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 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.

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.”