These are important developments since day 1,441 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Published February 4, 2026
Here’s what happened on Wednesday, February 4th.
finding
A Russian airstrike targeting the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya killed at least two teenagers and injured nine others, regional governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on the messaging app Telegram. The attack, which damaged four high-rise apartment buildings, prompted a 24-hour air raid warning in the Zaporizhzhia region. Three people were killed in Ukrainian military shelling of Nova Kakhovka, a town in the Moscow-occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, Kremlin officials said. Russia has launched what it calls the “most powerful” nighttime attack on Ukraine’s energy facilities this year, Kiev officials said, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without heat in glacial winter temperatures and ahead of negotiations to end four years of war.
Ukraine’s leading private energy company DTEK said on Telegram that Russia’s recent operation against Ukraine’s energy sector was the largest since early 2026.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a power plant in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was also heavily damaged in the Russian attack. At least five people were also injured in the attack in Kharkiv, officials said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said Russia had deployed 450 attack drones and more than 60 missiles during the onslaught, and accused the Russian government of waiting for temperatures to cool before carrying out its attacks.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denis Shmyhal said on Telegram that a power plant in Kiev’s eastern Darnitsky district was severely damaged in the Russian attack, prompting authorities to direct resources to restoring heating to the city’s thousands of residents.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said at least 1,142 high-rise apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital were left without heat following the Russian attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of launching a “deliberate attack on energy infrastructure,” which he said included a “record number of ballistic missiles.” President Zelensky also said Russia was taking advantage of the recent short-lived ceasefire supported by the United States regarding attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to stockpile the weapons used in the recent attacks. The latest Russian attack comes a day before the next round of trilateral talks scheduled for Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Part of Kiev’s huge Motherland Monument, an iconic Soviet-era World War II monument depicting a woman holding a sword and shield, was damaged in recent Russian attacks, with Ukraine’s Culture Minister Tetyana Berezina describing the damage as “symbolic and cynical”.
In remarks after Tuesday’s attack, US President Donald Trump defended Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying Putin had “kept his word” and stuck to a short-term agreement to halt attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure through Sunday. Trump’s press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, earlier said the president was not surprised by the attack. NATO chief Mark Rutte, who is visiting Kyiv on Tuesday, said Russia’s overnight attacks did not suggest Russia was serious about making peace.
military aid
Sweden and Denmark will jointly procure and supply air defense systems worth 2.6 billion Swedish crowns ($290 million) to Ukraine to protect it from Russian attacks, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonsson and Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced.
politics and diplomacy
Ukraine has agreed with the West that any continued Russian violation of the ceasefire agreement in the future will trigger a coordinated military response from Europe and the United States, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the talks.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was preparing to resume talks with President Vladimir Putin nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but stressed that Russia had shown no “real desire” to negotiate a ceasefire.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with President Trump to discuss the situation in Ukraine, including Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine, the British government said.
Nato’s Rutte said in a speech to Ukraine’s parliament during a visit to Kiev that reaching a peace deal to end the war with Russia will require tough choices.
economy
The Kremlin said it had not heard a statement from India about halting purchases of sanctioned Russian oil after President Trump announced that New Delhi had agreed to halt purchases of sanctioned Russian crude as part of a trade deal with Washington. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was carefully analyzing President Trump’s comments on the trade deal with India. He added that despite recent announcements, Moscow intends to “further develop bilateral relations with Delhi.” Putin said Russia’s economy will grow by 1% in 2025, much slower than the 2024 figure, as the country’s economy is stagnant under the burden of the war with Ukraine and international sanctions. President Putin admitted at a government meeting that the growth rate was “lower” than in the previous two years.
sports
Peskov welcomed comments from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who said he hoped Russia’s four-year suspension from international football competitions would be lifted, saying “nothing has been achieved”, and said Infantino’s comments were “very good”. Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvy Vidniy criticized Infantino’s comments as “irresponsible” and “infantile”, pointing out that more than 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches were killed in the Russian invasion. Ukrainian athlete Vladislav Heraskevich said the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutrals despite their association with the occupied territories and their expressed support for Russia’s war against Ukraine undermines the principle of neutrality. He said he would use the Winter Olympics to draw attention to the war in Ukraine.
