Ukraine’s army chief condemned on Monday a spate of violent attacks on draft officers, rallying in defence of a national call-up effort that has fuelled anger among some Ukrainians and struggled to generate sufficient frontline manpower.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission had recorded an “alarming rise” in reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russian armed forces during the war in recent months, it said on Monday.
US shipments of weapons into Ukraine were briefly paused in recent days before resuming over the weekend as the Trump administration debated its policy towards Kyiv, according to four people briefed on the matter.
Ukraine’s military urges tough response after attacks on draft officers
Ukraine’s army chief condemned on Monday a spate of violent attacks on draft officers, rallying in defence of a national call-up effort that has fuelled anger among some Ukrainians and struggled to generate sufficient frontline manpower.
The incidents, including the fatal shooting of a draft officer and explosions at two draft offices in three days, pile pressure on an already-troubled national campaign to draft civilians despite faltering enthusiasm for service.
The setback comes as Ukraine is trying to project strength ahead of a potential negotiating process, with US President Donald Trump pushing for a swift end to the war, while Russian troops continue to capture more territory in the east.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who has complained of manpower shortages at the front, denounced what he said were “shameful acts of violence”, demanding investigations and punishment for incidents that killed two people and wounded seven more.
“The common goal of defending Ukraine is impossible without the entire nation’s support of the army and respect for military personnel,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The police arrested two suspects after the draft officer was shot dead on Friday at a petrol station in the central region of Poltava.
Prosecutors said one of the suspects had shot the officer, allowing a second man who had been mobilised and was in the officer’s charge to escape.
The next day an explosion inside a draft office in the northwestern city of Rivne killed one person and wounded six others, said military officials, without providing details. On Sunday, another explosion wounded one person at a draft office in Pavlohrad, authorities said.
Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on whether the attacks are linked, though their quick succession has rung alarm bells in Kyiv, where there is broader concern about Russian attempts to destabilise internal unity in the exhausted nation, which is about to enter its fourth year of full-scale war.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are doing everything possible to protect our state and the Ukrainian people. During a full-scale war, this is impossible without mobilisation measures,” said Syrskyi.
Ukraine declared a general mobilisation as soon as Russia launched its 24 February 2022 invasion, which prompted tens of thousands of Ukrainian men to enlist to defend their country.
Since then, enthusiasm has gradually waned and the call-up process has caused divisions in society and public animosity towards draft officers, while thousands of military-age men have fled to avoid serving.
Kyiv has not directly alleged any Russian connection to the attacks, but Ukraine’s land forces chief Mykhailo Drapatyi cast them, as well as previous acts of aggression towards draft officers, as the work of “the enemy”.
“We have no right to silently observe a growing wave of disrespect towards the defenders of Ukraine — this is beyond the pale of what can be tolerated,” said Drapatyi.
A Ukrainian security source told Reuters that Moscow has been conducting a long-running campaign to disrupt the work of Ukraine’s military draft offices and recruitment operations.
The source said this involved Russian-orchestrated physical attacks, disinformation campaigns, warning people about the location of patrolling draft officers and recruiting Ukrainians to set fire to military vehicles.
The source said that on Sunday alone, six vehicles had been damaged by arson attacks across Ukraine, with two of them belonging to military personnel.
‘Alarming rise’ in Russian executions of captured Ukrainian soldiers
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission had recorded an “alarming rise” in reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russian armed forces during the war in recent months, it said on Monday.
The mission in Ukraine said it had received reports of 79 executions in 24 separate incidents since the end of August last year. International humanitarian law prohibits the execution of prisoners of war and the wounded, and regards it as a war crime.
“Many Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered or were in physical custody of the Russian armed forces were shot dead on the spot. Witness accounts also described the killings of unarmed and injured Ukrainian soldiers,” said the mission in a statement.
Commenting on the report, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said the Russian atrocities demanded urgent international action.
“Russia’s horrific executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war demonstrate that Ukraine confronts true beasts,” he said on X. “We need new and effective international legal tools, and concrete steps to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
US arms shipments to Kyiv briefly paused
US shipments of weapons into Ukraine were briefly paused in recent days before resuming over the weekend as the Trump administration debated its policy towards Kyiv, according to four people briefed on the matter.
Shipments restarted after the White House pulled back on its initial assessment to stop all aid to Ukraine, said two of the sources.
There are factions inside the administration that are at odds over the extent to which the US should continue to aid Kyiv’s war effort with weapons from US stocks, said one of the people, a US official.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Halting the flow of US weapons would hinder Kyiv’s ability to fight, and put it in a less advantaged negotiation position in peace talks.
It is unclear if the Trump administration will formally acknowledge the pause and subsequent resumption of shipments.
The revelation of the brief pause is the first outward sign of the intensity of the debate within the Trump administration.
The Trump administration has not sent a clear message on whether it will continue to provide significant military assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Since the start of the conflict, the US has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of military aid, including artillery systems, ammunition, and anti-tank missiles.
Russia and Trump push Europe to be more independent, says Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the policies of Trump were pushing Europe to take more responsibility for its own physical and economic security.
Macron made the comments as he arrived at a gathering of European Union leaders in Brussels to discuss relations with the US and bolstering Europe’s military defences.
The start of the summit was overshadowed by Trump declaring at the weekend that he would soon impose tariffs on imports from the EU, having just ordered similar measures on goods from Canada, Mexico and China.
Arriving leaders warned Trump against starting a trade war and said the EU would retaliate if he did so.
Macron said Trump’s policies were one of several factors pushing the EU to become less dependent on others.
