Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-09-2025

Everyone in the world is trying to figure out how to turn the Trump presidency to their advantage. Here is a win-win scenario for the US and Ukraine.

To begin with, they can’t act like Rex Tillerson. They need to model themselves after Mike Pompeo. As many of us know, Tillerson lasted just over a year as Secretary of State. Then, when he couldn’t take it anymore, he called Trump a moron in a moment of pique. With that, he slammed the door and handed in his resignation.

In came Pompeo to replace him, impressing upon State Department officials that “Trump is not a moron. He is simply an unconventional genius.” Trump, ever the professional showman, played the role of unconventional genius to the hilt in the Middle East with Pompeo in the director’s chair. In fact, he played it so well that world leaders began to think that he was the one behind the Abraham Accords.

As a result of the attack, 10 Russian armored vehicles were destroyed, 10 soldiers were killed, and 10 others were injured.

Ukrainian forces eliminated a column of Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles attempting to breach their defensive lines in the Kharkiv region. The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, which led the defense, reported the operation on Saturday, Feb. 8.

According to the brigade, the offensive was launched by units of Russia’s elite Kantemirovskaya 4th Tank Division, part of the 1st Tank Army. Russian troops attempted to advance near the settlement of Pershotravneve but were met with fierce resistance.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- former Soviet states that are now European Union and NATO members -- have been working on making the change since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Sunday announced that the three Baltic states had “successfully” joined the European power grid after severing ties with the Russian network.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- former Soviet states that are now European Union and NATO members -- have been working on making the change since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Mainstream and social media outlets reported on Friday that a batch of equipment sent to a Russian drone unit by volunteers was filled with plastic explosives.

In an incident resonant of the Israeli “pager attacks” on Hezbollah, a batch of video glasses for use by drone operators provided by an anonymous supplier in response to a request by Russian volunteers, was found to be booby-trapped. Each contained a plastic explosives charge designed to detonate when the devices were switched on.

The Russian state news agency TASS first reported the incident on Friday. It says it was informed of the attempt by Igor Potapov, an official representative of JSC NPP which develops and supplies electronic warfare equipment to Russian forces, particularly units operating in the so-called “special military operation.”

On the occasion of his 91st birthday, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Shevchenko National Prize nominee, presents his own English-language translation of “Poet,” exclusively for Kyiv Post.

Says the girl to the poet: “Your eyes
are two blue TV screens
that show two different views of the fight of your life
with the dragons that threaten humanity.

Your lips are like stars—
they’re far away not only from lies, but also from everything,
and in general, it’s hard to tear away one’s eyes from your beauty
as from a bloody criminal act.

Sovereignty is firmly back on the table as Patriots say an ‘era’ has come to a close.

MADRID – The PfE summit held this weekend in Madrid ended with a scathing attack on the EU, which they consider “corrupt” and “anachronistic.”

Here are the main takeaways:

Russian troops launched 151 drones at Ukraine, primarily Shahed-type and imitation drones. Ukrainian air defense forces managed to shoot down 70 drones across 14 regions.

More than 150 Russian drones targeted Ukraine overnight, with six regions, including Kyiv, affected, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The attack involved 151 drones, primarily Shahed-type and imitation UAVs. Ukrainian air defense forces managed to shoot down 70 drones across 14 regions, including Kyiv. Another 74 drones lost their course and crashed without causing any damage, while two remained airborne by 9 a.m.. The location of the five drones remains unknown.

Ukraine will require an additional 4.5 million workers over the next decade to ensure a successful post-war recovery, the country’s deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov estimates.

Ukraine will require an additional 4.5 million workers over the next decade to ensure a successful post-war recovery, the country’s deputy prime minister has said.

Oleksiy Chernyshov, who also serves as Ukraine’s minister of national unity, added that one way to address the labor shortage could be to facilitate the safe voluntary return of Ukrainian migrants, who left their country in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Trump says that he’s been in touch with Putin and that the Kremlin chief “does care” about the scale of the deaths on the battlefield, but did not reveal any details.

