Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Ukraine talks set for next week as cold sweeps country

US-backed trilateral talks involving Ukraine and Russia will take place next week in Abu Dhabi, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, as Ukrainians faced uncertainty over the fate of an energy ceasefire with Russia amid plunging temperatures. Kyiv is under US pressure to secure peace in th

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Ukraine talks set for next week as cold sweeps country

REUTERS
Published :
Feb 01, 2026 18:22
Updated :
Feb 01, 2026 18:22

People line up at a bus stop during sub-zero temperatures, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 31, 2026. Photo : REUTERS/Thomas Peter TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

US-backed trilateral talks involving Ukraine and Russia will take place next week in Abu Dhabi, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, as Ukrainians faced uncertainty over the fate of an energy ceasefire with Russia amid plunging temperatures.

Kyiv is under US pressure to secure peace in the nearly four-year war while grappling with a Russian campaign of air strikes that has ravaged its energy system during one of the coldest winters in years.

The first round of negotiations took place in late January, but led to no new movement on the vital question of territory, with Moscow still demanding Kyiv cede more land in its war-torn east, which it refuses to do.

Zelenskiy said the new talks would take place on February 4 and 5, and that Ukraine - struggling to stop grinding Russian advances on the battlefield - was ready for a "substantive discussion".

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

WORKERS RACE TO RESTORE POWER

In the capital Kyiv, 1,000 apartment buildings remained without heating on Sunday, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko, as a new wave of bitter cold swept across much of the country.

Temperatures in the city on Sunday hovered around -15 degrees Celsius, as workers raced to restore heating to hundreds out of the nearly 3,500 high-rises affected by a widespread grid malfunction on Saturday.

Officials did not directly link it to war damage, but the resulting blackouts - which spread to neighbouring Moldova - underlined the vulnerability of Ukraine's energy system after months of Russian attacks.

The Kremlin said two days ago it had agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure until Sunday at the request of US President Donald Trump, and Kyiv said it would reciprocate.

Ukraine said the suspension was supposed to last until the following Friday.

TWO PEOPLE KILLED OVERNIGHT

The countries have not reported major strikes on their energy systems in recent days, though Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia was attempting "to destroy logistics and connectivity between cities and communities" through ongoing air attacks.

In southeastern Ukraine, two people were killed overnight in a drone strike on a residential building in the city of Dnipro, and six people were wounded in an attack on a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said.

Temperatures are expected to drop even further on Monday to well below minus 20 degrees Celsius in Kyiv.

Ukrainian private energy firm DTEK said on Sunday it had restored power to 300,000 households in the southern coastal region of Odesa, which had been hit hard by the malfunction.

Grid operator Ukrenergo said late on Saturday that planned outages would be in force throughout the entire country.

Anatoliy Veresenko, a 65-year-old veteran who was out for a run at a Kyiv park, said he was warily anticipating new attacks and did not place much hope in the peace process.

"Talks are talks. We hope for peace, but we still need to fight and secure victory."​

 

[Saif]

Russia strike in east Ukraine kills man, son

A Russian attack in the early hours of Monday killed a father and son from a family that had fled eastern Ukraine but later returned to their frontline hometown...

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Russia strike in east Ukraine kills man, son
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 03 February, 2026, 01:12

A Russian attack in the early hours of Monday killed a father and son from a family that had fled eastern Ukraine but later returned to their frontline hometown.

The airstrike just after midnight hit the industrial town of Oleksievo-Druzhkivka in the wider Donetsk region, a key prize in the war launched by Russia nearly four years ago.

‘A 44-year-old man and his 23-year-old son were killed in the attack,’ police said in a statement, adding that the mother, 42, and two other children were wounded.

Oleksievo-Druzhkivka had a pre-war population of around 7,000 people and lies some 15 kilometres from the front line.

Police said the family had last November fled the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia, but they returned one month later.

Police released images showing smoke rising from what appeared to be the charred remains of the family’s home, surrounded by piles of debris.

Local authorities, which have urged residents to flee frontline areas, sporadically report on evacuees returning and then being killed.

