War in Ukraine

Feb. 23 (UPI) — A new package of European Union sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the 20th such set of measures, was stalled Monday after being blocked by Hungary, which is demanding Ukraine reopen a pipeline supplying it with Russian oil.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said there was “not going to be progress” on the new round of sanctions at Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels in time for the fourth anniversary of the war, which falls Tuesday.

“We are doing our utmost to have the sanctions package, through, and we are looking for ways how we can do it. But as we have heard some very strong statements from Hungary. I don’t really see they are going to change this unfortunately today,” she said.

“We should not tie together things that are not connected to each other at all. But let us listen to them explaining the reasons why they are blocking, and then see whether there are possibilities to overcome.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto took to social media Sunday to make Hungary’s quid pro quo stance clear.

“The EU aims to adopt the 20th sanctions package at the Foreign Affairs Council. Hungary will block it. Until Ukraine resumes oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline, we will not allow decisions important to Kyiv to move forward,” Sijjarto wrote on X.

The pipeline was damaged in a Russian attack, but Hungary insists Ukraine is dragging its feet getting it up and running again.

The financial services, trade and energy sanctions package drawn up by the European Commission would bring in a full maritime services ban for Russian crude oil, reducing its income from energy and making it more difficult to find customers. Access to oil tankers for Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” will also be tackled, along with measures targeting its gas exports.

Transaction bans will be imposed on 20 more Russian banks as part of an effort to hobble Russian efforts to create its own payment systems to circumvent a ban on using the SWIFT international payments system while tightening restrictions on exports to Russia, including military-use goods and technologies, and import bans on Russian rare earth minerals, metals and chemicals, worth at least $1.1 billion in total.

Hungary’s block drew sharp criticism from Hungary’s EU partners with Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard telling Euronews it was a “shame” and a “disgrace.”

“Every delay that we have in the adoption of a sanctions package is a failure for Europe,” she said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he was certain the sanctions package would pass, saying it was a matter of when, not if, while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw accused the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban of leveraging anti-Ukrainian sentiment it had whipped up to boost its fortunes in elections in April.

Hungary announced Friday it would also block a $105 billion EU loan to Ukraine, accusing Ukraine of blackmailing Hungary by shutting off the pipeline and conspiring with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition to “create supply disruptions” in Hungary to push up fuel prices ahead of the election.

Orban previously agreed not to veto the loan, along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, provided it was exempted from contributing financially.

Populist Orban has been in power since 2010 after a first term between 1998 and 2002 and has been president of his Fidesz, or Hungarian Civic Party, for the past 23 years.

Feb. 21 (UPI) — Ukrainian Defense Forces late Friday night struck a Russian missile production facility that manufactures some of Russia’s fastest and deadliest missile systems.

Ukrainian forces used attack drones to strike the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, which produces the advanced missile systems, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The factory builds the hypersonic Iskander and Oreshnik missile systems.

Ukraine‘s general staff confirmed the strike in a statement released on Saturday.

“On the night of February 21, units of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a strike with FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles. A defense industry enterprise — the Votkinsk Plant in the city of Votkinsk — was hit,” the statement said.

“A fire was recorded on the premises of the facility,” it added. “The results are being clarified.”

The Udmart Republic is located about 770 miles east of Moscow and about 1,300 miles northeast of Kyiv.

The Iskander missile is a mobile system that is carried and launched from atop a large military transport and is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads with a range of up to 310 miles for some variants. The missile travels at hypersonic speeds of up to Mach 7.

The Oreshnik missile is a medium-range ballistic missile that can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads at distances of up to 1,000 miles and possibly more than 3,000 miles, while traveling at up to Mach 11, or 8,000 mph.

Ukrainian Defense Forces also targeted the Neftegorsk Gas Processing Plant in the Samara Region of Russia and fuel and lubricants storage facilities in Russian-occupied parts of the Donetsk region.

The extent of damage from those strikes is under assessment.

Feb. 19 (UPI) — More than 1,000 Kenyans and other Africans have been deployed by Russia to fight in Ukraine after being recruited by “rogue” agencies that some accuse of human trafficking, a Kenyan intelligence report indicates.

Kenya’s National Intelligence Service on Wednesday reported the number of Kenyans deployed by the Russian military rose from more than 200 in November to more than 1,000 now.

