Overview
- Putin’s last confirmed public appearance was a February 5 speech, with Russian state TV airing meetings that observers believe were recorded in advance and no official explanation offered.
- Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Volodymyr Zelensky told Politico that the 73-year-old Russian leader “doesn’t have too much time,” spotlighting the unexplained absence.
- The UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analyses “conclusively confirmed” the neurotoxin epibatidine in samples from Alexei Navalny and indicated they will refer the case to the OPCW.
- Overnight strikes on Ukraine continued, with officials reporting a woman killed in Odesa and additional casualties in the Zaporizhzhia region.
- With Geneva negotiations approaching, the Kremlin reinstated Vladimir Medinsky as its lead negotiator in place of Admiral Igor Kostyukov as Kyiv maintains it will not cede territory in Donbas.