Issued on: 15/02/2026 - 08:26Modified: 15/02/2026 - 21:43
The Ukrainian military claimed responsibility on Sunday for a drone attack on a key oil storage facility in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, which caused a major fire, according to a Russian official. Read about the day’s events as they unfolded on our liveblog.
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Hundreds of buildings without heat in Ukraine capital
Around 1,600 buildings in Kyiv remained without heat Sunday after a barrage of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, officials said, as Ukraine's army claimed a strike on a key oil terminal in Russia.
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital say around 1,100 residential buildings and 500 other buildings were still without heat in Kyiv, in the midst of a gruelling winter of war.
Russia's recent attacks have triggered Ukraine's worst energy crisis of the nearly four-year-old war, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without heat and electricity at a time when temperatures have dropped as low as -20C.
Rubio visits eastern Europe to bolster ties with pro-Trump leaders
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began a two-day trip to eastern Europe to bolster ties with Slovakia and Hungary, whose conservative leaders, often at odds with other European Union countries, have warm ties with President Donald Trump.
Click on the link below to read more.
Druzhba oil supplies subject to political blackmail by Kyiv, Slovak PM claims
The Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia may have been fixed after recent damage but Ukraine may be holding up restarting supplies to pressure Hungary to drop its opposition to Ukraine's future membership in the EU, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
"I perceive what is happening around oil today as political blackmail toward Hungary due to the uncompromising stance of Hungary on Ukraine's EU membership," Fico said after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Bratislava.
Romanian president to attend Washington 'Board of Peace' meeting as observer
Romanian President Nicusor Dan announced that he would attend as observer the first meeting of US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace".
"Next week I will take part in the first meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, responding to the invitation addressed by the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump," Dan wrote on X, after having recently said that his country was still considering whether to join the body, of which Trump is the chairman.
Zelensky says allies to provide new energy and military aid within 10 days
Ukraine has agreed new energy and military support packages with European allies ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a post on X.
"In Munich, we agreed with the leaders of the Berlin Format on specific packages of energy and military aid for Ukraine by February 24," he wrote.
"I am grateful to our partners for their readiness to help, and we count on all deliveries arriving promptly," he added.
Zelenskiy added that Russia had launched around 1,300 attack drones, 1,200 guided aerial bombs and dozens of ballistic missiles at his country over the past week alone.
'Russia is no superpower,' says EU's Kallas
In her speech earlier today, the EU’s top diplomat warned against overstating Russian might.
“Let’s be clear-eyed about Russia: Russia is no superpower,” she said.
“After more than a decade of a conflict, including four years of full-scale war in Ukraine. Russia has barely advanced beyond the 2014 lines, and the cost? 1.2 million casualties.”
Click on the link below for more about her speech in Munich.
Ukraine says it struck Taman oil terminal in Russia
Ukraine's army says it hit a key oil terminal in southern Russia near Moscow-annexed Crimea in its latest cross-border attack.
Russian officials said Ukrainian drones had caused fires in the Krasnodar region and that dozens of drones had been shot down.
Kyiv has targeted Russian oil infrastructure throughout Moscow's invasion.
"An oil terminal in southern Russia and the Pantsir-S1 air defence systerm in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea has been hit," Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement.
The attack was on the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal near the village of Volna in the Krasnodar region.
Russia's war footing may remain after Ukraine war, says Latvia spy chief
Russia will not end the militarisation of its economy after fighting in Ukraine ends, the head of Latvia's intelligence agency has said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"The potential aggressiveness of Russia when the Ukraine war stops will depend of many factors: How the war ends, if it's frozen or not, and if the sanctions remain," Egils Zviedris, director of the Latvian intelligence service SAB, told AFP.
Some observers believe that Russia has so thoroughly embraced a war economy and full military mobilisation that it will be difficult for it to reverse course, and that this could push Moscow to launch further offensives against European territories.
Zviedris said that lifting current sanctions "would allow Russia to develop its military capacities" more quickly.
He acknowledged that Russia has drawn up military plans to potentially attack Latvia and its Baltic neighbours, but also said that "Russia does not pose a military threat to Latvia at the moment".
What's on the agenda for Munich gathering's third and final day?
With Rubio and Ukraine's Zelensky both gone, the annual Munich security gathering shifts largely to Europe's internal affairs on its third and final day.
FRANCE 24's correspondent Nick Holdsworth has the details.
Kallas: EU countries not ready to give Ukraine a date for membership
More from the EU foreign policy chief, who plays down chances of a concrete date for Ukraine to join the bloc.
"My feeling is that the member states are not ready to give a concrete date," Kallas told a panel at the Munich Security Conference.
