Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky rules out referendum on ‘bad deal’ as European leaders gather in Munich

Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the“utterly stupid idea” he would announce a spring election and a referendum on a peace deal on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Reports citing Ukrainian and European officials claimed the president intended to announce the plans on 24 February, after the Trump administration issued a June deadline for a finalised peace agreement.

But, without ruling out an announcement at some point, Ukraine’s leader has pushed back on the date itself.

Ukraine's allies should make sure 2026 is the year Russia's war against Kyiv ends, the British defence secretary has said.

Speaking after a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels, John Healey said Ukraine's allies were "more united and more determined than ever".

He said: "We will step up military assistance to Ukraine. We will step up pressure on Russia.

"And we want to make 2026 the year this war ends, the year we secure peace."

His comments came at a press conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) which saw allied nations pledge 35bn US dollars (£25bn) of military support for Ukraine as the war approaches its fourth anniversary at the end of February.

Praising the "courage and defiance" of the Ukrainian people, Mr Healey added that Russia had been fighting in Ukraine for longer than the Soviet Union fought Germany during the Second World War.

The support announced on Thursday includes more than £500m from the UK in the form of new air defence systems, regarded as a priority by Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte urged allies to "step up their support" to Kyiv, saying Ukraine "urgently needs more air defence".

Russia’s governor in southern Volgograd said several people were injured after Ukrainian drones hit residential buildings and industrial facilities.

Governor Andrei Bocharov said on Telegram that several private homes and cars were damaged in Volgograd and nearby districts. Three people were taken to hospital, he added.

Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is an industrial city in southwest Russia, on the western bank of the Volga River.

Bocharov also said drones hit a number of industrial enterprises in the city and surrounding region but did not provide further details.

The strikes come as Ukraine and Russia intensify drone and missile attacks amid faltering US-brokered peace efforts.

Ukrainian officials said Russia launched overnight drone and ballistic missile attacks on Thursday, further damaging Ukraine’s energy system and leaving tens of thousands of residents in Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa without heat, electricity and water.

Industry sources told Reuters that Lukoil-owned Volgograd oil refinery – which accounts for about 5 per cent of Russia’s total oil refining capacity – suspended processing operations on Wednesday after a fire broke out following a Ukrainian drone strike.

Russian soldiers and pro-war commentators have reacted angrily after the Kremlin moved to slow and further restrict Telegram, warning the decision could disrupt frontline operations in the war against Ukraine, according to a report.

Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, said on Wednesday that it would continue imposing limits on the messaging app as part of broader efforts to tighten control over the information space.

The move follows earlier restrictions on Telegram and WhatsApp calls, in line with president Vladimir Putin’s push to assert greater oversight of digital communications.

For many Russian troops, Telegram is more than a social platform – it is a key operational tool.

“The front is in shock. Starlinks are gone, now they’re jamming Telegram too. How are we supposed to fight? With carrier pigeons?” one soldier wrote in a message shared on pro-war channels, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Complaints come after Russian troops reported losing access to Starlink satellite internet in parts of the front line. Ukrainian defence officials have said initial steps to block Russian use of the service had been effective.

In video appeals circulated by the monitoring channel Lpr 1, three servicemen urged Roskomnadzor not to interfere with Telegram.

“Telegram is our only channel of communication. Do not deprive us of it,” one soldier said.

Another warned the app is critical for responding quickly to Ukrainian drone attacks, saying it allows units to exchange information needed to intercept UAVs.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Thursday that he expects to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at this week’s Munich Security Conference.

Rubio made the remarks to reporters before departing Washington for the conference.

Around 70 heads of state and government and more than 140 ministers, including Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, French president Emmanuel Macron, British prime minister Keir Starmer and India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar are expected under tight security in Munich.

A large delegation from the US Congress had also been expected to accompany Rubio but many pulled out to stay in Washington for a closely watched House vote on funding the Department of Homeland Security.

The artist who painted a controversial helmet that got Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych banned from the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics said his refusal to stop wearing the helmet was "a great act of heroism”.

Artist Iryna Prots meticulously painted upon Heraskevych's helmet portraits of over 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

The helmet drew international attention after the IOC said it violated rules banning political messages.

Heraskevych's insistence on wearing it anyway got him barred.

"He could have refused, he could have said, 'Fine, I'll wear another helmet and fight for a medal,'" Prots, 52, told The Associated Press inside her home in Kyiv.

"He didn't do that. To stand up for his truth – that is great heroism.

"Heraskevych came up with the idea for the helmet design and his father, a longtime friend of Prots, asked her to paint it."It had to be done, and it had to be finished in time," Prots said.

"These were athletes who could have been standing there at the Olympics, but they are no longer here."

Around 3,500 apartment buildings in Kyiv were without heating on Thursday after Russia’s latest wave of attacks disrupted energy supplies across the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

According to Klitschko, nearly 2,600 high-rise buildings lost heating overnight following the strike, adding to 1,100 residential blocks already cut off due to previous attacks.

Russia battered Ukraine’s energy system again into Thursday morning leaving tens of thousands in the capital Kyiv and the cities of Dnipro and Odesa without heat, power and water, officials said.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 24 ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and 219 drones overnight on Thursday. Air defences downed or neutralised 16 missiles and 197 drones, it said.

Two people were hurt in the attack on Kyiv, which also hit a residential building, an official said.

In the industrial southeastern city of Dnipro, a combined missile and drone strike wounded four people, including a baby boy and a four-year-old girl, regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram.

Four people were injured in an overnight Russian attack that struck energy facilities and other critical infrastructure in Odesa, Kyiv Independent reported, citing regional officials.

Governor Oleh Kiper said Russian forces launched a large-scale drone assault on the region.

“The enemy continues to massively attack the Odesa region with strike drones. Despite the active work of air defence forces, direct hits and falling drone debris were recorded,” he said.

One of the injured was hospitalised in serious condition. Residential buildings, industrial sites, energy facilities and port infrastructure were damaged in the strikes, officials said.

The attack also disrupted electricity, heating and water supplies. Restoration work is ongoing.

The assault followed another wave of strikes a day earlier, when Russian forces targeted Odesa and other major cities including Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv with drones and missiles aimed at Ukraine’s energy sector. Power generation facilities and substations were hit in Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro.

Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure through the autumn and winter months, leaving thousands without electricity and heating during freezing temperatures.

Russia has moved to "fully block" Meta-owned WhatsApp, according to a company spokesperson, as Moscow intensifies its efforts to promote domestic platforms and tighten its grip on the nation's internet.

This action comes amid a deepening dispute with foreign technology providers, which escalated following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Authorities in Moscow are actively promoting a state-backed alternative messaging service named 'MAX'. Critics have voiced concerns that this app could be utilised for user tracking, although these allegations have been dismissed as false by state media.

"Due to Meta's unwillingness to comply with Russian law, such a decision was indeed made and implemented," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, proposing that Russians switch to MAX, Russia's state-owned messenger.

"MAX is an accessible alternative, a developing messenger, a national messenger, and it is available on the market for citizens as an alternative," said Peskov.