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Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events – day 1,078

Here is the situation on Thursday, February 6:

Fighting

Within 24 hours, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration, Russian troops attacked nine settlements in the southeast of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region. Some 13 reports of damage to residential buildings, vehicles and infrastructure were recorded.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Kyiv had recaptured 150 of the country’s most imprisoned soldiers after they had been held captive for more than two years. This effort was part of a mutual swap between both countries, brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
Kyiv’s military said it shot down 57 of 104 drones launched by Russia overnight, while 42 did not reach their targets. The military said Moscow also shot two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the country’s Baranivka and Novomlynsk settlements in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions of eastern Ukraine were taken, according to the state news agency TASS.
Ukraine’s military said that Kyiv’s forces struck the Bashneft oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, sparking a blaze. The oil refinery was involved in the supply of gasoline and diesel to Russian forces, according to the military.
In an explosion close to a military conscription office in the country’s western Khmelnytskyi region, local police reported one fatality and four others injured, according to local media.
Two people were killed near the front line in eastern Donetsk, according to Kyiv’s emergency services, and one was killed close to the Black Sea port of Odesa, both as a result of Russian attacks.

Ivan Vyhivskyi, the country’s national police chief, claimed Russia’s spy agencies were to blame for the explosions at Kyiv’s military draft offices, according to Interfax, the country’s state news agency.
Rustem Umerov, the country’s defense minister, announced that a project to create robotic vehicle units would “scale up the use of unmanned ground systems in the military.”

Russian oil and gas

Igor Babushkin, governor of Russia’s Astrakhan region, told residents not to panic after its main city, which lies close to a large gas chemical complex, was enveloped in a cloud of natural gas following a Ukrainian attack. He also promised to keep the residents informed that open spaces don’t pose a risk to natural gas.

Humanitarian aid

Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev authorized the government to spend $1 million on the purchase and delivery of energy equipment, according to a decree signed by the country’s president.

Politics and diplomacy

Zelenskyy authorized two bills that would extend the period of martial law and mobilization until May 9.
Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, expressed his satisfaction with President Donald Trump’s assertion that Moscow was concerned about a potential NATO ally’s entry into Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, stated that the country is in contact with Washington on a ministerial level and that the communication had been “intensifying,” but he would not provide more information.
Zygimantas Vaiciunas, the energy minister of Lithuania, claimed that the three Baltic states joining the Western European power grid on Saturday would end “Russia’s capacity to use the electricity system as a tool of geopolitical blackmail”.
According to Reuters, David Lammy, the foreign minister of the United Kingdom, will announce 55 million pounds ($68.7 million) in financial aid to Kyiv to aid inputting it in the “strongest position possible”.
Due to lack of security guarantees from Moscow, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delayed the rotation of its mission to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. The ministry warned that it would “not allow Russia to undermine the Agency’s independence” as a result of the Kremlin’s use of blackmail as a tool to intimidate international experts.

Following a missile attack in Poltava on February 1, 2025, firefighters carry a civilian’s body.

Mikhail Ulanov, a senior diplomat in Moscow, claimed that Ukraine is lying about the lack of Russian guarantees, according to RIA news agency. Instead, Ukraine was trying to set new rules for the rotation of IAEA personnel, he reportedly said.
Zelenskyy said he was ready for direct talks with Vladimir Putin, but that was “empty words,” according to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin.
Peskov also branded Zelenskyy’s demand for nuclear weapons as “bordering on madness”, adding that “there is a non-proliferation regime for nuclear weapons, among other things”.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine has “huge” potential to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and invited US businesses to participate in Kyiv’s reconstruction.
Zelenskyy reiterated his willingness to hold elections in Ukraine, citing legal and logistical considerations, but he claimed the process is still a challenge in the face of the conflict.
According to the Norwegian Intelligence Service, Russia is “likely” to launch sabotage operations against Ukraine in 2025, possibly involving Ukraine’s energy infrastructure or aid.

Neymar makes emotional Santos return after 12 years

In a poor 1-1 draw with Botafogo in the Brazilian Paulista Championship, Brazilian forward Neymar made his long-awaited return to his former club Santos.

