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Toretsk claim and new jets for Ukraine
Summary
A look back at 7 February 2025, when Russia announced full control of Toretsk and fresh Western fighter deliveries had just reached Ukraine.
What did the front line and the skies over Ukraine look like on 7 February 2025? Two developments, one announced that day and one the day before, pointed in different directions.
On 7 February 2025, Russia said its forces had taken full control of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, after months of urban warfare. The announcement was Moscow's own claim, made at the end of a long battle for the town.
The fighting for Toretsk began in the summer of 2024, during Russia's full-scale invasion. According to later accounts of the battle, Russian forces took the centre of the town in November 2024. By the middle of February 2025, they held practically all of it.
Fighter jets arrive
On 6 February 2025, the Ukrainian Air Force received the first shipment of Mirage 2000 fighter jets from France. The same delivery brought additional F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Netherlands. The reports described both as part of the military aid being supplied to Ukraine during the war.
Two sides of one day
Taken together, the reports from 6 and 7 February 2025 captured two parallel realities of the war. On the ground in Donetsk Oblast, Russia declared the end of a prolonged urban battle. In the air, Ukraine's fleet was being reinforced with aircraft from two European partners.
The reports gave no indication of how the new aircraft would be deployed, and the Toretsk claim was Russia's own account of the outcome.
