“Ukraine – Russia”

There was a time when Ukrainian diplomats would quietly excuse Valerii Zaluzhny’s lack of willingness to speak in public in London, whispering concerns about him overshadowing President Zelensky.

But now the ambassador to Britain, widely seen as the top political rival to the Ukrainian leader, has indicated a possible desire to run for the presidency.

In a rare interview, Zaluzhny, 52, refused to explicitly discuss his political ambitions, saying he did not want to risk harming national unity during a war with Russia that is approaching its fourth anniversary.

Evidence is mounting that Elon Musk’s decision to deny Russian forces access to his Starlink satellite-based internet service has blunted Moscow’s advance, caused confusion among Russian soldiers and handed an advantage to Ukraine’s defenders.

But for how long? And what can Ukraine’s military achieve in the meantime?

“The Russians… lost their ability to control the field,” a Ukrainian drone operator who goes by the callsign Giovanni told us.

The latest round of US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Geneva on Wednesday ended without a major breakthrough, as fighting continues in a war that will enter its fifth year next week.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said no agreement had been reached on the thorniest questions at the negotiations in Switzerland, accusing Moscow of “trying to drag out” the process.

“We can see that some groundwork has been done, but for now the positions differ, because the negotiations were not easy,” he told reporters after the talks.

When the soldier codenamed Blackbird was bundled into the back of the rescue robot, wrapped in a sleeping bag and bound with bloodied tourniquets, his life hung in the balance.

One leg was gone and the other was shattered, looking more like a burned branch than flesh and bone. His right arm, too, was smashed.

If his wounds did not kill him, the cold might have done so. It was minus 10C on the front line south of Kostiantynivka in the darkness of Sunday evening, even without the windchill. From time to time, gusts of snow blew across the robot’s camera.

The Ukrainian former energy minister was arrested on Sunday, February 15 while attempting to cross the state border. His detention is linked to an energy sector-shaking corruption scandal known as “Midas”—involving more than $100 million (€84 million).

The president, whose ratings have plummeted, may soon announce elections. He could triumph, writes a Ukrainian pollster, but only if war with Russia grinds on

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, my country’s politics followed a simple formula. The public was gripped by a spirit of exalted optimism before each presidential election, only to be followed soon afterwards by the crash of deep disappointment. Nearly every holder of that office followed that path, beginning with a high credit of trust and ending with humiliatingly low figures.

Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to be walking the same road. He was elected in 2019 with net trust ratings of 71 per cent. Yet after almost three years in power those ratings have plummeted to minus 15 per cent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted “no one is clinging to power” and he is ready to hold national elections, but insists there will be no vote without a ceasefire and solid security guarantees from the U.S., making a vote any time soon unlikely.

President Zelensky has tasked members of parliament with finding a way to hold elections while martial law is in effect by the end of the month, his chief legal advisor has told The Times.

“We want to be ready to conduct elections,” said Iryna Mudra, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office. “Parliament has created a working group to develop changes to election legislation, and they are due to report their findings by the end of February.”

Parliamentary elections are not being considered by the working group, meaning that, even if ousted as president, Zelensky would still control the largest grouping of MPs.

A morning dog walker looking out on the Channel from Dungeness beach on Thursday January 22 would have been able to make out a familiar silhouette: the long hull of an oil tanker.

The vessel passing just a few miles of Britain’s coast was the Hyperion, part of Russia’s notorious “shadow fleet”, hastily retreating across the Atlantic from Venezuela.

Like the Marinera, a tanker seized by US forces in early January, the Hyperion is one of hundreds of sanctioned ships used by Moscow to transfer oil to and from South America.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the US wants the war with Russia to end by June, adding both sides had been invited to the US for talks next week.

“America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams – Ukraine and Russia – meet in the United States of America, probably in Miami, in a week. We confirmed our participation,” he said.

There was no immediate comment from Washington or Moscow, but US President Donald Trump has been pushing for an end for the conflict since he took office again more than a year ago.

A Western-sanctioned Russian military intelligence chief has been rushed to hospital in critical condition after being repeatedly shot at a residential building in Moscow, the Kremlin says.

64-year-old Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hit with “several shots” on the 24th floor of a residential block in north-west Moscow on Friday morning. Russian state media says he was rushed to hospital in critical condition and the national Investigative Committee has launched a case into attempted murder and illegal trafficking of firearms.

European officials were dismissive when reports said in November that peace efforts led by the U.S. could see Ukraine giving up some of its territory to Russia. But now, polling suggests that a growing number of Ukrainians would themselves be willing to trade some land for peace.

The latest survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted in late January, saw 40% of its 1,003 respondents say they were ready to “transfer the entire Donbas under Russian control in exchange for security guarantees.” (Although the report notes that “most” of these “admit that this is a difficult condition.”)