The report indicates at least 89 of those deployed in Russia were serving on the front lines. At least one has died and others have returned to Kenya with injuries or mental trauma.

Kimani Ichung’wah, majority leader of the Kenyan Parliament, blamed a network of corrupt state officials whom he accused of cooperating with human traffickers to provide the Russian military with Kenyans to fight in Ukraine.

Staff at the Russian Embassy in Nairobi and the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow also helped Russia to recruit Kenyans, the Kenyan lawmaker said.

The Russian Embassy denied the allegation and said it never has issued visas to Kenyans to travel to Russia to participate in military operations.

Ichung’wah said many of those fighting for Russia are civilians and former police officers and military personnel ranging in age from their mid-20s to 50 and seeking overseas job opportunities, The Guardian reported.

Russia allegedly is paying them a monthly salary of about $2,700 plus housing and offering bonuses and Russian citizenship for their service.

Kenya is not the only African nation that has citizens allegedly fighting for Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in November alleged more than 1,400 Africans from 36 countries were deployed by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine.

Many of those soldiers are being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine, Sybiha said.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and has resisted peace overtures despite participating in ongoing peace talks.

Feb. 18 (UPI) — As the Ukraine war nears its fifth year, more than a third of Ukrainian children remain displaced following Russia’s invasion of its neighboring nation.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, which has led to the displacement of 2.59 million Ukrainian children, UNICEF reported on Tuesday.

The number of displaced children includes 791,000 who are still inside Ukraine and nearly 1.8 million who are refugees living outside of the country’s borders. Russian forces also have taken many Ukrainian children and relocated them to Russia.

“Millions of children and families have fled their homes in search of safety, with one in three children remaining displaced four years into this relentless war,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Regina De Dominicis.

“For children in Ukraine, safety is increasingly hard to come by as attacks on civilian areas continue across the country,” De Dominicis said. “In many ways, the war is following these children.”

Many children and their families have been forced to flee their homes several times during the war as Russian forces targeted civilian areas.

A recently published UNICEF survey showed that a third of teen respondents between age 15 and 19 said they moved at least two times due to safety reasons so far during the war.

Bombardments by Russian artillery, attack drones and ballistic missiles have killed or injured more than 3,200 children since the war started.

Each year, the number of dead and injured has increased among Ukraine’s children, according to UNICEF.

“Obligations under international humanitarian law must be upheld, and every possible measure to protect children and the civilian infrastructure they rely on must be taken,” De Dominicis said.

“Every child has the right to grow up in safety, and without exception that right must be respected.”

Many of the support services for the country’s children also have been damaged or destroyed, including more than 1,700 schools and other education facilities, which deprives a third of Ukrainian children from attending school on a full-time basis.

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have deprived millions of Ukrainian children and their families of the power needed to heat their homes and water during the country’s extremely cold winters.

Babies and young children are especially vulnerable to harm due to a lack of electrical power, which could lead to hypothermia and respiratory illnesses.

More than 200 medical facilities also have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine over the past year and many more before then.

The stress of the ongoing war is putting a severe mental strain on Ukraine’s children, who often experience a constant fear of attacks that force them to seek shelter in basements and remain isolated while at home.

About a fourth of Ukrainian youth between age 15 and 19 say they are losing hope for the country’s future.

UNICEF officials said they are working with local and national authorities to support Ukrainian children and provide them and their families with safe water, healthcare, food, educational support, mental health services and similar needs.

Feb. 18 (UPI) — U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff early Wednesday reported “meaningful progress” in tri-lateral U.S.-Russian-Ukraine talks in Switzerland on ending the war.

Crediting U.S. President Donald Trump‘s “success in bringing both sides of this war together” to enable the progress to be made in the U.S.-moderated talks in Geneva, Witkoff provided no details of what had been achieved.

“Both parties agreed to update their respective leaders and continue working towards a deal,” he wrote X.

The accounts of Russia and Ukraine of Tuesday’s talks, which lasted six hours, were less positive with Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reporting they were “very tense” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they were “difficult” and accused Moscow of playing for time.

“Yesterday’s meetings were indeed difficult, and we can state that Russia is trying to drag out the negotiations, which could already have moved to the final stage. We are grateful to the American side for their attention to detail and patience in talks with the current Russian representatives,” said Zelensky in a post on X.

A source in the Russian delegation told TASS that all sides had, however, agreed to continue the talks on Wednesday.

