Exclusive
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Abu Dhabi: the scaffolding beneath peace—and the house nobody is building. Prisoners come home. The hard questions don't even have a table yet. |
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Reuters: US pushes Ukraine toward a March peace deal with Russia and unrealistic May elections. The Witkoff-Kushner negotiating team has pressed Kyiv to move fast, warning that Trump will have less political capital for a deal as congressional midterms approach, according to sources familiar with the talks. |
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Ukraine fired a barrage of Flamingo missiles at Russia's Oreshnik missile base—and apparently missed. Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles are back in action in small numbers. But it seems they missed a very valuable target. |
Military
- Russia filmed its "victory" in Ternuvate with drones — an hour later, Ukrainian forces wiped the group out. Russian infiltrators planted flags and recorded footage in Ternuvate, a village 15 km from the front line in Zaporizhzhia Oblast — then lost the entire sabotage team to a Ukrainian clearing operation.
- Flamingo vs Oreshnik: Ukraine's GenStaff claims damage to Russia's Oreshnik launch site. The attack occurred on 5 February.
As of 8 FEB 2026, the approximate losses of weapons and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces from the beginning of the invasion to the present day:
- Personnel: 1246330 (+1040)
- Tanks: 11651 (+1)
- APV: 24010 (+1)
- Artillery systems: 37044 (+8)
- MLRS: 1637
- Anti-aircraft systems: 1295
- Aircraft: 435
- Helicopters: 347
- UAV: 127549 (+468)
- Cruise missiles : 4269 (+24)
- Warships/boats: 28
- Submarines: 2
- Vehicles and fuel tanks: 77439 (+60)
Intelligence and technology
- State Department approves sale of repair parts worth $185M for US-supplied Ukrainian weapons systems. Repair components, software support, and logistics elements worth $185 million will flow to Ukraine under a newly approved State Department sale.
International
- Indian refiners stop accepting Russian crude as Trump drops 25% tariffs on India. New Delhi never publicly committed to halting Russian oil imports, but its three largest refiners reportedly rejecting offers for March-April delivery.
- UK Royal Marines "champing at the bit" to receive the order to seize Russian shadow fleet tankers — The Guardian. Defense sources confirmed military seizure options in discussions with NATO allies, while Lloyd's List Intelligence tracked 23 rogue vessels in British waters in January alone, the Guardian reported.
- Fedorov heads to Brussels for first Ramstein meeting as Ukraine's defense chief. Mykhailo Fedorov's first international engagement as Ukraine's defense minister will take him to Brussels on 12 Feb. for back-to-back sessions at NATO headquarters, including a two-hour Ramstein format meeting coordinating military support to Ukraine.
- President briefs negotiating team on US-Russia meetings, calls for faster progress toward ending war. Ukraine will not accept a peace deal without effective security guarantees, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after hearing reports from negotiators who met with US and Russian officials, adding that he believes more progress is needed in the talks.
- Six Ukrainian cities to receive 300 generators worth €417,000 from EU partners.
- Lithuanian FM calls Putin's energy truce bluff as Russia again freezes Ukrainians with infrastructure strikes.
- Zelenskyy: Ukraine's intelligence obtained data on $12 trillion Russia-US cooperation proposal. The package, presented by Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev during recent contacts with Washington, may include provisions affecting Ukraine's sovereignty, according to Zelenskyy.
- Russia refuses US control of Zaporizhzhia NPP in peace talks, Reuters reports. Russia is demanding control of the entire Donbas and has rejected a US proposal for Washington to manage the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as part of a potential peace settlement, sources told Reuters.
Humanitarian and social impact
- 19 attacks in 39 days — Russia targets Naftogaz in Ukraine's second-largest gas extraction region again. Overnight drone strikes hit facilities in Poltava Oblast's Myrhhorod district, sparking fires at multiple locations and damaging assets and equipment, while no casualties were reported.
- Ukraine's nuclear plants have the power — the grid damaged by Russia still can't carry it. Ukrenergo reported that atomic generation remains partially offloaded because damaged high-voltage substations cannot handle the output, as another 101-drone barrage from five directions hit overnight on 8 February.
- Zelenskyy: Russia launches over 400 drones and about 40 missiles, targeting energy sector. Energy facilities in eight Ukrainian oblasts came under Russian missile and drone attack overnight, prompting emergency blackouts in most oblasts and extended scheduled outages nationwide, according to Ukrenergo's statement on 7 Feb.
Political and legal developments
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From Hong Kong to Panama: six countries caught in Ukraine's new sanctions dragnet over Russian missile parts. Zelenskyy's two decrees target a Russian bank branch in Shanghai, companies in the UAE and Georgia, Kyrgyz citizens, and a Panamanian entity, all allegedly involved in funneling components or cash to Russia's weapons manufacturers.
Read our earlier daily review here.
