil Martynov was in several locations in Ukraine last year in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. He is thought to be close to the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and has been featured in several videos on Kadyrov’s official Telegram channel.  

In recent days, he has given interviews to Russian media outlets from the earthquake zone in Turkey, after being appointed last year as an adviser in Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry.

Last August, the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, alleged that Martynov had committed a series of war crimes in the town of Borodianka, north of Kyiv. 

There is no record of Martynov responding to the Ukrainian allegations. While dismissing the SBU accusations last August, Kadyrov said: "With regard to Martynov, he does not work for us. He's working with the MES [Ministry of Emergency Situations.]" 

Martynov was sanctioned in 2020 by the US Treasury Department for “serious human rights abuse in Russia." It said he was “a personal security advisor for Kadyrov, [and] has acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Kadyrov.”  

CNN is reaching out to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry for comment on Martinov’s role, as well as to the Ukrainian Security Service.

French President Emmanuel Macron told his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that France is “determined” to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia.  

Macron affirmed to Zelensky that France will continue to provide military support to Ukraine and Paris will "adapt and re-adapt" to Kyiv’s needs. 

"Ukraine can count on us to build peace," the French leader said, speaking alongside Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris.   

After arriving in Paris Wednesday, Zelensky said he is “thankful for the spontaneous idea for us to meet and talk” in a joint news conference with Macron and Scholz.  

Scholz said Germany will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine “as long as it needs.” 

Zelensky's presence at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday would send “a strong signal” of solidarity, he added.  

The Russian embassy in London described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to the United Kingdom on Wednesday as a “hasty event,” “theatrical performance,” “fundraising event,” and “ex-comedian in a green sweatshirt now on tour around Europe.”

In response to the UK saying it's "actively looking" at whether to send fighter jets to Ukraine, the embassy warned that “Russia will know how to respond to any unfriendly actions by the British side.” 

Earlier Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table” when asked whether the UK will provide fighter jets to Ukraine.

And Zelensky hailed his visit, noting the two countries had reached an agreement on a "powerful defense package."

The Russian embassy in London warned the United Kingdom against providing Ukraine with fighter jets, saying such a move would have “military and political ramifications” for the whole world, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

What the UK is saying: Earlier, Britain’s PA media reported that the UK is "actively" considering whether to send jets to Ukraine, citing the prime minister's official spokesperson.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table,” adding, “when it comes to fighter combat aircrafts, of course they are part of the conversation."

Sunak said he had discussed the topic with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. The two leaders were visiting a British military facility where Ukrainian troops were being trained on Challenger 2 tanks. 

CNN's Jessie Gretener contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the UK on Wednesday, sweeping in to London on the first stage of an unannounced diplomatic tour of European capitals with a powerful message for British lawmakers.

In only his second foreign trip since the Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, Zelensky gave a speech to the joint houses of the British parliament that deftly stroked the national ego at the same as making a direct plea for more heavy weaponry, including fighter jets.

In a poignant but carefully crafted move, Zelensky handed the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, the helmet of a Ukrainian fighter pilot, signed with the message: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”

Zelensky’s message was directed firmly at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and members of the Cabinet standing in front of him in the historic surroundings of Westminster Hall — the oldest part of of the Palace of Westminster, where the late Queen Elizabeth lay in state and where US President Obama stood for a similar address in 2011.

He thanked the British leader — “Rishi” — who had earlier announced that the UK would begin training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets.

Read more here.

There are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the decision to provide separatists in Ukraine with the missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, Dutch investigators said Wednesday.

Citing intercepted telephone conversations by Russian government officials, the Public Prosecution Service’s Joint Investigation Team said there were “strong indications that in Russia, the president made the decision about the provision of the Buk-TELAR to separatists of the DPR,” or the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, in eastern Ukraine.

Investigators nonetheless said “the high bar of full and conclusive evidence is not met,” and that regardless, as a head of state, Putin has immunity from prosecution. The Joint Investigation Team said it had shared its findings with the families of the 298 victims.

CNN has reached out to the Kremlin for reaction. Moscow has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the attack, and Russian officials and state media have put out a range of often contradictory explanations for the tragedy.

Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed.

Dutch investigators had already concluded that the missile that downed MH17 was a Russian Buk rocket, fired from a launcher belonging to Russia’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade. A Dutch court in November found two Russians and a separatist Ukrainian guilty of mass murder for their involvement in the downing of MH17.

In their newest finding, investigators say that DPR leaders appeared to be in “close contact” with Kremlin advisers and the Russian intelligence service.

Read more here.