Russia steps up attacks on transport routes

In Odesa, forensic teams work in converted train cars to identify fallen Ukrainian soldiers returned from Russia.

Many arrive unnamed, yet experts document every clue and run DNA tests to match them with families.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has called on the country’s military leaders to respond to the increasing number of attacks by Russian forces against Ukraine’s logistics infrastructure.

“The Russian army remains focused on terror against our logistics — primarily railway infrastructure. In particular, there were strikes in the Dnipro region and in Zaporizhzhia, specifically targeting railway facilities,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.

Following comments from US President Trump that Russia had agreed not to strike Ukraine’s energy facilities for a week during a cold snap, Zelenskyy said on Monday that there had been no new targeted strikes on its energy infrastructure in the past 24 hours.

However, strikes remained focused on other infrastructure, especially the railways.

State rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia urged passengers in the east to use buses as many of its rail routes were becoming too “high risk.”

A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad killed at least 12 people, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

According to Ukrainian reports, a Russian drone hit a bus carrying coal miners who were on their way home after a shift change.

The mine management company DTEK said that a further 16 people had been injured, nine of them seriously.

Several other drones hit the mining site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike showed that Russia was escalating despite a US push to end the war.

In a separate attack, Russian drones also hit a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, injuring at least nine people.

A new round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which are being brokered by the US, is set to take place on Wednesday and Thursday, Russia confirmed on Monday.

The talks had originally been planned for Sunday, February 1, but had to be postponed over scheduling issues, the Kremlin said. It also confirmed that the talks would take place in Abu Dhabi, as with the previous round.

“They were indeed originally planned for this past Sunday. But additional coordination of the schedules of the three parties was needed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Now, on Wednesday-Thursday, the second round will indeed take place. It will be held in Abu Dhabi. We can confirm that,” he added.

Peskov said that while the two sides had so far come closer on some issues, there was still a way to go on what he called more complex issues.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said on Sunday the talks would be moved to Wednesday.

German authorities carried out raids across the country in connection with exports to Russia in violation of EU sanctions, they said on Monday.

Five men were apprehended in and around the northern city of Lübeck. Apartments in other German cities, including Frankfurt and Nuremberg, were also searched.

According to the authorities, the value of the illegally exported goods was at least €30 million ($35.6 million).

German, Russian and Ukrainian nationals were among those arrested, with the main suspect being the owner of a business in Lübeck.

They are suspected of having run a network of shell firms to supply the Russian defense industry since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, bypassing EU sanctions.

It is believed that Russian state agencies are behind the network, with 24 defense companies receiving around 16,000 deliveries from the network.

Talks between Ukraine and Russia look set to continue this week following a first round in Abu Dhabi last week. Both sides described those talks as “constructive.”

This comes amid a continued push from the Trump administration to negotiate a peace, although several of its proposals have been criticized by allies as being too favorable to Russia.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold off on strikes against Kyiv during the current winter cold snap.

Follow along for the latest updates from the almost 4-yearlong war.