Russians kill 80-year-old civilian man during shelling of Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Russians killed an 80-year-old civilian in their strike on the city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration. The body of a man was pulled from under the rubble of a house on the morning of February 18, 2025.
Fedorov reiterated that the Russians had shelled Orikhiv the evening before. Houses caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes.
ZMINA consistently reports on the ongoing international crimes in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
By way of background, last week, US President Donald Trump broke the isolation of the pariah-state Russian Federation, calling Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained the initial steps agreed to in talks between the US and Russia on February 18 aimed at opening dialogue to bring an end to the Ukraine war. According to Rubio, among them is a goal to re-establish diplomatic missions in Washington DC and Moscow, and to appoint negotiation teams to discuss an end to the conflict. From statements made, it is clear that the US government plans to allow US businesses to enter the Russian market.
Speaking after the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any type of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine would be “completely unacceptable”.
As reported by Bloomberg news agency, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had requested that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participate in the discussions between Russia and the United States in Riyadh, but both the Americans and the Russians insisted that the talks take place without the Ukrainians.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not accept a deal made about Ukraine without its involvement and that he wouldn’t recognise parts of Ukraine as belonging to Russia.
Zelenskyy compares blocking Ukraine’s NATO accession to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. In an interview with ARD, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine’s possible membership in NATO should not be excluded from peace talks at the risk of repeating the tragedy of the Afghan scenario when the United States quickly abandoned the country.
“I don’t think anyone is interested in Afghanistan 2.0. It would be wrong. Maybe it’s not quite comparable to Afghanistan, but disrespect for human life led to tragedy then,” Zelenskyy said.
The president added, “We remember what happened in Afghanistan when the Americans left in a hurry”.
Ukraine urges the international community to unite to restore global security under the UN Charter and strengthen sanctions against Russia to enforce compliance with international law. Following Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, Ukraine has pursued the liberation of its territories within its internationally recognised 1991 borders while developing comprehensive reintegration strategies and policies for all liberated areas.
Earlier, Bohdan Bernatskyy, a member of the Sanctions Policy Working Group of the Crimean Platform Expert Network, revealed at the Third Parliamentary Summit in Latvia that over 1,300 Russian military companies and 2 million industry workers continue operating, many without international restrictions.
