New Ukraine negotiations are coming up in Geneva. Russia changes delegation leader. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Ukraine is slowing the Russian advance.
Feb 16, 2026, 8:37 p.mFeb 16, 2026, 8:37 p.m
Finn Michalski / t-online
After leading representatives of international politics discussed Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) over the weekend, the new week begins with renewed negotiations on a possible peace plan. The next round of talks between the USA, Russia and Ukraine is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva. After two rounds in January, each of which took place in Abu Dhabi, a possible ceasefire is once again in focus.
A Russian soldier during shooting training: Putin’s brutal winter war also leads to high losses in the Russian army.Image: keystone
There is a noticeable change in personnel on the Russian side. The talks in Abu Dhabi were led by the head of Russian military intelligence, Igor Kostyukov. He is now to be replaced in Geneva by Vladimir Medinsky, Putin’s “cultural representative” and propaganda specialist. In previous negotiations, Medinsky had threatened Ukraine with a decade-long war if the country did not comply with Russian demands. His absence from recent talks in Abu Dhabi was widely seen as a sign that Russia was taking the negotiations seriously. The Kremlin has not yet commented on why Medinski is now leading the Russian delegation again.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine continues unabated. After Russian troops recorded a six-month high in their advance in the last week of January and conquered around 141 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory within a week, Ukraine was finally able to slow down the advance. Last week, Ukrainian territorial losses amounted to around 71 square kilometers.
More than 1,000 dead in one day
However, Russia is paying a high price for these gains in territory. In an interview with the US magazine “The Atlantic”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was losing around 170 soldiers for every kilometer conquered. In his speech at the MSC, he put Russian losses at around 35,000 soldiers per month. In total, Russia has suffered losses of around 1.3 million people since the full invasion began in February 2022, including an estimated 350,000 soldiers killed and almost a million wounded. According to information from the Ukrainian army, 1,180 Russian soldiers were killed in the last 24 hours alone.
Last week, the Ukrainian armed forces were able to easily slow down the Russian advance along the front lines.Image: keystone
Meanwhile, Ukraine has managed to liberate smaller towns from Russian forces, reports the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). However, the Ukrainian military expert Konstantin Mashowets, whom the institute quotes, emphasizes that these efforts cannot yet be described as a “counteroffensive,” but rather are an expression of dynamic frontal shifts as the war progresses.
Russia is planning a major summer offensive
According to ISW, Russia is again planning a major summer offensive, although it does not currently fully control key logistical hubs or is in danger of losing this control again. This could make US President Donald Trump’s goal of ending the war more difficult: Just last week, Zelensky reported that Trump had given both warring parties a deadline of the end of June. Observers suspect that Trump wants to market a possible peace domestically before the midterm elections as a personal success.
The recent setbacks by the Russian armed forces could be due, among other things, to the fact that the satellite operator Starlink has restricted access for Russian soldiers. It was previously known that the system, which was actually intended to support Ukraine, was also used by Russian units for communications and planning. At the same time, the Kremlin is testing its own satellite systems, which have already been classified as “inadequate” by Russian military bloggers online.
At the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke at the security conference in Munich.Image: keystone
Meanwhile, Russia continues to target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Zelensky spoke of around 1,300 drone attacks, 1,200 glide bombs and around 50 rockets within a week that were directed against the country’s energy infrastructure. These attacks significantly increase the pressure on the civilian population, as millions of people have to make do in sub-zero temperatures, sometimes without heating or electricity.
Ukraine responds with attacks
Ukraine has also recently intensified its attacks on Russian territory. Russian officials are reporting drone strikes in various parts of the country, including in the Moscow, Belgorod and Bryansk regions – the latter are close to the border with Ukraine. Air traffic was temporarily suspended. In the Bryansk region, five communities were temporarily left without heat and electricity after supply infrastructure was also hit there.
An oil reservoir in Bryansk that was set on fire.Image: AP Governor of Bryansk Region Al
According to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal near the village of Volna in Russia’s Krasnodar region and a Pantsir-S1 air defense system in occupied Crimea were attacked.
As the General Staff in Kiev announced on Facebook, the attacks were directed against militarily and economically important targets “deep in the enemy’s hinterland” and in occupied areas. The oil terminal in the Krasnodar region was destroyed and a fire broke out on the site. Two people were injured in the attack.
In Crimea, a Russian Pantsir-S1 system was put out of action in the Katscha area. This is a mobile medium-range air defense system for combating aircraft, helicopters and drones.