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Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 02-11-2025 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
American school teacher Marc Fogel was released in a “prisoner exchange” between the US and Russia – but what will Russia get in return? Trump official says it’s a step towards ending war in Ukraine.
Marc Fogel, an American schoolteacher who was detained in Russia on drug charges in 2021, has been released in a “prisoner exchange” with the Kremlin that was announced after an airplane carrying US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, was tracked landing in Moscow on Tuesday.
The terms of the “exchange” have not been disclosed, but US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz confirmed shortly after the plane took off from Moscow that Witkoff had traveled to Russia at the behest of the administration to pick up Fogel and make the first steps in the Ukraine peace process.
Zelensky told the Guardian he would offer Russian President Vladimir Putin territory that Ukraine seized in Russia’s Kursk region six months ago.
Ukraine will offer to swap territory with Russia in any potential peace negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published Tuesday, Feb. 11, adding that Europe alone would not be able to shoulder Kyiv’s war effort.
Zelensky will meet US Vice President JD Vance on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, the Ukrainian leader’s spokesman told AFP, as Washington pushes for an end to the nearly three-year war with Russia.
The de-mining job cut are in countries including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Cambodia.
Norsk Folkehjelp, a major Norwegian aid group that specializes in demining operations, said Tuesday it would let go 1,700 workers in 12 countries following a US decision to freeze foreign aid payments.
It is the second major Norwegian charity in two days to cut operations because of the decision by US President Donald Trump. The Norwegian Refugee Council said Monday it was suspending humanitarian activities in almost 20 countries.
In an updated press release titled “A powerful partner at Ukraine’s side” the German defense company gives a fairly comprehensive overview of its support for Kyiv’s war against Russia.
In an online press statement on Monday, Rheinmetall provided an update on the equipment and services it has delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces since Russia’s full-scale invasion, in which it says has established the company as “a guarantor of freedom and democracy.”
During the “Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024” in Berlin in June, Germany’s Rheinmetall and Kyiv’s Minister for Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, signed a memorandum of understanding building on an October 2023 joint venture with Ukrainian state-owned company Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defence Industry LLC.
The US talk host said he knew “for a fact” that Ukraine illegally sold US weapons – a statement that contradicts what Keith Kellogg, Washington’s Ukraine and Russian envoy, recently said.
US talk host Tucker Carlson made a bold claim that half the weapons Kyiv received from Washington were sold to Mexican cartels in an interview published on Monday, Feb. 10.
In the interview with retired US Col. Daniel Davis, Carlson said he “[knows] that for a fact, not speculation, a fact” that the Ukrainian military is selling “up to half” of weapons received from the Pentagon, which he claimed ended up in the hands of Mexican cartels that threaten US security.
Still, the largest bank’s profits comprise 43% of the banking system, making Privatbank one of the key players of Ukraine’s economy.
Ukraine’s largest state-owned bank, PrivatBank, reported Hr.80 billion ($1.9 billion) in sales and Hr.40.1 ($955.7 million) in net profits during the 12 months of 2024.
The volumes comprise 43% of the total profits of Ukraine’s banking system, PrivatBank Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Larisa Chernyshova said during a briefing in the bank’s headquarters in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Stefan Korshak, Kyiv Post’s military correspondent, shares his perspective on recent developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Much Ado on The Peace Front
From Ukraine it looks like the Americans want to sound like they have a coherent peace plan, but they don’t. Certainly, the diplomatic news this week was busy:
South Korea’s Ministry of Defense also said that North Korea is expected to double down on weapons development that in 2025, wrapping up a five-year plan to modernize its arsenal.
North Korea (DPRK) has reportedly sent around 200 long-range artillery units and masses of ammunition to the Russian army, and according to Yonhap News citing South Korea’s Ministry of Defense saying more troops, weapons, and ammo are on the way.
The assessment came after South Korea’s spy agency had earlier estimated the DPRK had already sent about 11,000 troops to support Russia’s war effort. Out of those, reports claim 300 have been killed and around 2,700 were wounded.
