Ukraine-Russia battle dwell: Zelensky guidelines out referendum on ‘bad deal’ as European leaders collect in Munich | EUROtoday

Volodymyr Zelensky has responded with outrage after a Ukrainian athlete was disqualified for sporting a helmet adorned with the faces of slain Ukrainian athletes.

The Ukrainian president wrote a scathing put up on social media which criticised the International Olympics Committee, accusing Olympic chiefs of enjoying “into the hands of aggressors” by disqualifying Vladyslav Heraskevych.

He additionally accused them of failing to stick to “the principle of Olympism, which are founded on fairness and the support of peace”.

He wrote: “Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors.”

“We are proud of Vladyslav. Having courage is worth more than any medal. His helmet, bearing the portraits of fallen Ukrainian athletes, is about honour and remembrance.

“It is a reminder to the whole world of what Russian aggression is. No rule has been broken. It is Russia that constantly violates Olympic principles, using the period of the Olympic Games to wage war.”

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

But, with out ruling out an announcement sooner or later, Ukraine’s chief has pushed again on the date itself.

Ukraine’s allies ought to make sure that 2026 is the yr Russia’s battle towards Kyiv ends, the British defence secretary has mentioned.

Speaking after a gathering of defence ministers in Brussels, John Healey mentioned Ukraine’s allies had been “more united and more determined than ever”.

He mentioned: “We will step up military assistance to Ukraine. We will step up pressure on Russia.

“And we wish to make 2026 the yr this battle ends, the yr we safe 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 “braveness 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 assist” to Kyiv, saying Ukraine “urgently wants extra 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 “an important 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 worldwide consideration after the IOC mentioned it violated guidelines banning political messages.

Heraskevych’s insistence on sporting it anyway acquired him barred.

“He could have refused, he could have said, ‘Fine, I’ll wear another helmet and fight for a medal,'” Prots, 52, informed The Associated Press inside her residence in Kyiv.

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

“Heraskevych got here up with the concept for the helmet design and his father, a longtime pal of Prots, requested her to color it.”It had to be done, and it had to be finished in time,” Prots mentioned.

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

Russia battered Ukraine’s vitality system once more into Thursday morning leaving tens of 1000’s within the capital Kyiv and the cities of Dnipro and Odesa with out warmth, energy and water, officers mentioned.

Ukraine’s air drive mentioned Russia launched 24 ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and 219 drones in a single day on Thursday. Air defences downed or neutralised 16 missiles and 197 drones, it mentioned.

Two individuals had been damage within the assault on Kyiv, which additionally hit a residential constructing, an official mentioned.

In the economic southeastern metropolis of Dnipro, a mixed missile and drone strike wounded 4 individuals, together with a child boy and a four-year-old woman, regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha mentioned on Telegram.

Four individuals had been injured in an in a single day Russian assault that struck vitality services and different essential infrastructure in Odesa, Kyiv Independent reported, citing regional officers.

Governor Oleh Kiper mentioned Russian forces launched a large-scale drone assault on the area.

“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 mentioned.

One of the injured was hospitalised in critical situation. Residential buildings, industrial websites, vitality services and port infrastructure had been broken within the strikes, officers mentioned.

The assault additionally disrupted electrical energy, heating and water provides. Restoration work is ongoing.

The assault adopted one other wave of strikes a day earlier, when Russian forces focused Odesa and different main cities together with Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv with drones and missiles aimed toward Ukraine’s vitality sector. Power technology services and substations had been hit in Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro.

Moscow has repeatedly focused Ukraine’s essential infrastructure by way of the autumn and winter months, leaving 1000’s with out electrical energy and heating throughout freezing temperatures.