Key developments on Feb. 5:
- Ukraine brings back 150 POWs from Russian captivity in prisoner swap
- Ukraine strikes Russian oil facility, Buk air defense system overnight, military claims
- UK pledges $69 million to boost Ukraine's resilience, grain deliveries to Syria
- Ukraine's Defense Ministry introduces robotic units into army
- Ukraine should receive nuclear weapons if NATO entry is delayed, Zelensky says
- Over 45,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed since start of war, Zelensky says
Ukraine brought back 150 Ukrainian service members from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Feb. 5, marking the latest prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow.
The released Ukrainian captives included members of the Navy, the Air Force, the Airborne Troops, the National Guard, the State Border Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces, and a police officer, according to the president.
"They are all from different sectors of the front, but they have one thing in common: They fought for Ukraine," Zelensky said on Telegram.
Some POWs had been held captive for more than two years, according to Zelensky.
Among the released soldiers are those in serious condition. They have a long rehabilitation and recovery ahead, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported.
At the same time, Russia announced the return of 150 Russian prisoners of war (POWs) from Ukrainian captivity.
During the last exchange, which took place on Dec. 30, 2024, 189 people returned from Russian captivity.
In 2024, 1,358 Ukrainians were released, and since the beginning of the all-out war, 3,956 Ukrainians have returned from Russian captivity, Zelensky said in his New Year's address.
Kateryna Hodunova
Ukraine strikes Russian oil facility, Buk air defense system overnight, military claims
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil facility in Krasnodar Krai and a Buk air defense system in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast overnight on Feb. 5, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said.
An attack carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Defense Forces set fire to the Albashneft oil facility in Novominskaya in southwestern Russia, according to the statement.
Earlier the same day, Krasnodar Krai authorities reported a Ukrainian drone attack that started a fire at an unspecified oil depot that allegedly contained a "residual amount" of petroleum product.
The village of Novominskaya lies roughly 250 kilometers (150 miles) from the front line in Ukraine.
"The hit has been confirmed," the General Staff said, describing the facility as a "mini-refinery" involved in the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel for Russian forces in Ukraine.
The extent of damage to the facility is being determined.
The General Staff also reported a successful hit against the Buk system in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, adding that "damage to the target was recorded."
The Kyiv Independent could not verify all the claims.
Asami Terajima
UK pledges $69 million to boost Ukraine's resilience, grain deliveries to Syria
The U.K. will provide Ukraine with 55 million pounds ($69 million) in new humanitarian and economic assistance to promote a long-term partnership between the two nations, the British government announced on Feb. 5.
"This funding for social, humanitarian, and energy programs will strengthen our resilience. And this assistance is very timely right now," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said at a press conference with his British counterpart, David Lammy, attended by the Kyiv Independent.
Lammy is visiting Kyiv to discuss continued U.K. support for Ukraine as it enters the fourth year of Russia's full-scale invasion. The U.K. official is expected to assess firsthand how British aid is assisting Ukraine on the battlefield and in civilian infrastructure recovery.
The new funding is part of a broader 100-year partnership agreement signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Jan. 16.
In addition to the financial aid, the U.K. will allocate 3 million pounds ($3.7 million) to supply Ukrainian grain and other food products to Syria, working with the World Food Program.
"Unlike Russian grain supplies to the brutal Assad regime, which attempted to buy favor while burdening Syria with costly debt, this planned support will provide a lifeline to the most vulnerable in Syria," the British government's statement read.
London previously committed a record 3 billion pounds ($3.6 billion) in military aid to Ukraine for 2024, including advanced weapons systems and munitions. The first 1.5 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) of a 2.26 billion pound ($2.7 billion) loan under the G7 program will also be released to fund major procurement projects for Ukraine's defense.
The loan will be repaid using profits from immobilized Russian assets, marking another step in the West's efforts to use Russia's frozen funds to finance Ukraine's war effort and recovery.
"We have agreed on the need to continue using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. In the near future, we will begin utilizing funds from the U.K. loan of more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) sourced from these assets," Sybiha said.
