Overview
- Ukraine’s deputy energy minister and regional officials reported renewed strikes overnight on February 2–3 that damaged power infrastructure in Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy, triggering emergency outages during severe cold.
- Russia’s defense ministry said it carried out a mass retaliatory attack on defense‑industry sites, long‑range drone storage and assembly areas, and energy facilities that support those operations.
- Zaporizhzhia’s regional administration said drones struck the city on February 3, killing two 18‑year‑olds and injuring at least 11 people, including children, with damage to several apartment buildings.
- A new round of U.S.–Russia–Ukraine negotiations opened in Abu Dhabi on February 4 under UAE facilitation, with the sessions closed to media and U.S. officials saying they intend to continue the process because they see progress.
- President Trump said Vladimir Putin honored his request to pause certain strikes until February 1 to enable diplomacy, after which Russia resumed large‑scale attacks as the parties pursue security terms and potential guarantees.