Ukraine intercepts most of the 39 missiles and 420 drones that Russia launches overnight. More than 90,000 Ukrainians are missing in the war, the government\u2019s commissioner says. Russia likely seized Pokrovsk, but failed to capitalize on it, ISW says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia carried out another major missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight into Thursday. Ukraine\u2019s Air Force said Russia had launched two Zircon anti-ship cruise missiles from occupied Crimea, 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles\/S-400 surface-to-air missiles from the Bryansk and Rostov regions, 24 Kh-101 cruise missiles from strategic bombers flying over the Vologda region, two Kh-69 air-launched missiles and 420 Shahed, Gerbera and Italmas attack drones as well as unmanned aerial systems of other types. The drones were launched from the area of Russia\u2019s Millerovo, Kursk, Bryansk, Oryol, Shatalovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and from Hvardiyske in occupied Crimea. Around 280 of the drones were the Shaheds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s air defenses shot down or otherwise neutralized 374 drones, all two Zircon anti-ship cruise missiles, four Iskander-M ballistic missiles\/S-400 surface-to-air missiles, all 24 Kh-101 cruise missiles and all two Kh-69 air-launched missiles. Five ballistic missiles and 46 attack drones hit target in 32 locations, and debris from missiles and drones fell in 15 sites, the Air Force added. Reports of several missiles are being clarified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said: \u201cLast night, Russia once again waged war on critical infrastructure and ordinary residential buildings. 420 drones \u2013 most of them \u201cshaheds\u201d \u2013 and 39 missiles of various types, including 11 ballistic ones, were fired at our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine needs air defenses to shield its skies every day as Russia continues to target the country\u2019s energy system. \u201cMost missiles launched today were successfully intercepted thanks to our partners swiftly sending part of the air defense missiles agreed upon at the recent Ramstein meeting. Unfortunately, there were also hits,\u201d Zelenskyi said in a post to X Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe cold has not yet fully receded, and air defense missiles are needed every single day while Russia continues its attempts to destroy our energy system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s attack caused damage across eight regions, \u201cwith many private homes and apartment buildings damaged,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cdozens of people are reported injured as a result of this attack, including children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGas infrastructure facilities in the Poltava region were also targeted, along with electrical substations in the Kyiv and Dnipro regions. First responders have been working in the Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv regions, as well as in the capital,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian forces likely seized Pokrovsk in the past weeks, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) alleged in an update on Wednesday. Ukraine\u2019s defense forces have not reported of a retreat from the city. The paragraphs below are quoted from ISW\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISW has not observed evidence of Ukrainian forces operating within Pokrovsk since late January 2026, indicating that Russian forces seized the entire town on a prior date. Russian forces have failed to capitalize on the seizure of Pokrovsk and to make further operationally significant advances, demonstrating that the Russian seizure of the rest of Donetsk Oblast is not imminent or inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISW last observed Ukrainian forces operating on January 28, and therefore assesses that Russian forces likely completed the capture of the settlement sometime in the past few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian campaign for Pokrovsk, a town with a pre-war population of 60,000, has been underway for almost two full years. Russian forces started their drive toward Pokrovsk in February 2024 after seizing Avdiivka (roughly 39 kilometers southeast of Pokrovsk) and began setting conditions to take Pokrovsk through direct frontal assaults in March 2024. Russian forces did not seize most of Pokrovsk until December 2025 \u2014 21 months after starting frontal assaults on the town. Russian forces continued to fight to seize most of Myrnohrad (just east of Pokrovsk) for another month after that, with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claiming on December 28 that Russian forces seized the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian MoD claimed that Russian forces fully seized Pokrovsk in early December 2025 and heavily emphasized that Pokrovsk was a critical step in accomplishing Russia\u2019s strategic battlefield objectives. Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov claimed on December 9 that the seizure of Pokrovsk was \u201ccrucial\u201d for Russian efforts to seize the rest of Donetsk Oblast, and Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in his annual Direct Line address on December 19 that the seizure \u201copened up\u201d multiple directions of advance for the Russian military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pokrovsk was operationally significant given its use as an important logistics hub, but Russian strikes denied Ukrainian forces the ability to fully leverage the town for logistics as early as July 2025. Pokrovsk had long ceased to be an operationally significant town by the time Russian forces intensified their push to capture the town in Winter 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seizure of Pokrovsk has also not \u201copened up\u201d major Russian advances to take the rest of Donetsk Oblast as Kremlin officials previously alleged. Russian forces have not significantly advanced northwest or west from Pokrovsk since December 2025 and have yet to even seize Hryshyne (just two kilometers northwest of Pokrovsk).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian gains past Pokrovsk have not yet set operational conditions to support future offensive efforts towards the Fortress Belt, which ISW assesses will be Russia\u2019s main operational effort in the coming months. Russia\u2019s slow and costly seizure of Pokrovsk does not portend Russian advances elsewhere in Donetsk Oblast \u2014 Pokrovsk is a much smaller town both in area and population than Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, which make up the northern tip of Ukraine\u2019s heavily fortified Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces\u2019 long and costly battle to take Pokrovsk and their subsequent inability to significantly advance beyond the town refute the Kremlin\u2019s repeated claims that Russian forces will be able to easily and swiftly seize the Fortress Belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 90,000 Ukrainians are missing in the war as of late February 2026, the Ukrainian Government\u2019s Commissioner on missing persons under special circumstances, Artur Dobroserdov said in a formal letter dated Monday, responding to an inquiry from the news site Ukrainska Pravda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number includes both military personnel and civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs of February 23, 2026, the register of missing persons under special circumstances has entries on more than 90,000 persons, both service members and civilians, including children. The search for them continues,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the missing are personnel from various branches of the Ukrainian military, it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"