First modification: 02/04/2026 - 13:02 Last modification: 02/05/2026 - 01:48

Around 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the main Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov, assured that the first day of the talks between his country and Russia, mediated by the United States, in Abu Dhabi, was "substantial and productive."

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Around 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died since the start of the war, says Zelensky

This minute by minute has been closed. Below, the main news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the midst of a new round of talks this February 4:

Melania Trump says talks continue with Putin's team to free Ukrainian children

U.S. first lady Melania Trump said Wednesday that she remains in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin's team in an effort to secure the return of more Ukrainian children from Russia.

"I'm working on it, and we're in the process," he told reporters at the White House. "I hope we succeed very soon."

He did not share details about the conversations between his representatives and Putin's team.

An East Wing spokesperson said the lines of communication continued after Melania Trump wrote a letter to Putin (delivered personally by her husband, President Donald Trump, last August) about the kidnapped Ukrainian children.

Fifteen children have been returned to Ukraine since the first lady began her work defending their rights.

Ukraine's energy minister warns of more power outages and possible Russian attacks

Ukraine's energy minister warned households on Wednesday that planned blackouts could worsen in the coming days and that Russian forces could launch a new airstrike to further disable power and heating networks.

Denys Shmyhal said more than 200 emergency teams were working in the capital to restore heating in apartment buildings after a series of massive Russian attacks in January. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared on Tuesday that more than 1,100 buildings remained without heat.

Damage to a Darnytsia thermal power plant complex, damaged by recent Russian missile and drone attacks in kyiv, Ukraine, on February 4, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. (Russia, Ukraine, kyiv). EFE

Zelensky estimates the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war with Russia at 55,000

"In Ukraine, officially, the number of soldiers killed on the battlefield, both career and mobilized soldiers, amounts to 55,000," Zelensky declared in an exclusive interview in kyiv on public television France 2, in Ukrainian translated by the channel into French.

Zelensky hopes that after the start of talks there will be an exchange of prisoners

Zelensky says talks must lead to peace and urges more pressure on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday after the start of a new round of tripartite talks that negotiations should lead to real peace and not provide Russia with a new opportunity to continue the war.

"We must feel it now, people in Ukraine must feel that the situation is really moving towards peace and the end of the war, not towards Russia using everything in its favor and continuing its attacks," Zelensky said in his nightly video speech.

Zelensky also said that Ukraine hoped that after the start of these latest talks, a new prisoner exchange would take place soon.

Macron's top diplomat was in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian officials

French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomat was in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian officials, a source familiar with the meeting told Reuters.

The source did not give more details beyond saying that the objective was to have a dialogue between both parties.

The French Presidency neither confirmed nor denied it, but stated: "As the president said yesterday in his speech, the talks are being carried out at a technical level with full transparency and in consultation with President Zelensky and key European colleagues."

Ukraine's top negotiator says talks in Abu Dhabi were 'substantive and productive'

Talks between the United States, Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi were productive and will continue Thursday morning, a US official said Wednesday.

EU envoys agree details of €90bn loan for Ukraine

European Union ambassadors on Wednesday approved the details of a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, agreed by EU leaders last December to cover most of kyiv's financial needs over the coming years and continue its fight against the Russian invasion.

The ambassadors reached the agreement in a closed-door meeting in Brussels, several diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency.

Xi Jinping supports talks in Abu Dhabi on Ukraine and Putin briefs him on the situation: Kremlin advisor

The statements were made this Wednesday, February 4, by the Kremlin advisor, Yuri Ushakov.

Moscow court sentences comedian who joked about war veteran to five years and nine months in prison

Russian comedian Artemy Ostanin was found guilty on Wednesday, February 4, of hate speech and sentenced to almost six years in prison for a joke he made about a legless war veteran, sparking outrage among nationalists and military bloggers.

He was also sentenced to pay a fine of 300,000 rubles ($3,908). This is the latest in a series of rulings that have severely punished people who authorities have judged to have spoken "rude or false" about the Russian military as the invasion of Ukraine continues.

Ostanin was also convicted of offending the feelings of Christians with another off-color joke about Jesus, which angered Orthodox nationalists.

Ostanin, who apologized to all those he had offended, denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the joke he made about the war veteran did not mention the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian comedian Artemy Ostanin reacts behind a glass partition in a room reserved for defendants during a court hearing following his March 2025 arrest for a monologue, in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 4, 2026. Ostanin is suspected of inciting hatred and disparaging human dignity following public complaints alleging that he mocked a disabled man who may have been a Russian military veteran and victim of the country's offensive in Ukraine. Reuters/Anastasia Barashkova.

At least six people killed after new Russian bombing in Ukraine, despite round of talks

Ukrainian authorities say a Russian bombing killed at least six people in a market in the east of the invaded country on Wednesday.

The events took place in the city of Druzhkivka, in eastern Ukraine, whose capture is a key objective for the advance of Russian forces, according to the regional governor.

"At least six people were killed and one injured," said Vadym Filashkin, governor of the besieged Donetsk region.

"The Russians bombed the city with cluster munitions, directly hitting the market, where there is always a large crowd in the morning," Filashkin added.

Russia assures that it will act "responsibly" after the expiration of the nuclear agreement with the United States.

Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday that his government will act with caution and responsibility following the expiration of the New START treaty with the United States, which limits the size of the strategic nuclear arsenals of both countries.

The treaty, signed in 2010, expires at midnight between this Wednesday and Thursday, February 5.

The Kremlin says its troops will continue attacking until kyiv "makes decisions"

Despite the new round of talks, Russia remains defiant and shows no signs of giving up in the negotiations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated this Wednesday that Russian troops would continue "fighting" in Ukraine until the authorities of the invaded country "make decisions" to end the war.

It is an apparent reference to the demands with which Moscow continues to press to end the invasion that Vladimir Putin ordered almost four years ago. The Kremlin insists that Ukraine must hand over all the territories that Russia has captured during the current war, including the areas of Donetsk and Lugansk that Russian troops do not yet control and the province of Crimea, in southern Ukraine, annexed by Moscow in 2024. It also demands the reduction of the Ukrainian Army.

Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to give up the rest of its Donbass region, land that Moscow's forces have not captured in four years of fighting.

Russia's position remains unchanged, something both Ukrainian and American negotiators are aware of, Peskov said.

Ukraine says new round of 'peace talks' focuses on military issues

The current round of trilateral negotiations between kyiv, Moscow and Washington focuses on military issues, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said at a press conference in kyiv on Wednesday.

Tykhyi stated that Ukraine wants to know the opinion of the Russian delegation on the issues discussed in previous talks, and that kyiv seeks to understand what Moscow and Washington are really prepared for.

Russia and Ukraine begin a new round of talks in Abu Dhabi, with US intervention.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators began a second round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, aiming to advance efforts to end the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.

"Another round of negotiations has begun in Abu Dhabi. The negotiation process began in a trilateral format: Ukraine, the United States and Russia," Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's main negotiator, declared on the Telegram application.

Umerov indicated that the teams would also meet in separate groups to discuss specific avenues of negotiation and would later hold a joint meeting to coordinate positions.

The two-day trilateral meetings come after President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Russia had taken advantage of a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile ammunition, attacking Ukraine with a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday.

Welcome to this minute by minute with the main news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the midst of a new round of "peace talks" in Abu Dhabi.

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