Russian forces are trying to press forward and capture the key strategic city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said.
Vladimir Putin’s troops are aiming to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic railway hub and capture the whole of the Donetsk region while his negotiators stall peace talks.
The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
But Ukrainian open-source researchers DeepState said Russian infantry were moving into the northern part of Pokrovsk and attempting to push further toward the nearby village of Hryshyne.
The group, whose map showed nearly all of Pokrovsk and much of Myrnohrad to be under Russian control, described the current fighting as "the last battles" for the two cities.
The battlefield update comes as the Russian aerial onslaught of missiles and drones continued over Ukraine, killing a mother and child among six people over the past day.
The 10-year-old boy and his mother, 41, were killed in the town of Bohodukhiv in the eastern Kharkiv region, after Moscow launched a wave of attacks targeting the country’s east and south.
Top Russian general reportedly behind Salisbury poisonings shot in assassination bid in Moscow
UK ‘threatens to seize’ Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in escalation of tensions
Zelensky reveals US deadline for Ukraine and Russia to finalise peace deal and end war
Why the end of the New START treaty doesn’t necessarily mean another nuclear arms race
Key Points
- Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
- Mother and child among three killed in Russian overnight attacks
- Don't follow Putin's divisive agenda, Kyiv mayor tells Zelensky
- Russia says man suspected of shooting top general has been flown to Moscow from Dubai
- Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talks
Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
03:53 , Arpan RaiRussian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
Moscow claimed late last year to have captured Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denied.
Ukraine and France launch joint weapon production
03:32 , Arpan RaiUkraine and France will start joint weapons production, Kyiv’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said yesterday after a meeting with French armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin.
“Met with a French MoD delegation led by @CaVautrin. Visited Ukrainian air-defense positions against the backdrop of the latest Russian missile and drone attacks. Demonstrated how Ukraine protects its skies every day. Grateful to France for the strong support that saves lives,” Fedorov said.
In a message on Telegram, he added: “We are moving from supplies to joint production and long-term solutions that systematically strengthen our defence.”
Met with a French MoD delegation led by @CaVautrin. Visited Ukrainian air-defense positions against the backdrop of the latest Russian missile and drone attacks. Demonstrated how Ukraine protects its skies every day. Grateful to France for the strong support that saves lives. pic.twitter.com/RySJ3ELGWZ
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 9, 2026
Ukrainian skeleton racer wears helmet paying tribute to athletes killed in war
03:20 , Arpan RaiUkrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych trained wearing a helmet brandished with images of compatriots killed during the war in his homeland, delivering on a promise to use the Winter Olympics to keep attention on the conflict.
Visible on the helmet are teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving athlete and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.
“Some of them were my friends,” Heraskevych, who is his country's flag bearer, told Reuters of the portraits after his training session at the Cortina sliding centre.
Ukrainian skeleton star wears helmet with athletes killed in war at Winter Olympics
Senior Russian diplomat: No one talks about security guarantees for us
03:09 , Arpan RaiAn agreement to settle the nearly four-year-old conflict between Russia and Ukraine must also take into consideration security guarantees for Russia, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying.
“We recognise that a peace settlement in Ukraine must take account of Ukraine’s security interests, but a key factor, of course, is Russia’s security interests,” deputy Russian foreign minister Alexander Grushko told the Izvestia media outlet.
“If you look carefully and study the statements made by the leaders of the European Union, no one talks about security guarantees for Russia. This is a key element of a peace accord. Without it, an agreement is impossible.”
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held two rounds of talks in recent weeks with US representatives in the United Arab Emirates. No peace deal has emerged, but the two sides agreed at their latest meeting last week on the first exchange of prisoners of war in five months.
Security guarantees for Ukraine have been a focal point of discussions, along with the extent of Russia’s control of Ukrainian territory and plans for post-war recovery in Kyiv.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that documents on security guarantees for Ukraine were ready.
Media outlet Izvestia said Mr Grushko listed elements of what might be contained in such guarantees.
Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talks
03:00 , Alex CroftAutonomy is not intelligence: why the future of unmanned systems must remain human
02:00 , Alex CroftIn the midst of Russia’s war against Ukraine, one idea has gained remarkable traction: that fully autonomous drones represent the future of defence. Fewer humans, more machines, faster outcomes. Autonomy, in this narrative, is treated as a proxy for progress and often even for intelligence.
