Ukraine war live: 15 miners killed in Russian strike on bus

 A Russian drone strike has killed 15 people after it hit a bus carrying mineworkers in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Sunday.

It came just hours after Volodymyr Zelensky announced that a new round of US-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia had been delayed until next week.

At least another seven mineworkers who were returning from their shift were injured in the attack, which also sparked a fire that was later put out.

Energy firm DTEK, which owned the bus, said that Russian forces had carried out "a large-scale terrorist attack on DTEK mines in the Dnipropetrovsk region".

"The epicentre of one of the attacks was a company bus transporting miners from the enterprise after a shift in the Dnipropetrovsk region," the company said.

President Zelensky condemned the strikes on social media on Sunday night.

Earlier in the day, he announced that the next trilateral discussions will happen on 4 and 5 February in Abu Dhabi.

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” he said.

Russia suffers heaviest losses since WWII as casualties in Ukraine conflict near 2 million

01:03 , Harriette Boucher

The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides of Russia's war on Ukraine could hit two million by the spring, a report has warned.

It would mean Russia suffering the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any conflict since the Second World War.

The study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies revealed the slow, deadly grind of the conflict, and comes before the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

The report said Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025. "No major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II,” the authors said.

Ukraine expects US to be active in de-escalation measures

00:07 , Harriette Bouche

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that February will be a “period of quite intense foreign policy activity” as he expects the US to be as active as Ukraine in its de-escalation measures.

Trilateral negotiations, meant to take place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, have been delayed to next week.

Zelensky announced the postponement just hours before Russia launched deadly strikes that hit a bus in the Dnipro region and killed 15 people.

In a post on social media on Sunday night, the president said: “Today’s Russian drone strike on an ordinary bus carrying miners in the Dnipro region is a telling crime that yet again shows that Russia bears responsibility for the escalation. Evil must be stopped.

“There is an arrangement to hold a trilateral meeting at an appropriate level in the Emirates next week. February will be a period of quite intense foreign policy activity.

“We expect the American side to be just as active, particularly when it comes to de-escalation measures – reducing strikes. Much depends on what the U.S. can achieve so that people trust both the process and the outcomes.”

Ukraine to receive two lorries worth of spuds in Berlin potato dump

Sunday 1 February 2026 23:30 , Harriette Boucher

Ukraine is receiving two lorries worth of potatoes after Berlin experienced a bumper harvest year with its biggest crop in more than two decades.

The phenomenon has inspired a potato dump in Berlin, as farmers, not wanting their produce to go to waste, have given away their potatoes away to soup kitchens, schools, churches, and the public.

Two lorries worth of spuds have also been delivered to Ukraine.

It comes as the country experiences a brutal winter, with temperatures in some areas dropping to -30C.

Russia has been repeatedly targeting Ukraine’s energy grid, leaving thousands of Ukrainians without power or food.

Analysis: Trump should be backing Ukraine war, not Iran

Sunday 1 February 2026 22:30 , Sam Rkaina

World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes: Chaotic, unprincipled and dangerously effective, Donald Trump’s latest foreign policy move in Ukraine may provide a brief respite from Russian bombing in plunging temperatures that have left civilians freezing in their homes.

The danger lies in what he expects to get in return for securing a week-long agreement from Vladimir Putin to hold off on tormenting Ukraine. The concession he will, no doubt, demand is that Kyiv give in to the Kremlin’s demands to hand over his most potent defensive lines and fortress cities without a shot being fired in return for a longer “ceasefire”.

Trump has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine, and may soon launch a war in Iran that he cannot control.