These are important developments since the 1,440th day of Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Published February 3, 2026
Here’s what happened on Tuesday, February 2nd.
finding
Ukraine’s capital Kiev was attacked by Russian missiles early Tuesday morning, the city’s military administrator Timur Tkachenko said on the messaging app Telegram. Tkachenko said several apartment buildings and educational facilities were damaged. Witnesses to the Reuters news agency reported that there was a large explosion in the city.
Russian troops attacked a frontline area in the Donetsk region, killing a father and son and wounding two children and a mother, regional authorities said.
A coal mine in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region was attacked for the second time in 24 hours, according to private energy producer DTEK. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to infrastructure.
diplomacy and politics
As Kiev prepares for the next round of tripartite talks with the United States and Russia, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address Monday night that Russia is largely abiding by a ceasefire over Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
In another social media post, President Zelenskiy added that recent “de-escalation” with Russia, which appeared to suggest a short-term ceasefire in attacks on energy facilities, was helping to build confidence in negotiations.
In separate remarks, President Zelenskiy said it was realistic to achieve a dignified and lasting peace ahead of the next round of peace talks with Russian and US officials in the United Arab Emirates. He added that the post-war US security agreement for Ukraine was “done.”
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday for talks with Russia and Ukraine, a White House official said.
Moscow’s Foreign Ministry, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said the deployment of foreign troops and infrastructure in Ukraine would be considered foreign interference and would treat these forces as legitimate targets.
Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that proposals by European powers to send NATO troops to Ukraine as part of a proposed security and peace agreement are unacceptable to Russia. German authorities have detained at least five people on suspicion of running a network that exported goods to Russian defense companies, in violation of EU sanctions imposed after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, federal prosecutors announced.
sports
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he supported Russia’s return to the football federation and called for an end to Russia’s four-year exclusion from international competitions, including the Qatar World Cup and 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Sports federations that insist that sport is separate from politics should not include armed conflict in their definition because “war is not politics, it is a crime,” Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvy Bidny said in an interview with AFP news agency ahead of the Winter Olympics.
energy
After President Trump announced a trade deal with India that included a halt to oil purchases from Russia, Reuters reported that Indian oil refiners would need an adjustment period to finalize crude oil deals with Russia before halting imports from the country.
Ukraine’s electricity imports increased by 40% to a record 894 gigawatt hours in January 2026 compared to December 2025, as Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy system left millions without power and heat, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
The EU’s decision last week to ban imports of Russian gas was “100 percent legally sound,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told reporters in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, adding that it would prevent Russia from weaponizing energy in the midst of its war against Ukraine.
