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Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 02-08-2025 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that 36 drones were downed over four Russian regions in the early hours of Saturday. Some were believed to be targeting an oil refinery.
Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked four Russian regions in the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 8, including an oil refinery.
In a Telegram update, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it downed 36 Ukrainian drones overnight: 18 over the Rostov region, 11 over the Volgograd region, five over the Belgorod region and two more over Krasnodar Krai.
Belgium previously said the tax generated on profits from frozen Russian assets would go to Ukraine, but it is unclear if the amount has arrived.
On Feb. 8, multiple outlets reported that Belgium would provide Ukraine with €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion) from the taxes generated from frozen Russian assets held by Euroclear.
The problem is the money might already have been spent.
The protest took place on Feb. 7, a historic day marking an 1855 Russo-Japanese agreement that recognized Japanese sovereignty over four islands now controlled by Russia.
Protestors have rallied outside the Russian embassy in Tokyo on Friday, Feb. 7, to voice their dissent against Russian occupation of foreign territories.
The Japanese government designated the day as Northern Territories Day. On Feb. 7, 1855, Japan and Russia signed a treaty that stipulated Japanese sovereignty over four islands that later came under Russian control since the end of WWII.
Moscow, unsure of how Trump will turn out, are showing signs of unease by dispensing with diplomacy and lashing out.
In a move likely to cause considerable offense in the White House, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has compared US President Donald Trump’s “America First” concept to Nazi propaganda. This provocative statement from Russia’s top diplomat offers an indication of the mood in Moscow as the United States and Russia engage in preliminary talks over a possible deal to end the invasion of Ukraine.
In an article published on Feb. 4 by the Russia in Global Affairs journal, Lavrov accused the US of undermining the international order with “cowboy attacks,” and claimed that the rhetoric of the Trump administration was reminiscent of Nazi Germany. “The ‘America First’ concept has disturbing similarities to the ‘Germany Above All’ slogan of the Hitler period,” he wrote.
He had said Ukraine’s resources should be used to finance everything needed after the war, such as reconstruction and maintaining a strong army.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed as “selfish and self-serving” Donald Trump’s demands for Ukrainian rare earths in exchange for US military aid, in an interview published on Saturday.
Rare earth group metals used to transform power into motion in a vast array of things ranging from electric vehicles to missiles and there is no substitute for them.
The billionaire doubled down on his avowed intention to close down USAID – what he called the “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists” – by sharing the now-discredited allegations.
Elon Musk, having been appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by US President Donald Trump, launched a social media campaign of accusations and justifications for his attack on USAID, Washington’s foreign assistance agency.
Trump recently told the press that he appreciated “the concept” of USAID but said its staff “turned out to be radical left lunatics.” Trump signed an executive order on Monday to freeze foreign aid and seems determined to drastically cut USAID’s workforce of more than 5,000 foreign service officers, civil servants and personal service contractors down to around 300 “essential” project staff.
Donald Trump insists that he will put an end to the war. Kyiv Post speaks to soldiers on the front line to find out what effect, if any, Trump’s promises have had on morale.
US President Donald Trump previously vowed to end the war in Ukraine, claiming he could broker peace between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours – “before I even become president.” However, this promise has proven to be wildly false. The war continues with no signs of a swift resolution. Trump also said in December that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would be harder to achieve than one in the Middle East.
However, discussions around peace negotiations have gained momentum in recent months, with increasing diplomatic engagement and growing international pressure to find a resolution to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump has put pressure on both Kyiv and Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, which will mark its three-year anniversary this month.
US President Donald Trump said Friday he would “probably” meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky next week, as Russia said its forces had seized the key mining town of Toretsk in east Ukraine.
Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv were planning “talks,” but did not confirm a meeting between the two leaders.
In part 2 (of 3) Vasyl Bodnar, discusses Ukraine’s path to peace: strengthening defenses, and rebuilding a nation amidst crisis. Michał Kujawski
In this second part of an exclusive interview Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar gives his views on frontline needs for air defense and artillery ammunitions, rebuilding Ukraine’s infrastructure, and handling the future of millions of refugees seeking a life abroad, and the much talked about of late peace plan floated by the White House’s envoy Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg.
As the Ambassador told Kyiv Post’s Michał Kujawski, he sees Poland’s viewpoint on any peace plan to be more in agreement with Ukraine’s “Victory Plan” as outlined by President Volodymyr Zelensky, than with Trump’s so-far unspecified conditions. Poland will also be instrumental in helping to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy, based on its experience in the same areas in the last few decades.
The world in focus, as seen by Canadian leading global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw in a quick review of the biggest news in international media today.
Hamas on Saturday is set to free three more hostages, all Israeli civilian men, in exchange for Israel’s release of 183 Palestinian detainees under the first phase of a fragile Gaza ceasefire deal. The latest hostage-prisoner exchange is the fifth such swap since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments on the Middle East - France 24
A federal judge on Friday dealt President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk their first big setback in their dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development,ordering a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given the thousands of overseas USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave just 30 days to move families and households back to the U.S. on government expense. Both moves would have exposed the U.S. workers and their spouses and children to unwarranted risk and expense, the judge said. Nichols pointed to accounts from workers abroad that the Trump administration, in its rush to shut down the agency and its programs abroad, had cut some workers off from government emails and other communication systems they needed to reach the U.S. government in case of a health or safety emergency. - AP
Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.
