Karina Remez knew her husband — 33-year-old Dmytro Remez — had been captured in 2022 while defending Mariupol. For years, there was no confirmed information about where he was being held. Then, in early February 2025, a man contacted her claiming he had shared a cell with Dmytro and had personal information to pass on. The initial questions soon escalated into direct blackmail. They demanded that she blow up a communications tower and provide Ukrainian military locations. To pressure her, they

Russia launched 420 drones and 39 missiles of various types, including 11 ballistic missiles, at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said.

Russia launched a combined missile and drone attack across Ukraine early on Feb. 26, targeting Kyiv and other cities and causing damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.

The vehicle was attacked by a Russian Lancet loitering munition while evacuating civilians.

According to Ukraine, at least 322 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been executed by Russian forces as of Oct. 6.

Russian Major General Roman Demurchiyev shared photographs depicting severed human ears and discussed the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in private chats, according to a Feb. 19 investigation by "Schemes," the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Ukraine struck multiple Russian military command posts and logistics hubs in occupied territories, the General Staff reported on Feb. 20.

The operation, codenamed "Enigma 2.0," was carried out jointly by the SBU, Ukraine's National Police, and Moldova's Police.

Russia launched an Iskander ballistic missile and 128 drones at Ukraine during the night, the Air Force reported.

Russia said it is ready to halt strikes on Ukraine for a single day of voting and floated UN-backed "temporary external governance," after Zelensky said elections could be held following two months of a ceasefire.

Former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was detained while attempting to cross the state border, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said on Feb. 15.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Feb. 15 that Russia launched around 1,300 drones, more than 1,200 guided bombs, and 50 mostly ballistic missiles at Ukraine over the past week, targeting energy infrastructure and residential areas.

Russia has lost around 1,253,270 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Feb. 15, 2026.

Ukraine carried out strikes on an oil terminal in southern Russia and a Russian air defense system in Crimea overnight on Feb. 14–15, according to Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR).

After its largest winter mass attack on Feb. 3, Russia's Defense Ministry said the strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure were carried out "in response to terrorist attacks by Kyiv on civilian objects" in Russia. Some state media described the attack as "another act of retribution." It's an old story — the first mass Russian strike on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure in October 2022 was framed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as retaliation for Kyiv's first successful strike against the