This is a dangerous misconception.
Ukraine’s ongoing resistance against Russia has shown the world, in the starkest possible terms, how profoundly modern warfare has changed. Large, expensive and slow-to-adapt systems are no longer the decisive factor. Instead, smaller, software-defined unmanned systems dominate the battlefield because they are fast to adapt, cost-efficient and integrated into a broader information ecosystem.
Read more here:
Autonomy is not intelligence: why the future of unmanned systems must remain human
Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
01:02 , Alex CroftRussian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
Moscow claimed late last year to have captured Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denied.
Russian attack damages Ukrainian oil company production site
00:02 , Alex CroftRussian attacks damaged production sites of Ukraine's state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz in the Poltava and Sumy regions, the company's CEO said on Monday.
The facilities in the Poltava region came under attack for a second day in a row, Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook, adding it was the 20th attack on the company's infrastructure since the start of the year.
Russian strike on Odesa kills one and damages residential building
Monday 9 February 2026 23:00 , Alex CroftPutin would not have stopped in Ukraine, says Klitschko
Monday 9 February 2026 22:01 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko earlier spoke about the intentions of Russian president Vladimir Putin - and says his army would not have stopped with Ukraine if it weren’t stopped by the Ukrainian army.
The mayor of Kyiv was speaking to MPs in the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
“That's why my message is that only together, we can stop Putin. Because Putin would go so far as far we allow him to go,” he said.
“Ukraine, if we were not successful, definitely Putin [would] never [have] stopped in Ukraine,” he says, adding that he would have gone “as far” as he was allowed to go.
Klitschko accuses Russian army of 'genocide'
Monday 9 February 2026 21:03 , Alex CroftWe heard earlier from Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko, who was speaking via video link to the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
He says Ukraine is fighting against “one of the strongest and biggest armies, [the] Russian army” which it has been “successfully defending” for four years.
Mr Klitschko describes Russia’s war as “genocide”, describing the east of Ukraine as “totally destroyed”.
“[Russia] destroyed the cities, destroyed the villages, destroyed big part of our homeland,” he adds.
Vladimir Alexeyev shooting: All we know about ‘attempted assassination’ of Putin’s senior general
Monday 9 February 2026 20:01 , Alex CroftThe suspect of an attack on a top Russian general has been extradited to Moscow after being arrested in Dubai, according to Russia’s security service.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was shot in an alleged assassination attempt on Friday, and is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Lyubomir Korba, a Russian citizen who Moscow says was working under Kyiv’s instructions, has now been detained in Dubai and is now in detention in Russia.
Ukraine denies all involvement in the attack, which comes following a spate of killings of senior military officers in Moscow last year that were linked by Russia to Ukraine.
Here is everything we know about the shooting of a senior military intelligence officer so far.
Read the full report:
Vladimir Alexeyev: Everything we know about the shooting of senior Putin general
Ukraine will launch drone production in Germany by mid-February, Zelensky says
Monday 9 February 2026 18:59 , Alex CroftUkraine is set to launch drone production in Germany by mid-February, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Today, we are opening exports. Ten export centers across Europe will be operating as early as 2026 – in the Baltic and Nordic states. Ten representative offices will be active in 2026.
“By mid-February, we will already see the production of our drones in Germany.”
Ukrainian foreign minister says only 'Trump can stop the war'
Monday 9 February 2026 18:02 , Alex CroftUkrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, Kyiv’s foreign minister has said, adding that only US president Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement.
"Only Trump can stop the war," Sybiha told Reuters in his office in Kyiv, close to the Dnipro river.
From a 20-point peace plan that has formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only "a few" items remain outstanding, Sybiha said.
"The most sensitive and most difficult, to be dealt with at the leaders' level."
Sybiha said Ukraine wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-yer-old war and capitalise on the momentum in the US-brokered talks before other factors come into play, such as campaigning for the US Congressional mid-term elections in November.
Russian forces strike energy facility in northwestern Ukraine
Monday 9 February 2026 17:00 , Alex CroftRussian forces have attacked an energy facility in Ukraine’s northwestern Volyn region, Novovolynsk mayor Borys Karpus said.
