Here is where things stand on Thursday, February 5:
Fighting
An estimated 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield as a result of the country’s war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told France 2 TV. He added that on top of that casualty figure, there were a “large number of people” considered officially missing.
Russian forces have attacked Ukraine’s energy system 217 times since the start of 2026, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
At least seven people were killed and eight injured in Russian attacks on the town of Druzhkivka in Donetsk, the region’s Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram. Russia had used cluster munitions to hit a market and dropped two aerial bombs, the governor said.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal warned households that planned blackouts could worsen in the coming days and that Russian forces could launch a new air attack to further disable power and heating networks, calling the current situation “very difficult”.
Speaking in his nightly video address to the nation, President Zelenskyy said the energy situation in Kyiv was worse than in other cities and resources were being redirected to the capital, along with additional help to Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
The Ministry of Defence in Moscow said its forces have taken control of the settlements of Staroukrainka and Stepanivka in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported.
European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said Russian President Vladimir Putin is abusing ceasefire talks by attacking civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, adding that Moscow “can end this war right now” if it wanted to.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian troops would keep fighting in Ukraine until Kyiv made “decisions” that could bring the war to an end. Russia’s position on the war remains unchanged, Peskov said.
Russia’s recent strikes on Ukraine’s rail network appear to be aimed at cutting off entire regions from the rest of the country, the head of Ukraine’s state-owned railway operator, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, told the AFP news agency. Last week, a Russian drone strike on a passenger train in Kharkiv killed five people.
Military
Russia has spent far more on its military than it has reported, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency BND said in a rare public statement. In 2022 and 2023, Russian spending on its military was 66 percent higher than the official reports, BND said.
Aid
European Union ambassadors approved details of a 90-billion-euro ($106bn) loan for Ukraine, an initiative agreed by EU leaders in December to meet most of Kyiv’s financial needs in 2026-2027. On military aid, the deal stipulates that Kyiv should use the loan primarily to buy weapons from Ukraine or the EU, but could buy from other countries if certain conditions are met.
Ukrainian rescuers and communal workers seen at the site of a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Odesa on Wednesday [Igor Maslov/EPA]
Ceasefire talks
Ukrainian and Russian officials wrapped up a “substantive” and “productive” first day of United States-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, Kyiv’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on X.
Zelenskyy said after the start of the new round of talks that negotiations had to lead to real peace and not provide Russia with a new opportunity to continue the war. He also said that Ukraine expects a new exchange of prisoners to take place soon after the talks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that technical and military teams from Ukraine and Russia were involved in the trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Zelenskyy of not wanting to reach a peace deal as it would mean the end of the Ukrainian president’s political career, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Politics and diplomacy
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Putin hailed their ties during a video call held in the run-up to the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. News reports quoted Putin as saying that Moscow-Beijing relations were an important stabilising factor during a time of turmoil, while Xi called for a “grand plan” to further bilateral relations.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s most senior diplomat, Emmanuel Bonne, has visited Moscow to hold talks with Russian officials, the Reuters news agency reported, citing three sources. The aim of the visit was to have a dialogue on key issues, most importantly Ukraine, Reuters said.
US First Lady Melania Trump said she remains in contact with President Putin’s team in an effort to secure the return of more Ukrainian children from Russia. Fifteen children have been returned to Ukraine since the first lady started her advocacy. At least 19,000 children were allegedly taken without their consent to Russia or Russian-occupied territory since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.
Russian stand-up comedian Artemy Ostanin has been convicted of inciting hatred and jailed for nearly six years over a joke he made about a legless war veteran, which triggered outrage among nationalists and military bloggers. The comedian was ordered to pay a fine of 300,000 roubles ($3,900) alongside his prison sentence. He was also convicted of offending the feelings of Christians with another off-colour joke, which angered Orthodox nationalists.
