These are important developments since day 1,449 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Published February 12, 2026
Here’s what happened on Thursday, February 12th:
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Ukraine’s capital Kiev was hit by a Russian missile attack early Thursday morning, with witnesses reporting the sound of explosions, the country’s military junta said. There were no initial reports of casualties, and the extent of damage caused by the attack was unknown. Four people were killed and three others injured in a Russian attack in the Sinelinykove district of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanza, said on the messaging app Telegram. An elderly couple and their 45-year-old son were among those killed in the Sinelnikove district, Hansa added. A woman was killed in a Russian drone attack on an ambulance carrying five people, including medical workers and civilians, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, police in the region said on Telegram. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy announced that the Ukrainian military shot down two Russian Kinzhal airballistic missiles that were flying towards the western Ukrainian city. Sadhvi said no information was initially available about whether there was any damage or injuries. Ukraine’s military announced in a Facebook post that on Wednesday night, Ukrainian forces attacked a refinery in Volgograd, Russia, causing a fire. “Army forces are holding Zaliznychne” in Ukraine’s frontline Zaporizhzhya region, despite Russia’s claims that it has captured the settlement, Vladislav Voloshin, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military in southern Ukraine, told the country’s Ukrinform news agency. One civilian was killed and at least seven others injured in a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Belgorod region, local officials said, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency. The Ukrainian attack also damaged water infrastructure and caused power outages in several villages in the Borisovsky and Rakityansky districts of Belgorod city, located near the Russia-Ukraine border, the region’s water utility said on Telegram. An employee of the Russian agricultural holding company Miratrug was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Klimovsky district of the Russian city of Bryansk, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz announced, according to TASS news agency. Volodymyr Sardo, a Russian-appointed official in the region, said in a telegram that Ukrainian forces had attacked the Russian-occupied region of Kherson, Ukraine, killing one woman and wounding five others.
regional security
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Congress that Russia will abide by the nuclear weapons limits set out in the recently expired New START arms control treaty with the United States as long as Washington continues to do the same. In a new action plan, a senior European Commission official said the Commission will work to improve Europe’s drone detection capabilities and propose expanding registration requirements for such equipment. U.S. defense supplier Northrop Grumman and Polish weapons group Nieuwiadow PGM aim to produce more than 180,000 shells a year in Poland, said Quinn Canole, Northrop Grumman’s managing director for Poland. 155mm shells are widely used by Ukraine in its war with Russia, but are in short supply and Canole did not rule out sales to Ukraine. The Chinese captain of a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship has pleaded not guilty to criminal damage charges in a Hong Kong court after he was accused of damaging an undersea cable in the Baltic Sea, where tensions are high in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
military aid
British Defense Secretary John Healy said on Wednesday that Britain has committed 150 million pounds ($205 million) to the Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative to supply U.S. weapons to Ukraine.
politics and diplomacy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and was briefed on the French presidential aide’s recent visit to Moscow. President Zelenskiy denied a report in the Financial Times that he plans to announce a presidential election and a referendum on a proposed peace agreement with Russia on February 24. President Zelenskiy told Bloomberg News that he had accepted an offer from Washington to host the next round of peace talks in the United States. Warsaw and Rome have announced that Poland and Italy will not join US President Donald Trump’s peace commission, extending invitations to Russia and its ally Belarus, adding to the list of Ukraine’s allies who have declined invitations to join the peace commission. “Given the public doubts about the form of the board, Poland will not participate in the work of the peace committee under these circumstances, but will analyze it,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a government meeting. “Italy cannot participate in the peace commission because there are insurmountable constitutional obstacles on the Italian side,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. Under Italy’s constitution, the country can only participate in international organizations on equal terms with other countries, but Rome argues that this condition is not met under the current law of the Council, which gives Mr. Trump broad executive powers.
assistance
The Swiss government said in a statement that it had approved a package of up to 32 million Swiss francs (approximately $41.8 million) to help Ukraine with urgently needed energy products. President Zelensky welcomed the news that the European Parliament would give Ukraine 90 billion euros ($106 billion) in support loans, saying this was exactly the “signal that should be sent to (Russia as an aggressor).”
