Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Moscow says ‘serious damage’ in Belgorod after missiles pound power infrastructure | EUROtoday

The International Monetary Fund has approved an $8.1bn, four-year loan for Ukraine, with $1.5bn to be disbursed immediately to support the government as the war with Russia enters its fifth year.

The new Extended Fund Facility will anchor a broader $136.5bn international support package and replace a $15.5bn programme agreed in 2023.

Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the funding would help cover a projected $136.5 billion budget gap over four years, alongside support including a €90bn EU loan.

The IMF said the programme would stabilise Ukraine’s economy, address its balance of payments needs and support reforms aimed at boosting growth, tackling corruption and strengthening institutions.

Ukraine’s economy is forecast to grow by 1.8–2.5% in 2026, while inflation is expected to ease to around 6.1%. The IMF put the cost of rebuilding the country at $588bn over the next decade, citing a joint assessment with the World Bank, EU and UN.

The programme will be reviewed quarterly and could be adjusted if peace talks progress.

The Vatican has unveiled a new postage stamp honouring Ukraine’s Catholics, featuring a striking image of Kyiv’s Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ during a blackout.

At least two South Africans have been killed while fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine, foreign minister Ronald Lamola said on Thursday, as 15 men who were reportedly misled into joining mercenary units were repatriated.

Ukrainian foreign minister said more than 1,700 Africans are fighting for Russia in its war in Ukraine, adding that Moscow was using deception to trick them into fighting.

“We clearly see that Russia is trying to drag African citizens into a deadly war,” Andrii Sybiha told a news conference. “According to our data, there are currently over 1,780 citizens from the African continent fighting in the Russian army.”

Eleven of them returned home on Wednesday, part of a group of 17 who had sought assistance from Pretoria after being stranded for months in the heart of the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Four arrived last week, while two remain in Russia undergoing treatment for what Lamola described as “very severe” accidents.

“There are other South Africans that we have since discovered were part of the process, and we have since discovered that some have also died,” Lamola told state broadcaster SABC.

The next round of US-brokered trilateral peace talks between Russia and Ukraine is likely to take place in Abu Dhabi in early March, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.

He made the remarks in an evening address following discussions in Geneva between US and Ukrainian officials on post-war reconstruction.

Zelensky said in his regular nightly address that there was “already more readiness for the next trilateral format”.

Reaffirming his call for direct talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, he said preparations were needed for “a meeting at the leadership level”.

“This format can solve a lot,” he added.

US first lady Melania Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting in what the United Nations on Thursday said would be a first.

When the wife of president Donald Trump takes her seat in the president’s chair on Monday afternoon, it “would be the first time a primary woman, or first gentleman for that matter, has ever presided over a Security Council assembly,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

The United States takes over the rotating presidency of the 15-member council for the month of March, and the first lady’s office said the meeting she will preside over will “emphasize schooling’s position in advancing tolerance and world peace.”

Melania Trump has made children in conflict one of her signature issues, writing a letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin last year ahead of a summit with president Trump and later announcing that the effort had led to a group of children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war reuniting with their families.

It comes as President Trump has criticized the United Nations, saying repeatedly that the 193-member world body has not lived up to its potential.

Dujarric said UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo will be briefing the Security Council on behalf of the secretary-general at Monday’s meeting presided over by the first lady and officially entitled “Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict.”

Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday that its air defence units had shot down 220 Ukrainian drones over a nine-hour period, including 24 that were headed towards Moscow.

In its latest statement, the ministry said 53 drones were intercepted and destroyed in the three hours leading up to 11pm (2000 GMT).

Many of the drones were downed over regions in central Russia, with the ministry adding that 12 had been targeting the capital.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, said 27 drones had been shot down while flying towards the city, starting at around 5pm.

Ukrainian missiles struck the Russian town of Belgorod near the border, inflicting serious damage on energy installations and disrupting power, water and heating, the regional governor said during the early hours of Friday.

The attack on Belgorod, 40km from the Ukrainian border, and the surrounding district was the second in five days to cause serious damage.

The area has been a frequent target of Ukraine’s military in the four years since Russia invaded its smaller neighbour.

“Serious damage has occurred to energy infrastructure,” Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. “As a result, there have been disruptions to supplies of power, water and heating.”

Gladkov said the extent of the damage would be assessed at first light.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said its executive board had approved an $8.1bn, four-year loan for Ukraine, of which $1.5bn would be disbursed immediately.

The IMF said the new Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Ukraine would help anchor a $136.5bn international support package for the war-torn country, which this week marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The new loan, which replaces a $15.5bn program that was approved in 2023, will help Kyiv to maintain economic stability and keep public spending flowing, the IMF said.

Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko hailed the IMF loan as part of a broader financial framework that would cover an estimated budget shortfall of $136.5 billion over four years.

“It is essential for us that within the fifth yr of the full-scale battle, in opposition to the backdrop of systematic assaults on the power sector, Ukraine has assured worldwide monetary assist from companions and the sources for the secure functioning of the state,” she wrote on Telegram.

A Kenyan court has charged a man with trying to hire and traffic 25 people to fight for Russia in its war with Ukraine, the prosecutor’s office and a court filing said.

The court charged Festus Arasa Omwamba, director of a recruiting company, of trafficking the victims to “Russia for the aim of exploitation by the use of deception”, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said.

Kenya has been trying to crack down on the conscription of soldiers following petitions from families who say their relatives have been lured in by lucrative job offers in Russia only to be sent to the frontlines:

The United States has slowed the sale of Russian oil giant Lukoil’s international assets to pressure Russia in the Ukraine peace talks, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.

On Thursday, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control will extend the February 28 deadline to April 1 for deals to be concluded, an OFAC document reviewed by Reuters showed.

OFAC has already extended the deadline three times for potential buyers to negotiate with Lukoil for assets valued at $22 billion since Washington imposed sanctions on the two Russian oil companies in October.