"The enemy struck an energy facility near the Novovolynsk hromada [settlement] again last night,” Mr Karpus said in a post on Facebook.
Water is being supplied via the electricity network, he said. Wastewater treatment plants are requiring generators to function, and some boiler houses have also switched to generator power.
He added: "The boilers are being fired up. Fuel is available. All the appropriate services have been deployed. The situation is under control.”
Zelensky confirms of another overnight Russian attack amidst ongoing negotiations
Monday 9 February 2026 16:25 , Alex CroftSport Winter Olympics Who are AIN athletes at the Winter Olympics and is Russia banned?
Monday 9 February 2026 15:52 , Alex CroftThis year’s Winter Olympics, which officially kick off on 6 February in Milan, will feature athletes from 92 different countries.
But two will be conspicuous by their absence: Russia and Belarus.
Both countries were suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2023 for violating the Olympic Charter, meaning they cannot compete at the Winter Olympics.
That ban remains in place but some individual athletes from those countries are allowed to participate in Milano-Cortina, albeit under a neutral flag.
Read more here:
Who are AIN athletes at the Winter Olympics and is Russia banned?
Russian forces look to finalise control over Pokrovsk
Monday 9 February 2026 15:20 , Alex CroftRussian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.
Moscow claimed late last year to have captured Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denied.
Russian attack damages Ukrainian oil company production site
Monday 9 February 2026 14:48 , Alex CroftRussian attacks damaged production sites of Ukraine's state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz in the Poltava and Sumy regions, the company's CEO said on Monday.
The facilities in the Poltava region came under attack for a second day in a row, Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook, adding it was the 20th attack on the company's infrastructure since the start of the year.
Putin would not have stopped in Ukraine, says Klitschko
Monday 9 February 2026 14:20 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko is now speaking about the intentions of Russian president Vladimir Putin - and says his army would not have stopped with Ukraine if it weren’t stopped by the Ukrainian army.
“That's why my message is that only together, we can stop Putin. Because Putin would go so far as far we allow him to go,” he said.
“Ukraine, if we were not successful, definitely Putin [would] never [have] stopped in Ukraine,” he says, adding that he would have gone “as far” as he was allowed to go.
More than 600,000 Ukrainian refugees in Kyiv
Monday 9 February 2026 14:11 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko has said that around 600,000 Ukrainian refugees have moved to Kyiv from war-town regions of Ukraine.
He said the capital is “protected from air defence better than the other cities”.
"Second point, we provide the best services, medical care, education, a whole spectrum of services [which] is very important."
Don't follow Putin's divisive agenda, Kyiv mayor tells Zelensky
Monday 9 February 2026 14:00 , Alex CroftVitalii Klitschko has now been asked about political animosity between himself and Volodymyr Zelensky, of whom he has previously been critical.
He says that he has a “not easy relationship” between the local government and central government. This is not exclusive to Kyiv, he says - it is an “opinion from many mayors”.
Mr Klitschko adds: “Unity inside the country, without political games, makes us much stronger.
“Political competition, we have a lot of examples [of it] during the war, it’s not smart.
“The president criticised [the Kyiv administration] that we were not good prepared [for war]. I’m sorry, I’m not responsible for air defense. We do everything that we can.
“Who is guilty, the local government, the central government? The company that delivers energy? We are fighting against each other, but nobody will look at Putin.
“Putin destroyed I told the president, please don’t follow the agenda of Putin. We have to be united.”
Russia launches 11 ballistic and 149 drones against Ukraine overnight
Monday 9 February 2026 13:53 , Alex CroftWe can now bring you the Ukrainian Air Force’s daily update about overnight Russian attacks.
Russia launched 11 ballistic missiles and 149 drones against Ukraine overnight, it said.
Of these, 116 drones were shot down or neutralised and some missiles were intercepted and did not reach their targets, it added.
Klitschko accuses Russian army of 'genocide'
Monday 9 February 2026 13:44 , Alex CroftWe’re hearing from Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko, who is speaking via video link to the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
He says Ukraine is fighting against “one of the strongest and biggest armies, [the] Russian army” which it has been “successfully defending” for four years.
Mr Klitschko describes Russia’s war as “genocide”, describing the east of Ukraine as “totally destroyed”.
