CloseA senior Russian general has been rushed to hospital after being shot in Moscow, state media reported on Friday.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Defence Ministry.
When Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a short-lived mutiny in June 2023, Alexeyev was one of the top officials who were sent to negotiate with him.
Several senior Russian military officials have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine. Moscow has blamed the attacks on Kyiv.
The news came as the US and Russia said they would restart high-level dialogue between their militaries, a level of engagement that was suspended late in 2021 ahead of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The agreement is one of the few tangible outcomes from much-anticipated trilateral peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi over the past two days.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the talks were constructive but "not easy" in the absence of any other significant breakthroughs. He said the next round would likely take place in the US.
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A senior Russian general has been rushed to hospital after being shot in Moscow, state media reported on Friday.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev is deputy chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff at the Defence Ministry.
When Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a short-lived mutiny in June 2023, Alexeyev was one of the top officials who were sent to negotiate with him.
Daniel Keane6 February 2026 08:20
Recap: US and Russia will reestablish high-level military dialogue, US says
The US and Russia have agreed to reestablish high level dialogue between their militaries, the US European Command said in a statement published yesterday.
In a statement, US European Command said that renewed dialogue would "provide consistent military to military contact as the parties work towards a lasting peace".
The surprise announcement, signalling a major rapprochement, followed a meeting of senior US and Russian military officers in Abu Dhabi.
James Reynolds6 February 2026 08:00
Ukrainian strikes inflict 'serious damage' on Russia
The governor in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, said today that nighttime shelling by Ukraine had inflicted "serious damage".
"The enemy has shelled the civilian city of Belgorod,” claimed Vyacheslav Gladkov in a video posted to social media.
“Everyone knows we have no military targets. There has been serious damage. I have been out to look around."
He didn't provide details of the damage. He said the authorities have not set up temporary housing.
There have so far been no comments from Ukraine.
James Reynolds6 February 2026 07:30
Abu Dhabi talks end with prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia
US president Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said the delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an exchange of 314 prisoners of war, which took place yesterday, marking the first such swap in five months.
Aside from agreeing to resume negotiations soon, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 157 prisoners of war each, the Russian defence ministry said. Three civilians from the Kursk region were also returned to Russia.
A video released by Ukraine’s presidency showed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war – many wrapped in the national flag – disembarking from buses in the snow, some hugging each other and others crying as they spoke to relatives on mobile phones.
POW exchanges were the only concrete steps towards peace that emerged from the previous rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia last year in Turkey.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides have been killed, wounded, or gone missing in nearly four years of war.
Arpan Rai6 February 2026 07:03
Russian drone attack kills couple in Zaporizhzhia
At least two people have been killed this morning in a Russian drone strike on Zaporizhzhia’s Vilniansk, regional officials said.
“The Russians hit Vilniansk with a drone. A house was destroyed. A married couple were killed – a 49-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman,” said Ivan Fedorov, head of Zaporizhzhia oblast military administration.
The overnight attack also wounded a 14-year-old boy, he said. Several residential buildings were damaged and 12,000 consumers were left without electricity due to damage to energy infrastructure.
Arpan Rai6 February 2026 06:59
Ukrainian refugee on the brink of sumo wrestling history after fleeing war-torn country
A Ukrainian-born grappler is on the cusp of making history in Japan’s national sport of sumo, as he trains intensely for a shot at its highest honour.
Aonishiki, whose sumo name translates to "blue brocade" in homage to the Ukrainian flag, has rapidly ascended through the ranks.
The 21-year-old has secured two consecutive grand tournament victories and already holds the sport's second-highest status as an ozeki champion.
A triumph at the upcoming spring tournament in Osaka next month would qualify him for promotion to yokozuna, an esteemed grand champion title achieved by only 75 men throughout sumo's long history.
"I wake up every day wanting to get stronger, wanting to climb another rank higher," the 140kg grappler told reporters in Japanese after a morning training session in Tokyo.
"The simple fact is that you can't progress without a struggle. It's my job to overcome that."
Ukrainian refugee on the brink of sumo wrestling history
A Ukrainian-born grappler is on the cusp of making history in Japan’s national sport of sumo, as he trains intensely for a shot at its highest honour. Arpan Rai6 February 2026 06:40
Zelensky celebrates prisoner swap and vows to 'bring everyone back'
Volodymyr Zelensky said his administration is working to bring home every single Ukrainian held in Russian captivity.
Ukraine and Russia completed the first prisoner swap in around five months yesterday, exchanging a total of 314 people.
Zelensky celebrated the exchange on X, writing: “We are bringing our people home – 157 Ukrainians. Warriors from the Armed Forces, National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. Soldiers, sergeants, and officers. Along with our defenders, civilians are also returning. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022.”
Zelensky said it was critical for Ukraine to make the exchange happen and thanked everyone on the frontline who captured Russian soldiers to be used in prisoner swaps.
“Without the determination of our warriors, such exchanges would be impossible. And thus every result achieved by our units is what also sustains the ability to bring Ukrainians home from Russia. We will continue to work to release our people from captivity. We must bring everyone back – and we certainly will,” he said.
“We are working on every name so that each family can finally welcome their loved ones home.”
Arpan Rai6 February 2026 06:19
US and Russia will reestablish high-level military dialogue, US says
The US and Russia have agreed to reestablish high level dialogue between their militaries, the US European Command said in a statement published yesterday.
"Following the productive and constructive progress towards President (Donald) Trump's goal of peace in Ukraine made by Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff over the past week, the US and Russian Federation agreed today in Abu Dhabi to reestablish high level military-to-military dialogue," the statement said.
"This channel of communication was suspended in the fall of 2021, just prior to the onset of the conflict," the United States European Command said in a statement, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Arpan Rai6 February 2026 06:02
Watch: Ukrainian firefighters respond in aftermath of Russian strike on Kyiv as snow falls
Arpan Rai6 February 2026 05:33
What are the key differences between Ukraine and Russia in peace talks
The most divisive issues are Moscow's demands that Kyiv give up land it still controls and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which sits in a Russian-occupied area.
Russia wants Ukraine to pull its troops out of all the Donetsk region, including heavily fortified cities regarded as one of Ukraine's strongest defences, as a precondition for any deal.
Ukraine says the conflict should be frozen along current front lines and rejects any unilateral pullback of its forces.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian troops would keep fighting until Kyiv made "decisions" that could bring the war to an end.
Russia occupies about 20 per cent of Ukraine's national territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion.
Analysts say Russia has gained about 1.5 per cent of Ukrainian territory since early 2024.