The negotiations are being held against the backdrop of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with no sign of any let up in hostilities.

At least two people were killed and 25 injured in strikes across five eastern, southern and central Ukrainian provinces overnight after Russian forces launched 126 drones and one ballistic missile, according to a Ukrainian Air Force update on social media.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said one person was injured in the city of Cheboksary, 440 miles east of Moscow, after Ukraine launched a large-scale airborne assault into Russian territory overnight using attack drones. The defense ministry said air defenses downed 43 of the drones.

Two previous rounds of talks, in Abu Dhabi in January and earlier this month, were unable to gain traction in overcoming the main stumbling blocks of Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede territory and Ukraine’s insistence on cast-iron Western security guarantees.

The negotiations are based on a heavily revised version of a 28-point plan, first drawn up by Witkoff’s team and Russian officials in November, under which Ukraine would give up Luhansk and Donetsk, including areas its forces still control, in exchange for security guarantees.

Kyiv has ruled out giving up territory it still occupies but the Americans are pushing a compromise solution that would see those areas become a demilitarized “special economic” buffer zone.

However, the security guarantees remain the potentially most intractable issue with Moscow adamant they cannot involve Western boots on the ground — something Ukraine believes must be permissable for any guarantee to be credible.

Published on
17/02/2026 – 8:00 GMT+1

Four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union is still importing Russian steel – and not everyone is happy about it.

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Next week, MEPs and EU member states will begin negotiations on whether to ban Russian steel outright. What began as a sanctions debate has morphed into a high-stakes political fight.

Swedish lawmaker Karin Karlsbro is preparing to take on the EU council, which represents the member states, with Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic and Denmark all arguing that they still need imports of unfinished steel for major construction projects.

“It is a big provocation that we haven’t done everything possible to limit Putin’s war chest,” Karlsbro told Euronews. “The Russian steel industry is a backbone of Russian war, it is the Russian war machinery.”

Finished Russian steel was banned in 2022, but semi-finished steel, a key input for further processing, was spared after a number of countries secured an exemption until 2028 to cushion the blow to their industries.

“Unfinished steel can’t be produced anywhere in the EU,” a European diplomat from one of those countries told Euronews, “while it is required for big infrastructures.”

Three million tonnes

Karlsbro says she was astonished to learn that EU imports of Russian steel amount to nearly 3 million tonnes a year, roughly equivalent to Sweden’s entire annual output and worth around €1.7 billion.

For her, the type of steel is beside the point.

“There is absolutely no argument that this is special steel or highly qualified steel with any essential quality. There is simply no additional reason to buy this steel,” she said.

To bypass the unanimity required for the adoption of EU sanctions by the member states, Karlsbro inserted a ban on Russian steel into a separate European Commission proposal aimed at shielding the bloc from global steel overcapacity, as US tariffs divert excess supply toward Europe.

The European Parliament’s trade committee approved the move on 27 January.

The procedural shift is crucial. Unlike sanctions, the trade file requires onlythe support ofa qualified majority of EU countries, potentially sidelining governments that might otherwise veto a full ban.

“The Parliament is playing politics on this,” an industry source familiar with the file told Euronews.

Another diplomat from a country dependent on Russian semi-finished steel said the ban was important for his government, which is why the 2028 deadline has been set – highlighting the dilemma the EU faces as it balances industrial needs with the need to confront the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The talks are beginning as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches, and the clock is ticking. By June, the EU must adopt the Commission’s plan to shield its market from a glut of global steel.

One diplomat insisted the two files – banning Russian steel and protecting the EU market from overcapacity – pursue “totally different goals”.

Still, the same diplomat acknowledged the ban could pass, as there are not enough member states pushing to maintain a phase-out only by 2028.

Feb. 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said member states of his newly created Board of Peace have pledged more than $5 billion toward rebuilding Gaza and thousands of personnel to maintain security in the Palestinian enclave.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social media platform on Sunday that the pledge will be officially announced on Thursday during the inaugural meeting of the board at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.

“The Board of Peace will prove to be the most consequential International Body in History, and it is my honor to serve as its Chairman,” Trump said.

Specifics such as how much and what each member state pledged were not made public.

More than 20 countries have joined the board, which Trump formally launched last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The board is tied to a U.N.-backed Gaza stabilization and reconstruction plan, but questions about its scope have grown because the board’s charter does not mention the Palestinian enclave and critics worry that the initiative might undermine the United Nations.

