These are the key developments from day 1,445 of
Russia’s war on
Ukraine.Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone and missile strike in the Ukrainian capital,
Kyiv, on Saturday [Emergency Service of
Ukraine/Handout via Reuters]Published On 8 Feb 2026Here is where things stand on Sunday, February 8:Fighting Russian forces launched more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles in an overnight attack on
Ukraine on Saturday, targeting the country’s power grid, generation facilities and distribution substations, according to Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukrainian Minister of Energy
Denys Shmyhal said two thermal power stations in
Ukraine’s western regions were hit, and electricity distribution lines were also targeted. Zelenskyy said more than 1,000 apartment buildings remain without heating in bitterly cold temperatures in the capital,
Kyiv, due to the attacks. The Ukrainian president criticised Moscow’s targeting of energy infrastructure, saying
Russia must be deprived of the ability to use the cold winter weather as leverage against
Kyiv. “Every day,
Russia could choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new strikes,” he said.
Poland suspended operations at the Lublin and Rzeszow airports near the border with
Ukraine on Saturday following the Russian strikes. Polish authorities later said there had been no violation of the country’s airspace and reopened the two airports. The
International Atomic Energy Agency said on X that Ukrainian nuclear power plants have reduced output due to the renewed military activity that affected electrical substations and disconnected some power lines. Ukrainian military and security officials said that
Kyiv struck an oil depot in
Russia’s
Saratov region and a plant that makes missile fuel components in the
Tver region in western
Russia. Ukrainian forces also launched a strike on
Russia’s
Bryansk region, according to the governor there, using long-range Neptune missiles and HIMARS rocket systems. The attacks wounded two people and disrupted power in seven municipalities, the official said. The Russian TASS news agency said another Ukrainian missile attack on the border region of Belgorod caused power outages at several water supply facilities, and that experts are “investigating the extent of the outage”. The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops captured the village of Chuhunivka in
Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Peace talks Zelenskyy said the United States has given Moscow and
Kyiv a deadline of June to reach an agreement on ending the war, after the two countries held two days of talks in Abu Dhabi this week. Zelenskyy said Washington has proposed talks in Miami in a week, and that
Kyiv has agreed. The US also asked
Russia and
Ukraine to agree to a new ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure as a de-escalation step during the talks, Zelenskyy said. He added that
Kyiv was ready to stop attacks on Russian oil facilities and other energy infrastructure, but Moscow has yet to agree. The Ukrainian leader said he had reports from Ukrainian intelligence services on discussions in which Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev had proposed US-Russian cooperation deals worth as much as $12 trillion. Any such agreements between Moscow and Washington must not violate
Ukraine’s constitution, Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy added that
Ukraine and
Russia remain far apart in the discussions about territory. He said the US was proposing a free economic zone in
Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which
Russia mostly occupies, but that neither
Ukraine nor
Russia was thrilled by this idea. Earlier, the Ukrainian leader met his negotiating team in
Kyiv and said
Ukraine “needs results” that ensure “effective security guarantees” for the country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that a third round of talks aimed at ending
Russia’s war on
Ukraine should take place “soon”. But he said there is no fixed date yet. Politics and security Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdrii Sybiha said
Kyiv supports a call for a ceasefire during the Winter Olympic Games after Italy and Pope Leo urged world leaders to use the Milano Cortina games to further peace. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that two suspects in the attempted assassination of top Russian military intelligence official General Vladimir Alexeyev “will soon be interrogated”. It cited a source close to the investigation. Alexeyev, the deputy head of the GRU,
Russia’s military intelligence arm, was shot in his Moscow apartment building and rushed to hospital on Friday. He underwent successful surgery and regained consciousness on Saturday, but remained under medical supervision, Kommersant added. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov accused
Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said – without providing evidence – was designed to sabotage peace talks. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order rescinding a punitive 25 percent duty on all imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil, the White House said. The two nations earlier announced a trade deal slashing US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent from 50 percent in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers. Volunteer Marat Darmenov serves free hot food to
Kyiv residents during a blackout caused by
Russia’s regular air attacks on the country’s energy system, in
Kyiv on Saturday [Sergei Grits/AP]