Before kickoff on Wednesday, the jubilant and tearful fans lit up their mobile phones to give the striker, who left the team 12 years ago, a hero’s welcome.

Neymar, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, started on the bench and came on after the break as Santos had taken the lead through Tiquinho Soares ‘ first-half penalty.

However, the forward struggled under the pressure of his first game in 16 months.

He tried to conjure up some of the magic that had placed him among the world’s best for five years at Barcelona, but it wasn’t enough.

Alexandre de Jesus scored the winner for Botafogo in the 67th minute. Four minutes later, Walshison was fouled on Neymar, but Santos were unable to exploit their superiority.

“I can’t find the words to express the feeling when you love something. After the game, Neymar said, “I love Santos very much and I can’t even describe the feeling I felt when I stepped out on the pitch today.”

“It was a very difficult game. My father was there on the side, even to my knowledge. I said, ‘ It’s a difficult game, they’re marking a lot at the back, they’re a team that defends a lot, a lot of hitting. ‘ And they found a ball and scored. I think it’s time for me to be patient and get some practice”, the player added.

After torn apart in his left knee during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in October, Neymar was limited to seven appearances. He left Paris Saint Germain for Saudi Arabia.

The forward has stated that his remarkable career will come to an end as he tries to “play football once more,” as he has stated.

Neymar won six trophies during his first stint with Santos from 2009-2013, including the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

Brazil’s Neymar is tackled as he chases a ball during his debut for Santos FC in a Sao Paulo league football match against Botafogo-SP, in Santos, Brazil, Wednesday, February 5, 2025]Andre Penner/AP]

UN chief Guterres warns against ethnic cleansing in Gaza

NewsFeed

Following President Donald Trump’s declaration that he wants the US to “take control” the territory and force Palestinians to leave, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a warning against ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Miami’s Jimmy Butler traded to Golden State Warriors: Reports

Jimmy Butler’s relationship with the Miami Heat reportedly came to an end with his trade to the Golden State Warriors before the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.

The Heat were close to signing Butler to the Warriors in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, and a first-round draft pick, according to reports from ESPN and The Athletic, which cited unnamed team sources.

For months, Butler and the Heat had been at odds. Butler was still receiving his third suspension from the team on Wednesday because of a persistent pattern of breaking team rules, engaging in conduct that was against the team, and purposefully withholding services.

Butler indicated in early January that he wanted to be traded, but the Heat appeared unwilling to give him the lucrative contract extension he requested. His 17 points and 5 rebounds per game in 25 games this season are his lowest scoring average since the 2013-14 season.

The 35-year-old, who arrived in Miami from Philadelphia in 2019, led them to the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023. He will strengthen Stephen Curry and Draymond Green’s aging star duo at Golden State.

The Warriors are currently battling for a play-in berth in the Western Conference.

About an hour before the Warriors’ game against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, where coach Steve Kerr abruptly closed the locker room to address his players, the agreement was made, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

After the Warriors’ loss to the Jazz, Kerr said he was unable to discuss any specifics of a trade that was still unfinished.

He acknowledged the difficulty of getting ready for the game given the rifeing trade reports and the availability of the players.

The league should, according to Kerr, think about setting a trade deadline before the All-Star break. Just so you don’t have to play these games where you’re trying to process the emotions and winning a game and getting traded 30 minutes before the game.

Butler, who had been repeatedly linked to a trade to the Phoenix Suns in the past two months, agreed to a two-year, $112m extension to stay with the Warriors through 2026-27, according to multiple reports. He has rejected the option to extend his $ 52 million player contract until the new extension is signed.

Over 14 NBA seasons, Jimmy Butler has averaged 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 839 games]File: Brandon Dill/AP]

US officials walk back elements of Trump’s Gaza ‘takeover’ plan

Following widespread condemnation and resistance from Middle Eastern countries, top US government officials have withdrawn their support from President Donald Trump’s proposals to retake control of Gaza and permanently relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries.

Trump declared on Tuesday that the US would “take over” and “own” Gaza in response to an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed would allow the country to “take over” and “own” it after settling Palestinians elsewhere.

