Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have held a call ahead of more talks with Russia. Meanwhile, experts say the fifth year of war has not started well for Moscow – and Putin may have to consider a move unpopular with the Russian people. Follow the latest.
Wednesday 25 February 2026 21:20, UK
More than 1,700 Africans are fighting for Russia in its war in Ukraine, Kyiv says.
Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow has been using deception to trick them into fighting and that discussions were taking place with governments across Africa to prevent their citizens from being drawn into such schemes.
Speaking alongside Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, his counterpart from Ghana, Sybiha said fighters came from 36 different countries spread across the continent.
Ablakwa expressed solidarity with Ukraine and said Ghana would promote schemes to raise awareness about trafficking networks deceptively recruiting for Russian forces during its upcoming presidency of the African Union.
He said those lured into fighting “have no security background, no military background – they have not been trained”.
“They were just lured and deceived, and then put on the frontlines.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he secured the release of 11 South Africans “lured” into fighting for Russia after Pretoria received “distress calls” from men trapped in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region last year.
Russian authorities have denied illegally recruiting African citizens to fight, and Ramaphosa expressed his gratitude for Vladimir Putin, who “responded positively to his call to support the process of returning the men home”, the presidency said.
Video shows the moment a Ukrainian cruise missile struck a sanctioned machinery plant deep inside Russia last week.
The strike, which occurred overnight on 20 February in Votkinsk, used the Flamingo, described by Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Ukraine’s “most successful missile”.
One video of the attack circulating on Telegram appears to show a missile fly through the air followed by a burst of fire as it strikes.
A second video, shot from further away, shows a plume of smoke rising from the plant.
The relatively new Flamingo missile, which has a claimed range of 3,000 kilometres, is being produced domestically in Ukraine.
The plant in about 1,300 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
“It can get deep into Russia,” military analyst Professor Michael Clarke said of the Flamingo.
“Once the Ukrainians can produce it in numbers, they’ll be far less dependent on deep-strike American systems.
“And you bet they’ll use them. They’re home-produced, they carry a heavy warhead. They’ve got long range.”
It’s not clear how many missiles Ukraine launched – a video posted on the night of 20 February by Fire Point, the Ukrainian defence technology company that manufactures the Flamingo, shows several missiles being launched.
It has not been disclosed where the video was filmed.
The struck plant is sanctioned by the UK as a state-owned manufacturer of weapons and ammunition used by the Russian military in the conflict in Ukraine.
Here are the latest images from the frontline town of Druzhkivka, in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Soldiers can be sen protecting the streets from the constant threat of Russian drones.
Vadym Filashkin, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said two people in Druzhkivka were wounded by a drone strike yesterday.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has provided a brief rundown of his call this evening with Donald Trump, which he says also featured US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“Our teams are working hard right now, and I thanked them for all their efforts and involvement in the negotiations to end the war.”
Zelenskyy says the group discussed the issues due to be worked on at peace talks in Geneva and the next trilateral negotiations at the beginning of March.
“We hope that it will allow us to move on to negotiations at the leaders’ level,” he adds.
“President Trump supports this sequence of steps. Only in this way can we resolve all complex and sensitive issues and finally end the war.”
For context: Zelenskyy has previously said he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on neutral ground to advance peace negotiations.
When asked about such a meeting today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov questioned “whether there’s any point in holding a summit” between the two leaders while Ukraine maintains its current position in negotiations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the ongoing work to “purge” the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) “of those whose interest is not Ukraine”.
Kyiv’s prosecutor general said today that two senior Ukrainian military officials have been detained on suspicion of embezzling money intended for aircraft shelters (see 16:06 post).
Zelenskyy said he had appointed Yevhen Khmara and Oleksandr Poklad – the new acting head and deputy head of the SBU – to work on cleaning up the agency.
“There are already results,” he added.
“Today, there were relevant arrests, and it’s very important that there be fair verdicts. Everyone in public positions must work for Ukraine and for the sake of Ukraine. There will be no other way.”
For context: Ukraine has a prickly history of corruption. The government was shaken by a major scandal centred on the state energy sector last November.
The investigation has raised uncomfortable questions for Zelenskyy, whose long-time chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned after a raid on his home.
Ukraine’s president was met previously with protests when he attempted to reform the country’s two anti-corruption agencies months before the scandal became public.
We’ve just heard reports from Ukraine that the call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now over.
An aide of Ukraine’s president says the two leaders were on the phone briefly this evening.
We’ll bring you any relevant information about their discussion if we receive it.
When is a shadow fleet not a shadow fleet?
Perhaps when it’s shipping millions of dollars’ worth of crude oil through the English Channel in broad daylight.
The UK has imposed sanctions on the Russian oil trade since the start of the full invasion of Ukraine – but tankers helping to fund Putin’s war machine are operating in the Channel with apparent impunity.
In the latest episode of the Sky New Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by business correspondent Paul Kelso – who trailed some of these ‘shadow fleet’ vessels in the English Channel.
Donald Trump is holding a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to US outlet Axios.
We’ll bring you the latest on any lines we hear from the conversation as soon as we get them.
A medic who gave up a promising Wall Street career to serve on the frontlines in Ukraine has told Sky News it was the “easiest decision she ever made”.
Viktoriia Honcharuk said she was “living the American dream” with a fledgling career in investment banking when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But seeing how her homeland resisted the advance of Putin’s “special military operation”, she was inspired to return home and take up a medical role on the frontline – despite her fear of blood and needles.
Speaking to The World with Yalda Hakim, she said: “Everything was quite good in my life, but then Russia attacked my country. My mum, my dad, my sister… they all joined the resistance as soon as they could.
“They said, look, we’re not going to go anywhere… we’re going to fight for our home, our town. And that was very admirable – that inspired me a lot.
“After a couple of months helping from far away, I said, well, I cannot also stand back. I cannot watch Russia, the biggest country in the world, attacking my country.”
Despite the misgivings of her friends in the US and even her own mother, Victoria made the decision to return home, and called her sister with some questions…
Here’s the latest situation along the frontline in Ukraine.
Scroll through the maps below, showing territorial gains and losses by Moscow and Kyiv, to get an idea of the state of play as the war drags into a fifth year.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free