• In January 2025, Russia’s territorial advances in Ukraine slowed as they took approximately 320 sq km, compared with approximately 400 sq km in December 2024. Russia seized control of the stronghold of Velyka Novosilka, but advances along most of the frontline have been relatively minor. Through 2024, Russian advances had been accelerating, with over 700 sq km taken in November 2024, one of the quickest rates of advance since the early stages of the conflict.
• In Russia’s Kursk oblast, Russia made minor advances in January 2025. North Korean (DPRK) units which had been deployed on offensive combat operations in Kursk Oblast have temporarily withdrawn from frontline positions, likely to rest and refit before redeploying. This is almost certainly primarily due to heavy losses sustained during attacks against Ukrainian-held positions.
Ukraine has significant deposits of rare earths, titanium and lithium. Commentators assess the chances of a deal.
A win-win situation
Commenting in ukrainian Obozrevatel, political scientist Serhiy Taran sees advantages for both sides:
Protesters called for Fico to resign with chants of “Resign, resign” and “Russian agent.”
Tens of thousands of Slovaks returned to a central square in the capital on Friday for the second large protest in two weeks, opposing what they see as a policy shift by Prime Minister Robert Fico aimed at moving closer to Russia.
Protesters also gathered in dozens of other cities and towns across the central European nation. They called for Fico to resign with chants of “Resign, resign” and “Russian agent.”
UK, and other Western, intelligence watchers must be nervous around recent Trump defense and intelligence/security service hires.
There seems to be widespread disbelief and unease (shock even) from non-US Western defense, foreign affairs, and intelligence types around the prospect of working with the likes of Hegseth, Gabbard and Patel, amongst others, and indeed the loyalty to MAGA/kiss the ring clear-out of key agencies, like the CIA and FBI.
How is all this going to make the Western world safer – the Five Eyes might be about to shrink – much to the elation of its foes.
Children are asked to write letters to thank the Russian troops for “liberating” Ukraine’s Mariupol for Russia’s upcoming military holiday, Ukraine’s Mariupol City Council said.
Schoolchildren in occupied Mariupol were instructed to write letters of gratitude to Russian troops for Russia’s upcoming ‘Defender of the Fatherland Day,’ a military holiday on Feb. 23, according to Ukraine’s Mariupol City Council.
In photos attached to a Telegram update from the council, schoolchildren in classrooms – some smiling – were seen holding various forms of hand-drawn, colored letters praising the Russian military.
Companies increased their share in the purchase of agricultural land to 25%, and prices for individuals jumped by 10%.
In 2024, companies and legal entities bought more land, increasing their share from 10.3% to 25% of land purchased, Roman Neyter, research associate at Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) said while presenting the KSE Agricenter report «A Year of Business in the Land Market: What Has Changed».
The land market in Ukraine, opened in 2021 after a long moratorium on the sale of agricultural land, continues to grow, but lags behind other “developed markets” by almost a third, Neyter said.
Earlier, the ICC issued arrest warrants on Nov. 21 for Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif, who was killed last year.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) and dozens of countries on Friday condemned sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump over probes targeting America and Israel as a threat to “law based international order.”
The UN and the European Union urged Trump to reverse the asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees and their families and anyone deemed to have helped ICC investigations.
The Baltics – former Soviet republics that joined NATO and the EU in 2004 – have long prepared to integrate with the European grid but faced technological and financial issues.
The Baltic states began disconnecting from the Moscow-controlled energy grid at 04:00 GMT on Saturday, Lithuania’s state-run grid operator Litgrid told AFP.
“I can confirm that the process to disconnect began at 06:00 (local time),” Litgrid spokesman Matas Noreika told AFP, after Lithuania switched off its power connection with Belarus and Russia.
Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.
Key Takeaways from the ISW:
Authors: Davit Gasparyan, Christina Harward, Angelica Evans, Olivia Gibson, Johanna Moore, and George Barros.
Most pilots would say it’s a moderate upgrade for Ukraine’s air-to-air capability and a serious one for air-to-ground. Even a few Mirages in Ukraine will force Russia to re-evaluate the battlespace.
The French Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft that Ukraine has just received is not a cutting-edge, latest-iteration aircraft, but pretty much any combat pilot would rate it a valuable addition and useful upgrade to the Ukrainian Air Force tool kit.
Technologically, the version of the Mirage 2000 that will operate over Ukraine is at least on par with the US-built F‑16 fighters Ukraine has received from Denmark and Netherlands, who donated them. The Mirage, like the Viper (no self-respecting F‑16 driver calls it the “Fighting Falcon”), was developed during the late Cold War and upgraded through the 1990s and early 2000s.
