Here is the situation on Tuesday, February 25:
Fighting
- Kyiv’s Regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said Russian attacks injured a 19-year-old woman and set a residential house on fire in the Ukrainian capital. He said the woman was hospitalised with a head injury.
- At least one person was killed and 13 more were injured by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported, citing the governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin.
- At least two civilians were injured by Russian bombs in the neighbouring Kharkiv region, DPA also reported.
- Kyiv’s military said air force units shot down six missiles and 133 of 213 drones launched at Ukraine overnight. Some 79 more drones reportedly failed to reach their targets.
- The Russian governor for the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said Ukraine launched an overnight drone attack, damaging infrastructure including the Black Sea port of Tuapse. No injuries were reported.
- Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti reported that a 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of gathering intelligence to help Ukraine target Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery with drones. The teenager reportedly confessed to the allegation under questioning.
- The Russian Investigative Committee said a Russian man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for filming an air defence system in Podolsk and sending images as well as geographical data to Ukraine.
Politics and diplomacy
- United States President Donald Trump confirmed earlier media reports that he had reached a deal with Ukraine to access the European country’s rare earth minerals and other natural resources.
- A new study by the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and the Ukrainian government found that about $524bn would be needed to rebuild Ukraine’s economy after Russia’s three-year war on the country. This marked a 7 percent increase from the $486bn estimated one year ago.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s disapproval of European peacekeepers being stationed in Ukraine, despite Trump claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to it.
- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia has a lot of rare metal deposits and that they were willing to strike a deal with US. This comes after Trump pledged that “major economic development transactions with Russia” would take place in the future.
- Ukraine’s Naftogaz company said Norway would be providing funds for Ukraine to buy natural gas. The assistance is reportedly part of a $400m aid package financed through the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development.
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