The regional governor Vadym Filashkin, expressed condolences on social media and said: ‘I am also outraged, because the parents consciously made the decision to leave a region far from the front and bring their children back under enemy bombs.’

Russian forces and their proxies have controlled parts of the Donetsk region since 2014, when separatists rose up in the wake of nationwide pro-democracy rallies.

February 24 will mark four years of Russia’s full-scale offensive against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia has confirmed that a new round of talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi on ending the four-year-war will start Wednesday, after they were postponed from this weekend.

Moscow blamed a scheduling issue for the delay, a day after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also said the negotiations would take place in the UAE capital on Wednesday and Thursday.

‘They were indeed originally planned for this past Sunday. But additional coordination of the schedules of the three parties was needed,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters

‘Now, on Wednesday-Thursday, the second round will indeed take place. It will be held in Abu Dhabi. We can confirm that,’ he added.

The talks will take place less than two weeks before the fourth anniversary of Moscow launching its full-scale offensive against Ukraine.

They are expected to focus on the crucial issue of territory, with neither side so far showing any sign of a breakthrough.

Washington is pushing for an end to the war between the neighbours, which has killed tens of thousands, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine.​

 

[Saif]

Russia fires 450 drones and 70 missiles at Ukraine, a day before US-brokered talks

Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday. The barrage came as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support and a day before Russia and Ukraine were

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Russia fires 450 drones and 70 missiles at Ukraine, a day before US-brokered talks

REUTERS
Published :
Feb 03, 2026 17:47
Updated :
Feb 03, 2026 17:57

People take shelter in a metro station, being used as a bomb shelter, during a Russian drones attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Photo : AP/Alex Babenko

Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.

The barrage came as NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support and a day before Russia and Ukraine were due to attend US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on ending the all-out war, which Russia launched nearly four years ago.

The bombardment of at least five regions of Ukraine specifically took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water amid the coldest winter in years. At least 10 people were wounded, officials said.

“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) during the night and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday.

He urged allies to send more air defense supplies and bring “maximum pressure” to bear on Russia to end its full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Officials have described recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv delegations as constructive. But after a year of efforts, the Trump administration is still searching for a breakthrough on key issues such as who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia’s army has occupied, and a comprehensive settlement appears distant. The Abu Dhabi talks were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

NATO show of support

Rutte addressed the Ukrainian parliament during his visit and said that countries in the military alliance "are ready to provide support quickly and consistently” as peace efforts drag on.

Since last summer, NATO members have provided 75% of all missiles supplied to the front, and 90% of those used for Ukraine's air defense, he said.

European countries, fearing Moscow's ambitions, see their own future security as being on the line in Ukraine.

“Be assured that NATO stands with Ukraine and is ready to do so for years to come," Rutte said. “Your security is our security. Your peace is our peace. And it must be lasting.”

Power grid attacks

A Kremlin official said last week that Russia had agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 because of the frigid temperatures, following a personal request from US President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the bitter cold is continuing and so are Russia’s aerial attacks.

Russia has tried to wear down Ukrainians’ appetite for the fight by creating hardship for the civilian population living in dark, freezing homes.

It has tried to wreck Ukraine’s electricity network, targeting substations, transformers, turbines and generators at power plants. Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said that the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major assault since October.

In Kyiv, officials said that five people were wounded in the strikes that damaged and set fire to residential buildings, a kindergarten and a gas station in various parts of the capital, according to the State Emergency Service.

By early morning, 1,170 apartment buildings in the capital were without heating, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. That set back desperate repair operations that had restored power to all but 80 apartment buildings, he said.

Russia also struck Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where injuries were reported, and the southern Odesa region.

The attack also damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, at the foot of the Motherland Monument in Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said.

“It is symbolic and cynical at the same time: the aggressor state strikes a place of memory about the fight against aggression in the 20th century, repeating crimes in the 21st,” Berezhna said.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine, Russia exchange POWs for first time in months

Ukraine and Russia have conducted their first prisoner exchange in months, each releasing at least 157 people, both countries said Thursday, amid US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the war.