“[Russia] destroyed the cities, destroyed the villages, destroyed big part of our homeland,” he adds.
Vladimir Alexeyev shooting: All we know about ‘attempted assassination’ of Putin’s senior general
Monday 9 February 2026 13:34 , Alex CroftThe suspect of an attack on a top Russian general has been extradited to Moscow after being arrested in Dubai, according to Russia’s security service.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev was shot in an alleged assassination attempt on Friday, and is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Lyubomir Korba, a Russian citizen who Moscow says was working under Kyiv’s instructions, has now been detained in Dubai and is now in detention in Russia.
Ukraine denies all involvement in the attack, which comes following a spate of killings of senior military officers in Moscow last year that were linked by Russia to Ukraine.
Here is everything we know about the shooting of a senior military intelligence officer so far.
Read the full report:
Vladimir Alexeyev: Everything we know about the shooting of senior Putin general
Klitschko brothers to give evidence at UK parliamentary committee
Monday 9 February 2026 13:12 , Alex CroftUkraine’s Klitschko brothers are set to give evidence at a British parliamentary committee hearing on the war in Ukraine.
Vitalii Klitschko, who is the mayor of Kyiv, is one of President Zelensky’s highest profile domestic political opponents, and has often been highly critical of the president.
The hearing is set to begin at around 1:30pm - stay with us for all the key lines.
Germany indicts Ukrainian in connection with parcel bomb plot tied to Russia
Monday 9 February 2026 13:01 , Alex CroftGermany has indicted a Ukrainian national in connection with allegations of a plot linked to Russian intelligence to detonate parcel packages in Europe, German prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.
The Russian embassy in Berlin has not yet commented on the news.
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talks
Monday 9 February 2026 12:28 , Alex CroftRubio to lead 'sizeable' US delegation to major security conference
Monday 9 February 2026 12:01 , Alex CroftUS secretary of state Marco Rubio will lead "a sizeable delegation" of US officials to the Munich Security Conference this weekend, the conference’s head said.
More than 50 members of the U.S. Congress are also expected at the meeting, an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich since 1963.
The governors of Michigan and California are expected to attend, former diplomat and conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told a news conference in Berlin.
"At the moment, transatlantic relations are, in my view, in a considerable crisis of trust and credibility," he said. "That is why it is particularly gratifying that the American side is showing such strong interest in Munich."
Ukraine and Russia given deadline by US to end war, says Zelensky
Monday 9 February 2026 11:32 , Alex CroftUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed the US has set a June deadline for Ukraine and Russia to finalise a peace agreement, aiming to conclude the nearly four-year conflict.
Here’s everything you need to know in five bullet points:
Ukraine and Russia given deadline by US to end war, says Zelensky
Ukraine will launch drone production in Germany by mid-February, Zelensky says
Monday 9 February 2026 11:00 , Alex CroftUkraine is set to launch drone production in Germany by mid-February, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Today, we are opening exports. Ten export centers across Europe will be operating as early as 2026 – in the Baltic and Nordic states. Ten representative offices will be active in 2026.
“By mid-February, we will already see the production of our drones in Germany.”
Russian forces strike energy facility in northwestern Ukraine
Monday 9 February 2026 10:29 , Alex CroftRussian forces have attacked an energy facility in Ukraine’s northwestern Volyn region, Novovolynsk mayor Borys Karpus said.
"The enemy struck an energy facility near the Novovolynsk hromada [settlement] again last night,” Mr Karpus said in a post on Facebook.
Water is being supplied via the electricity network, he said. Wastewater treatment plants are requiring generators to function, and some boiler houses have also switched to generator power.
He added: "The boilers are being fired up. Fuel is available. All the appropriate services have been deployed. The situation is under control.”
Ukrainian foreign minister says only 'Trump can stop the war'
Monday 9 February 2026 10:00 , Alex CroftUkrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, Kyiv’s foreign minister has said, adding that only US president Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement.
"Only Trump can stop the war," Sybiha told Reuters in his office in Kyiv, close to the Dnipro river.
From a 20-point peace plan that has formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only "a few" items remain outstanding, Sybiha said.
"The most sensitive and most difficult, to be dealt with at the leaders' level."
