Overview
- Ukraine reported 143 combat engagements on February 24, with more than 20 Russian assaults on the Pokrovsk axis and fighting across multiple eastern fronts.
- Eleven foreign leaders and top EU officials were in Kyiv for the anniversary, joining tributes on the Maidan and visiting a missile-damaged energy facility.
- Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov set three priorities to close the sky, stop Russia on land, at sea and in cyber, and cut its war finances, including targeting the shadow oil fleet and aiming to intercept at least 95% of aerial threats.
- Ukrainian officials described a wave of rear-area bombings against police in Lviv, Mykolaiv and Dnipro, blaming Russian special services for a campaign to intimidate and destabilize.
- U.S.-mediated talks have produced only a prisoner exchange so far, with Ukrainian officials preparing for another Geneva round this week as Washington urges curbs on support to Russia from China, North Korea, Iran and Cuba.