Here is where things stand on Monday, February 9:
Fighting
- At least one person was killed after Russian forces launched “massive” air raids on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, according to officials.
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Russian forces also attacked facilities of Ukraine’s major oil and gas company Naftogaz in the eastern Poltava region overnight, causing damage. It was the 19th attack launched by Moscow on the facility, the company said in a statement, without specifying the extent of the damage.
- Russian forces claimed the capture of the settlements of Hlushkivka in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region and Sydorivka in the Sumy region, according to Russian state media.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian energy infrastructure is “a legitimate target” for Ukrainian strikes, because Russia’s energy sector is a source of funds for the production of weapons.
- Zelenskyy also said that in the past week, Russia had launched more than 2,000 attack drones, 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and 116 missiles of various types at Ukraine’s cities and villages.
Ceasefire talks
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Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Ukrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, and that only US President Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement to end the four-year-old war.
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Sybiha said that from the 20-point peace plan, which formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only “a few” items remain outstanding, but the “most sensitive and most difficult” have to be dealt with at the leaders’ level.
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Sybiha added that in the event of a ceasefire deal, the US has told Ukraine that it was prepared to ratify security guarantees in Congress, and that it would then provide a security “backstop” to support the peace deal, though no US troops would be deployed on the ground in Ukraine.
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Sybiha also said that other countries beyond France and the United Kingdom had confirmed their readiness to send troops to Ukraine as a deterrence force if an agreement is reached.
Politics
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A Ukrainian-born Russian citizen has been extradited to Moscow from Dubai on suspicion of gravely wounding one of Russia’s most senior military intelligence officers in a shooting attack, according to Russian security officials and investigators. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev has survived the attack.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his United Arab Emirates counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, over the phone and thanked him for his help with the detention of the man suspected of shooting Alexeyev, according to a Kremlin spokesperson.
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Zelenskyy announced on X that he was imposing sanctions on some foreign manufacturers of components for Russian drones and missiles used against Ukraine. He said Moscow continues to obtain drone components abroad by circumventing sanctions.
Energy
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Indian refiners, including Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, are avoiding Russian oil purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer, a move that could help New Delhi seal a trade pact with Washington, the Reuters news agency reported, citing refining and trade sources.

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