Sybiha said Ukraine wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-yer-old war and capitalise on the momentum in the US-brokered talks before other factors come into play, such as campaigning for the US Congressional mid-term elections in November.
Russian strike on Odesa kills one and damages residential building
Monday 9 February 2026 09:29 , Alex CroftMoscow open for US cooperation but Washington creating barriers, says Lavrov
Monday 9 February 2026 09:01 , Alex CroftRussia remains open for cooperation with the United States but Washington is creating artificial barriers, Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
In an interview with Russian media outlet TV BRICS, Lavrov said that he said he saw "no bright future" in the economic sphere of relations with the United States.
UK ‘threatens to seize’ Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in escalation of tensions
Monday 9 February 2026 08:28 , Alex CroftThe United Kingdom has threatened to seize a Russia-linked oil tanker in an escalation of tensions between the two countries over shadow fleets.
Military options to capture a rogue ship had been identified in discussions involving Nato allies, British defence sources told The Guardian.
The news comes weeks after the UK supported a US operation to seize a Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic.
British armed forces supported the capture of the Marinera, a vessel initially linked to Venezuela and previously known as Bella-1, as it travelled north and eastwards through the waters between Iceland and Scotland.
Days later, a defence source confirmed to The Times that options to seize further vessels were being considered, but no timeframe was given for potential missions at the time. The Special Boats Service (SBS) would likely lead the raids, it was suggested at the time.
Maira Butt reports:
Mother and child among four killed in Russian overnight attacks
Monday 9 February 2026 07:51 , Alex CroftAt least three people were killed, including a mother and her son, during Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine into Monday, authorities said.
The 10-year-old boy and his mother were killed in the attack on a residential area of the town of Bohodukhiv in the eastern Kharkiv region, the regional prosecutor's office said, after Moscow’s forces launched attacks targeting the country’s east and south.
Six people were hurt in the attack on the region, which has been a frequent target of attacks in the nearly four-year war that started with Russian invasion in 2022, it added.
A "massive" Russian drone attack on the southern port city of Odesa killed one and injured two others, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
Residential infrastructure and a gas pipeline were also damaged, Mr Kiper added on the Telegram messaging app.
Another man, 71, was killed in an attack on Novhorod-Siverskyi in the northern Chernihiv region, authorities said.
Nine people, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured in a drone attack in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, its governor, Oleksandr Hanzha, said.
The attack caused a fire in a three-storey building, destroying the roof, he added.
Russia offered US £9tn cooperation deal, Zelensky says
Monday 9 February 2026 07:33 , Arpan RaiRussia offered the United States a cooperation deal worth £9tn in a bid for agreement between the two countries, Zelensky has said.
The Ukrainian leader said intelligence suggested Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev proposed US-Russian co-operation deals worth as much as $12 trillion (£9tn) during negotiations.
He said that such agreements between Moscow and Washington must not violate Ukraine’s constitution, on Saturday.
“Intelligence showed me the so-called ‘Dmitriev package’ that he presented in the US – it amounts to around $12tn (£9tn),” Mr Zelensky said.
Russia claims assassination suspects admitted they had orders from Ukraine's spy agency
Monday 9 February 2026 07:06 , Arpan RaiRussia's Federal Security Service claimed today that two men suspected of shooting one of the country's most senior military intelligence officers had confessed that they were carrying out orders from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Ukraine has denied any involvement in Friday's attempted assassination of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's GRU military intelligence service. Alexeyev has regained consciousness after surgery.
Russia said that the suspected shooter, a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen named by Moscow as Lyubomir Korba, had been questioned after he was extradited from Dubai. A suspected accomplice, Viktor Vasin, has also been questioned.
The FSB said in a statement that both Korba and Vasin had "confessed their guilt" and given details of the shooting which they said was "committed on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine”.
The FSB said Korba was recruited by the SBU in August 2025 in Ternopil, western Ukraine, underwent training in Kyiv and was paid monthly in crypto-currency. For killing Alexeyev, Korba was promised $30,000 by the SBU, the FSB said.
The FSB said Polish intelligence was involved in his recruitment but authorities in Warsaw are yet to comment.
Russia hasn't provided any evidence to support its claims.
