Ukraine war latest: Ukraine sees 'real results' from blocking Russia’s Starlink use, defense minister says
Key developments on Jan. 31-Feb. 1:
- Ukraine sees 'real results' from blocking Russia’s Starlink use, defense minister says
- Russia attacks bus carrying Ukrainian miners, kills 15, injures 15
- Ukraine, US, Russia to meet in UAE next week for new round of peace talks, Zelensky says
- Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia injure at least 9, maternity hospital damaged
- Russian officials call for 'more powerful weapons' to attack Ukraine as temperatures drop
SpaceX's initial steps to stop Russia from using Starlink to control attack drones over Ukraine are already delivering "real results," Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Feb. 1.
Unverified terminals will be disabled, according to Fedorov.
His statement came days after Ukraine's Defense Ministry reached out to SpaceX, urging the company to prevent Russian drones from using Starlink, as the satellite internet system could help them to operate further over Ukraine.
The company responded swiftly, with U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk writing on Feb. 1 that SpaceX's efforts to halt "unauthorized" Russian use of Starlink seemed to have worked.
"Let us know if more needs to be done," he added.
According to Fedorov, Ukraine continues to work "very closely" with Musk's team on the next "important steps." He said that a system would soon be introduced to ensure only authorized terminals can operate in Ukraine.
"Thank you for standing with us. You are a true champion of freedom and a true friend of the Ukrainian people," Fedorov replied to Musk on X.
Fedorov's advisor, Serhii Beskrestnov, said on Jan. 31 that he couldn't disclose actions taken to stop Russia from using Starlink, adding that the current measures are temporary and will eventually be replaced with "global solutions."
"All these actions are aimed at one goal: the protection of our country's residents (both military and civilian) and our infrastructure from the threat posed by enemy strike (unmanned aerial vehicles)," Beskrestnov said.
Ukrainian forces depend significantly on Starlink for communication in frontline positions. Many commanders prefer the satellite internet system over traditional radio communications, as it offers a more secure way to connect with troops at a distance.
In 2024, SpaceX said that it does not sell or supply Starlink terminals to Russia, with Musk dismissing media reports about Russia's use of Starlink as "categorically false."
Russia attacks bus carrying Ukrainian miners, kills 15, injures 15
A Russian drone attack on a bus outside Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed at least 15 miners and injured 15 others on Feb. 1, according to Governor Oleksandr Hanzha and Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
The strike came amid a broader Russian assault on mines operated by DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy firm, the company said. The drone hit a service bus in Ternivka as it was carrying miners after their shift.
Fifteen miners were killed in the strike, the State Emergency Service said.
The area near the bus was struck by the drone, Hanzha said, injuring 15 others, most of whom were hospitalized. Six of the injured were in serious condition, he added.
"The service bus was carrying mine workers — civilians who were not involved in the combat. This is yet another brutal attack with casualties, just for today," Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
Mykhailo Volynets, chairperson of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine and lawmaker from the Batkivshchyna party, told the Kyiv Independent that Russia's latest attack is part of an ongoing campaign against Ukrainian mines, energy facilities, and energy workers.
"The Russian aggressor is daily targeting the mines," Volynets said.
"Russia attacks coal enterprises, energy facilities, substations, and specifically the mining territories. .... There is not a day that goes by without miners having to be lifted to the surface from de-energized mines in emergency conditions."
Ukraine had 145 coal mines at the start of 2014 — the year Russia launched its invasion of Donbas and illegally annexed Crimea. Now, due to Russian attacks, only 14 remain, according to Volynets.
Ukraine, US, Russia to meet in UAE next week for new round of peace talks, Zelensky says
Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia are set to meet in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4-5 for a new round of talks as part of ongoing efforts to negotiate a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 1.
Zelensky's statement came amid uncertainty over whether the talks initially scheduled for Feb. 1 would go ahead and whether they would be held bilaterally between Moscow and Kyiv or in a trilateral format with Washington.
"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," Ukraine's president said.
The day before, on Jan. 31, Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev met with U.S. officials, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, in Miami.
The previous two-day talks between Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow concluded in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 24.
Zelensky later said in his evening address that he would meet with the Ukrainian team on Feb. 2 to prepare for the talks and agree on a framework for the discussions. He also said he expects an intense month of diplomacy, with the U.S. team working actively to decrease the number of attacks.
"We expect that the American side will be just as active, particularly with regard to de-escalation measures — reducing strikes — and much depends on what the American side manages to achieve," he said.
The Ukrainian people's trust in the peace process depends, in part, on the effectiveness of reducing the scale of attacks, he said.
The talks are expected to focucs on a potential energy ceasefire and control over Ukraine's Donbas region. Russia has long demanded that Ukraine cede the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, including unoccupied territory, as a precondition of any peace agreement.
As Russian attacks pushed Ukraine's energy system into a crisis, U.S. President Trump on Jan. 29 announced that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop bombarding Ukrainian cities for a week. Moscow said the next day that the pause applies only to Kyiv and would last until Feb. 1.
In recent days, Russia has continued its attacks on the civilian infrastructure across other Ukrainian cities, resulting in casualties.
Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia injure at least 9, maternity hospital damaged
Russia launched two attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Feb. 1, injuring at least nine people, including a child, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Around noon, Russia struck a maternity hospital, injuring at least six people. Among the injured were two women who were being examined when the Russian attack happened, Fedorov said.
Later in the day, a Russian drone attacked one of the districts in Zaporizhzhia, injuring two women and a four-year-old boy, the governor said.
He shared footage from the sites showing a damaged building with shattered windows and rising smoke, as well as houses damaged in a separate attack.
"The strike on the maternity hospital is yet another proof of a war waged against life," the governor said.
Throughout the full-scale war, Russia has multiple times targeted maternity hospitals, alongside attacks on other civilian infrastructure. In 2022, Russian forces struck a maternity ward in Vilniansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, killing a two-day-old boy.
The latest attack on Zaporizhzhia also damaged nearly three dozen other buildings, including 15 multi-unit apartment buildings and 11 homes, the city administration reported.
The attack came as Russia ramps up its offensive in the southern region, regularly launching strikes in the area.
Russian officials call for 'more powerful weapons' to attack Ukraine as temperatures drop
Russian State Duma deputies urged Moscow to use "more powerful weapons" to attack Ukraine, its Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said on Jan. 30, amid increasingly cold temperatures.
Stressing that Moscow's troops are on the advance, Volodin threatened President Volodymyr Zelensky by claiming that "the only way forward" is to follow the agreement reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump at the August 2025 Alaska talks.
The agreement envisions a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas and a freeze of the front line elsewhere to reach a peace deal, Reuters reported on Jan. 26, citing a source close to the Kremlin. Ukraine was not invited to the Alaska talks.
Volodin's threat, in which he says State Duma deputies call for "weapons of retaliation" to be used against Ukraine starting next week, comes a few days after Ukrainian, Russian, and U.S. officials held the latest round of peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 23-24. The negotiations were scheduled to resume on Feb. 1 in the same venue, but Zelensky said the date and location may change due to the "situation with the U.S. and Iran."
Volodin did not specify the exact types of weapons the State Duma deputies insist Russia use in his Telegram post.
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