Scrutiny has also focused on its membership, which includes Belarus, which aided Russia in its war against Ukraine, and Israel, whose leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in November 2024 alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

More than 50 nations reportedly received invitations to join, but many U.S. and Western allies have declined. Trump said he rescinded an invitation to Canada as relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated during Trump’s second term.

Much of the Palestinian enclave has been damaged or destroyed since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel.

United Nations estimates state that more than 81% of all buildings and structures in Gaza have been either damaged or destroyed.

U.N. agencies have said that around $70 billion is needed to reconstruct the enclave, which measures about 25.4 miles long and between 3.7 and 7.5 miles wide along the Mediterranean.

North Korea appears to have entered the stage of designating leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae as the successor, the spy agency was quoted as saying by lawmakers Thursday, marking a stepped-up assessment from its earlier evaluation of her as the “most likely successor.”

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) cited signs of Ju-ae expressing her views on certain state policies as one of the grounds for its latest assessment during a closed-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, Reps. Park Sun-won and Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.

“As Kim Ju-ae has shown her presence at various events, including the founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and signs have been detected of her voicing her opinion on certain state policies, the NIS believes she has now entered the stage of being designated as successor,” Lee said.

Lee said the latest assessment marked a step forward from the agency’s previous views when it described Ju-ae as being “trained” to become a successor, to now assessing her as being at the stage of “successor designation.”

The NIS also said it will keep close tabs on whether she attends the North’s key party congress late this month.

In January 2024, the NIS assessed Ju-ae, believed to be born in 2013, as the North’s “most likely successor” in its first evaluation of her possible succession in the reclusive regime.

Earlier in January, Ju-ae paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the Kim family’s mausoleum, for the first time, together with her parents amid growing speculation about her potential succession.

If Ju-ae appears at the party congress or is awarded with an official title at the event, speculation about her being groomed as Kim’s successor will likely gain traction.

Meanwhile, on talks between the United States and North Korea, the NIS noted, “There is a possibility that North Korea could respond to dialogue with the U.S. if certain conditions are met.

“North Korea has expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. over the South Korea-U.S. fact sheet or the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula, but it has not ruled out the possibility of talks with the U.S. and has refrained from criticizing President Donald Trump,” the spy agency said.

The NIS also noted that the North has refrained from firing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) apparently to avoid provoking Trump, who is sensitive to such missile launches.

Around 10,000 North Korean combat troops and 1,000 engineer troops are currently deployed in the front-line Kursk region of Russia to support Moscow’s war with Ukraine, the spy agency said, with an estimated 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed or injured.

Some 1,100 combat and engineer troops that returned to the North last December could be dispatched again, it added.

“Despite suffering 6,000 casualties, the North Korean military has achieved the results of acquiring modern combat tactics and data in the battlefield, as well as upgrading its weapons systems with technical assistance from Russia,” the NIS said.

The agency also noted that Pyongyang has established a new department on unmanned aerial vehicles and is accelerating efforts to set up a system capable of developing and mass-producing drones.

As for inter-Korean relations, the NIS said North Korea is continuing to maintain its rhetoric of defining the two Koreas as “two hostile states,” adding that it has recently given guidelines to its officials and overseas missions to avoid engagement with South Korea.

On North Korea’s ties with China, the agency said they have “not gained momentum yet.”

“Although trade between North Korea and China reached US$3 billion last year, the highest in six years, this is only half the level before the imposition of sanctions,” it said.

Meanwhile, the intelligence committee discussed the issue of repatriating two North Korean soldiers held by Ukrainian forces.

The government is making every effort to assist their defection to South Korea as they have expressed their willingness to defect to the South, the NIS said.

Feb. 12 (UPI) — Russia has attempted to block access to WhatsApp, the Meta-owned encrypted smartphone messaging application said, accusing the Kremlin of trying to force its citizens to use a state-owned service.

WhatsApp said the Russian attempt to block the service occurred Thursday.

“Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” WhatsApp said in a brief statement in both English and Russian.

“We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected.”

Little information about the alleged effort was made public by the U.S.-based company. UPI has contacted WhatsApp and Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, for comment.

The application Russia was allegedly attempting to drive users to was not named by WhatsApp, but is widely believed to be Max, a smartphone application that Reporters Without Borders condemns as a tool for digital control.

According to the free speech and media watchdog, Russia is seeking to make Max the most widely used messaging app in Russia and the occupied Ukrainian territories. It said the service requires a Russian or Belarusian phone number and blocks communication with other parts of Ukraine while harvesting user data and disseminating pro-Kremlin news and information.

“Max gives the Kremlin a powerful tool for spreading its propaganda in a centralized digital space,” Vincent Berthier and Pauline Maufrais of RSF said in a joint statement published in November.

“This forced adoption also creates an information blackout for Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories, cut off from free Ukraine.”

WhatsApp made its accusation after Telegram founder Pavel Durov made similar allegations against Moscow.

“Russia is restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship,” he said in a post on Telegram.

“Restricting citizens’ freedom is never the right answer. Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure.”

Roskomnadzor said in a statement that it will continue to restrict access to Telegram over alleged violations of Russian law, privately owned Russian business news outlet RBC reported.

It accused Telegram of not implementing legally regulated measures to protect the security of citizens’ data and said it would continue to take steps to compel its compliance with the law.

“By decision of the authorized bodies, Roskomnadzor will continue the introduction of phased restrictions in order to achieve compliance with Russian legislation and ensure the protection of citizens,” the agency said.

Meta was designated as an extremist organization by a Russian court in 2022, leading to bans of Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram. Other social media platforms, including X, are blocked or restricted in the country.

Feb. 11 (UPI) — Local officials said a Russian drone strike on Ukraine‘s northeastern Kharkiv region killed three toddlers and their father, and injured their pregnant mother Wednesday.

The family was spending its first night in their new home in Bohodukhiv when it was struck during a drone and missile attack, regional leader Oleh Synegubov announced, the BBC reported.

The attack killed 2-year-old twins Ivan and Vladislav, their 1-year-old sister, Myroslava, and their father, Gryhoriy, 34.

The family’s 35-year-old injured mother, Olha, was 35 weeks pregnant and sustained burns and head injuries as the home was completely destroyed, local officials said.

Bohodukhiv Mayor Volodymyr Belyi called the aerial attack a “crime that is beyond human comprehension,” as reported by CNN.

“We lost the most precious thing we had — our future,” Belyi added.

The family recently evacuated the town of Zolochiv, which is located near the Russian border, due to ongoing shelling and sought refuge in Bohodukhiv, which is located 38 miles west of Kharkiv.

The attack shows that Russia has no intention of ending the war that it started by invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Each Russian strike undermines confidence in everything that is being done diplomatically to end this war,” Zelensky said in a statement.

He said Russia deployed 129 attack drones during the overnight hours that struck Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia.

The aerial attacks carried into the daytime hours on Wednesday and included a strike on a medical vehicle that was carrying five healthcare professionals and civilians. One woman died in that attack.

Russian forces also launched two ballistic missiles that targeted the area near Lviv on Wednesday afternoon, but Ukrainian aerial defenses intercepted and destroyed them.

Russia had paused the aerial attacks for a week amid extremely cold weather, but Monday’s resumption killed a 10-year-old boy and a 41-year-old woman in Bohodukhiv.

The town has been targeted every day so far this week as Russian forces seek to damage energy and transport infrastructure with drones and ballistic missiles.

The strikes caused Ukrainian officials to declare a state of emergency due to the effect on local energy sources.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are without power and lack heat and running water during the frigid winter weather.

Russia’s resumption of attacks comes as Ukrainian and Russian officials are considering meeting in Washington, D.C., to further discuss a potential cease-fire and plan for peace.

Feb. 9 (UPI) — Two detained Russian nationals have confessed to their roles in the failed assassination attempt of a senior military general, Russia’s Federal Security Service said Monday, as Moscow sought to bolster its claim that Ukraine was behind the attack.

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was seriously wounded Friday when he was shot by an assailant in Moscow. Authorities said Alekseyev was inside a residential building on Moscow’s Volokolamskoye Highway when the attack occurred.

Lyubomyr Korba, born in 1960 in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, was arrested over the weekend in Dubai and extradited to Russia. Viktor Vasin, born in 1959, was arrested by Russian authorities in Moscow.

Russia’s intelligence agency FSB said in a statement Monday that both men “confessed their guilt” and described the attempt on Alekseyev’s life.