Watch: Russian strike on Odesa kills one and damages residential building
Monday 9 February 2026 06:45 , Arpan RaiRussia's FSB says Ukraine ordered attempt on Russian general's life and Poland helped
Monday 9 February 2026 06:34 , Arpan RaiRussia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has said the attempted assassination of General Vladimir Alexeyev was ordered by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Interfax news agency reported.
The FSB said that Polish intelligence had been involved in the recruitment of the shooter.
The FSB did not provide any evidence to back its claims.
A Ukrainian-born Russian citizen has been extradited to Moscow from Dubai on suspicion of gravely injuring Alexeyev, Russian security officials said on Sunday.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attempted assassination.
Shooting of Putin's general in Moscow is a 'serious blow', says ex-FSB
Monday 9 February 2026 06:09 , Arpan RaiAfter Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's vast GRU military intelligence service, was shot three times on Friday, questions have been raised over the safety of Russian special services.
The GRU, like the FSB, is a vast and powerful Russian intelligence agency that includes sleeper agents abroad, special forces units and advanced cyber capabilities.
Jailed Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who has repeatedly scolded Russian generals for what he says is the shambolic prosecution of the war, praised Alexeyev's energy and courage but said the attack was a significant setback.
“This is a serious blow to our special services," Girkin, himself a former FSB officer, said on Telegram.
Alexeyev came to national prominence in June 2023 when he was shown trying to calm down Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, during a failed mutiny.
In a video, Alexeyev listened as Prigozhin said he had come to take then-defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov.
“Take them then," Alexeyev said with a chuckle. The mutiny fizzled and Prigozhin died in a plane crash two months later.
Russia accuses Ukraine's intelligence of assassinating Putin's general
Monday 9 February 2026 05:22 , Arpan RaiRussian officials have accused Ukrainian intelligence services of aiding the assassination of Moscow’s top general Vladimir Alekseyev.
Russia’s investigative committee and Federal Security Service (FSB) said they have identified and arrested a suspect who “arrived in Moscow in late December last year on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence services to commit a terrorist attack”.
The top Russian agencies did not provide further details to support their claim.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on Friday had already stated that Kyiv has nothing to do with the assassination attempt on Alekseyev.
One killed as Russia attacks Odesa overnight
Monday 9 February 2026 05:03 , Arpan RaiAt least one person was killed after Russian forces carried out a series of attacks overnight, officials said, targeting various cities with reported missile and drone attacks.
Odesa city military administration head Serhiy Lysak said a fire broke out on the roof of a multi-story building, and a gas pipeline was damaged in the attack. Car fires were also reported in the city.
The southern port city was subject to a large-scale drone attack and “residential infrastructure” in the city was also damaged.
At least one person was killed as a result of the drone strike he said.
Russian drones attacked Odesa around 12.30am, Ukraine’s Air Force and multiple explosions were heard, public broadcaster Suspilne said.
Ukraine sanctions foreign suppliers of components for Russian missiles
Monday 9 February 2026 04:24 , Arpan RaiUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was imposing sanctions on some foreign manufacturers of components for Russian drones and missiles used against Ukraine.
"Producing this weaponry would be impossible without critical foreign components, which the Russians continue to obtain by circumventing sanctions," Zelensky said on X.
"We are introducing new sanctions precisely against such companies – component suppliers, as well as missile and drone manufacturers. I have signed the relevant decisions."
According to two decrees published by the Ukrainian presidency, the targets of the sanctions include several Chinese companies as well as companies from the former Soviet Union, the United Arab Emirates and Panama.
Overnight into Saturday, Russia carried out another massive attack on Ukraine, deploying over 400 drones and nearly 40 missiles of various types. Producing this weaponry would be impossible without critical foreign components, which the Russians continue to obtain by…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 8, 2026
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine is preparing for 'next trilateral meetings' after Abu Dhabi talks
Monday 9 February 2026 04:00 , Nicole Wootton-CaneUkrainian foreign minister says only 'Trump can stop the war'
Monday 9 February 2026 03:56 , Arpan RaiUkrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, Kyiv’s foreign minister has said, adding that only US president Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement.
"Only Trump can stop the war," Sybiha told Reuters in his office in Kyiv, close to the Dnipro river.
