Ukraine

Ukraine's president toured the Donetsk front and sounded the alarm over a looming Russian offensive — even as Ukrainian forces dismantled an entire Russian air defense "zoo" in a single night and brought 500 prisoners of war home in a landmark exchange.

Merz takes Ukraine's front-line map to Trump's Oval Office.

Zelenskyy warns the US-Iran conflict could starve Patriot supplies just as Russia fires 60 Iskanders a month, while surging oil prices hand Moscow its first on-target budget revenues in months.

Russia's new Izdelie-30 cruise missile, meanwhile, was found to contain components from the US, Switzerland, China, and the Netherlands.

Zelenskyy releases the full toll of Russia's winter campaign as Ukraine strikes back, destroying two S-300 radar stations and hitting depots across three oblasts.

Intercepted communications revealed the dysfunction spreading through Russian command structures, with officers hurling threats and obscenities at soldiers who still refused to advance.

Talks to reconvene in early March with heads-of-state summit as the goal, while the IMF drops its most controversial conditions and greenlights a four-year program with a $1.5 bn first tranche.

Ukraine's deep-strike capabilities hit a milestone as the Flamingo struck Russia's Iskander facility, anti-drone net installation tripled in speed, and a new UK factory began producing 1,000 battlefield drones monthly.

EU leaders converged on Kyiv on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the heads of nine nations vowing that the bloc would "not back down" in its support for Ukraine.

Hungary blocks $106 billion EU loan and sanctions as World Bank puts Ukraine's reconstruction bill at $588 billion.

Hungary froze $106 bn in EU aid for Ukraine two months after pledging not to. Zelenskyy sanctioned 225 shadow fleet captains from 11 countries. A suspected bomber was detained in Lviv after a double-tap attack killed a policewoman and injured 25.

Russia's troop numbers have flatlined at 711,000 for six months, and Ukraine is counterattacking where Moscow can't reinforce. Meanwhile, Trump renewed the full range of US sanctions for another year, and New Zealand designated 100 Russian shadow fleet vessels in its largest single-day action since 2022.

A leaked EU document circulated by top diplomat Kaja Kallas sets sweeping conditions for any Ukraine peace deal, demanding Russia hold free elections, withdraw forces from Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Transnistria, and remove nuclear weapons from Belarus.

Geneva peace talks hit a wall on 17–18 February after Russia replaced its negotiation chief with Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Medinsky, who analysts say was sent not to negotiate but to engineer a walkout and blame Ukraine.