Emergency workers at an apartment building damaged by a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, February 3, 2026 (Serhii Okunev/AFP/Getty)

Monday’s Coverage: Russia Murders 12+ Miners, Injures 16 in Drone Strike

UPDATE 1606 GMT:

Sweden and Denmark are allocating 2.6 billion Swedish crowns ($290 million) for joint procurement and supply of Ukraine with air defense systems.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said at a joint press conference in Gothenburg with his Danish counterpart Troels Lund Poulsen:

This means that Ukraine can develop an air defense battalion if they so wish.

The purchase doesn’t just support Ukraine on the battlefield with more material, but also strengthens our production capacity in Sweden.

UPDATE 1556 GMT:

Alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a joint press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia must face consequences over its overnight attack. Cautioning “partners” against remaining “silent”, he said licenses are needed so Europe can protect itself, including for missiles crucial for air defense systems.

The President said he and Rutte agreed that a Ukrainian army with 800,000 personnel is an acceptable size. The Kremlin is trying to force Kyiv to accept a cap of 600,000.

While Ukraine’s membership of the European Union is a key part of security guarantees, it is essential that “Europeans would be ready to do if Russia will attack us again and what Americans will do”.

Rutte agreed that Ukraine needs binding commitments and security guarantees against future Russian aggression, including the deployment of European forces and a “crucial” US “backstop”.

He expressed confidence that NATO members will allocate $15 billion this year under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, buying weapons from the US to give to Ukraine.

The NATO head noted that the massive Russian overnight attack was a “really bad signal” for negotiations.

Zelensky posted about Russia’s attacks with more than 450 drones and 71 missiles:

UPDATE 1551 GMT:

Part of Ukraine’s iconic Motherland monument was damaged by Russia’s overnight attack on Kyiv.

The Soviet-era memorial to World War II is a large statue of a woman holding a sword and shield, towering over the capital. At its base is the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine replaced the statue’s Soviet hammer and sickle emblem with a Ukrainian trident.

UPDATE 1124 GMT:

Ukrainians showing resilience and even some joy amid Russia’s attempt to break them with aerial attacks.

Journalist Christopher Miller quotes one of the residents, “It is at moments like these that you think, ‘Screw you [Russia], you won’t break us.”

He adds that a poll, conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, shows 52% of people to concede the Donbas in eastern Ukraine even for security guarantees.

There is fatigue, but Russia’s airstrikes that have plunged Kyiv and other cities into coldness and darkness have not impacted the popular desire to fight on.

KIIS adds, “We see that the will to continue the resistance remains among the majority of the population, and the majority also supports launching strikes on Russia.”

UPDATE 0946 GMT:

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has arrived in Kyiv and is addressing Ukraine’s Parliament.

He will confer with President Volodymyr Zelensky later today.

Before going to Parliament, Rutte joined Zelensky to honor Ukrainians killed during Russia’s invasion.

UPDATE 0829 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted about the latest Russian missile and drone attacks:

Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than turning to diplomacy. And this very clearly shows what is needed from our partners and what can help. Timely delivery of missiles for air defense systems and the protection of normal life are our priority.

Without pressure on Russia, there will be no end to this war. Right now, Moscow is choosing terror and escalation, and that is why maximum pressure is required.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha added:

UPDATE 0812 GMT:

The Financial Times posts details of the proposed Ukraine-Europe-US agreement on security guarantees for Kyiv.

“Three people familiar with the matter” said that if Russia violated a ceasefire, the response within 24 hours would begin with a diplomatic warning and any necessary action by Ukrainian forces.

If Russia continued hostilities, a second-phase response would include troops from many European Union countries, the UK, Norway, Iceland, and Turkey.

If Moscow expanded the attacks, the third phase will include a coordinated response including the US military.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: On the eve of the second set of Ukraine-Russia-US talks, Moscow has renewed its massive missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions.

Explosions began in Kyiv around 12:30 a.m. as air defenses were activated. Officials reported damage to apartment blocks, an education establishment, and a commercial building. A building housing a kindergarten was set afire.

Residents tried to find shelter as temperatures dropped to -24°C (-11°F).

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, two people were injured. Heating was cut to more than 800 buildings.

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine reported attacks, with anti-aircraft units in action in the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region.

Hours earlier, in his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had hailed Russia’s three-day pause in attacks on energy infrastructure while noting that Moscow had switched its assault to logistics such as railways.

The trilateral talks resume in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, four days after Vladimir Putin’s top financial advisor Kirill Dmitriev met Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Miami.

Trump declared to reporters on Monday, “I think we’re doing very well with Ukraine and Russia. For the first time, I’m saying that. I think we’re going to, maybe, have some good news.”