Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 02-12-2025

White House officials said the 90-minute first direct talk between Trump and Putin on Ukraine was “highly productive” – the two agreed to “immediately” start negotiations on Russia’s 11-year-old war.

[Originally published Feb. 12, 19:52 Kyiv time. Later updated at 22:55 with Zelensky’s comments.]

US President Donald Trump said he had a “lengthy and highly productive” call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in which they agreed to “immediately” start negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

The evacuation followed a deadly strike on a nursing home in Sudzha, a town in Russia’s Kursk region under Ukrainian control.

More than 100 residents from Russia’s Kursk region, including some who were injured, have fled to Sumy, a Ukrainian city bordering Russia’s Kursk region.

The evacuation followed a deadly strike on a nursing home in Sudzha, a town under Ukrainian control.

Alexander Vinnik returns to Russia after a back-channel prisoner exchange for American Marc Fogel kicked off on Tuesday. US officials said the deal is a goodwill gesture for ending the war in Ukraine.

The US will trade a Russian cybercrime boss in American captivity, Alexander Vinnik, in exchange for the freed schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, Marc Fogel who was released yesterday after spending over three years imprisoned in Moscow and a penal colony in Rybinsk.

Vinnik was arrested in 2017 and detained in the US on suspicion of laundering $4 billion through BTC-e, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges at the time.

Finland’s Parliamentary Speaker Jussi Halla-aho said that Finland has a reserve force of 280,000 troops ready to mobilize swiftly in case of potential Russian aggression.

A 900,000-strong reserve force in Finland awaits Russia if the latter decides to invade, Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho told Kyiv Post in an exclusive interview in Helsinki last week.

While exact details on the timeline for full mobilization are not publicly available, Halla-aho said Finland has a well-developed readiness system in place.

The US just threw away all of its ace cards, before negotiations with Russia have even begun

I am trying to draw a few conclusions from Hegseth’s trip to NATO HQ earlier today but suffice to say that this was pretty seismic.

First, for a leader who is supposed to be the Art of the Deal negotiator, to throw away all your ace cards before hard negotiations have even begun seems to be a dereliction of duty. Hegseth might not get “The Art of the Deal” but I guess he understands the latter concept.

Scott Bessent is the first cabinet-level Trump official to visit Ukraine, underscoring the administration’s priority of securing economic gains for the US in any upcoming peace plan with Russia.

[UPDATED: Feb. 12, 18:10, Kyiv time.]

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday to discuss ending the Russian invasion, making him the first cabinet-level official from US President Donald Trump‘s new administration to visit the war-torn country.

The US defense chief rejected calls to place US boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of future security guarantees.

[UPDATED: Feb. 12, 18:07, Kyiv time. Added Hegseth’s statements on Ukrainian territories and NATO aspiration] 

Pete Hegseth, the newly appointed US secretary of defense, said Washington will not place US boots on the ground in Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Trump administration has upheld the president’s campaign promise to reinstate the original name of the US Army’s largest base, Fort Bragg. But with a twist.

Less than a month after he was sworn in as the 47th US president, Donald Trump has turned the attention of his “war on woke” on a rather specific area – the US military bases that were renamed under the Biden tenure.

In total there were nine army posts that had been renamed in 2023 to remove titles redolent of the Civil War and to replace them with “more appropriate” military leaders. Fort Pickett was changed to Fort Barfoot; Fort Lee to Fort Gregg-Adams; Fort AP Hill to Fort Walker; Fort Hood to Fort Cavazos; Fort Rucker to Fort Novosel; Fort Polk to Fort Johnson; Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty; Fort Benning to Fort Moore; and Fort Gordon to Fort Eisenhower.

Two Polish citizens in the U.S. have been detained and are set for deportation, becoming the first from Poland to be affected by Donald Trump’s policy targeting illegal migrants.

Two Polish citizens in the U.S. have been detained and are set for deportation, becoming the first from Poland to be affected by Donald Trump’s policy targeting illegal migrants.

Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “received information” about the detention of the two “detained for the purpose of deportation,” adding that it was trying to assess how many other Poles may be deported.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it discovered a Russian spy within its ranks – who was apprehended by the SBU chief himself.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it arrested a “top rat” working for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) within its ranks on Wednesday.