According to the intelligence agents, Korba was the alleged shooter and Vasin an alleged accomplice.

The FSB accused Korba of entering Alekseyev’s apartment building and waiting for the general to appear in the lobby. Four shots were fired. The pistol, previously identified as a Makarov-type firearm fitted with a suppressor, was discarded at the scene, after which the suspect fled.

Within hours of the shooting, Korba had allegedly boarded a plane for the UAE and was detained in Dubai by local authorities at the request of Russia.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on Sunday said in a statement that Korba arrived in Moscow late last year “on assignment from the Ukrainian special services to carry out a terrorist attack.”

On Monday, the FSB accused Korba of being recruited by the Security Service of Ukraine in August. He is alleged to have conducted surveillance on senior Russian military officials in Moscow at Kyiv’s instruction.

Russian intelligence said Korba allegedly retrieved the gun and an electronic key for the apartment building from a drop location in Moscow.

Vasin is alleged by Russian agents to be a supporter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization designated by the Kremlin as a terrorist organization and founded by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in a Russian penal colony on Feb. 16, 2024.

The FSB accuses Vasin of having rented a “covert residence” for the operation as well as having provided Korba with public transportation tickets.

A third suspect, Zinaida Serebritskaya, born in 1971, is alleged to have lived in the same apartment building as Alekseyev and to have supplied the electronic key used for the alleged shooter to gain access to the target.

The three were identified as suspects in the attempted assassination on Sunday, when the FSB said in a statement that Korba had been handed over to Russia by the UAE.

Neither UAE nor Dubai authorities have confirmed the arrest nor offered details on the operation.

State-run Russian news has published FSB-released video showing the suspect Korba handcuffed and blindfolded being escorted off a plane by masked men and seemingly onto the tarmac of a Russian airport.

Korba has been charged with attempted murder of a service member and illegal possession of firearms, according to the investigative committee.

Russian authorities said Vasin was detained in the Moscow region and is facing the same charges as Korba.

Russia’s Investigative committee said Serebritskaya has left Russia for Ukraine.

Alekseyev, 64, is a senior official in the General Staff and is accused of leading intelligence supporting Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Feb. 7 (UPI) — Representatives for Ukraine and Russia might meet in the United States in February after U.S. officials suggested a non-binding June deadline to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the proposed June deadline on Saturday and said the United States has invited Russia and Ukraine to meet very soon.

“America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams — Ukraine and Russia — meet in the United States of America, probably in Miami, in a week,” Zelensky told the BBC and other news outlets.

“We confirmed our participation,” he added, but Russia has not responded to the offer or proposed June deadline.

“They say they want everything done by June, and they will do everything to end the war,” Zelensky said, as reported by CNN.

U.S. officials “want a clear schedule of events,” the Ukrainian president said. “If the Russians are really ready to end the war, then it is really important to set a deadline.”

Russian forces have continued their aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, which have caused power blackouts during the cold winter months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender the entire Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine, which Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.

Ukrainian forces hold about a fourth of the region, which bridged the gap between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian forces occupied in 2014.

U.S. and Russian officials have not commented on the proposed bilateral meeting in the United States, and Zelensky said talks between U.S. and Russian officials might lead to demands that he would reject.

“Ukraine will not support even potential agreements about [Ukraine] that are made without us,” he said.

If any peace agreement is made, it would have to be approved via a referendum in Ukraine, which could take several months to complete.

Feb. 5 (UPI) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump had a lengthy, far-reaching telephone conversation on Wednesday, in which the Asian leader warned his American counterpart that “the Taiwan question” was the most pressing issue in their countries’ relationship.

The self-governing, democratic island has increasingly become a focal point in U.S.-China relations amid growing concerns about an eventual Beijing invasion that have only been amplified since the Trump administration’s military operation last month in Venezuela that removed its authoritarian leader, Nicolas Madura.

Both Xi and Trump confirmed the Wednesday call, with the U.S. leader describing the conversation in a statement on his Truth Social platform as “excellent” and his relations with the Chinese head as “an extremely good one.”

He said they discussed the military, trade, the situation in Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war as well as Beijing considering buying U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans, which have been a sticking point for American farms. According to Trump, Beijing is considering increasing its U.S. soybean imports to 20 million metric tons.

A readout of the call from China’s foreign ministry made no mention of soybeans, but emphasized its claim to Taiwan in direct terms.

