Here is the situation on Thursday, February 13:

Fighting

• At least one person was killed and four others, including a nine-year-old child, were injured by a Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said. The strike caused damage and fires in at least four areas of the city.
• Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a woman was killed by a Ukrainian drone in Russia’s Belgorod region. Gladkov said the drone struck the victim’s car and killed her instantly.
• Ukraine’s military said it shot down six out of seven ballistic missiles launched by Russia in an overnight attack. The Kremlin also launched a barrage of 123 attack drones at Kyiv, out of which 71 were shot down and 40 were likely deterred by “electronic countermeasures”, the military said.
• Ukraine launched a drone attack on Enerhodar city near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, hitting a car parked about 300 metres (0.2 miles) from one of the plant’s reactors, the Russian-installed regional governor for the occupied Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said.

• Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said the chief of staff of its anti-terrorist department was arrested for allegedly spying for Russia. The agency said they discovered 14 episodes of the unnamed official’s illegal activities.

Politics & Diplomacy

• United States President Donald Trump said another US citizen would be freed after Marc Fogel was released from a Russian jail where he had been held since 2021.
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a Russian prisoner was freed from a US prison in exchange for Fogel’s release and that he would return home in the coming days. A White House official confirmed that the individual was Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.
• Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev branded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to swap Russian territories occupied by Ukraine for Ukrainian land held by Russia as “nonsense”, adding that Russia would never discuss trading the territory it holds.
• Zelenskyy also said that Russia’s recent missile attack on Kyiv was proof that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace and called for “strong steps and pressure” to stop the attacks.
• Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed that he had held his first meeting with the new US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

• Kyiv and Moscow once again traded blame for the failed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission rotation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
• The United Kingdom pledged 150 million pounds ($186.6m) in military aid to Ukraine that includes drones, tanks and air defence systems.
• US Defense Secretary Hegseth said at a NATO meeting in Brussels that the aim to win back Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders from Russia was an unrealistic objective. He also said the US did not consider Ukraine’s membership of NATO to be a part of a possible peace plan between Russia and Ukraine.
• Trump said he spoke on the phone with Putin and agreed to start negotiations immediately to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said he informed Zelenskyy of the conversation.
• Russia also confirmed that a call had taken place between the two presidents and detailed that Putin and Trump spoke for nearly an hour and the two presidents had agreed to meet.
• Trump later said that he planned to meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia to further discuss a peace deal. He added that it would happen “in the not-too-distant future” and that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would also be involved.
• Trump spoke with Zelenskyy on the phone for nearly an hour, the Ukrainian president’s office said. Following the call, Trump said Zelenskyy “wants peace”.