Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken control of the village of Starytsya in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, near the border town of Vovchansk. Ukraine’s military did not confirm the claim, saying fighting was continuing in the area and that no territorial losses had been acknowledged.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces carried out six attacks near Starytsya, adding that independent verification of battlefield claims was not immediately possible.
Russian drone and missile strikes overnight killed at least one person and left millions without electricity and heating during freezing winter temperatures, Ukrainian officials said.
The attacks came as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators resumed U.S.-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, 24 January.
Ukraine said hundreds of drones and missiles hit energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv, injuring 31 people and causing widespread power outages.
Fires broke out in residential buildings in the capital, while a hospital and a maternity hospital were damaged in Kharkiv, officials reported.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 375 drones and 21 missiles overnight, again targeting energy facilities and cutting power and heating across large parts of Kyiv.
More than 1.2 million people in Kyiv and the northern Chernihiv region were left without electricity, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said, with temperatures falling to around minus 10 Celsius.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, accused Vladimir Putin of acting "cynically", adding that the attacks showed his "place is not at the Board of Peace, but in the dock of the special tribunal". Sybiha was not attending the talks.
Kyiv is under mounting pressure from the Trump administration to make concessions to reach a peace deal in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelenskyy said on Friday it was too early to draw conclusions from the first day of talks and urged Moscow to demonstrate that it was ready to end the conflict. Senior representatives from Ukraine’s armed forces and military intelligence were due to join the discussions.
U.S. peace envoy Steve Witkoff struck an optimistic tone earlier this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, saying only one major sticking point remained in the negotiations. Russian officials, however, have expressed greater scepticism.
Donbas remains key obstacle
Ahead of the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had not dropped its demand that Ukraine cede all of the eastern Donbas region, including the industrial heartlands of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Putin has insisted that Ukraine surrender the roughly 20% of Donetsk it still controls, an area of about 5,000 sq km.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected any territorial concessions involving land Russian forces have failed to seize during four years of grinding warfare. Opinion polls show little support among Ukrainians for giving up territory.
The Ukrainian president said the latest strikes showed there must be no delays in supplying Ukraine with air-defence systems agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump in Davos, adding that those commitments must be "fully implemented".
Russia argues the attacks targeted facilities producing long-range drones and energy sites linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.
Moscow says it supports a diplomatic settlement but will continue military operations while negotiations fail to deliver an agreement.
Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council and head of the Ukrainian delegation, said the first day of talks focused on possible parameters for ending the war and the "further logic of the negotiation process".
Both Zelenskyy and Trump described their meeting on the sidelines of the Davos forum as positive, but provided few details.
Iran is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the U.S. that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunda...
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić reaffirmed their countries’ strategic partnership in Belgrade on Sunday ...
Italy will participate as an observer in the White House initiative of 'Board of Peace,' Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed on Sunday (15 Februar...
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday (15 February) called it “troubling” a report by five European allies blaming Russia for killing late...
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has criticised a video shared by President Donald Trump depicting him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes,...
Russia has fully blocked WhatsApp for failing to comply with local legislation, the Kremlin said on Thursday, marking a sharp escalation in Moscow’s campaign to tighten control over foreign technology platforms.
A senior Russian military intelligence officer is recovering in hospital after being shot several times in Moscow, as investigators prepare to interrogate two suspects in what appears to be the latest assassination attempt targeting Russia’s top military ranks since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. military said Washington and Moscow have agreed to reestablish high-level military-to-military dialogue following talks in Abu Dhabi. The move could signal a step toward normalising some ties between the United States and Russia.
Russian forces have resumed attacks on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, as well as its second largest city Kharkiv and other cities early on Tuesday (3 February), officials said, triggering fires and dealing new blows to energy infrastructure.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said China has the power to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, arguing that Beijing is enabling Moscow’s military campaign.
American figure skating star Ilia Malinin endured a dramatic collapse in the men’s free skate on Friday night, falling twice and tumbling out of medal contention at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics as Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov surged to a surprise gold medal.
“Respected and feared globally,” U.S. President Donald Trump told troops at Fort Bragg on Friday (13 February), framing America’s renewed strength against to mounting pressure on Iran amid stalled nuclear talks.
Speaking at Munich Security Conference, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha calls for decisive steps ahead of expected Geneva talks
Thousands of fans packed River Plate’s Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Friday for the first of three sold-out concerts by Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny, as part of his “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” World Tour.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday (15 February) called it “troubling” a report by five European allies blaming Russia for killing late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny using a toxin from poison dart frogs.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has criticised a video shared by President Donald Trump depicting him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, describing it as “deeply troubling”.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will begin a two-day visit to Slovakia and Hungary on Sunday (15 February), aimed at strengthening ties with the two Central European nations, whose leaders have maintained close relations with President Donald Trump.
The Munich Security Conference concludes on Sunday (15 February) with discussions centred on Europe’s role in an increasingly unstable global landscape, including security coordination, economic competitiveness and the protection of democratic values.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 15th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment