The Russian military is continuing to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine, as troops attempt to finalise the capture the key city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said.
Moscow’s forces have suffered more than 2,000 casualties in the past two days, according to figures from the Ukrainian military’s General Staff, as it throws large numbers of personnel towards heavily fortified Ukrainian defences.
Kyiv says Russia’s army suffers around 1,000 injuries and deaths every day. A January report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found that at least 325,000 soldiers have been killed, the most by any major power since World War II.
Vladimir Putin’s troops are still waging a months-long campaign to seize the strategic railway hub and capture the whole of the Donetsk region while his negotiators stall peace talks.
The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
But Ukrainian open-source researchers DeepState said Russian infantry were moving into the northern part of Pokrovsk, and described the current fighting as "the last battles" for the two cities.
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Key Points
- Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
- Ukrainian skeleton racer wears helmet paying tribute to athletes killed in war
- Russia's Lavrov accuses Trump of backtracking on Alaska agreement
- Ukraine and France launch joint weapon production
- Senior Russian diplomat: No one talks about security guarantees for us
Ukrainian star ‘banned’ from wearing war tribute helmet at Winter Olympics
11:44 , Alex CroftUkrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych has been informed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that a helmet he intended to use at the Milano Cortina Games, featuring images of compatriots killed during the war, violates rules on political statements and cannot be worn in competition.
The helmet, which depicts several athletes who died in the conflict – some of whom were personal friends of Heraskevych – is now expected to be shelved.
Heraskevych, who serves as his country's flag bearer at the Games, had been using the helmet in training.
He was reportedly informed of the ban by Toshio Tsurunaga, an IOC representative responsible for communications with athletes, during a visit to the Athletes' Village.
Read our full report here:
Ukrainian ‘banned’ from wearing war tribute helmet at Winter Olympics
Moscow claims it has seized village in Zaporizhzhia region
11:21 , Alex CroftRussia’s defence ministry has said its forces have seized the settlement of Zaliznychne in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.
The Independent could not independently verify Tuesday’s battlefield report from Moscow.
Watch: Emergency response after child among four killed in Russian drone and missile strikes
11:03 , Alex CroftKremlin says it does not see desire from France to resume high-level dialogue
10:39 , Alex CroftThe Kremlin has said it does not see a desire from France to resume dialogue at the highest level, despite recent contacts having been made between Moscow and Paris.
French president Emmanuel Macron sent his top diplomat to Moscow last week, sources told Reuters, as he explored the possibility of reopening direct talks with the Russian leader.
The pair last spoke over the phone in July 2025, their first conversation in nearly three years.
"Indeed, contacts have taken place, we can confirm this, which, if desired and necessary, will help to quickly establish dialogue at the highest level,” Peskov said.
“So far, we have not received any indication of this desire, although we have noted Mr Macron's statement on the need to restore relations with Russia. We are impressed by such statements."
Kremlin says no date has been set for trilateral talks
10:19 , Alex CroftWe’ve now heard from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has been speaking on the possibility of further trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US.
No date has been set yet, he said, but negotiations are likely to take place soon.
The second round of trilateral peace talks took place in Abu Dhabi last week, yielding no major breakthrough though 314 prisoners of war were exchanged, the first such swap since October.
In pictures: Ukrainian troops fire at Russian frontline in Kharkiv
10:03 , Alex Croft Germany to order £467 million of drones in rearmament push
09:21 , Alex CroftThe German government plans to order strike drones worth 536 million euros (£467 million), part of a rearmament push after Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The contracts for loitering munitions - drones that hover over a potential strike area before flying into targets - are part of a larger framework deal worth 4.3 billion euros.
The contracts, outlined in documents seen by Reuters, are widely expected to be rubber-stamped by the lower house of parliament's budget committee. They were first reported by Spiegel magazine.
The drones are initially intended to support Germany's 45th Tank Brigade, which is deployed in Lithuania.
According to the documents, the contracts with the two companies are to have a term of seven years. The initial batch is scheduled to be delivered by early 2027.
Russian oil export venues are dwindling thanks to sanctions
08:55 , Alex CroftOil and gas exports have sustained Russia's finances throughout its war against Ukraine. But as the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion approaches, those cash flows have suddenly dwindled to lows not seen in years.
It's the result of new punitive measures from the U.S. and the European Union, U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff pressure against India, and a tightening crackdown on the fleet of sanctions-dodging tankers carrying Russian oil.
The drop in revenue is pushing President Vladimir Putin to borrow from Russian banks and raise taxes, keeping state finances on an even keel for now.
But those measures only increase strains in a war economy now plagued by slowing growth and stubborn inflation.
Read the full report:
Oil exports have been a cash cow for Russia. But revenues are dwindling, thanks to sanctions
6,000 without electricity in Zaporizhzhia region
08:38 , Alex CroftNearly 6,000 people have been left without electricity in the Zaporizhzhia region following resumed Russian strikes on energy facilities in Ukraine, the head of the local military administration said.
Two villages in the Kushuhum area have been left without power, Ivan Fedorov said, adding that “repair work will begin as soon as the security situation allows”.
Some villages in the Odesa region were also left without electricity following Russian strikes overnight.
Russian forces launch 125 drones at Ukraine overnight
08:25 , Alex CroftRussian forces attacked Ukraine with 125 drones overnight into Tuesday, the Ukrainian Air Force has said in its daily update.
Ukrainian air defences shot down or jammed around 110 Russian drones in Ukraine’s north, south and east, added.
Around 70 of these were Shahed attack drones, it said.
Authorities have recorded thirteen drone strikes at six locations, while falling drone debris was reported at two locations.
The force said that the attack was ongoing as of 8:30am local time (6:30am GMT).
Earthquake strikes Russia's Krasnodar region
08:04 , Alex CroftAn earthquake hit Russia's southern Krasnodar region, officials said on Tuesday.
The mayor of the port city of Novorossiysk, Andrei Kravchenko, said that the earthquake did not cause any damage to the city's infrastructure.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said that the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.8.
Очевидцы публикуют кадры землетрясения в Краснодарском крае
— Дождь (@tvrain) February 10, 2026
Магнитуда землетрясения составила 4,8 баллов. О пострадавших не сообщается.
Видео: соцсети pic.twitter.com/TYBbqqguIR
Russian attack damages Odesa energy facility
07:41 , Alex CroftA Russian attack has damaged an energy facility in Ukraine's southern region of Odesa, power company DTEK said on Tuesday.
"The damage is extensive. Repairs will take a long time to restore the equipment to working order," DTEK said on the Telegram messaging app.
We’ll bring you more on the strike as it comes in.
Russia's Lavrov accuses Trump of backtracking on Alaska agreement
07:21 , Arpan RaiRussia has accused the Donald Trump administration of not implementing the agreements between Vladimir Putin and the US president in Alaska.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said the US had backtracked on what he called the “Anchorage agreements” between Trump and Putin during their meeting in August last year.
He suggested the US had told Russia it could get Ukraine to give up the whole of the Donbas region in order to end the fighting – something Kyiv had previously ruled out.
“They tell us that the Ukrainian issue needs to be resolved. In Anchorage, we accepted the proposal of the US," Lavrov told Russian TB Brics yesterday.
"They made an offer, we agreed, and the problem should have been resolved. It seems that they proposed it and we were ready – and now they are not."
The senior Russian minister said that despite declarations of moving toward a “full-scale, broad cooperation”, the US is pursuing an “anti-Russian policy”.
Pointing to new sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, Lavrov said: "In practice, everything looks the opposite: new sanctions are being introduced, and a war against (shadow fleet) tankers is being waged on the high seas.”
Senior Russian diplomat: No one talks about security guarantees for us
07:11 , Arpan RaiAn agreement to settle the nearly four-year-old conflict between Russia and Ukraine must also take into consideration security guarantees for Russia, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying.
“We recognise that a peace settlement in Ukraine must take account of Ukraine’s security interests, but a key factor, of course, is Russia’s security interests,” deputy Russian foreign minister Alexander Grushko told the Izvestia media outlet.
