These are important developments since day 1,454 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Published February 17, 2026
Here’s what happened on Tuesday, February 17th.
finding
Ukraine took advantage of the Starlink communications blackout experienced by Russian forces to retake 201 square kilometers (78 square miles) of its territory from Russia between Wednesday and Sunday last week, according to an AFP analysis of Institute for the Study of War (ISW) battlefield data.
Ukrainian intelligence services believe further Russian attacks on the country’s energy sector are ahead and that such tactics will make reaching an agreement to end the nearly four-year war even more difficult, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned in a video address Monday night.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced that Russia launched 62 long-range attack drones and six missiles of various types toward Ukraine overnight.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it shot down 345 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours. Russia also announced that it had captured two settlements in eastern Ukraine, Pokrovka and Minkivka, according to state media.
Authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region reported that a fire at the Black Sea port of Taman, which handles petroleum products, grain, coal and household goods, has been extinguished. The port was damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday.
military aid
Czech Republic President Petr Pavel told a local news website that Ukraine had received 4.4 million rounds of large-caliber ammunition under the plan, which involved funding from Czech arms producers and foreign donors.
ceasefire negotiations
Rustem Umerov, head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, arrived in Geneva for the next round of trilateral talks with the United States and Russia. Umerov said in a Telegram post that he looked forward to “constructive work and substantive meetings on security and humanitarian issues” on Tuesday. Russian news agencies reported that a Moscow delegation headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, departed for talks in Geneva. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Russian negotiating team’s main focus was “discussing broader issues,” including territorial issues and “everything else related to the demands we have put forward.” Peskov said Russian military intelligence chief Igor Koschukov and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin would also take part in the Geneva talks, while Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev would take part in a separate working group on economic issues. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he assured US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that his country remains supportive of US peace efforts in Ukraine and that Budapest remains open to hosting a peace summit.
politics and diplomacy
Hungary and Slovakia have asked Croatia to help secure Russian crude oil after disruptions to supplies through Ukraine, with both countries blaming Kiev. Hungary and Slovakia are currently exempt from European Union sanctions on Russian crude oil still being transported by pipeline through Ukraine.
In response to allegations of interfering with the flow of Russian oil, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha posted on X a photo of firefighters fighting the fire, claiming it was a fire at the Druzhba pipeline. In his post, he accused Hungary of blaming its ally Russia for the oil pipe attack and not publicly commenting on the incident for two weeks.
The Kremlin announced on Monday that it agreed with a statement from Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico. A day earlier, the prime minister had accused Ukraine of delaying the restart of the Druzhba pipeline in an attempt to pressure Hungary to drop its opposition to possible future EU membership.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption police have accused the country’s former energy minister, German Galushchenko, of helping launder kickbacks and hiding millions of dollars at sea, a day after he was detained as he tried to leave the country. Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency NABU said it was cooperating with 15 foreign jurisdictions to expand corruption investigations.
Russian oil producers could be forced to cut production sharply in the coming months as pressure from the United States and European countries restricts Russian exports and storage tanks fill up. According to Reuters, such a development could hit the Kremlin’s military coffers, which are funding the war against Ukraine. France has agreed to give safe haven to anti-Kremlin Russian activists Alexei and Nadezhda Isimov, who were detained by US law enforcement. However, Nadezhda was prevented from leaving the United States because she was using a temporary travel permit instead of a passport. The couple left Russia in 2022 as the Kremlin ramped up its crackdown on dissent following the invasion of Ukraine.