From a 20-point peace plan that has formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only "a few" items remain outstanding, Sybiha said.
"The most sensitive and most difficult, to be dealt with at the leaders' level."
Sybiha said Ukraine wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-yer-old war and capitalise on the momentum in the US-brokered talks before other factors come into play, such as campaigning for the US Congressional mid-term elections in November.
Watch: Zelensky confirms of another overnight Russian attack amidst ongoing negotiations
Monday 9 February 2026 03:40 , Arpan RaiPutin thanks UAE president for detention of suspect in shooting of his general
Monday 9 February 2026 03:27 , Arpan RaiRussian president Vladimir Putin thanked his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for help with the detention of a man suspected of shooting a Russian military intelligence officer in Moscow.
The two leaders spoke over the phone on Saturday evening, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
“Vladimir Putin thanked Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for ensuring effective cooperation between the two countries' security agencies and for the assistance of the Emirati side in apprehending the suspect in the assassination attempt on General Vladimir Alekseyev,” a statement said.
In addition, the leaders had a further discussion of the issues raised during the President of the UAE's recent visit to Moscow.
A Ukrainian-born Russian citizen has been extradited to Moscow from Dubai on suspicion of gravely injuring Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's vast GRU military intelligence service.
Russian airstrike on Ukrainian city kills one
Monday 9 February 2026 03:13 , Arpan RaiA Russian airstrike on a residential area in eastern Ukraine killed one person and wounded two, officials said on Sunday.
The attack on the city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region caused a fire in a nine-story apartment block, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
Russia also struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine's Poltava region overnight into Sunday, Serhii Koretskyi, chief executive of Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz said.
Russia has hammered Ukraine's power grid, especially in winter, throughout the nearly 4-year-old war. It aims to weaken the Ukrainian will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call "weaponising winter”.
Russia says man suspected of shooting top general has been flown to Moscow from Dubai
Monday 9 February 2026 03:05 , Arpan RaiA Ukrainian-born Russian citizen has been extradited to Moscow from Dubai on suspicion of gravely injuring one of Russia's most senior military intelligence officers, Russian security officials and investigators said on Sunday.
The Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said in a statement that a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.
Russian investigators said Korba, born in the Ternopil region of Soviet Ukraine in 1960, was tasked by Ukrainian intelligence to carry out the shooting. Russia said Ukraine was behind the shooting, a charge Kyiv has denied.
Russian media showed masked FSB officers escorting a blindfolded man from a small jet in Russia in the dark.
The FSB said it had identified two accomplices, also Russian citizens. One, Viktor Vasin, was detained in Moscow, while another, Zinaida Serebritskaya, escaped to Ukraine, Russian investigators said.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia's vast GRU military intelligence service, was shot three times on Friday with a Makarov pistol equipped with a silencer in an apartment block on the Volokolamsk highway in northern Moscow, the investigators said.
Recap: Russia says it captured two settlements in eastern Ukraine
Monday 9 February 2026 03:00 , Nicole Wootton-CaneRussia has claimed to have captured two settlements in eastern Ukraine on Sunday.
The country’s defence ministry said its forces had captured the settlements of Hlushkivka in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region and Sydorivka in Sumy region.
The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield report.
Ukraine backs call for ceasefire during Winter Olympics
Monday 9 February 2026 02:00 , Nicole Wootton-CaneUkraine has backed calls for a ceasefire during the Winter Olympics.
The idea was proposed by Pope Leo under what he said was the tradition of the Olympic truce. Ukraine responded to the suggestion and backed the proposal.
“We are interested in a ceasefire and if Russia once again rejects, it will once again confirm who is the obstacle for peace and who wants to continue this war,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters.
Top Russian general reportedly behind Salisbury poisonings shot in assassination bid in Moscow
Monday 9 February 2026 01:00 , Nicole Wootton-CaneThe top Russian military general reportedly shot in an alleged attempted assassination outside his Moscow apartment has been accused of being involved in the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev is deputy head of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence arm.
Mr Alexeyev is believed to have been behind the deadly Salisbury poisonings that caused the tragic death of mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, according to reports. The EU imposed sanctions on him over the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in 2018.
You can read more below:
Top Russian general reportedly behind Salisbury poisonings shot in assassination bid