According to the ministry, Xi told Trump “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.”

“Taiwan is China’s territory. China must safeguard its own sovereignty and territorial integrity and will never allow Taiwan to be separated,” Xi said, according to the ministry.

Despite Taiwan never having been part of the People’s Republic of China, which was founded in 1949, Beijing claims sovereignty over the island of some 23 million people under its One China policy. China views Taiwan as a rogue province that it has vowed to take by force if necessary.

The United States formally recognizes China’s claim to Taiwan, but maintains informal relations with Taipei, which has grown deeper over the last few years amid the Chinese threat of invasion.

Washington sells weapons to Taiwan. In December, the U.S. Congress approved a massive $11.1 billion arms deal with Taiwan, the largest ever between their two governments.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson sternly rebuked the arms deal in a statement that announced sanctions against 20 American military-related companies and 10 senior executives who have participated in arming Taiwan while warning that “anyone who attempts to cross the line and make provocations on the Taiwan question will be met with China’s firm response.”

The readout of the Xi-Trump call on Wednesday warned that “the U.S. must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence.”

According to Beijing, Trump told Xi that he understands how China feels about Taiwan.

Taiwan was only mentioned by Trump in a list of the “many important subjects” he discussed with Xi.

Trump is to visit Xi in Beijing in April.

Worries about a potential Chinese move against Taiwan have increased in recent weeks following the U.S. military abduction of Maduro, which some have suggested could be used by Beijing to support its claims to Taiwan.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Trump, pressed on the issue, disregarded the comparison, stating China isn’t experiencing the same threat from Taiwan that the United States faced from Venezuela.

“It’s a source of pride for him. He considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him, what he’s going to be doing. But, you know, I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t,” he said.

Asked if he set a precedent with the military action in Venezuela, Trump replied: “He may do it after we have a different president, but I don’t think he’s going to do it with me as president.”

Feb. 4 (UPI) — Ryan Routh, who was convicted for an attempted assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Florida, was sentenced to life in prison plus seven years Wednesday.

Before announcing the sentence, Judge Aileen Cannon called Routh an “evil” man.

Routh, 60, was convicted of hiding in the bushes at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in September 2024. He pointed a military-grade SKS rifle toward Trump, who was then a candidate running for his second term, and a Secret Service agent.

He defended himself in the trial that ended in September. When the verdict was read, he stabbed himself in the neck with a pen.

Prosecutors argued in a court filing that Routh deserved a life sentence.

“Routh’s crimes undeniably warrant a life sentence — he took steps over the course of months to assassinate a major presidential candidate, demonstrated the will to kill anybody in the way, and has since expressed neither regret nor remorse to his victims.

“Routh’s crimes of conviction reflect careful plotting, extensive premeditation, and a cowardly disregard for human life,” prosecutors wrote. “Routh’s motive for his crimes was unconscionable — preventing the American people from electing the candidate of their choice for President. Routh’s gloss on his crimes has always been that anything he may have done was justified by events in Ukraine or American domestic politics.”

Since the conviction, Routh has been represented by court-appointed attorney Martin Roth. He requested a 27-year sentence and argued that he didn’t get a fair trial because he represented himself.

“Defendant recognizes that he was found guilty by the jury but asserts that the jury was misled by his inability to effectively confront witnesses, use exhibits, or affirmatively introduce impeachment evidence designed to prove his lack of intent to cause injury to anyone,” Roth wrote.

Routh had a psychiatric evaluation before the trial, which showed he had bipolar disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.

His family submitted letters of support to the court.

Routh’s son Adam wrote that his father “wants to move forward in the right way and continue to be someone who contributes to our family and his community.” He said, “we still need him, and he still has people who love and support him.”

Routh’s sister Nancy Meyers asked the court to consider placing her brother in a prison in North Carolina. She said the family was devastated by his actions but “committed to assisting him with his rehabilitative efforts.”

Feb. 2 (UPI) — A Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region has killed at least 12 miners and injured eight more, according to officials who are accusing the Kremlin of attacking unarmed civilians.

DTEK Group, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said a Russian drone struck a bus transporting staff from its Dnipropetrovsk mine, resulting in at least 20 casualties.

“The bus was hit as it was taking miners home after their shift,” the company said in a statement.

The strike was part of a large-scale Russian assault on DTEK’s mining facilities in the region, the company said as it extended its condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed.