“We will do a job with the Gaza Strip and the US will take control of it.” We’ll own it”, Trump said at the White House after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, upending decades of US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the idea was “not meant to be hostile,” describing it as “an offer to rebuild and be in charge of the rebuilding” and “a générous move.”

Rubio responded to Trump’s earlier claim that Palestinians in Gaza needed to be permanently resettled in neighboring nations by claiming that the idea was to allow them to leave the area for an “interim” period of reconstruction and debris-clearing.

Later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Trump’s proposal for “outside of the box” and praised its historicity, not its “outside of the box” approach. However, she also emphasized that Washington would not provide funding for Gaza’s reconstruction and that its involvement “does not mean boots on the ground.”

“It’s a demolition site right now. It’s not a livable place for any human being”, she said. Leavitt added that Trump had been “very clear” that he expected Egypt, Jordan and others “to accept Palestinian refugees, temporarily, so that we can rebuild their home”.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s proposal, calling it “the first good idea I’ve heard.”

“It’s a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone”, he said.

Netanyahu, however, made the suggestion that leaving the area did not imply that Palestinians would remain there forever. “They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza”, he said.

Israeli media reported that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz gave the army instructions to create a plan to allow the evacuation of Gaza’s residents on Thursday.

“Asymetric to ethnic cleansing,”

The United Nations warned that “ethnic cleansing” would be practiced if people were forced to flee.

In a speech to a UN committee that deals with Palestinian rights, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that “the Palestinians’ right to live as human beings in their own land is fundamental to the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

Trump’s push to remove Palestinians from Gaza was announced by China on Thursday. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the nation’s foreign ministry, stated that Beijing firmly supports the Palestinian people’s legitimate national rights.

“Gaza is the Gaza of Palestinians, an integral part of the Palestinian territory, not a political bargaining chip, let alone the target of a law of the jungle”, Guo said.

Palestinian officials and Arab leaders vehemently opposed Trump’s suggestion, arguing that any forced displacement of Palestinians would be unacceptable.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the plan “would be a major destabilizing force” for their nations and “would be a serious violation of international law, an obstacle to the two-state solution, and a major destabilizing force.”

According to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that the kingdom “clearly and explicitly” rejected any attempts to expel Palestinians from their land.

“The establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position”, the ministry said in a lengthy statement on X on Wednesday.

Hamas called Trump’s idea a “recipe for generating chaos” and said the people of Gaza would never allow their displacement.

Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, condemned “any projects” intended to displace the people of Gaza, which remained “an integral part of the State of Palestine”.

Residents of Gaza also objected to the idea of being forced to leave their homes. Fathi Abu al-Saeed, a 72-year-old resident of Khan Younis, told Al Jazeera that he would remain right by his demolished home.

“You see that pile of useless rubble”? he said, raising his cane to point at a demolished house. That and everything in it are worth more than the United States, according to the statement.

Why does Trump want a US sovereign wealth fund?

The Treasury and Commerce Departments have 90 days to come up with a plan to create a sovereign wealth fund (SWF).

“We’re going to create a lot of wealth for the fund”, Trump told reporters. And I believe a sovereign wealth fund is in order for this nation to exist.

He also suggested TikTok could be purchased using the money.

Trump stated that “we’re going to be doing something with TikTok,” “perhaps not at all.” “If we make the right deal, we’ll do it. Otherwise, we won’t … We might put that in the sovereign wealth fund”.

Here’s a look at what we know about Trump’s SWF plan.

A sovereign wealth fund is what?

To invest in global assets for long-term growth, governments own sovereign wealth funds and make those investments.

An SWF is defined as having three components, according to the official definition created by the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF).

The country’s government, including federal and state governments, owns it.
Foreign financial assets are included in the fund’s investments.
The fund makes investments with in-depth financial analysis, including those relating to economic development and infrastructure.

The main components of SWFs, according to the IFSWF, are not public pension funds, which are ultimately owned by the people who are entitled to receive benefits from them, nor foreign currency reserves held by the nation’s central bank, which are primarily used for monetary stability rather than investment.

An SWF can serve as an investment account for the nation’s long-term goals, a stabilization tool, which allows funding to be withdrawn when necessary from budgetary constraints, a development tool to support economic policy, or a combination of the two.