“If you look carefully and study the statements made by the leaders of the European Union, no one talks about security guarantees for Russia. This is a key element of a peace accord. Without it, an agreement is impossible.”
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held two rounds of talks in recent weeks with US representatives in the United Arab Emirates. No peace deal has emerged, but the two sides agreed at their latest meeting last week on the first exchange of prisoners of war in five months.
Security guarantees for Ukraine have been a focal point of discussions, along with the extent of Russia’s control of Ukrainian territory and plans for post-war recovery in Kyiv.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that documents on security guarantees for Ukraine were ready.
Media outlet Izvestia said Grushko listed elements of what might be contained in such guarantees.
Ukrainian skeleton racer wears helmet paying tribute to athletes killed in war
07:04 , Arpan RaiUkrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych trained wearing a helmet brandished with images of compatriots killed during the war in his homeland, delivering on a promise to use the Winter Olympics to keep attention on the conflict.
Visible on the helmet are teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving athlete and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.
“Some of them were my friends,” Heraskevych, who is his country's flag bearer, told Reuters of the portraits after his training session at the Cortina sliding centre.
Ukrainian skeleton star wears helmet with athletes killed in war at Winter Olympics
Pope Leo sends generators, medicines and food for winter-stricken Ukrainians
06:51 , Arpan RaiPope Leo XIV said he is sending 80 electric generators and thousands of medical supplies to Ukraine, extending help to millions of civilians facing harsh winter temperatures amid Russian attacks.
The Vatican announced that the Dicastery for the Service of Charity has sent three lorries carrying 80 electricity generators to the country at the pope’s request.
“Night-time temperatures are falling to minus 15 degrees Celsius, while daytime temperatures range between minus 10 and minus 12 degrees. Many people have been forced to leave their homes in order to find warmth in heated shelters where, thanks to the generators, they are also able to receive a hot meal,” the statement said.
Thousands of medicines, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, supplements and melatonin, have also been dispatched due to “demand as it helps people sleep amid ongoing fear and constant stress”, the Vatican said.
Why does Russia want Pokrovsk?
06:37 , Arpan RaiRussia wants to take the whole of the Donbas region, which comprises the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Ukraine still controls about 10 per cent of Donbas - an area of about 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles) in western Donetsk.
President Vladimir Putin claims the Donbas is now legally part of Russia, after his forces seized the provinces' regional capitals and carried out a local "referendum" on joining Russia. The international community has rejected this as an illegal land grab.
Capturing Pokrovsk, dubbed "the gateway to Donetsk" by Russian media, and Kostiantynivka to the northeast which Russian forces are also trying to envelop, would give Moscow its most important single territorial gain inside Ukraine since it took the ruined city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
It would also would give Moscow a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in Donetsk - Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
Putin would never have stopped if not for Ukrainian army, says Klitschko
06:15 , Arpan RaiKyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko says there is no limit to the expansionist goals of Russia's Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian army would "never" have stopped if not for Ukraine's resistance.
Klitschko was speaking to MPs in the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday.
“That's why my message is that only together, we can stop Putin. Because Putin would go so far as we allow him to go,” he said.
“Ukraine, if we were not successful, definitely Putin [would] never [have] stopped in Ukraine,” he said.
He also said that Ukraine is fighting against “one of the strongest and biggest armies, [the] Russian army” which it has been “successfully defending” against for four years.
Klitschko described Russia’s war as “genocide”, saying that the east of Ukraine is “totally destroyed”.“[Russia] destroyed the cities, destroyed the villages, destroyed a big part of our homeland,” he said.
Watch: Child and mother among four killed in Russian drone and missile strikes
06:08 , Arpan RaiStill a long way to go in talks on Ukraine, Russia's Lavrov says
05:42 , Arpan RaiRussia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said there was no reason to be excited about US president Donald Trump’s pressure on Europe and Ukraine as there is still "a long way to go" in peace talks.