The SBU, in a press release, said the mole worked as the head at one of the SBU’s counterterrorism headquarters and was personally arrested by Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU.

Kyiv Post brings you the key takeaways from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s interview with The Guardian.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with the British publication The Guardian, which was published on Tuesday, laid out Kyiv’s position on a range of issues ranging from peace talks to US President Donald Trump’s desire to access Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources.

Here are some of the highlights.

Kremlin propaganda has not succeeded in Finland, said Jussi Halla-aho. Relations with Russia remain strained, and border closures are expected to continue.

Russian propaganda has not been successful in Finland, the Speaker of Finland’s Parliament Jussi Halla-aho told Kyiv Post in an exclusive interview in Helsinki. According to him, while some Russian-speaking residents of Finland still support the Kremlin, the majority are well-integrated into Finnish society.

“This situation is also causing divisions between the Russian speakers and the rest of the society. And those people inside or within that minority that do follow Russian channels on social media will perhaps tend to believe Moscow’s propaganda,” he said.

In recent weeks, mounting comments from Moscow, Washington and Kyiv have suggested the possibility of negotiations that could end the nearly three-year-old Russian invasion.

Germany on Wednesday played down expectations that this week’s Munich Security Conference could lead to a major breakthrough in ending the war in Ukraine.

“Looking towards Munich and the security conference, I haven’t had any concrete indications that a decisive step could be on the horizon” towards peace talks, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a press conference.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Gaza ceasefire will end if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages on Saturday. Hamas said on Monday it would not release three Israelis as planned this weekend, because of alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Netanyahu says the Israeli military is ready to “return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.” In total, 17 Israeli hostages were still due to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire, eight of whom Israel says are dead. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have been freed by Israel so far - BBC

At an impromptu and chaotic press gaggle in the Oval Office, King Abdullah of Jordan was put on the spot by reporters and asked what he thought of Mr Trump’s plans to take over Gaza and resettle its some 2-million inhabitants to Jordan and Egypt. The King said conversations are continuing with the US and with other Arab countries, and that he was waiting to hear Egypt’s proposals. “Obviously, we have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, especially to my people of Jordan,” he said. “We have to keep in mind that there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries. We’re being invited by [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman to discussions in Riyadh. I think the point is, how to make this work in a way that is good for everybody,” he added. King Abdullah did not respond directly to Mr Trump’s comment that he believes, “we’ll have a parcel of land in Jordan … a parcel of land in Egypt…We may have someplace else, but I think when we finish our talks, [the Palestinians from Gaza will] have a place where they’re going to live very happily and very safely,” Mr Trump said. But after the meeting, King Abdullah reiterated what he said was Jordan’s and the Arab world’s, “steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank..Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” he said in a post on X. - The National

Although relatively small-scale, most reports said the assaults were successful. The Kremlin’s offensive is continuing on a wide front, but overall the pace of its attacks may be falling off.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have launched counterattacks and recaptured lost positions in eastern Ukraine and inside Russia, according to news and combat reports on Wednesday.

The tactical successes of Kyiv’s forces were a setback for a Kremlin strategy that has deployed relentless firepower and accepted often massive losses in men and equipment, as the price of its attempts to permanently gain ground from the AFU.

Putin’s press secretary said Russia dismissed Zelensky’s offer to exchange the Ukrainian-occupied part of the Kursk region for territory held by Moscow, calling the idea “impossible.”

The Kremlin has rejected outright any discussion of a territorial exchange with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told state media outlet RIA Novosti.

His comments were a direct response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement that Ukraine could offer Russia the part of the Kursk region that his forces hold in exchange for occupied Ukrainian territories.

President Donald Trump hinted that another US citizen, presumably held in captivity by Russia, would be freed on Wednesday, after the release of Fogel.

On Tuesday, Washington secured the release of Marc Fogel, a US teacher imprisoned by Russia for 14 years for entering the country with 14 grams of medical cannabis in August 2021. 

