Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders mark the 4th anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Kyiv, February 24, 2026

EA-War and Politics 24: Talking with Ukraine on 4th Anniversary of Russia’s Invasion

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: 4 Years Later, Ukraine Still Stands

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: From Iran to Ukraine to Greenland to Tariffs — Trump and the “Jumped-Up Halfwit” Witkoff

Tuesday’s Coverage: Hungary Blocks EU Sanctions on 4th Anniversary of Russia’s Invasion

UPDATE 1630 GMT:

At least five civilians have been murdered and 18 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 95 of 111 drones.

In the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, four people were killed and two wounded.

In the neighboring Kherson region, one civilian was slain and 11 injured.

Casualties were also reported in the Donetsk, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

UPDATE 1624 GMT:

The first Ukrainian drone production plant in the UK has begun operations.

Ukraine’s Ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, posted:

We are leaving the engineering expertise centre in Ukraine and integrating production into the British defence space. We are creating a new quality of partnership, where allies not only support each other, but also form a common industrial security base.

Ukrainian company Ukrspecsystems said in September that it would establish a production and training hub in Suffolk.

UPDATE 1613 GMT:

Ukraine has told the European Commission that efforts to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline, connecting Siberian oilfields with Hungary and Slovakia, are being hampered by heavy bombardment from Russia.

The pipeline was damaged on January 27 by Russian bombing of western Ukraine. Rather than blaming Moscow, Hungary — led by Vladimir Putin’s ally Viktor Orbán — has blocked European Union sanctions on Russia and threatened to hold up a €90 billion ($106.25 billion) loan to Ukraine. Slovakia, led by Putin ally Robert Fico, says it could cut off supplies of electricity to the Ukrainians.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, asked Ukraine to “accelerate” the works during her visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.

Ukraine told the Commission that “emergency preparatory work is ongoing, but in very difficult circumstances”. An EU spokesperson said:

We understand the point of view of President Zelensky, who says that the Ukrainian people are constantly repairing what Russia is systematically destroying, and some citizens are even losing their lives, [while] repairing critical energy infrastructure.

We condemn in the strongest terms Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that during his visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, “the head of Ukraine’s Naftohaz showed me pictures of Russian damage to the Brody pumping station on the Druzhba oil pipeline”.

UPDATE 1555 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced a series of commitments by foreign partners, both to support of Kyiv and to sanctions against Russia.

The UK approved funding to restore the Ukrainian energy grid and expand generation capacity; humanitarian assistance for frontline communities; and a contribution to holding Russia accountable for war crimes.

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Britain also approved its largest sanctions package since 2022, targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues and its “shadow tanker” fleet.

Canada approved a new 2-year defense support package C$2 bilion ($1.46 billion), and sanctions targeting 100 vessels of the shadow fleet.

Australia blacklisted 180 individuals, entities, and shadow fleet vessels, and New Zealand also targeted the shadow fleet and a lower cap on the price of Russian oil.

UPDATE 1238 GMT:

Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, the chair of the National Security and Defense Council, will meet Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The two men will discuss preparations for a possible trilateral meeting with Russian officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the talks will also consider prisoner-of-war exchanges and a “prosperity package” for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

UPDATE 0825 GMT:

Four civilians were murdered and two injured in Russian airstrikes on the Zaporizhzhya region in southern Ukraine on Tuesday night.

Three of the victims were recovered from the rubble of a destroyed family home. The other was found in a damaged two-story apartment building.

Russian forces carried out 643 attacks on 32 settlements across the region over the past day, damaging homes, vehicles, and infrastructure.

UPDATE 0811 GMT:

The Trump Administration has demanded that Ukraine halt attacks on a key oil terminal on the southwest Russian coast because of “American investments”, says Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Olha Stefanishyna.

Stefanishyna said received a demarche from the State Department after Ukraine’s attacks last November on the oil terminal in Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.

We heard that the Ukrainian attacks on Novorossiysk affected some of the American investments that are being made through Kazakhstan. And we heard from the State Department that we should refrain from, you know, attacking American interests.

The Administration did not propose refraining from attacks on other Russian energy infrastructure.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium marine terminal near Novorossiysk was damaged, but there was no oil spill. Loading was suspended, and tankers were diverted outside the CPC’s waters. Oil exports were urgently rerouted to alternative routes.

The Kazakh Energy Ministry said the attacks were unacceptable and posed a threat to global energy security.

Among the Consortium’s member is the US oil company Chevron.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Trump Administration marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by abstaining on a UN resolution supporting Kyiv.

The General Assembly adopted the resolution, backing Ukraine’s international borders and expressing concern over Russian attacks on civilians and energy infrastructure, by a vote of 107-12 with 51 abstentions. Russia, Belarus and Sudan were among the No votes, while China was alongside the US in abstention.

UN Secretary General António Guterres, describing the invasion “as a stain on our collective conscience”, emphasized the calls for an immediate ceasefire. He told the Security Council that concrete measures are needed to de-escalate attacks and create space for diplomacy, noting that more than 15,000 civilians have been killed and more than 41,000 injures. Among the casualties are 3,200 children.

But Deputy US Ambassador Tammy Bruce said that while the Trump Administration welcomed the appeal for an immediate ceasefire, the UN resolution would distract from negotiations, “rather than support discussion of the full range of diplomatic avenues that may pave the way to that durable peace”.

Donald Trump’s former envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, responded:

In his 108-minute State of the Union address, Donald Trump spent 20 seconds on Ukraine, falsely declaring that the Russian invasion would not have occurred if he had been President in 2022.

Zelensky to Trump: Visit Kyiv

A series of European leaders visited Kyiv on Tuesday or joined UKraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video conference of the Coalition of Willing.

The Trump camp did not participate in either occasion.

In his 18-minute video address marking the anniversary, Zelensky invited Trump to come to Kyiv. Neither Trump nor his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have been to Ukraine during Russia’s invasion — in contrast, real estate developer Witkoff has visited Vladimir Putin eight times, joined by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on some occasions.

Zelensky said:

I really want to come here with the president of the United States one day. I know for certain: only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain – only then can one understand what this war is really about.

A trip to Ukraine might make it clear to Trump “who the aggressor is here and who must be pressured”, the President explained.