His remarks come a day after he dampened hopes for an economic cooperation deal with the Trump administration, decrying the US’s declared aim of “economic dominance”.
"We also don't see any bright future in the economic sphere," Lavrov said.
Looking to cash in on wartime tech, Ukraine opens up arms exports
05:21 , Arpan RaiUkraine is opening up exports of its domestically produced weapons, president Volodymyr Zelensky says, as a way for Kyiv to cash in on its wartime technological developments and generate badly needed funds.
Zelensky said 10 "export centres" for Ukrainian weapons would be opened in 2026 across Europe, adding that combat drones would be among the exports.
“Today, Europe's security is built on technology and drones," Zelensky said on Sunday evening."All of this will be based largely on Ukrainian technology and Ukrainian specialists,” he said.
Zelensky said production of Ukrainian drones would begin in Germany in February, adding to those already being built in the UK under a joint production initiative. He did not identify the companies involved.
Ukraine's allies have expressed interest in learning from its wartime experience and technological innovation to bolster their own forces, many of them weakened by decades of low defence spending.
Ukraine-born Trowbridge singer raises funds for citizens back home
04:51 , Arpan RaiYana Kozah, a Ukrainian singer and songwriter who fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion, is now using her voice to perform and raise funds to help people back at home.
The Trowbridge resident sings in a choir and even performs solo so that she can raise money for John's Red Bus, a UK charity delivering aid.
“[In Ukraine,] people are without heating, no light. Sometimes you wish you could not read the news but then you remember these people are living it, they cannot turn it off," Kozah told BBC West Point.
She has previously raised funds for Ukrainian children.
“The main reason I'm trying to do what I'm doing is to help my country in ways I can," she said.
After 4 long years, US figure skater reunites with family from war-torn Ukraine at the Olympics
04:31 , Arpan RaiIt had been four long years since American figure skater Vadym Kolesnik saw family members still living in Ukraine.
Four years of Russian bombs landing on Kharkiv, reducing their homes to rubble. Four years of war that destroyed the appliance and lighting business run by Kolesnik's father, Igor. Four years of drones flying over the head of his brother, also named Igor, who enlisted in the Ukrainian army following the Russian invasion in 2022.
“It seems like it's been a lifetime,” Kolesnik said.
After 4 long years, US figure skater reunites with family from war-torn Ukraine at the Olympics
Watch: Russian strike on Odesa kills one and damages residential building
04:20 , Arpan RaiRussian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
03:53 , Arpan RaiRussian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
Moscow claimed late last year to have captured Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denied.
Ukraine and France launch joint weapon production
03:32 , Arpan RaiUkraine and France will start joint weapons production, Kyiv’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said yesterday after a meeting with French armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin.
“Met with a French MoD delegation led by @CaVautrin. Visited Ukrainian air-defense positions against the backdrop of the latest Russian missile and drone attacks. Demonstrated how Ukraine protects its skies every day. Grateful to France for the strong support that saves lives,” Fedorov said.
In a message on Telegram, he added: “We are moving from supplies to joint production and long-term solutions that systematically strengthen our defence.”
Met with a French MoD delegation led by @CaVautrin. Visited Ukrainian air-defense positions against the backdrop of the latest Russian missile and drone attacks. Demonstrated how Ukraine protects its skies every day. Grateful to France for the strong support that saves lives. pic.twitter.com/RySJ3ELGWZ
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 9, 2026
Ukrainian skeleton racer wears helmet paying tribute to athletes killed in war
03:20 , Arpan RaiUkrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych trained wearing a helmet brandished with images of compatriots killed during the war in his homeland, delivering on a promise to use the Winter Olympics to keep attention on the conflict.
Visible on the helmet are teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving athlete and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.
“Some of them were my friends,” Heraskevych, who is his country's flag bearer, told Reuters of the portraits after his training session at the Cortina sliding centre.
Ukrainian skeleton star wears helmet with athletes killed in war at Winter Olympics
Senior Russian diplomat: No one talks about security guarantees for us
03:09 , Arpan RaiAn agreement to settle the nearly four-year-old conflict between Russia and Ukraine must also take into consideration security guarantees for Russia, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying.