"There's a lot of work to be done and then (the) priority and the urgent need is to move, and show that Ukraine is part of Europe."
Ukraine says ex-minister named in corruption scandal arrested as tried to leave country
Ukraine's NABU anti-corruption force says it arrested the country's former energy minister German Galushchenko – who resigned last year during a massive corruption scandal – as he tried to cross Ukraine's border.
"Today, while crossing the state border, NABU detectives have detained the former Minister of Energy as part of the 'Midas' case," NABU said in a statement, referring to a giant corruption scandal in the country's energy sector that rocked Ukraine last year.
It did not name Galushchenko in its statement, but he served as the country's energy minister last year and resigned in November.
Ukrainian drones damage Russian oil warehouse near Crimea
The governor of a southern Russian region near Crimea has given more detail of damage caused by a Ukrainian droke attack earlier today.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said an oil storage facility in the Black Sea village of Volna – near Moscow-annexed Crimea – was damaged.
Volna is where Russia's Port of Taman – used for oil, coal and grain shipment – is located.
"The most difficult situation is in the village of Volna. There, a petroleum tank, a warehouse and terminals were damaged," Kondratyev said.
He added that two people were wounded and that more than 100 firefighters were deployed to extinguish "several fires".
EU's Kallas rejects US talk of European 'civilisational erasure'
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas has pushed back against Europe "bashing" by the United States in her address to the Munich Security Conference, which is wrapping up today.
"Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilisational erasure," Kallas said on the last day of annual gathering of defence and intelligence chiefs.
Kaja Kallas speaks during the Munich Security Conference. Credit: Michael Probst, AP
The EU's foreign policy chief was responding to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech on Saturday, in which Washington's top diplomat sought to reassure European allies while also insisting that immigration threatened their "civilisation".
"The message that we heard is that America and Europe are intertwined, have been in the past and will be in the future. I think this is important," Kallas said.
"It is also clear that we don't see eye to eye in all the issues, and this will remain the case," she added.
Russia says it seized a dozen Ukrainian villages in February
Russia's army chief Valery Gerasimov has visited Moscow's troops in Ukraine and said the Kremlin's forces seized a dozen eastern villages in February, the defence ministry has said.
"In two weeks of February, despite severe winter conditions, combined forces and military units of the joint task force liberated 12 settlements," Gerasimov was quoted as saying.
His claims could not be independently verified.
The pace of Moscow's advance picked up in Autumn, but Russia has not reached its goal to seize the Donetsk region in four years of war.
Rubio's Munich address offered change of tone from Trump administration
Secretary of State Marco Rubio cast the United States as the "child of Europe" in a message of unity on Saturday, offering some reassurance as well as levelling more criticism at allies after a year of turmoil in transatlantic relations.
"In a time of headlines heralding the end of the transatlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish, because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe," Rubio said.
His speech at the Munich Security Conference was short on concrete commitments and made no mention of Russia, raising questions about whether his tone, more emollient than that of Vice President JD Vance at the same event a year ago, would change the underlying dynamics.
Click on the link below for the full story.
Rubio due in Slovakia for start of eastern Europe trip
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due in Slovakia for the start of a two-day trip aimed at bolstering ties with eastern European leaders that have warm ties with the Trump administration.
Rubio will use the trip, which includes a visit to Hungary on Monday, to discuss energy cooperation and bilateral issues, including NATO commitments, the State Department said in an announcement last week.
Both countries' conservative leaders are often at odds with other European Union members, and have resisted pressure to quit Russian oil.
"These are countries that are very strong with us, very cooperative with the United States, work very closely with us, and it's a good opportunity to go see them and two countries I've never been in," Rubio told reporters before departing for Europe.
Russia says Ukrainian drone attack damages Black Sea port
Russia's Taman port was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack, the regional governor has said.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said a fire was sparked by the attack. There was no immediate report of casualties.
A strategic Black Sea hub, Taman port has been a frequent target of Ukrainian drone attacks.
Russia's Navalny poisoned with dart frog toxin: European states
Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, said Saturday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by a "rare toxin" from a dart frog and that the Russian state was the prime suspect.
Navalny, a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin, died in a Russian prison on February 16, 2024, while serving a 19-year sentence.
"The UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands are confident that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin," the countries said in a joint statement released at the Munich Security Conference.
Welcome to our blog
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged Russia's Taman port, sparking a fire at the strategic Black Sea hub, the governor of Krasnodar region has said.
The reported attack comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins a two-day trip to Slovakia and Hungary, whose conservative leaders have warm ties with President Donald Trump – but have resisted pressure to quit Russian oil.
Main developments from yesterday:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that Europe and the US "belong together" as he sought to assuage European concerns about the fraying transatlantic alliance.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
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