Key developments on Feb. 17 * Ukraine, Russia hold US-mediated Geneva talks focused on 'practical issues,' negotiations to resume Feb. 18 * SBU strikes chemical factory used for explosives production deep inside Russia * Kremlin threatens to deploy navy if Europe seizes more Russian shadow fleet vessels * Oil refinery, port terminal struck in Krasnodar Krai amid joint deep strike on southern Russia, Ukraine says * Russian drone strike on civilian car kills 3 energy workers in Donetsk Oblas

"Discussions focused on practical issues and the mechanics of possible solutions," Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said.

From his base near the hotly contested town of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, Vladyslav has, by his own estimates, downed upwards of 60 Russian drones using Ukrainian interceptor drones over the past year. Winter has exposed many foundational frailties in Ukraine's air defenses. Relentless Russian attacks utilising Shahed-type attack drones have left millions of Ukrainians in the dark and cold. The role of interceptor pilots like Vladyslav is more important than ever. Interceptor drones are f

The High Anti-Corruption Court on Feb. 17 placed former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko in custody for two months in a major corruption case and set bail at Hr 200 million ($4.6 million). The official has been investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) as part of a case involving the state nuclear power company Energoatom. Eight other suspects have been charged, and Timur Mindich, a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky, is the alleged ringleader. Halushchenko den

DONETSK OBLAST — Walking through the mine-infested field under intense Russian drone surveillance was the scariest part of the mission for 22-year-old infantryman Mykola. "If you stop, you die," said Mykola, a small-framed soldier with dark circles under his eyes and a tired stare. "When we were walking to get to the positions, it wasn't hard to walk — it was hard to realize that you may not walk out alive because there were a lot of our dead around." The walk to his positions near the easter

The attack on the Metafrax Chemicals plant in Perm Krai was carried out overnight between Feb. 16-17 by deep strike specialists from the SBU's Alpha unit.

Presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev called the European raids on shadow fleet ships "piracy," and expressed concern that the next step would be a full-fledged blockade.

The most difficult period was October, when Russia struck the company 25 times and took out nearly 60% of Ukraine’s gas production.

The Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai, which supplies fuel to Russian troops, processes 6.42 million tons of oil annually, according to Ukraine's General Staff.

DTEK has set aside 150 million euros from its own pockets, but needs help from partners to close the rest by the end of the year.

The civilian car was struck in the town of Mykolaivka, located east of the city of Sloviansk and only around ten kilometers from the front line.

When Russia announced a "partial" mobilization in the fall of 2022, its society experienced a genuine shock. The queues at the Upper Lars border crossing into Georgia and the chaotic roundups of reservists are still fresh in public memory. The Russian authorities learned from that episode and shifted tactics toward a more concealed form of mobilization. Several tools were deployed at once: mass recruitment from prisons, sending convicts to the front in exchange for pardons, and aggressive enli

In Odesa, long-range Russian strikes on infrastructure and residential homes saw three civilians injured, according to regional governor Serhii Lysak.

The Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit will present a new documentary, “Torture Culture,” exposing the systematic torture of Ukrainian civilians in Russian captivity and highlighting Russia’s use of torture throughout history.

The number includes 890 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Over the past week, the elite Prymary ("Ghosts") unit targeted several high-value pieces of Russian military equipment, including a Pantsir missile system.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Feb. 16 that Russia is preparing new large-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as Kyiv's negotiating team arrived in Geneva for another round of peace talks with the United States and Russia.

The U.S.-Europe dynamic was more cordial at the Feb. 13-15 Munich Security Conference than last year, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivering a conciliatory speech. But the substance of the relationship remained unchanged, despite the softer rhetoric. U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign policy upheavals, from Ukraine to Greenland, were fresh on everyone's mind – as well as the confrontational address by U.S. Vice President JD Vance during last year's conference. European leaders

Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine's former energy minister, was charged of money laundering and involvement in a criminal group as part of the country's major corruption scandal, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced on Feb. 16.

Dismissing any approximations to Article 5 as mere "rhetorical expressions," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys named financial support for Ukraine's military or future EU membership as more realistic guarantees.

Zagreb is ready to help resolve the disruption in compliance with EU law and the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, Croatian Economy Minister Ante Susnjar said.

Members of the public, businesspeople, and journalists will be able to upload information about dodgy dealings in the fuel market to the a chat bot called StopShadowBot on the popular messaging app Telegram.

The 7th Corps report comes as Ukraine clings to its last positions in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad in eastern Donetsk Oblast, both of which have mostly been occupied by Russia, Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst with the Black Bird Group, told the Kyiv Independent.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has classified the car bombing as a terrorist attack and opened a criminal investigation, the agency said.

The strikes targeted areas where Moscow had concentrated its troops, along with a Russian communications hub and a drone control center, the report read.

Over the past several weeks, Kyiv has once again been pushed to its limits. Massive Russian attacks crippled infrastructure across the city and surrounding  region, leaving thousands without stable electricity, heat, or water. The strikes coincided with some of the harshest winter conditions this season — plunging  temperatures, heavy snowfall, and long, freezing nights. The Kyiv International School (KIS) was not immune. Heating systems went down — and back up — repeatedly. Some classes were

About 100 homes remain without heat, out of the 2,600 high-rise buildings that lost heating after a Russian attack on Kyiv's infrastructure on Feb. 12, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Feb. 16.

Key findings: * Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has sought supplies of motor oil additives and lubricants from third countries to maintain its military-industrial capacity and keep vehicles and heavy machinery running. * Russian private companies continue to utilize European logistics chains to secure a steady supply of essential chemicals and components, including large volumes of glycerin routed through EU-linked intermediaries. * The Kyiv Independent has identif

"This is a second time for the past year, when a Ukrainian woman who is a refugee and is hiding for safety in North Carolina, gets murdered by a man," said the brother of the late Kateryna Tovmash.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine with four Zirkon anti-ship hypersonic missiles, an Iskander-M ballistic missile, a Kh-31 medium-range missile, and 62 drones, of which about 40 were Shahed-type, the Air Force said.

A former Ukrainian officer, Serhii Kuznietsov, spends his days in near-total isolation at Hamburg's detention center. He is accused by Germany of destroying Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines months after the start of the all-out war. Arrested in August while on vacation with his family in Italy due to a European arrest warrant issued by Berlin, Kuznietsov was extradited to Germany in late November. According to the prosecution, Kuznietsov coordinated a group of six who allegedly planted explo

The number includes 1,180 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.