Issued on: 12/02/2026 - 07:13Modified: 13/02/2026 - 03:52
Ukraine’s Western allies have already pledged €30 billion in military aid for Kyiv this year, British Defence Minister John Healey said Thursday, noting that the bulk part of the commitments were made as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group met in Brussels. Last year, the group raised a total of €38 billion to help boost Ukraine’s defences. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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Ukraine says Russia behind fake posts targeting Winter Olympics team
Ukraine is blaming Russia for a disinformation campaign discrediting its Winter Olympics team.
The fake posts, which racked up over a million views across multiple platforms, included a claim that the brother of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was banned from competing for wearing a helmet with images of athletes killed in the war, had recruited soldiers for the war.
The post also claimed that a Hungarian athlete wore a sticker saying “we’re all fed up with U(kraine)”.
“With such fakes, Russia is trying to discredit Ukrainians and undermine international support for Ukraine,” the country’s Sports Minister Matviy Bidny said.
Other false stories online said that Ukrainian team members had been housed separately due to “toxic” behaviour; that doping controls had been eased for them to take “psychoactive substances”; and that 52 of their translators had absconded.
Ukrainian Heraskevych appeals ban over memorial helmet to CAS
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has appealed his disqualifcation from the Winter Olympics over his helmet honouring killed Ukrainian athletes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“The application challenges the IBSF (International Skeleton Federation) Jury decision stating that Mr Heraskevych intended to wear in competition a helmet displaying portraits of Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives in the war, which was considered as being inconsistent with the Olympic Charter,” CAS said.
Macron says no plan to speak with Putin in coming days
French President Emmanuel Macron does not expect to speak with President Vladimir Putin in the coming days, insisting that European nations first need to agree on what they want from Russia.
“It’s not a matter of days, there are preparations involved,” he told reporters after EU leaders’ talks. “We need to prepare this, as Europeans, in order to be ready, when the time is right, for a discussion with the Russians.”
UK and allies pledge €30 billion in further military aid to Ukraine
Britain and its allies have pledged some €30 billion in military aid for Ukraine, British defence minister John Healey told a press conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
“We can save lives, we can pressure Putin and we can agree peace, but only if we step up together,” Healey said.
Norway, France to finance more military support for Ukraine
Norway has agreed to contribute 4.2 billion Norwegian crowns €370 million in military support to Ukraine while France has guaranteed for a loan of about 3 billion crowns, the Norwegian government said.
The agreement between France and Norway includes acquisition of a large of volume air-to-ground weapons and capabilities that provide surveillance and situational awareness from the French defence industry.
“The projects in this agreement meet crucial Ukraine priorities and have been identified following close dialogue with the Ukrainian ministry of defence,” Norwegian Defence Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement.
“The projects we have identified in this agreement will provide rapid effects for Ukraine.”
France, Germany explore new ballistic missile, ArianeGroup says
France and Germany are among European countries that have shown interest in a new land-based ballistic missile proposed by aerospace firm ArianeGroup.
The company said it is in talks with the French defence ministry about the system, which it says can hit targets more than 1,000 kilometres away within minutes. It also said it is in contact with the German government and providing information on the capability.
“People are trying to understand what is at stake with ballistic systems,” Vincent Pery, ArianeGroup’s director of defence programmes, told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
More than 220,000 without power in Russia's Belgorod after attack, governor says
More than 220,000 people in Russia’s Belgorod region have been left without electricity after a Ukrainian attack caused an accident at a substation, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
“Emergency crews are working. Restoration will take at least 4 hours,” Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ice hockey federation wants Russia to return ‘as soon as possible’
The head of the international ice hockey federation, Luc Tardif, wants Russia and Belarus to return to action “as soon as possible”.
The Russian and Belarusian national teams have been banned from international competition since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine defence chief urges allies to send PAC-3 air-defence missiles
Ukraine’s defence minister has “urgently” called on Kyiv’s allies to provide the country with PAC-3 missiles as it faces mounting Russian strikes.
Stopping “every Russian tanker” carrying sanctioned oil is the fastest way to stop Moscow’s war machine, Mykhailo Fedorov added as he addressed a meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group in Brussels.
Kremlin says six children to reunite with families in Russia and Ukraine
Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, has announced that six more children are being reunited with their families in Russia and Ukraine, in part thanks to efforts by US First Lady Melania Trump.
One child will return to Russia and five children will be reunited with their families in Ukraine, she added.
The US First Lady wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin last August about the plight of Ukrainian children separated from their families by the war. Ukraine accuses Russia of abducting thousands of children, which Moscow denies.
Lvova-Belova, in her post on the Telegram messaging app, thanked Melania Trump for her “unwavering commitment and active participation in reuniting children with their families.”
UEFA’s Russia ban still stands, president says
UEFA, the governing body of European football, is not currently contemplating to bring Russia back into the international fold, its president said. His comments come FIFA chief Gianni Infantino recently indicated that he backs easing a ban on Moscow.
“UEFA’s position is clear and has not changed but we are looking into everything every day,” Ceferin told reporters at the UEFA Congress in Brussels.
Russia was expelled from all club and international competitions by UEFA in 2022 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
It was therefore notably kicked out of qualifying for that year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar and took no part in qualifying for Euro 2024 or the upcoming World Cup in North America.
However, the International Olympic Committee has now recommended sports federations allow Russian teams to compete at youth level, and Infantino said earlier this month that the ban “has not achieved anything”.
Ukrainian speed skater Handei told by IOC to tape over 'heroism' message on helmet
Ukrainian short track speed skater Oleh Handei has been told to tape over an inspirational message on his helmet at the Olympics because it was seen as linked to the war with Russia.
Handei, who is due to compete in the 1500 metres at the Milano Cortina Games on Saturday, had a message on the helmet reading: “Where there is heroism, there can be no final defeat.”
The line is a quote from Ukrainian writer Lina Kostenko which Handei said he used as motivation to help him compete to the best of his abilities. The message has fallen foul of IOC rules preventing athletes from making political statements at Olympic sites or venues.
“They saw my sentence and they said to me, ‘Sorry but it’s war propaganda’,” he said in a television interview, adding he would comply with the IOC ruling in order to compete.
Handei said he had initially been reluctant to go public on the issue but was emboldened by the example set by Vladyslav Heraskevych and defended their messages.
“It’s not propaganda, it’s not,” he said. “He (Heraskevych) just reminds us, reminds the world that we actually exist as a country, we exist as a people, as humans, so we need some support, we need some understanding.”
Analyst Peter Zalmayev 'not very hopeful US tone has changed decisively' on Ukraine
NATO defence ministers to meet on Ukraine weapons, Greenland security
IOC's ban on skeleton racer Heraskevych 'plays into hands' of Russia, says Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday slammed a decision by the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing a helmet depicting killed Ukrainian athletes.
"The Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors," Zelensky said in a post on social media, adding: "We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal."
Ukrainian arms producers receive first wartime export licences
Ukrainian arms producers have received the first wartime licences to export their goods abroad, the secretary of Kyiv's national security and defence council said on Thursday.
In a statement, Rustem Umerov did not specify how many enterprises had received a license but said Ukraine's annual production capacity in the sector exceeds $55 billion.
Ukraine's air force warns of launch of Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile
Yesterday's key events:
Ukrainian capital Kyiv came under a "massive" attack from Russian missiles early on Thursday, with various buildings hit in the assault, officials said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
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