
The Washington Post writes that “Trump is undermining his own idea of lasting peace in Ukraine: He doesn’t want to provide more aid to Kiev and he doesn’t want Ukraine to be accepted into NATO.” “When it comes to overseeing a possible ceasefire and ensuring Ukraine’s security — without which the truce would be meaningless given Moscow’s neo-imperial ambitions — he sees it as a European problem,” writes Lee Hocksteder, a columnist for the paper’s European affairs desk. “Trump may be sabotaging his own goal of ending a catastrophic war that is approaching its third anniversary: He’s not tying up loose ends,” said Jan Techau, a German security analyst.
In response, the US president said: “I will talk to Putin and I think we might be able to do something significant,” without saying when or how. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for the war in Ukraine, told Reuters that the United States expects elections in Ukraine before the end of the year, especially if it wants to reach an agreement with Russia to end the war.
On February 3, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk arrived in Kiev. He met with representatives of the Ukrainian government and defense industry.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, from February 1, 2025, Arsen Zhumadilov will temporarily perform the duties of the head of the Ukrainian state enterprise “Defense Procurement Agency”. It was reported that Marina Bezrukova’s contract with the Defense Procurement Agency expired on January 31. Her activity will not be continued and she will cease to serve as head of the AHO. Zhumaldinov will perform these duties until the new director is appointed according to the established procedure.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has proposed to create an official profession of “sniper” in the country, the project will now go to public discussion. They plan to teach professions in vocational training institutions. The key skills of snipers are literacy, mathematical competence, personal, social and learning competence.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal reported that outpost communities will be created in a zone of 100 km from the contact line, on the border with Belarus and Russia, “The goal of this pilot project is to involve as many rear communities as possible in supporting outpost communities.” “This can be done by concluding special agreements under which humanitarian, social, medical, logistical, financial and other assistance will be provided,” the Prime Minister noted. “This type of settlements was very common in the 17th century in the Russian state in the southern border areas. The country’s Justice Ministry says the number of deaths in Ukraine in 2024 was almost three times higher than the number of births.
Ukrenergo wrote that emergency closures were introduced in seven regions in Ukraine due to a missile attack. There is no light in parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Kropyvnytskyi regions. Volodymyr Zelensky complained that Ukraine received “only” about 75 billion dollars of the 177 billion promised by America: “When they say that Ukraine received 200 billion to support the army, this is not true. I don’t know where all this money is,” Zelenskyj.
In Moscow on February 3, a new targeted killing was recorded. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the explosion in the Alye Parusa residential complex in Moscow: “The special services are doing their job, the information is being clarified.” This time, Armen Sargsyan lost his life, who died in hospital after an explosion in the residential complex from his injuries. “The recipient of the Order of Courage, an honorary citizen of the city of Horlivka, he left a bright mark on the history of the region. Armen Nagapetovich (Sargsyan) was not only a respected public figure, but also a person who actively participated in the defense of his homeland,” wrote the mayor of Horlivka in his eulogy.
Then we learn from the social sphere: “Sargsyan’s most significant achievement was the creation and leadership of a separate battalion of special forces “ArBat”. This battalion, formed by volunteers, played a key role in ensuring security on the territory of the DPR, participating in numerous operations to combat Ukrainian terrorism.” There was a price on him in Ukraine. His bodyguard would have died with him.
Peskov also said: “The attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Sudzha constituency is a monstrous provocation of the Kiev regime. There have been no serious discussions on negotiation options on the Ukrainian issue. The topic of elections in Ukraine is important for future negotiations. Zelenskyi’s powers are de jure over; no one can dispute that.” Finally, Peskov spoke about Syria: “Russia will continue dialogue with the new Syrian authorities on all issues, including agreements on the use of the Tartus base.”
After the explosion in the Alye Parusa residential complex, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under three articles: “Attempted murder of two or more people”, “Murder by generally dangerous methods” and “Illegal trafficking in weapons”. “Elements of the IED were removed from the scene of the explosion in the Alye Parusa residential complex in Moscow, sappers continue to work”. Source TASS. According to the Telegram 112 channel, “after the incident, security forces are looking for a man aged 35-45. He is believed to have planted the explosive device”.
NATO, according to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, FSB, “is increasingly thinking about a change of power in Ukraine”. “NATO headquarters plans to publish information about the embezzlement of $ 1.5 billion allocated for weapons by Zelensky and his team. It is planned to reveal the plan of Zelensky and his entourage to withdraw money abroad for 130 thousand dead Ukrainian servicemen who continue to be listed as alive. The Alliance will make public the facts of Kiev’s involvement in arms sales to various groups in Africa. NATO would like to get rid of the head of the Kiev regime, possibly following pseudo-democratic elections that may take place in the fall”.
And now a look at the front lines updated at 16:00 on February 3.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have again organized a massive UAV raid on our regions. In the Astrakhan region, fuel and energy plants have become targets. In the Rostov region, 29 UAVs are destroyed in the districts of Kasharsky, Krasnosulinsky, Matveevo-Kurgansky, Millerovsky, Tarasovsky, Chertkovsky, Sholokhovsky. Several drones were shot down over Volgograd, reportedly hitting oil refineries. In the Voronezh region, several UAVs were discovered and destroyed in two districts of the region. Russian troops entered Zamosc, the last settlement before the occupied city of Sudzha in the Kursk region.
In the Kursk region, the Sever group of troops reports that fighting continues in the settlements of Pogrebki, Maryevka and Sverdlikovo, as well as in the surrounding forest areas. An Iskander OTRK was launched against the command post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the direction of Sivers’k, Russian troops intensified offensive actions in the area of the Zolotarivsʹkyy reserve near the village of Verkhn’okam’yans’ke.
In Chasiv Yar, fighting continues in the southern part of the city.
In the Pokrovs’k direction, Russian troops are achieving tactical successes north of Vozdvyzhenka, east of the settlement Kotlyne, near the settlement Baranivka, Shevchenko, Uspenivka, Nadiivka and Andriivka. Russian troops are already 2 km from Myrnohrad: the residents of the city are advised to evacuate. The national police reports that about 3,000 residents remain in the city. There is no electricity, drinking water or gas.
In the direction of Kostyantynopil’ (west of Kurachove) north of the Sukhi Yaly River, Russian troops are advancing through a forest in an area up to 1.15 km wide, Ukrainian channels have spoken in the social sphere about the use of assault groups by Russian troops on motorcycles, which allows them to get closer to Ukrainian servicemen, avoiding mines and complicating the work of FPV drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the Belgorod region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces yesterday intensified attacks on civilian targets. In Horlivka (DPR), five civilians were injured by artillery fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces with cluster munitions. Eight residential buildings were damaged in the Nikitovsky and Central City districts of Horlivka, and one civilian infrastructure (power line) in the Nikitovsky district of the city. In total, about 20 artillery attacks were recorded.
In Ukraine, the State Emergency Service confirms the information about the earthquake in the Poltava region. The earthquake occurred between Poltava and Reshetilovka, tremors of magnitude 3.67 were recorded at a depth of 3 km. This has already happened in the past when an underground storage of munitions.
Graziella Giangiulio
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