“We recognise that a peace settlement in Ukraine must take account of Ukraine’s security interests, but a key factor, of course, is Russia’s security interests,” deputy Russian foreign minister Alexander Grushko told the Izvestia media outlet.
“If you look carefully and study the statements made by the leaders of the European Union, no one talks about security guarantees for Russia. This is a key element of a peace accord. Without it, an agreement is impossible.”
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held two rounds of talks in recent weeks with US representatives in the United Arab Emirates. No peace deal has emerged, but the two sides agreed at their latest meeting last week on the first exchange of prisoners of war in five months.
Security guarantees for Ukraine have been a focal point of discussions, along with the extent of Russia’s control of Ukrainian territory and plans for post-war recovery in Kyiv.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that documents on security guarantees for Ukraine were ready.
Media outlet Izvestia said Mr Grushko listed elements of what might be contained in such guarantees.
Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talks
03:00 , Alex CroftAutonomy is not intelligence: why the future of unmanned systems must remain human
02:00 , Alex CroftIn the midst of Russia’s war against Ukraine, one idea has gained remarkable traction: that fully autonomous drones represent the future of defence. Fewer humans, more machines, faster outcomes. Autonomy, in this narrative, is treated as a proxy for progress and often even for intelligence.
This is a dangerous misconception.
Ukraine’s ongoing resistance against Russia has shown the world, in the starkest possible terms, how profoundly modern warfare has changed. Large, expensive and slow-to-adapt systems are no longer the decisive factor. Instead, smaller, software-defined unmanned systems dominate the battlefield because they are fast to adapt, cost-efficient and integrated into a broader information ecosystem.
Read more here:
Autonomy is not intelligence: why the future of unmanned systems must remain human
Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
01:02 , Alex CroftRussian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
Moscow claimed late last year to have captured Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denied.
Russian attack damages Ukrainian oil company production site
00:02 , Alex CroftRussian attacks damaged production sites of Ukraine's state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz in the Poltava and Sumy regions, the company's CEO said on Monday.
The facilities in the Poltava region came under attack for a second day in a row, Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook, adding it was the 20th attack on the company's infrastructure since the start of the year.
Russian strike on Odesa kills one and damages residential building
Monday 9 February 2026 23:00 , Alex CroftPutin would not have stopped in Ukraine, says Klitschko
Monday 9 February 2026 22:01 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko earlier spoke about the intentions of Russian president Vladimir Putin - and says his army would not have stopped with Ukraine if it weren’t stopped by the Ukrainian army.
The mayor of Kyiv was speaking to MPs in the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
“That's why my message is that only together, we can stop Putin. Because Putin would go so far as far we allow him to go,” he said.
“Ukraine, if we were not successful, definitely Putin [would] never [have] stopped in Ukraine,” he says, adding that he would have gone “as far” as he was allowed to go.
Klitschko accuses Russian army of 'genocide'
Monday 9 February 2026 21:03 , Alex CroftWe heard earlier from Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko, who was speaking via video link to the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
He says Ukraine is fighting against “one of the strongest and biggest armies, [the] Russian army” which it has been “successfully defending” for four years.
Mr Klitschko describes Russia’s war as “genocide”, describing the east of Ukraine as “totally destroyed”.
“[Russia] destroyed the cities, destroyed the villages, destroyed big part of our homeland,” he adds.
Vladimir Alexeyev shooting: All we know about ‘attempted assassination’ of Putin’s senior general
Monday 9 February 2026 20:01 , Alex CroftThe suspect of an attack on a top Russian general has been extradited to Moscow after being arrested in Dubai, according to Russia’s security service.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was shot in an alleged assassination attempt on Friday, and is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Lyubomir Korba, a Russian citizen who Moscow says was working under Kyiv’s instructions, has now been detained in Dubai and is now in detention in Russia.
Ukraine denies all involvement in the attack, which comes following a spate of killings of senior military officers in Moscow last year that were linked by Russia to Ukraine.