A lawmaker said the planned purchase would cost half-a-billion euros, with earlier reports suggesting they would be purchased from Bulgaria.
Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has approved the purchase of Russian equipment for the country’s Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko said on Tuesday afternoon.
Honcharenko said it would cost “half a billion euros” ($516 million) and criticized the decision. He did not specify the type of equipment in question.
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.
President Trump said on Monday that he could cut aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused his demand to permanently take in most Palestinians from Gaza, substantially increasing the pressure on key allies in the region to back his audacious proposal to relocate the entire population of the territory in order to redevelop it. The president also said from the White House that if Hamas did not release all the remaining Israeli hostages by “12 o’clock on Saturday,” the cease-fire agreement with Israel should be canceled. “All hell is going to break out,” Mr. Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office, while acknowledging that the choice over ending the cease-fire ultimately fell to Israel. Jordan and Egypt, both major recipients of U.S. military and economic aid, have rejected any suggestion that Palestinians be relocated to their countries. But Mr. Trump said on Monday that the assistance could be in jeopardy - NYT
Russian officials believe western pressure is hampering Moscow’s efforts to draw former Soviet nations closer into its orbit and build economic ties with the global south, according to a leaked government report. The internal presentation, shown at a strategy session led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin last April, offers a rare insight into how Russia’s war in Ukraine has harmed ties with some of its closest allies. The analysis notably concedes that western sanctions pressure, as well as economic overtures, had succeeded in driving a wedge between Moscow and some of its nearest trade partners. Moscow’s ambition, the report says, is to restore its access to global trade by putting Russia at the centre of a Eurasian trade bloc that would aim to rival the US, EU, and China’s spheres of economic influence. Russia sees creating the “macroregion” as an important long-term project, which would outlast any talks with the west over the future of Ukraine, to help strengthen its footing on the “global arena”, the report says. The new bloc would connect Russia to the global south by giving each side access to raw materials, developing financial and transport ties, and uniting them through a common “world view . . . where we write rules for the new world [and have] our own sanctions policy”, the report claims. But it admits the obstacles to Russia’s global resurgence remain considerable. The report says western countries have successfully threatened central Asian countries into complying with sanctions through a “carrot-and-stick” approach while offering them access to global markets, transport corridors and supply chains that bypass Moscow. - FT
Commentators examine the situation and express both scepticism and cautious hope.
US President Donald Trump stated in an interview that he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. The time of the phone call between the two leaders remained unclear. The Kremlin would neither confirm nor deny that it took place. Commentators examine the situation and express both scepticism and cautious hope.
A victory for the Kremlin, but for others too
Ukraine’s high jump world record holder and Olympic gold medalist earns recognition on and off the field as she helps her compatriots with humanitarian efforts.
World Athletics acknowledged Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s record-breaking season by naming her Women’s Field Athlete of the Year on December 1, 2024. Yet Mahuchikh’s prevailing wish is for peace in her war-torn country of Ukraine. The 23-year-old high jumper enjoyed a fabulous year competing for Ukraine in hopes of providing some positivity for her compatriots. She lit up the city of Paris on two occasions, won the European Championship, the Diamond League final and in late October was recognized as Europe’s Best Women’s Athlete of 2024.
Last July, Mahuchikh broke the women’s world record, which had stood for 37 years, with her jump of 2.10 meters at Charlety Stadium, and then was crowned Olympic champion several weeks later at the Paris Games.
Upward trend of bond yields keeps on, Eurobond holders encouraged by comments from the US, central bank reserves decreases 1.8% in January and slashes interventions. Weekly Insight for Feb. 10
Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) continues to gradually increase interest rates for military bonds in UAH after the NBU made a cumulative 150bp hike in the key policy rate since December.
Last week, the MoF raised interest rates for UAH military bills by additional 25bp after raising rates 50bp a week ago. Given this decision, the MoF managed to increase borrowings 5x compared with the previous week.