The deal also marked the first known visit by a senior US official to Russia since Moscow launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Under pressure from the West to lower the draft age, Ukraine will entice young volunteers with money and benefits to give the Ukrainian army a younger profile.

Ukraine has introduced a new initiative allowing citizens aged 18 to 24 to voluntarily join the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) under a special year-long contract.

The “Contract 18-24” program offers generous financial rewards, NATO-standard training, and social benefits for those volunteering for one year, according to the Ministry of Defense’s official announcement, published late Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had carried out a “group missile strike” on Ukrainian military-industrial sites that produce drones.

A fatal Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv early on Wednesday shows that the Kremlin is not interested in pursuing peace in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

AFP journalists in the capital heard a volley of explosions ring out over the city and saw the body of one person killed covered in a black plastic sheet on a street littered with debris.

Video confirms F-16s are flying not only air defense mission, but the multi-role Vipers are also flying ground attack missions loaded with precision guided bombs plus its standard air-to-air missiles.

The first widely available images of a Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter fully armed for air-to-ground combat showed the US-made multi-role aircraft loaded with precision guided munitions along with its ubiquitous air-to-air standard self-defense/swing role missiles.

The original video of the low-flying F-16, fully armed for its multiple roles, appeared on TikTok on Sunday.

Forum brought together participants to discuss the essential steps needed by society and authorities to safeguard democracy in Ukraine during the war and recovery period.

The forum was held on Feb. 11, 2025, bringing together participants to discuss the essential steps needed by society and authorities to safeguard and strengthen democracy in Ukraine during the war and recovery period.

Organizers: Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), in partnership with the Network for the Protection of National Interests “ANTS” and the Civil Network “OPORA.”

here is no official summary table of medalists at the Invictus Games, as the competition focuses on the rehabilitation of injured military and service personnel, not on sporting achievements.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian national team won 16 medals in winter sports at the Invictus Games in Canada.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, Ukrainian competitors won prizes in four of the five adaptive sports on Tuesday.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is set to push European allies on taking greater responsibility for supporting Ukraine.

New US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives for his first meetings at NATO headquarters Wednesday looking to push European nations over support for Ukraine and ramping up military spending.

Washington’s allies are waiting nervously for clarity from President Donald Trump’s administration after the volatile leader demanded NATO more than double its spending target and vowed to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump hinted that another detainee would be freed on Wednesday as he met with Marc Fogel at the White House.

US President Donald Trump expressed hope that Russia’s release of American prisoner Marc Fogel on Tuesday could pave the way for renewed ties with Moscow and progress toward ending the war in Ukraine.

“We were treated very nicely by Russia. I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

According to the social media reports, Russian troops have been relocating an S-300/S-400 missile launcher and a 91N6E radar station in the Kerch area.

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, near Kerch, the Russian forces are relocating important military equipment in an attempt to hide it from the Armed Forces Ukraine.

This was reported by the Telegram channel Krymskyi Veter, according to Ukrinform.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s commitment to good faith peace negotiations with Russia and the particular importance of US military assistance to Ukraine’s security.
• Russian officials are reportedly attempting to constrain Russian milblogger reporting about the current frontline in Kursk Oblast, likely in response to concerns that the West will pressure Russia into trading Russian territory for occupied Ukrainian territory.
• Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery and reportedly struck Engels Air Base in Saratov Oblast on the night of February 10 to 11.
• The Russian State Duma voted to remove Russian State Duma deputy and former Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District (SMD) retired Lieutenant General Andrei Gurulev from the Duma Defense Committee on February 11.
• The Kremlin may be setting informational conditions for possible false flag attacks in the Baltic Sea and against Russian opposition politicians living abroad in order to discredit Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Borova, Lyman, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Velyka Novosilka, and Hulyaipole.
• Russian regional authorities are reportedly reducing payments due to regional budget deficits for Russian soldiers who received minor injuries.

The Ukrainian capital was shaken in the pre-dawn hours by a massive missile attack launched by Russia. At least one person was killed.

[Updated at 12:08]: Kyiv’s air defense systems intercepted six Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles over the capital, according to Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration (KMVA), citing the Air Force.

“This is a dangerous weapon that is not easy to neutralize, and even falling debris can cause serious destruction,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.