Here is the situation on Friday, February 21:

Fighting

• Ukraine’s air force shot down 87 drones, with 70 more probably lost to electronic countermeasures, the country’s military said, as it responded to an overnight attack in which Russia launched 160 drones. Two ballistic missiles also targeted Odesa.

• Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that its forces had taken control of the villages of Nadiivka and Novosilka, both of which are in the southern part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
• Russian forces took back more than 800 square kilometres (309 square miles) from Ukrainian troops in western Russia’s Kursk region, a Russian general told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. The area is about 64 percent of the land initially seized by Kyiv, the newspaper claimed.
• Moscow’s forces attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the southern Odesa region for a second time, Kyiv’s energy firm DTEK said. The first attack left one of Odesa’s districts without heating and power.
• Ukraine’s military said Russian forces launched 161 drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, out of which 80 were shot down and 78 were “lost”. Moscow also attacked the northeastern Kharkiv region with 14 missiles.

Politics & Diplomacy

• Russian Central Bank’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the bank was not involved in the talks with the United States on lifting sanctions or the freeze on Russia’s foreign country reserves.
• Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said any plans by the United Kingdom to send troops to Ukraine as part of a potential peacekeeping mission would be unacceptable. Such a move would involve forces from a NATO member state, which would have necessary ramifications for Russia’s security, Peskov said. Russia’s foreign minister has branded such plans a “direct threat”.
• Peskov said that Russia had agreed to resume dialogue with the US on “all parameters” regarding the war on Ukraine, including prisoner exchanges.
• He also slammed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his “inadmissible” and “unacceptable” remarks about other heads of state, after Zelenskyy accused US President Donald Trump of living in a Russian-fuelled “disinformation bubble” when it came to Ukraine.
• White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz also criticised Zelenskyy’s comments, saying Ukraine needs to “tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal”, referring to the rare earth minerals that the US now wants for helping Kyiv’s war effort.

• Ukraine began talks with the International Monetary Fund’s team working on the country’s latest loan programme review, which could unlock about $917m in new funds.
• Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency chief, said he believes a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv could happen this year. “How long it will be, how effective it will be – is another question,” Budanov added.
• The Associated Press news agency reported that Zelenskyy and Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg had a meeting in Ukraine, but that a joint news conference scheduled for afterwards was cancelled at the US’s request. However, Zelenskyy said the “detailed” meeting with Kellogg was “good” and “restore[d] hope.”
• NATO chief Mark Rutte said any European security guarantees for Ukraine under a future peace deal would need to be backed by the US, “not with boots on the ground”, but backup to ensure that the deterrence is there, he said.
• Despite tension with the US, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to work with Washington to produce a “strong, effective investment and security agreement” when dealing with Russia and a peace deal.
• “We have proposed the fastest and most constructive way to achieve results. Our team is ready to work 24/7,” Zelenskyy said.
• China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told his G20 counterparts that a “window for peace” is opening for the Ukraine crisis, days after top US and Russian diplomats met in Saudi Arabia.