Russia fires barrage at Ukrainian cities as next round of US-brokered
talks is unclear
[February 13, 2026]
By SUSIE BLANN and ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and
drones at Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks, officials reported on
Thursday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was
“hesitating” about another round of U.S.-brokered talks on stopping the
fighting.
Washington has proposed further negotiations next week between Russian
and Ukrainian delegations either in Miami or Abu Dhabi, in the United
Arab Emirates, which was the location of the last meeting, Zelenskyy
said late Wednesday.
Ukraine “immediately confirmed” it would attend, he said. “So far, as I
understand it, Russia is hesitating,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a
messaging app interview late Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that another round of
talks was expected “soon” but gave no further details.
American officials made no comment on the possibility of further talks
as part of a yearlong peace effort by the Trump administration.
Zelenskyy said last week that the United States has given Ukraine and
Russia a June deadline to reach a deal.
But with Russia’s invasion of its neighbor marking its fourth
anniversary later this month, disagreements between Moscow and Kyiv over
key issues have held up a comprehensive settlement. The issues include
who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia’s army has so far occupied,
especially in the eastern Donbas industrial heartland, and Moscow’s
demands for Kyiv to surrender more territory.
Ukraine wants Western-backed security guarantees, including a date for
joining the European Union, and a postwar reconstruction package in
place before it can contemplate signing a proposed 20-point settlement,
Zelenskyy said.
Russia hammers civilian areas
Russia has meanwhile continued to pound Ukrainian civilian areas,
including residential areas and the power grid, and Moscow has not
responded to a U.S. proposal for an “energy ceasefire” that would also
halt Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, Zelenskyy said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk,
urged Russia to stop hitting electricity infrastructure, reminding
Moscow in a statement that targeting civilian infrastructure is
prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Russia fired 219 long-range strike
drones, 24 ballistic missiles and a guided aircraft missile at Ukraine,
according to the Ukrainian air force.
The main targets were the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the second-largest
city of Kharkiv, Dnipro in central Ukraine, and the southern port city
of Odesa, the air force said — all cities that have come under
relentless bombardment.
In Dnipro, Russian strikes injured four people, including a 4-year-old
girl and a newborn boy, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on
Telegram.
In Kyiv, several residential buildings were damaged, and two people were
injured, according to the city administration.
In Odesa, one person was injured as a residential high-rise was
partially destroyed and a market and a supermarket caught fire, regional
head Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram.
Temperatures have moved above freezing point in Kyiv, but it is still
bitterly cold in the city.
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People walk at a ruined city market following a Russia's attack in
Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)
Oleksii Kuleba, deputy prime minister for the restoration of
Ukraine, said 2,600 buildings were left without heating after the
Kyiv attack in addition to 1,100 buildings in the capital that
already were without heating due to previous attacks.
In Odesa, nearly 300,000 residents were left without running water,
Kuleba said, while in Dnipro the central heating system stopped
working for some 10,000 people.
Ukrainian drone flies farthest yet
Ukraine has hit back at Russia with long-range strikes on military
targets and oil refineries that generate a large slice of Russia's
income.
Ukraine’s military general staff said Thursday that one of its
domestically developed long-range drones hit the Ukhta oil refinery
in Russia’s Komi region, around 1,750 kilometers (1,000 miles) from
the Ukrainian border.
An official with Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, told
The Associated Press that it was the first time Ukrainian drones
have flown so far. The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Ukraine’s general staff also said that one of its domestically
produced, long-range “Flamingo” missiles hit one of the Russian
military’s biggest storage sites for missiles, ammunition and
explosives in the Volgograd region and caused major explosions.
Separately, Ukrainian forces also hit and started a fire at the
Michurinsk Progress Plant in Russia’s Tambov region, a defense
enterprise producing high-technology equipment for aviation and
missile systems, the General Staff said.
Ukraine's military also confirmed it damaged the Volgograd oil
refinery in a strike the previous day.
In other developments:
The White House announced Thursday that first lady Melania Trump
helped to reunite a small group of Russian and Ukrainian children
with their families after they became separated by the invasion.
Five children — four boys and one girl, from 4 to 15 years old —
were reunited with their families in Ukraine, while one child
returned to its family in Russia, according to Maria Lvova-Belova,
the Kremlin’s commissioner for children’s rights.
Lvova-Belova is sought for war crimes by the International Criminal
Court for allegedly deporting children from Ukraine.
It was the third such family reunification involving the first lady.
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Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England contributed.
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