Ultimately, they are designed to be a nest egg, allowing current surplus funds to be invested to benefit future generations. Countries with a high level of commodity wealth have historically used them to leverage profits from the sale of oil, natural gas, metals, and minerals. According to the IFSWF, some 60 percent of funds come from natural resources revenues.

SWFs are supposed to invest for the common good of a country, not pension funds, from which people can withdraw money to support themselves in retirement.

That might include funding projects for infrastructure projects like airports or schools. SWFs frequently make purchases in financial products and acquire shares in businesses that can support long-term economic security and fund social or government programs.

Where will the funds for setting up a US fund come from?

Trump hasn’t stated how much or how much of a US sovereign wealth fund will be administered.

The president’s executive order directs the Commerce and Treasury Departments to include in the plan recommendations for funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure and a governance model.

The fund would be established within the next 12 months, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who did not specify where the money would go.

Bessent stated that “we’re going to monetize the US balance sheet’s asset side” for the benefit of Americans. There will be a mix of liquid assets and assets that we will have to market to Americans.

Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said that the assets Bessent was referring to could include property and even the government’s Bitcoin holdings.

According to an analysis by the crypto firm 21. co. Trump suggested last year that he might have plans for a crypto reserve similar to oil reserves, the US has seized at least 215,000 Bitcoins since 2020, valued at almost $ 21 billion at current prices.

Bitcoin holdings “could be the basis of sovereign wealth fund, though, of course, their value is relatively modest”, Veuger told Al Jazeera.

Which other nations have established SWFs?

According to the IFSWF, more than 90 such funds manage more than $8 trillion in assets worldwide.

The largest fund is Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, which has $1.74 trillion in assets, followed by the China Investment Corporation, with $1.33 trillion in assets, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, a data provider.

Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore are among other countries with prominent sovereign wealth funds, with assets of between $801bn and $1.06 trillion, the institute said.

Is it a good idea for the US to establish a SWF?

Trump is not the first to think about creating a SWF for the US.

According to The New York Times and Financial Times, Joe Biden’s administration also considered starting a fund for this purpose prior to Trump’s victory in November.

Trump has also praised the concept of creating the fund, claiming that it could support “great national endeavors” like highway and airport infrastructure projects, manufacturing, and medical research.

Some Wall Street investors questioned whether the news was a good idea, but others claimed it was a surprise.

Typically, a SWF is funded from a country’s surplus funds – be that from the sale of natural resources or from under-spending a budget. Since 2001, the United States has consistently had budget deficits. It ran a deficit of $1.8 trillion in the fiscal year for 2024, which was $138bn – 8 percent – more than in the previous year. The Congress would likely need to approve the creation of a sovereign wealth fund.

According to Colin Graham, head of multi-asset strategies at Robeco in London, “establishing a sovereign wealth fund suggests that a country has savings that will go up and can be allocated to this.” “The economic rules of thumb don’t add up”.

Veuger, from the American Enterprise Institute, said there is also the risk that the fund’s manager could make bad investments with it.

There is no reason to believe a US SWF could consistently outperform the market if it didn’t exercise its political will, he claimed. It is not a good idea for the US, I don’t believe.

There is also criticism of SWFs in general. Many SWFs lack transparency, according to a report released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, raising concerns about corruption and political interference.

The report Sovereign Wealth Funds: Corruption and Other Governance Risks states that “the door is wide open for rapacious managers and political elites to misappropriate investment earnings without thorough financial and operational information.”

“At the macroeconomic level, this lack of transparency raises the possibility of real destabilization risks if funds were to fail, be mismanaged, or quickly withdraw funding from target markets,” it added.

Could the SWF be used to buy TikTok?

No firm plans to purchase TikTok have been made, despite Trump’s suggestion that the wealth fund might. The company’s fate in the US has been uncertain since January 19, when a law requiring its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell it on national security grounds or face a ban took effect.

Trump signed an executive order requesting a 75-day delay in the enforcement of the law after taking office on January 20.

Trump has stated that he is in discussions with a number of people regarding the purchase of TikTok and that this month he will likely make a decision regarding the app’s future. About 170 million Americans use the well-known app.

Category World News