The US president said Kyiv “essentially agreed” to provide $500 billion worth of rare earth minerals in exchange for continuing US support.
US President Donald Trump said Kyiv “essentially agreed” to provide mineral rights – rare earth elements in particular – in exchange for Washington’s continuing support in a Monday Fox News interview.
“I told them that I want the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare earth [minerals], and they’ve essentially agreed to do that,” Trump said.
The Slovak prime minister congratulated Musk on his appointment and the decisions he is making.
BRATISLAVA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has written a letter to Elon Musk complaining about the subsidies and grants that the USAID agency has provided to NGOs, media outlets, and specific journalists in Slovakia.
The Slovak prime minister congratulated Musk on his appointment and the decisions he is making.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said that the situation in Ukraine “largely corresponds to President Trump’s words” hours after the US head of state floated the idea that Ukraine “may be Russian someday.”
The Kremlin said Tuesday that a “significant part” of Ukraine “wants to be Russia,” hours after US President Donald Trump floated the idea that Ukraine “may be Russian someday.”
Addressing the three-year conflict between Moscow and Kyiv in a Fox News interview that aired Monday, Trump said: “(Ukraine) may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday.”
Engels Airbase in the Saratov region houses Russia’s strategic bombers, including Tu-95MS and Tu-160 aircraft, frequently used to launch cruise missile strikes on Ukraine.
For the second time in a month, Ukrainian forces have launched a major drone attack on Russia’s Saratov region, striking an oil refinery and a key military airbase.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Feb. 11, multiple drones targeted “an industrial facility” in Saratov, causing damage, according to regional governor Roman Busargin.
Ukraine’s energy minister said that gas infrastructure in the Poltava region was targeted overnight; authorities will provide more information when the security situation allows.
The Poltava region in Ukraine came under attack overnight as Russian forces launched a combined strike using Kalibr cruise missiles and ballistic weapons. Explosions were reported in the Lubensky and Myrhorodsky districts at midnight on Tuesday, Feb. 11, followed by a fire, according to local sources.
Moscow has pursued a months-long bombing campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, claiming the attacks targeted facilities that aid Kyiv’s military
Ahead of a Zelensky-Vance meeting and pushing for an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine, Trump discussed options in an interview with broadcaster Fox News that aired Monday.
US President Donald Trump floated the idea that Ukraine “may be Russian someday,” as Vice President JD Vance gears up to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later this week.
Pushing for an end to the nearly three-year war with Russia, Trump discussed the conflict in an interview with broadcaster Fox News that aired Monday.
Ukraine ranks high in business-friendliness, but opening a new enterprise takes longer than in several other countries in Europe due to the burden of too much bureaucracy.
Ukraine ranks second in overall business-friendliness among six other countries in Europe, according to a Ukrainian Institute of Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) report based on Bureaucracy Index 2024. Ongoing administrative work, however, takes less time than in Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Georgia.
In Ukraine, it is easier to run an existing business rather than to open one ex novo, according to a recent survey.
Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.
Key Takeaways from the ISW:
Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg is sending tough messages to Kremlin ahead of his Feb. 20 visit with Zelensky. Pressure on Moscow is only “three out of ten” at present, he said.
US President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that his special envoy Keith Kellogg, tasked with ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will push for a swift end to the war.
A source in President Zelensky’s office told AFP on Monday that Kellogg was scheduled to arrive on Feb. 20.
Team blue-and-yellow opens Prince Harry’s games for injured veterans with a victory in wheelchair basketball.
Kyiv fears that any peace plan that does not include NATO membership or the deployment of peacekeeping troops will just give the Kremlin more time to regroup.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US Vice President JD Vance on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, where they are set to discuss Washington’s push for an end to the three-year war with Russia.
US President Donald Trump will also dispatch his special envoy Keith Kellogg, who is tasked with drawing up a proposal to halt the fighting, to Ukraine a week later, a source in the Ukrainian presidency told AFP.