Maxim Teimchenko, CEO of DTEK, accused Russia of conducting “an unprovoked terrorist attack on a purely civilian target.”

“This attack marks the single largest loss of life of DTEK employees since russia’s full-scale invasion and is one of the darkest days in our history,” he said.

“Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Serhii Berskresnov, a Ukraine Defense Ministry adviser, identified the weapon used in the attack on Telegram as an Iran-made Shahed drone.

Using a MESH radio modem, the drone pilot deliberately attacked the bus after spotting it on the road, he said.

The drone struck near the bus, with its blast wave forcing the driver to lose control and crash into a fence, he said, adding that as the injured were exiting the vehicle, a second Shahed drone struck.

“The operators operating from the territory of Russia 100% saw and identified the target as civilian, saw they were not military and made a conscious decision to attack,” he said.

“This is yet another act of terrorism. I have no words.”

Russia has been widely accused of committing war crimes in its nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine. From indiscriminate attacks on civilians to executions, torture and forced deportations, Russia has been repeatedly denounced for alleged war crimes that it denies.

The International Criminal Court has formally opened a war crimes and crimes against humanity investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has issued arrest warrants for Russian officials, including its authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin.

The strike was one of numerous Russian attacks across Ukraine on Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating on X that people throughout the country were without heat and electricity. Railway infrastructure was hit in the Sumy region, he said.

During the month of January, Russia launched more than 6,000 attack drones, 5,550 guided aerial bombs and 158 missiles at Ukraine, Zelensky said.

“Virtually all of it targeted the energy sector, the railways and our infrastructure — everything that sustains normal life.”

On Saturday, Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia, injuring six people, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svydenko.

“This is the nature of Russia’s war,” she said.

The attacks occurred during a cold February that has seen the temperatures drop well below freezing, according to the country’s hydrometeorological center.

The strikes come despite U.S. President Donald Trump stating last week that Putin promised him that Russia would refrain from hitting Ukraine for a week.

“I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to that,” he said during a cabinet meeting without making clear which towns, cities and regions that the Russian leader had agreed not to attack.

“We’re very happy that they did it.”

Trump has been pushing since before he returned to office to end the war, which he vowed to do during his first 24 hours back in the White House.

Zelensky confirmed Sunday that dates for the next trilateral meetings for a cease-fire between the United States and Russia have been set for Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” he said.

Jan. 30 (UPI) — While Russia and Ukraine continue targeting each other’s energy infrastructure amid their war, the International Atomic Energy Agency leader said backup systems are critical for ensuring safety.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Friday told the agency’s board of governors the war in Ukraine is nearing its fifth year and poses the world’s greatest risk for a nuclear accident.

Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors that generate about half of the nation’s electricity, and Russia has 36 operable reactors that generate up to 20% of its electricity, according to the World Nuclear Association.

The number of reactors in the two warring nations highlights the need for backup systems in those nations and all others that contain nuclear reactors to prevent accidents and ensure reliable off-site power, Grossi said.

“There must be secure off-site power from the grid for all nuclear sites,” he told the board of governors.

Grossi cited Russia’s control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Ukraine as especially troubling, saying “all efforts should be made to ensure off-site power remains available and secure at all times.”

The nuclear power plant is Europe’s largest and was reconnected to its last active power backup system on Jan. 19 after undergoing repairs amid a temporary cease-fire between the two nations.

The backup system helps to ensure the reactor is cooled and supports other important safety systems, which Grossi said must remain “available and secure at all times” to prevent a nuclear accident.

It went offline after being damaged on Jan. 2 due to military actions, which forced the facility to rely on its main power line to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent-fuel pools.

The IAEA also is monitoring the facility’s ability to operate during the winter months, including ensuring water does not freeze its respective cooling and sprinkler ponds.

Grossi also warned of a potential calamity if some or all of Ukraine’s electrical substations were to go offline.

“Damage to them undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided,” Grossi said, adding that a group of agency experts are examining 10 substations amid Russian military strikes on Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

Other nuclear facilities that pose significant concerns include Ukraine’s Chernobyl site, which recently relied on diesel-powered generators to supply backup power until repairs were completed on its damaged substation power lines.

While the IAEA and others have managed to prevent a nuclear accident amid the ongoing war, Grossi said the “best way to ensure nuclear safety and security is to bring this conflict to an end.”