These are the key developments from day 1,461 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is where things stand on Tuesday, February 24:
Seven police officers have been injured, two of them seriously, in an explosion in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, the head of the national police, Ivan Vyhivskyi, said. In a Facebook post, Vyhivskyi wrote that the attack, which was the second involving police in three days, was “not a coincidence” and carried out to “deliberately” kill officers.
An explosion also hit a city police station in the southeastern city of Dnipro, smashing windows and damaging furnishings inside. No injuries were reported, and police did not comment on what might have caused the explosion.
Ukrainian drones have struck a Russian pumping station serving the Druzhba oil pipeline, set up to supply Moscow’s crude to Eastern Europe, a Ukrainian security official said. The strike caused a fire at the Kaleykino station near the city of Almetyevsk in Russia’s Tatarstan region, the official added.
In a speech in Berlin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s attacks was more effective than it was often made out to be, citing unexpected territorial gains in February. He also added that the Russian economy “is creaking under the weight of sanctions and of warfare”.
Hungary maintained its veto on Monday against new European Union sanctions on Russia and a huge loan for Ukraine, amid a dispute with Kyiv over oil supplies, in a blow to Europe’s pro-Ukrainian consensus.
In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that “ultimatums” by Hungary and Slovakia should be addressed only to the Kremlin, adding that the two countries “cannot hold the entire EU hostage”.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters Hungary’s veto was a setback as European countries have been unable to approve a 20th sanctions package against Russia.
European Council President Antonio Costa urged Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to honour the EU deal for a 90 billion euro ($106.11bn) loan to Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported.
Four diplomats in Brussels told Reuters that Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto drew sharp criticism from EU colleagues behind closed doors in Brussels, with some ministers accusing Orban’s government of using the energy issue for political gain in advance of a tough election Orban will face in April.
Ukraine’s former top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom, has dismissed questions about his presidential ambitions as “pub talk” and said he would not address his political future until after martial law ends in Ukraine.
The EU has imposed sanctions on a new group of eight individuals suspected of serious human rights violations and of undermining the rule of law in Russia. Names added to the sanctions list include Aleksei Valizer, head of a Russian penal colony, and St Petersburg judges Eva Giunter and Andrey Shibakov.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to continue helping with the release of Belarusian political prisoners, having already received prisoners released in a US-brokered exchange on its territory.
South Korea has asked the Russian Embassy in Seoul to take down a large banner, reading “Victory will be ours”, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, just ahead of the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s war. The ministry said in a statement that it had conveyed its concerns to the embassy.
In a statement, Slovakia’s Ministry of Economy said that Ukraine had informed Slovakia’s oil pipeline system operator, Transpetrol, that oil deliveries would resume via the pipeline on Wednesday, February 25.
