Russia launched "more than 500 missiles and drones" overnight, striking homes and energy facilities across Ukraine as temperatures fell to -20C. NATO chief condemns attack on innocent civilians, on unannounced visit to Kyiv ahead of trilateral talks tomorrow. Follow the latest.
Tuesday 3 February 2026 15:32, UK
As efforts to bring peace to Ukraine reach a crucial stage with talks in Abu Dhabi due to start tomorrow, defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke returns to answer your questions on the war.
Send him yours in the box at the top of the page before the live Q&A at 1pm tomorrow.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete and flag bearer Vladyslav Heraskevych has criticsed the International Olympic Committee's policy for Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Olympians from those nations will compete as neutral athletes.
But Heraskevych questions "how you can consider an athlete neutral if he is fully financed by the government, if he is somehow attached to the federation, national federation, which is also part of propaganda”.
He says athletes who have fled Russia or Belarus and opposed the war should instead be allowed to compete under a refugee banner.
"I'm not against athletes themselves," he said. "I'm against the spreading of propaganda. And I believe that verification system, verification criteria are not enough to [vet the athletes] as neutral."
Heraskevych - who flashed a ‘NO WAR IN UKRAINE' sign at the Beijing Winter Games days before Russia’s 2022 invasion - wants to see change. He is unhappy that some athletes are "getting ready for competition in occupied territories" and says they shouldn't be considered neutral if they are benefiting from government funding.
"It should be a refugee team, so they should be separated from the government. They shouldn't have any monetary ties to the Russian government, to the Belarussian government."
Around 60% of consumers were left without electricity in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region overnight, the regional governor has said.
Kharkiv was under aerial attack by Russian forces for "almost five hours in a row", including with ballistic missiles, drones and cluster munitions, Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram.
Hundreds of rescuers are still working to help those affected by the attacks, he said.
Synegubov also said 60% of consumers were without electricity following the strikes, and planned and emergency outages were in effect across the region.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken out online after his news conference alongside Mark Rutte, saying the Russians "broke their promise" to Donald Trump.
"There was a request from the President of the United States to refrain from strikes on energy and infrastructure during the meetings of our negotiating teams," Ukraine's president says on Telegram.
"The President of America said that we should refrain from strikes for a week. In fact, it started on Friday night, and tonight the Russians broke their promise."
Zelenskyy questions whether "Russia now believes that there are four incomplete days in a week instead of seven, or they are really betting only on war".
"Simply waiting for the coldest days of this winter, when in a significant part of Ukraine it is more than -20 Celsius," he says.
"What Russia does always clearly indicates intentions. We believe that this Russian strike really violates what the American side agreed on, and there must be consequences for this."
In one of Kyiv's hardest-hit districts, Yuliia Dolotova is focused on caring for her two children, AP reports.
Her youngest, an 18-month-old son, is bundled in layers to protect him against the freezing conditions.
She says life has been reduced to the most basic essentials: warmth, light and food.
“All day long, there’s no electricity, no way to cook food for the kids. Pretty much everyone is in this situation,” the 37-year-old mother says.
She lives in Troieshchyna, which has been battered by Russian attacks ever since Moscow's full-scale invasion.
In his final answer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy runs through what he describes as the key parts of any peace deal with Russia, including the "most important" one.
First, the Ukrainian leader touches on the necessity of Ukraine having an army of necessary size (800,000 people he says) - this is a topic that has come up in previous draft peace plans.
He also speaks about Ukraine joining the EU, but says "the most important" aspect is security guarantees.
"The most important [thing] is what Europeans will be ready to do if Russia attacks us again, and what Americans [will be] ready to do in the same case. I think this is the most important answer. What are security guarantees for Ukraine and what do they mean."
This was one of the major hurdles to peace negotiations previously, but it seems to have been partly worked through with the Trump administration.
The news conference has now finished.
In a later question, Mark Rutte is asked about the overnight attack by Russia on Ukraine and what it means for peace efforts spearheaded by the US.
The NATO leader condemns the attack as plainly targeting civilian infrastructure and talks up the actions of Donald Trump.
He also stresses that Kyiv is ready for peace negotiations, saying:
"Zelenskyy is absolutely ready to play ball and come to a deal with the Russians... but this makes you question whether the Russians are serious. I know the American president is doing everything he can to bring this terrible war to an end and I commend him for that."
Rutte has often spoken glowingly of Trump and adds that he is "absolutely sure" the White House will have noticed the overnight attacks.
Rutte goes on: "[The US] will take this as it is... an attack on innocent, civilian infrastructure."
He adds: "This is nothing to do with winning a war... this is creating chaos."
The first question of the news conference is for Mark Rutte, and the NATO chief is asked if he can guarantee a supply of missiles for Ukraine via the PURL initiative.
The supply via PURL is a vital lifeline for Ukraine in allowing it to keep up a defence against Russia's nightly attacks.
Rutte says:
"Yes I am absolutely confident that the money will be there, because we all know it's crucial... there is an issue of burden sharing. At the moment, some allies are doing a lot, a lot are doing something and some are doing not much."
Rutte singles out the Baltic countries as carrying more of the burden than others.
The likes of Norway have previously raised concerns about bearing more of the costs than others.
"We need the burden to be shared between allies," Rutte adds.
As a reminder: PURL is a programme by which NATO allies of Ukraine buy US weapons and give them to Kyiv.
It was set up after Donald Trump cut off the flow of aid from Washington, set up by the previous president Joe Biden.
After Zelenskyy, Rutte speaks at the news conference in Kyiv.
He talks up the PURL initiative - through which NATO members purchase US arms and give them to Ukraine - and NATO's support for Ukraine.
Rutte claims that 75% of all missiles for Ukraine's batteries and 90% of missiles used in air defence systems supplied by Europe came via PURL.
He says:
"It's an inspiration to stand alongside you to affirm NATO's continued support for Ukraine... NATO stands with you, in words and with deeds."
Rutte also says NATO is helping fund rehab centres for Ukraine's soldiers.
Much of what he says is repeating often heard lines from Kyiv's European allies regarding how the war will be brought to an end and condemning Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure.
In his news conference with the NATO chief, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has covered his talks with Mark Rutte as well as the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and talks with the US.
He said there needed to be dialogue with Russia, after the first trilateral talks between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington last month, but that "no one is ready to surrender".
The Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of disregarding US efforts by attacking energy infrastructure overnight.
Here's what else he said:
Ukraine's military says it has struck a Russian drone production centre in occupied territory.
The general staff of the armed forces said Ukrainian defence troops inflicted damage on "a number of enemy military facilities" over the past day.
Among them was a Russian drone training and production centre in a Russian-occupied area of the Zaporizhzhia region.
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