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with The New York Post aboard Air Force One that he had recently spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

When asked how many times they had spoken, Trump declined to answer, saying, “I’d better not say.”

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.

North Korea is expected to start producing drones this year that will be co-developed with Russia. Multiple sources familiar with Russia-North Korea relations told NHK that the two countries reached an agreement under which the North receives technical help from Russia to develop multiple types of drones to be mass manufactured. The likely deal comes as Moscow and Pyongyang have been strengthening military ties. Last year, they signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty. The sources say the accord on drone development is in return for North Korea’s deployment of soldiers to aid Russia, which is continuing its invasion of Ukraine.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be FBI director, was paid $25,000 last year by a film company owned by a Russian national who also holds U.S. citizenship and has produced programs promoting “deep state” conspiracy theories and anti-Western views advanced by the Kremlin, according to a financial disclosure form Patel submitted as part of his nomination process and other documents. Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that Patel received the money from Global Tree Pictures, a Los Angeles-based company run by Igor Lopatonok, a filmmaker whose previous projects include a pro-Russian influence campaign that received money from a fund created by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The payment to Patel came as he participated in a documentary that Lopatonok produced depicting Patel and other veterans of the first Trump administration as victims of a conspiracy that “destroyed the lives of those who stood by Donald Trump in an attempt to remove the democratically elected president from office.” - Washington Post

The Russian “Frogfoot” attack plane was reportedly destroyed using the Igla man-portable air-defense (MANPAD) system. Pilot extraction was thwarted by Ukrainian drones attacking the rescue helicopter.

Ukrainian forces have successfully shot down a Russian Su-25 (NATO: “Frogfoot”) close air support (CAS) attack aircraft in the Toretsk sector, Donetsk region, according to reports from the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign. The brigade released video footage of the incident on Facebook on Saturday, Feb. 8.

The aircraft was brought down near the settlement of Troitsk by an anti-aircraft missile unit of the 28th Infantry Brigade in coordination with the 57th Territorial Defense Battalion. An Igla man-portable air defense (MANPAD) system reportedly destroyed the Russian attack plane.

In January, Trump ordered the suspension of foreign assistance. Then, on Friday, he called for the closure of the USAID, which distributes US humanitarian aid globally.

Mykhailo received a flurry of messages when US President Donald Trump suspended international aid, a move that endangered the NGO where he works helping Ukrainian veterans.

In January, Trump ordered the suspension of foreign assistance. Then on Friday he called for the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes US humanitarian aid globally.

As NATO’s military command calls for solutions to counter Russian glide bombs, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson says they have already used an “experimental weapon” to do just that.

NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) recently launched its first Innovation Challenge for 2025 that calls for solutions to detect, intercept, or neutralize glide bombs. This was the 15th iteration of the concept since it was first launched in 2017 and has a closing date of March 13.

It calls for solutions to counter Russian aircraft weapons systems, specifically glide bombs, that use UMPK and UMPB D-30 kits to convert “dumb bombs” into KABs. It specifies that proposals must be compatible with existing NATO systems, standards and protocols requiring little or no end user training.

The announcement comes just days before X’s owner Elon Musk is expected in Paris for the AI Action Summit.

The Paris public prosecutors office announced today the opening of an investigation against the way algorithms on X function, following a notification by tech-savvy MP Eric Bothorel on 12 January.

The prosecutors suspect that X skewed its algorithms, which in turn is suspected to have biased the automated processing of data.

In part 3 (of 3) Vasyl Bodnar, discusses the Volhynia massacre, Polish-Ukrainian relations, the 2025 presidential campaign, and the path forward despite challenges.

Part I
Part II

In this third part of an exclusive interview, Ukraine’s new ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, delves deep into the most sensitive issues shaping Polish-Ukrainian relations today.

From the difficult history of the Volhynia massacres and ongoing diplomatic strides in exhumations to the influence of Poland’s presidential election on bilateral ties, Bodnar offers insights on both the challenges and promising prospects ahead.