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

Two districts on the east bank of the Dnipro River were the most affected, leaving 1,100 residential buildings without heating, Kateryna Pop, a spokesperson for the Kyiv City Military Administration, said.

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.

Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhoriv reported that a Russian drone targeted unspecified "medical infrastructure" in the city of Sumy overnight on Feb. 14-15, causing damage to the target.

"There were many meetings, and most importantly – there will be new support packages for Ukraine. The key priority is missiles for air defense, for protection against ballistic missiles," Zelensky said in his evening address on Feb. 15.

Multiple enlistment officers were hospitalized after a "group of civilians" allegedly carried out an attack on the personnel in Odesa on Feb. 15, the Odesa Oblast Regional Recruitment Center reported.

Russian officials reported a large-scale drone attack targeting multiple regions on Feb. 15, including areas near Moscow and Bryansk Oblasts.

Key developments on Feb. 14-15: * Ukraine destroys half of Russia's 'key' Pantsir air defense systems, security service says * Ukraine hits Russia's BK-16 landing craft in Crimea and other targets in Russian-occupied territories, military says * Zelensky, Rubio discuss air defense for Ukraine, possibility of leader-level peace talks * Territorial concessions by Ukraine won't bring peace, Zelensky says in Munich * Ukraine сonfirms strike on oil terminal in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, hits air

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.

Nearly four years after Russia's expulsion from the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has launched a new platform for dialogue with exiled Russian forces. The move is a major shift in how Europe engages with Russian opposition figures at a time when Moscow remains isolated from the continent's main human rights body and the war in Ukraine continues with no clear end in sight. The 15 participants of the Russian PACE platform published their first joint statement on Feb. 6, wh

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur examines how Ukraine appears in recently released Jeffrey Epstein files. The files reference flight arrangements for models linked to Kyiv agencies, a failed real estate deal in Lviv, and brief mentions of Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election.

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).

The Alpha unit of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) destroyed half of Russia's stockpile of the coveted Pantsir air defense system, the SBU announced Feb. 14.

"There were three attacks on the energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan in Ukraine, and there were also three attacks on the Azerbaijani embassy in Ukraine," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told the independent outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

Zelensky and Rubio discussed supporting Ukraine with air defense missiles during the winter and the possibility of future talks with the presidents of Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia to "resolve the most problematic issues."

"The U.K., Sweden, France, Germany, and the Netherlands are confident that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin," the countries' governments said in a joint statement. "Navalny died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him."

"It would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be reliably ended by dividing Ukraine – just as it was an illusion to believe that sacrificing Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a greater war," Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference.