All articles tagged with #russia ukraine conflict
Russia launched 948 drones in what Kyiv called the largest 24-hour attack of the war, striking cities across Ukraine and causing casualties, including damage to Lviv’s Bernardine monastery and a maternity hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk. Ukraine said most drones were shot down, but several direct hits and overnight strikes produced fatalities and injuries in multiple regions.
Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on multiple Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least four people and injuring 16, with strikes reported in Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Kherson as air defenses were active and residents were urged to seek shelter.
A Russian LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz sank after explosions and a fire off Libya, with Moscow accusing Ukrainian naval drones of the attack; Ukraine has not commented publicly and Libyan authorities say the cause is unclear. About 62,000 tonnes of LNG were aboard, and 30 Russians were reportedly onboard and later found safe in a lifeboat as Malta-led rescue efforts proceeded. The incident comes amid ongoing disputes over Russia's shadow fleet and sanctions, while unverified footage circulated online and the SBU offered no confirmation.
The IMF’s executive board approved an $8.1 billion, four-year loan for Ukraine, with $1.5 billion disbursed immediately, designed to anchor a $136.5 billion international support package, stabilize Ukraine’s balance of payments, and bolster reconstruction and growth ahead of EU accession. Talks in Geneva on postwar reconstruction and a planned trilateral meeting with the US and Russia are aimed at advancing a settlement, as Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange security incidents and cross-border drone activity.
Ukraine’s Kharkiv region reports a Russian FPV drone reached the city via a fiber‑optic cable for the first time since the full‑scale invasion. The drone hit a tree in the Kyivskyi district around 3 p.m. on Feb. 25; no casualties were reported, and the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office opened a pre‑trial investigation. Fiber‑optic FPV drones extend range and can evade electronic warfare, with countermeasures mainly limited to physical destruction or obstruction; Kharkiv’s proximity to Russian‑occupied areas makes this development notable in the evolving drone warfare.
Russia launched a mass overnight strike across Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles targeting energy infrastructure and residential areas, injuring at least 26 people and causing damage in Kyiv and multiple oblasts including Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih; Ukrainian air defenses largely intercepted the projectiles, but some hits damaged homes, gas facilities, and electrical substations, and caused power outages in places like Odesa as emergency crews responded.
ISW finds no evidence Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk since Jan 2025, implying Russia captured the town earlier but has not leveraged it for broader Donetsk gains. Pokrovsk’s seizure is no guarantee of rapid Fortress Belt advances, and Moscow’s push has been slow and limited. The report also highlights Kremlin reflexive-control efforts to influence the West, stalled peace negotiations, and looming domestic internet restrictions such as a Telegram ban. Ukraine continues expanding defense production in Europe and receiving Western military aid, including long‑range strikes, while fighting persists across multiple fronts without a decisive breakthrough.
Oil prices rose nearly 3% after Ukraine-Russia peace talks collapsed, with Brent around $69.15 and WTI near $64.05 as traders weigh sanctions risk and potential Iran supply relief against Hormuz tensions, while Hungary halts diesel shipments to Ukraine and looks at rerouting Russian crude via Croatia through the Druzhba pipeline.
ISW assesses Russia is unlikely to abandon its original war demands in the Feb 17–18 Geneva talks, signaling a push on territorial issues and potentially masking concessions with a short-term energy-strikes moratorium while stockpiling weapons. Moscow is expanding drone capabilities through the BARS-Sarmat center and GRU-linked units, and Western reporting suggests sabotage networks in Europe may be leveraged by Russian intelligence. In Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have struck energy infrastructure in Belgorod and Bryansk, while Russian operations continue across northern Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia fronts and Ukraine plans to raise energy ceasefire questions at the talks.
The article argues Moscow’s mass strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid aren’t genuine retaliation for Kyiv’s actions but a deliberate tactic to cripple Ukrainian society by hitting civilian energy infrastructure. Ukraine counters with long-range strikes against oil production to hobble Russia’s war funding, while civilian harm and blackouts rise, highlighting stark differences in targets and raising concerns about the legality and morality of Russia’s approach.
Ukrainian forces repelled a large Russian breakthrough near Pokrovsk, destroying an assault company, and subsequently reclaimed villages including Ternuvate in Zaporizhzhia and Chuhunivka in Kharkiv, signaling continued pressure on Moscow amid ongoing fighting and reported Russian losses.
Overnight Ukrainian shelling damaged Belgorod near Russia's border, with regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov saying there is 'serious damage', power outages ongoing and emergency measures under way; nearby Bryansk region also reported hits on energy facilities as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues.
NPR reports from Kyiv as residents endure days-long power outages and freezing temperatures caused by continued Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy grid, with candles, blankets, and portable stoves shaping daily life in a harsh winter of war.
Ukraine is seeing mass power outages and water/heating disruptions after a cross-border grid failure (Romania-Moldova-Ukraine) caused by a technical malfunction, amid Russia's attacks on critical infrastructure. Officials say it was not a cyberattack; DTEK reported emergency shutdowns in Kyiv and surrounding areas as restoration work proceeds in freezing conditions, with Zelenskyy pledging to stabilize the situation as soon as possible. This is an evolving story.
ISW says the Kremlin rejects Rubio’s claim that Donetsk Oblast is the only unresolved issue in peace talks, arguing that many topics remain. Moscow reportedly agreed to a temporary pause on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure at Trump’s request, but ISW views it as a limited concession while Russia continues offensives across multiple axes and pursues long-term aims in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Oskil River, and Zaporizhzhia. The report also notes ongoing alleged POW executions and other war crimes by Russian forces, and Belarus increasing military ties with Russia amid the conflict, with Ukraine facing continued energy outages.