Wednesday, February 5
Russia’s war against Ukraine
A woman cleans debris around a heavily damaged building near the site of a missile attack in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, on Feb. 4, 2025. A Russian missile attack killed five people and wounded over 50 more, officials said. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine open to mining rare earths in cooperation with partners, Zelensky says. “We are open to the idea that mineral resources can be developed with our partners who help us protect our land,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
‘Dates and participants being finalized’ — Zelensky on upcoming US delegation visit. Kyiv has indicative dates for the arrival of American officials and is currently working on its arrangement, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine’s strike on Russian command center in Kursk Oblast causes ‘significant losses,’ General Staff says. The building was severely damaged, and Moscow suffered significant losses among Russian personnel, the General Staff said.
Russian soldiers face execution threats to retake lost ground near Kupiansk, Ukraine claims. Russian commanders in the Kupiansk sector are ordering their soldiers to retake positions from which they retreated under Ukrainian fire, threatening them with execution if they refuse, Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces claimed on Feb. 4, citing intelligence reports.
Emergency power shutdowns introduced in 8 oblasts due to Russian attacks. The emergency measures were taken in response to higher consumption and Russian attacks on the country’s energy system, Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state grid operator, reported on Feb. 4.
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Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid could cause nuclear accident, IAEA chief warns. “A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption,” Director General Rafael Grossi said during his visit to Kyiv on Feb. 4.
Russia records 20,000 claims to declare people dead or missing last year, marking 2.5-fold surge, media reports. According to Mediazona, most of these lawsuits were initiated by Russian military unit commanders who sought to remove missing soldiers — presumed dead but lacking official confirmation — from personnel rosters. This process allows units to recruit replacements.
Ukraine won’t hold elections until Russia’s war is over, Ukraine’s envoy to US says. The U.S. hasn’t yet discussed with Ukraine the necessity of holding elections by the end of 2025, according to Oksana Markarova.
‘I consider him an enemy’ — Zelensky says he’s ready to sit opposite Putin in peace talks. “If that is the only setup in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely, we will go for this setup … What does it matter, my attitude to him?” Zelensky told U.K. journalist Piers Morgan on Feb. 4.
‘He works for Putin’ — Zelensky slams Tucker Carlson’s pro-Russian commentary. “Regrettably, this blogger or journalist, whatever he wants to call himself, he fully repeats the words of Putin. … He works for Putin,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Piers Morgan.
Read our exclusives
Trump wants Ukraine’s ‘rare earths’ — What critical materials does it actually have?
It’s unclear exactly what Trump meant by “rare earths and other things.” Ukraine is home to 20 of the world’s critical minerals and metals like titanium used in the aerospace and defense industries and lithium, an essential component of electric vehicle batteries.
Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Explainer: Ukraine’s EuroMaidan was not a coup, despite Russian disinfo pushed by Musk
Russian propagandists have worked hard to spread the false narrative of a “coup” in Ukraine since 2014. With Musk taking a prominent position in the U.S. government, they now appear to have a sympathetic ear in the halls of American power.
Photo: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv denies reports that North Korean soldiers have not been seen in Kursk Oblast for weeks
About 8,000 North Korean soldiers are still fighting against Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with The War Zone magazine published on Feb. 4.
Photo: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Human cost of war
5 killed, 55 injured in Russian missile strike on Izium in Kharkiv Oblast. A pregnant woman was among the killed, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
2 killed, 13 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over past day. Russia launched 65 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones against Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported. Thirty-seven drones were shot down over five oblasts, while 28 others were lost in the airspace without causing any damage, according to the statement.
General Staff: Russia has lost 842,930 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,270 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
Opinions and insights
Europe must act on Russian LNG before Trump makes it impossible
“As a second Trump administration takes shape, Europe’s opportunity to impose new, meaningful measures on Russian fossil fuels is rapidly diminishing. … Europe will soon lose its ability to act independently on energy sanctions as they become bargaining chips in a twisted geopolitical game of poker,” writes Svitlana Romanko, founder and executive director of Razom We Stand.
Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Ukraine’s robotic army is bringing the fight to Russia
“As it continues to develop and deploy cutting-edge unmanned systems, the world is closely watching how these advancements shape the battlefield. Given that Ukraine is already using AI-enabled drones, the deployment of autonomous ground robots may become a reality sooner than expected,” David Kirichenko, associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson society, writes.
Photo: Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP via Getty Images
What to expect from Ukraine’s defense innovation in 2025
“Ukrainians know one thing for sure: we must ramp up our defense capabilities to effectively defend against current and future Russian aggression. This requires the rapid development of asymmetrical solutions to counter Russia’s advantages in personnel, material, and financial resources,” writes Natalia Kushnerska, head of the Brave1 program.
Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov / Libkos / Getty Images
International response
North Korean troops absent from front in Russia’s Kursk Oblast since mid-January, Seoul says. “Since mid-January, there have been no signs showing North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk region engaging in battle,” South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, suggesting that heavy losses may have been one of the reasons for their withdrawal.
Italy allocates over $2 million to strengthen Ukraine’s energy system. The project, funded by the Italian government, aims to make Ukraine’s energy system “more resilient and decentralized” in accordance with the “Build Back Better” principle.
‘Illegal maneuver’ — Democratic lawmakers oppose merging USAID under State Department. Members of Congress gathered outside USAID headquarters in Washington, condemning what they called an “illegal maneuver” by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who U.S. President Donald Trump has tasked with reducing the size of the federal government.
Trump officially appoints Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine, Russia. “We made a lot of progress on Russia-Ukraine,” U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said after signing the decree.
‘Selfish’ — Scholz blasts Trump’s aid-for-rare earths Ukraine plan. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly stressed that Ukraine should first be helped to “get back on its feet” and that its resources should be used for its reconstruction after the war.
US producers, Saudi Arabia resist Trump’s push for increased oil production, WSJ reports. Trump has repeatedly called for lower oil prices, arguing that reducing Russia’s oil revenue would force Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.
Raiffeisen Bank reports first loss in 9 years after Russian court ruling, Bloomberg reports. The Austrian lender reported a net loss of 926 million euros ($955 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily due to provisions in its Russian subsidiary.
Greenpeace urges IAEA to block Russia’s Zaporizhzhia reactor restart as Grossi visits Kyiv. The appeal comes as IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visits Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian officials before heading to Moscow to discuss the situation with Russian authorities.
Less than half of Poles support continued military aid to Ukraine, survey shows. The number of Poles backing continued military assistance to Kyiv dropped from 54% to 49% during 2024, according to a survey by the ARC Rynek i Opinia research group published on Feb. 4.
In other news
Yanukovych’s son made billions selling coal from occupied Ukrainian territories, media reports. The company behind the exports, Energoresurs, is registered in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and has exported nearly half a million tons of coal abroad between 2023 and 2024. According to the investigation, the firm sources coal from suppliers in occupied Donbas and transports it to Turkey by rail and sea.
EU allocates $258 million in energy support for Moldova, $62 million for Transnistria. The European Commission and Moldova signed a two-year strategy for energy independence and resilience, allocating 250 million euros ($258 million) to Chisinau in 2025, the commission said on Feb. 4.
Putin relaunches Soviet-era Intervision song contest amid Eurovision ban. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Feb. 3 ordering the revival of the Intervision song contest, the Soviet Union’s equivalent to Eurovision. Russia has been banned from Eurovision since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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