Natalia Kushnerska
Ukraine's Defense Ministry introduces robotic units into army
The Defense Ministry is launching an initiative to increase the use of unmanned ground systems in the Ukrainian army, introducing robotics units, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced on Feb. 5.
Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion, both Ukraine and Russia have heavily invested in unmanned vehicles, particularly unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, revolutionizing warfare.
Ukraine is increasing the production of unmanned ground systems and deploying full-fledged robotic units as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' combat brigades on the front line, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote on Facebook.
"We continue transforming the Ukrainian Armed Forces into a modern army with a technological advantage over the enemy. Our goal is to create an army in which innovative technologies help to perform the most dangerous tasks while saving the lives of our defenders," Umerov said.
The project is the result of tests conducted in cooperation with the military since the summer of 2024, he added.
Unmanned ground systems have proven to perform several tasks on the battlefield, including offensive and defensive activities, evacuation of the wounded, logistical support for units, and mining and demining areas, according to the minister.
Various aerial, naval, and ground drones have been developed and are frequently used by Ukrainian troops for reconnaissance, combat, and other tasks.
Kateryna Hodunova
Ukraine should receive nuclear weapons if NATO entry is delayed, Zelensky says
The U.S. should provide Ukraine with an alternative security guarantee, such as nuclear weapons, if it is not ready to accept the country into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested in an interview with U.K. journalist Piers Morgan published on Feb. 4.
"What kind of support package, what kind of missiles? Will they give us nuclear weapons? Then let them give us nuclear weapons," the president said when talking about possible guarantees instead of quick NATO entry.
Zelensky acknowledged that Ukraine's NATO accession could be delayed "for years or decades," raising the question of how the country would defend itself.
Ukraine applied to join NATO at the outset of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 but has yet to receive an official invitation. Despite an allied pledge last year that Kyiv's path to membership is "irreversible," countries such as the U.S., Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia continue to resist its entry.
Zelensky argued that while the West can supply Ukraine with missiles to deter Russia, their ability to stop Russian nuclear weapons is "a rhetorical question."
"Let's do this: give us nuclear weapons back; give us missile systems; help us finance a million-strong army; or deploy your contingents in parts of our country where we want stability so that people feel safe," Zelensky said, outlining hypothetical alternatives.
The comments come after Zelensky criticized Ukraine's 1990s decision to give up its nuclear weapons without receiving robust security guarantees in return.
Under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine relinquished the Soviet-era nuclear arsenal stationed on its territory and joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
In exchange, the U.S., U.K., and Russia provided security assurances. Twenty years later, Russia occupied Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. Thirty years on, it is waging a full-scale war against Ukraine.
The invasion has reignited discussions over whether Ukraine should develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent, though Kyiv maintains that NATO membership remains the best possible security guarantee and said it has no plans for building a new nuclear arsenal.
Liliane Bivings
Over 45,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed since start of war, Zelensky says
Ukraine has lost 45,100 soldiers on the battlefield since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with U.K. journalist Piers Morgan published Feb. 4.
Zelensky added that there have been a total of 390,000 cases of soldiers sustaining wounds on the battle, although the actual number of wounded soldiers is less given that some soldiers sustained multiple wounds during separate incidents.
In previous statements on the total casualty count, Zelensky said that approximately half of the soldiers wounded in action later return to the battlefield.
The comments from Zelensky comes as a rare admission from a Ukrainian official about the casualty count on the front line.
Zelensky previously revealed the total casualty count in December 2024, claiming that Ukraine had lost 43,000 solider, with "370,000 cases of medical assistance for the wounded."
Despite the estimates, Zelensky added that it was not clear as to how many thousands of men are currently held as prisoners of war compared to those missing in action.
"How many of those are missing (in action) and how many of those are prisoners (of war), I do not know the precise number but we are working on it," Zelensky added.
Comparing Ukraine's casualty count to that of Russia, Zelensky said in the interview that approximately 350,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, with between 600,000 to 700,000 instances of Russian soldiers sustaining wounds on the battlefield.
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