Here is everything we know about the shooting of a senior military intelligence officer so far.
Read the full report:
Vladimir Alexeyev: Everything we know about the shooting of senior Putin general
Ukraine will launch drone production in Germany by mid-February, Zelensky says
Monday 9 February 2026 18:59 , Alex CroftUkraine is set to launch drone production in Germany by mid-February, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Today, we are opening exports. Ten export centers across Europe will be operating as early as 2026 – in the Baltic and Nordic states. Ten representative offices will be active in 2026.
“By mid-February, we will already see the production of our drones in Germany.”
Ukrainian foreign minister says only 'Trump can stop the war'
Monday 9 February 2026 18:02 , Alex CroftUkrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, Kyiv’s foreign minister has said, adding that only US president Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement.
"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."
Sybiha said Ukraine wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-yer-old war and capitalise on the momentum in the US-brokered talks before other factors come into play, such as campaigning for the US Congressional mid-term elections in November.
Russian forces strike energy facility in northwestern Ukraine
Monday 9 February 2026 17:00 , Alex CroftRussian forces have attacked an energy facility in Ukraine’s northwestern Volyn region, Novovolynsk mayor Borys Karpus said.
"The enemy struck an energy facility near the Novovolynsk hromada [settlement] again last night,” Mr Karpus said in a post on Facebook.
Water is being supplied via the electricity network, he said. Wastewater treatment plants are requiring generators to function, and some boiler houses have also switched to generator power.
He added: "The boilers are being fired up. Fuel is available. All the appropriate services have been deployed. The situation is under control.”
Zelensky confirms of another overnight Russian attack amidst ongoing negotiations
Monday 9 February 2026 16:25 , Alex CroftSport Winter Olympics Who are AIN athletes at the Winter Olympics and is Russia banned?
Monday 9 February 2026 15:52 , Alex CroftThis year’s Winter Olympics, which officially kick off on 6 February in Milan, will feature athletes from 92 different countries.
But two will be conspicuous by their absence: Russia and Belarus.
Both countries were suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2023 for violating the Olympic Charter, meaning they cannot compete at the Winter Olympics.
That ban remains in place but some individual athletes from those countries are allowed to participate in Milano-Cortina, albeit under a neutral flag.
Read more here:
Who are AIN athletes at the Winter Olympics and is Russia banned?
Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
Monday 9 February 2026 15:20 , Alex CroftRussian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
Moscow claimed late last year to have captured Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denied.
Russian attack damages Ukrainian oil company production site
Monday 9 February 2026 14:48 , Alex CroftRussian attacks damaged production sites of Ukraine's state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz in the Poltava and Sumy regions, the company's CEO said on Monday.
The facilities in the Poltava region came under attack for a second day in a row, Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook, adding it was the 20th attack on the company's infrastructure since the start of the year.
Putin would not have stopped in Ukraine, says Klitschko
Monday 9 February 2026 14:20 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko is now speaking about the intentions of Russian president Vladimir Putin - and says his army would not have stopped with Ukraine if it weren’t stopped by the Ukrainian army.
“That's why my message is that only together, we can stop Putin. Because Putin would go so far as far we allow him to go,” he said.
“Ukraine, if we were not successful, definitely Putin [would] never [have] stopped in Ukraine,” he says, adding that he would have gone “as far” as he was allowed to go.
More than 600,000 Ukrainian refugees in Kyiv
Monday 9 February 2026 14:11 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko has said that around 600,000 Ukrainian refugees have moved to Kyiv from war-town regions of Ukraine.
He said the capital is “protected from air defence better than the other cities”.
"Second point, we provide the best services, medical care, education, a whole spectrum of services [which] is very important."
Don't follow Putin's divisive agenda, Kyiv mayor tells Zelensky
Monday 9 February 2026 14:00 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko has now been asked about political animosity between himself and Volodymyr Zelensky, of whom he has previously been critical.
He says that he has a “not easy relationship” between the local government and central government. This is not exclusive to Kyiv, he says - it is an “opinion from many mayors”.
Mr Klitschko adds: “Unity inside the country, without political games, makes us much stronger.
“Political competition, we have a lot of examples [of it] during the war, it’s not smart.
“The president criticised [the Kyiv administration] that we were not good prepared [for war]. I’m sorry, I’m not responsible for air defense. We do everything that we can.
“Who is guilty, the local government, the central government? The company that delivers energy? We are fighting against each other, but nobody will look at Putin.
“Putin destroyed I told the president, please don’t follow the agenda of Putin. We have to be united.”
Russia launches 11 ballistic and 149 drones against Ukraine overnight
Monday 9 February 2026 13:53 , Alex CroftWe can now bring you the Ukrainian Air Force’s daily update about overnight Russian attacks.
Russia launched 11 ballistic missiles and 149 drones against Ukraine overnight, it said.
Of these, 116 drones were shot down or neutralised and some missiles were intercepted and did not reach their targets, it added.
Klitschko accuses Russian army of 'genocide'
Monday 9 February 2026 13:44 , Alex CroftWe’re hearing from Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko, who is speaking via video link to the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
He says Ukraine is fighting against “one of the strongest and biggest armies, [the] Russian army” which it has been “successfully defending” for four years.
Mr Klitschko describes Russia’s war as “genocide”, describing the east of Ukraine as “totally destroyed”.
“[Russia] destroyed the cities, destroyed the villages, destroyed big part of our homeland,” he adds.
Vladimir Alexeyev shooting: All we know about ‘attempted assassination’ of Putin’s senior general
Monday 9 February 2026 13:34 , Alex CroftThe suspect of an attack on a top Russian general has been extradited to Moscow after being arrested in Dubai, according to Russia’s security service.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was shot in an alleged assassination attempt on Friday, and is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Lyubomir Korba, a Russian citizen who Moscow says was working under Kyiv’s instructions, has now been detained in Dubai and is now in detention in Russia.
Ukraine denies all involvement in the attack, which comes following a spate of killings of senior military officers in Moscow last year that were linked by Russia to Ukraine.
Here is everything we know about the shooting of a senior military intelligence officer so far.
Read the full report:
Vladimir Alexeyev: Everything we know about the shooting of senior Putin general
Klitschko brothers to give evidence at UK parliamentary committee
Monday 9 February 2026 13:12 , Alex CroftUkraine’s Klitschko brothers are set to give evidence at a British parliamentary committee hearing on the war in Ukraine.
Vitalii Klitschko, who is the mayor of Kyiv, is one of President Zelensky’s highest profile domestic political opponents, and has often been highly critical of the president.
The hearing is set to begin at around 1:30pm - stay with us for all the key lines.
Germany indicts Ukrainian in connection with parcel bomb plot tied to Russia
Monday 9 February 2026 13:01 , Alex CroftGermany has indicted a Ukrainian national in connection with allegations of a plot linked to Russian intelligence to detonate parcel packages in Europe, German prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.
The Russian embassy in Berlin has not yet commented on the news.
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talks
Monday 9 February 2026 12:28 , Alex CroftRubio to lead 'sizeable' US delegation to major security conference
Monday 9 February 2026 12:01 , Alex CroftUS secretary of state Marco Rubio will lead "a sizeable delegation" of US officials to the Munich Security Conference this weekend, the conference’s head said.
More than 50 members of the U.S. Congress are also expected at the meeting, an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich since 1963.
The governors of Michigan and California are expected to attend, former diplomat and conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told a news conference in Berlin.
"At the moment, transatlantic relations are, in my view, in a considerable crisis of trust and credibility," he said. "That is why it is particularly gratifying that the American side is showing such strong interest in Munich."
Ukraine and Russia given deadline by US to end war, says Zelensky
Monday 9 February 2026 11:32 , Alex CroftUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed the US has set a June deadline for Ukraine and Russia to finalise a peace agreement, aiming to conclude the nearly four-year conflict.
Here’s everything you need to know in five bullet points:
Ukraine and Russia given deadline by US to end war, says Zelensky