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Ukraine, Russia exchange POWs for first time in months
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 06 February, 2026, 03:26


Ukraine and Russia have conducted their first prisoner exchange in months, each releasing at least 157 people, both countries said Thursday, amid US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the war.

The two sides have in the past conducted several rounds of prisoner swaps, one of the rare areas of direct cooperation between Ukraine and Russia amid the four-year war, but last month Kyiv accused Moscow of halting the exchanges.

On Thursday, amid three-way talks in Abu Dhabi, the countries swapped 157 captured soldiers and civilians each in an exchange mediated by Washington — the first since October.

‘Today’s exchange came after a long pause, and it is critical that we were able to make it happen. I thank everyone who works to make these exchanges possible,’ Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

Images he posted showed the released prisoners, their heads freshly shaven, wrapped in Ukrainian flags and smiling amid falling snow.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said among the 157 Ukrainians released ‘are seven civilians and those whom the Russians unlawfully convicted.’

Zelensky’s aide Kyrylo Budanov said that in the group of the freed prisoners were 19 Ukrainians ‘who were illegally sentenced, 15 of them to life imprisonment.’

Russia, who said the United States and United Arab Emirates acted as mediators for the exchange, announced earlier it had handed over 157 Ukrainian soldiers and that 157 Russian servicemen were returned.

‘In addition, three Russian citizens, residents of the Kursk region will be returned home,’ the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region in 2024.​

 

[Saif]

US pressing Ukraine, Russia to end war by June

The United States wants Ukraine and Russia to end their nearly four-year war by June, and has offered to host talks between the two sides in Florida next week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

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US pressing Ukraine, Russia to end war by June
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 08 February, 2026, 01:31

The United States wants Ukraine and Russia to end their nearly four-year war by June, and has offered to host talks between the two sides in Florida next week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

US-led efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have stepped up a gear in recent weeks, but Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory.

Russia, which occupies around 20 per cent of its neighbour, is pushing for full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal and has threatened to take it by force if talks fail.

But Ukraine says ceding ground will embolden Moscow and so it will not sign an agreement that fails to deter Russia from invading again.

‘The United States has proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams—Ukraine and Russia—meet in the United States, probably in Miami, in a week’s time,’ Zelensky told reporters in comments made public early Saturday.

‘They say that they want to do everything by June,’ he added.

The US has mediated two rounds of negotiations between the two sides in Abu Dhabi since January, brokering a major prisoner exchange but failing to reach a breakthrough on territory.

Both Moscow and Kyiv said talks have been difficult.

Zelensky has repeatedly expressed frustration that his country is being asked to make disproportionate compromises compared to Russia.

Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines.

Russia has rejected this and Washington has instead pushed for Kyiv to convert the land it currently controls in the Donetsk region into a ‘free economic zone’ where neither side has military control.

‘Even if we come to the creation of a free economic zone, we will need fair and reliable rules,’ Zelensky said.

The two sides have also failed to reach a ‘common understanding’ on the issue of control over the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Zelensky said.

Russian forces seized the plant, the largest in Europe, at the start of the conflict and have held onto it since.

Ukraine will not tolerate Russia and the United States making deals about Ukraine behind its back, Zelensky added.

Throughout the negotiating progress Russia has launched waves of deadly strikes on Ukraine that have cut heating and power to millions during freezing temperatures.

Kyiv says they are a war crime.

The country was forced to request emergency assistance from Poland on Saturday after Russia hit the Burshtynska and Dobrotvirska power plants in western Ukraine, causing blackouts across the country, energy minister Denys Shmygal said.

‘Due to the damage caused by the enemy, emergency outages have been applied in most regions,’ grid operator Ukrenergo said on Saturday.

Ukraine’s nuclear power plants were forced to ‘reduce their generation capacity’, the energy ministry said.

Russia, which denies targeting civilians, accused Ukraine on Friday of orchestrating the shooting of a top military intelligence general in Moscow, leaving him wounded. Kyiv has yet to comment.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a ‘special military operation’ to prevent the expansion of NATO—a war aim that Kyiv has called a pretext for an illegal land grab.

The conflict has resulted in a massive wave of destruction that has left entire cities in ruins and killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, while forcing millions to flee their homes.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine urges acceleration of peace talks, says only Trump can broker deal

Kyiv's foreign minister has said the Ukrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, and that only US President Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement. Ukraine wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-year-old war

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Ukraine urges acceleration of peace talks, says only Trump can broker deal

REUTERS
Published :
Feb 08, 2026 20:18
Updated :
Feb 08, 2026 20:18

Kyiv's foreign minister has said the Ukrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, and that only US President Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement.

Ukraine wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-year-old war and capitalise on momentum in the US-brokered talks before other factors come into play, such as campaigning for the US Congressional mid-term elections in November, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in an interview.

UKRAINE SAYS FINAL DEAL WITH RUSSIA NEEDS TRUMP

"Only Trump can stop the war," Sybiha told Reuters in his office in Kyiv, close to the Dnipro river.

From a 20-point peace plan that has formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only "a few" items remain outstanding, Sybiha said. "The most sensitive and most difficult, to be dealt with at the leaders' level."

On key issues, such as land, the two sides appear far apart. Russia has maintained its demand that Ukraine cede the remaining 20 per cent of the eastern region of Donetsk that it has failed to occupy during years of grinding, attritional warfare - something that Kyiv has steadfastly refused. Ukraine also wants control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - the largest in Europe - which is in Russian-occupied territory.

During a second round of trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi this week there was no sign of a breakthrough, though an exchange of 314 prisoners of war was concluded on Thursday - the first such swap since October. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Saturday that the US had proposed a new round of talks in Miami in a week, which Kyiv had agreed to.

"My assessment is we have momentum, that's true," Sybiha, in post since 2024, said in an interview conducted on Friday. "We need consolidation or mobilisation of these peace efforts, and we're ready to speed up."

Nearly four years after its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia occupies almost a fifth of Ukraine's territory - including the Crimean Peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine occupied before the war - and has devastated the electricity and heating network with targeted bombing. On the battlefield, analysts say Russia has gained only about 1.3 per cent of Ukrainian territory since early 2023.

Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Washington hoped the war could be ended before the summer and Ukraine had suggested a sequencing plan, but he provided no details.

Sources had told Reuters on Friday that Ukrainian and US officials had discussed a timetable including a draft deal with Russia by March and a referendum on it in Ukraine alongside elections in May.

US SECURITY GUARANTEES WERE VITAL, UKRAINE SAYS

Ukraine is focused on obtaining Western security guarantees to deter future Russian aggression once a ceasefire enters force.

The US, Sybiha said, had confirmed to Ukraine that it was prepared to ratify security guarantees in Congress; it would then provide a security "backstop" to support the peace deal, though no US troops on the ground in Ukraine.

"I personally do not believe, at this stage, in any security infrastructure or architecture without the Americans ... We must have them with us - and they are in the process. That's a huge, huge achievement," he said.

A statement issued after a meeting in Paris last month of the "coalition of the willing" said the allies would participate in a proposed US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism. Officials have said this would likely involve drones, sensors and satellites, not US troops.

The foreign minister said some other countries beyond Britain and France, both already publicly committed, had confirmed their readiness to send troops to Ukraine as a deterrence force, but he declined to identify them.

Apart from "boots on the ground", Sybiha said there should be a mechanism akin to the NATO alliance's Article Five that classifies an attack on one member state as an attack on all. Ukraine's proposed membership of the European Union would also provide an additional element of security, he said.

Zelensky has said Ukraine wants to join the 27-nation bloc by 2027 - which would require significant reforms and legislation.

On Saturday, Zelensky raised concerns about bilateral talks between Russia and the US, which he said included a proposal from Moscow for $12 trillion in investments.

Sybiha said some of these discussions could affect Ukraine’s sovereignty or security, and Kyiv would not support any such deals made without it.

He also said any country's decision in the course of a peace settlement to recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea or the Donbas, Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland, would be "legally void".

"We will never recognise this. And it will be a violation of international law," Sybiha said. "This was not about Ukraine. It's about principle."​