“The Covid epidemic and the Russian aggression in Ukraine were moments of awakening,” Macron told reporters.
“What’s happening at this very moment today in Ukraine, what’s happening also now with the choices, the declarations of the new American administration of President Trump pushes the Europeans to be more united, more active to respond on subjects of their collective security,” he said.
This meant boosting Europe’s defence industry and buying more European arms, said Macron.
His comments reflected his vision of European “strategic autonomy”. But some other leaders stressed they wanted to continue a strong security partnership with the US and other Nato alliance members and keep buying US arms.
“I will advocate against imposing restrictions on arms purchases. Security is our top priority. Relations with the USA, Canada, and Norway in terms of defence must remain at the forefront,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
New Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever said Europe had been “a bit lazy on the topic of defence” but Russian President Vladimir Putin “has woken us up”.
“We need to keep the relationship with the United States going,” he said. “Reinforcing European defence … in the partnership of the transatlantic alliance is the way to go.”
Kremlin cold-shoulders four-way peace talks format proposed by Zelensky
The Kremlin said on Monday it was too early to discuss a potential four-way peace talks format proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and restated its concerns about his electoral mandate.
Zelensky told the Associated Press news agency in an interview published on Saturday that he favoured four-way talks between the US, Ukraine, Russia and the European Union and said it would be “very dangerous” for Washington and Moscow to hold talks about ending the war in his country that did not involve Kyiv.
His comments followed remarks by Trump suggesting Washington and Moscow had already been in touch about Ukraine. Trump did not provide details, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was cited by the Interfax news agency on 27 January as saying that direct contacts between Moscow and the Trump administration were not yet underway.
Asked on Monday about Zelensky’s thoughts on the format of future talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “So far, no one has discussed in any serious way a possible combination of participants in the negotiations.
“So far, we are proceeding from the assumption that the Ukrainian president does not have the right to hold such talks,” he said.
Moscow has long said the fact that Zelensky was not re-elected last year when his five-year term expired — due to martial law being in force — means he would not have the legal authority to sign a peace deal. Kyiv rejects that stance as a disingenuous ploy designed to complicate negotiations.
Peskov said it was also difficult to discuss the possible format of any talks when a 2022 decree signed by Zelensky remains in force banning talks with Russia for as long as Putin is in charge. Moscow says the decree must be revoked.
“Discussing the possible composition of participants [of peace talks] while the decree remains in force is probably getting ahead of ourselves,” said Peskov.
Ukrainian drone strikes trigger fires at major oil and gas facilities in Russia
Ukraine struck energy facilities in southern Russia with dozens of drones launched on Monday, triggering fires at a major oil refinery and gas processing plant and disrupting flights from the Volga to the Caucasus Mountains, said Russian and Ukrainian officials.
Russia’s defence ministry said that its air defence units intercepted and destroyed 70 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight, including 25 over the Volgograd region, 27 over the Rostov region and seven over the Astrakhan region.
“The air defence forces of the defence ministry repelled a massive attack by aircraft-type drones on the territory of the Volgograd region,” said Volgograd Governor Andrei Bocharov.
Falling drone debris sparked several fires at an oil refinery, he said, though he did not say which refinery was on fire.
Baza, a Russian news Telegram channel that is close to Russia’s security services, said a series of explosions were heard in the area around a refinery operated by Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil in Volgograd.
In the neighbouring region of Astrakhan, Governor Igor Babushkin said Ukrainian drones tried to strike energy facilities and a fire had broken out. Baza and other Russian Telegram channels said Ukraine attacked a gas processing plant near Astrakhan.
Russia’s Interfax news agency, citing local authorities, reported that the fire at the plant had been contained, while the governor said the plant had suspended operations before coming under attack.
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia temporarily suspended flights from the Astrakhan and Volgograd airports, as well as from Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Saratov and Ulyanovsk to ensure air safety.
Flights were later restored at most of the airports, Rosaviatsia said on Telegram.
Saudi Arabia, UAE seen as possible venues for Trump-Putin summit
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are seen by Russia as possible venues for a summit between Trump and Putin, two Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
Trump has said he will end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and said he is ready to meet with Putin. Putin congratulated Trump on his election and stated he was ready to meet Trump to discuss Ukraine and energy.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied any direct contact with the US about preparations for a phone call between Trump and Putin, which would precede an eventual meeting later this year.
However, senior Russian officials have visited both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in recent weeks, according to the Russian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
One source said there was still some opposition to the idea in Russia as some diplomats and intelligence officials were pointing to the close military and security links that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have with the United States.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE did not respond to requests for comment. The Kremlin declined to comment. But both Trump and Putin have developed friendly relations with the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first foreign head of state Trump called after taking office. He described the Crown Prince as “a fantastic guy” during his speech via video link to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Putin, who visited Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2023, said last September that he was grateful to Mohammed bin Salman for helping to organise the biggest US-Russian prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Putin and Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS, have fostered a close personal relationship since 2015 when the prince visited Russia for the first time.
Both Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have maintained neutrality throughout the Ukraine war, refraining from joining the West in criticising and sanctioning Russia.
Both leaders have also maintained regular contact with Zelensky.
East Ukrainian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast
A pro-Russian paramilitary leader from eastern Ukraine, Armen Sarkisyan, was killed on Monday when a bomb tore through parts of a luxury apartment block in Moscow, state news agency Tass and other Russian media reported.
TASS called the bombing a well-planned assassination.
The bomb detonated just as Sarkisyan, accompanied by his bodyguards, entered the basement of the Scarlet Sails complex on the banks of the Moskva River just 12km from the Kremlin, according to Russian media.
One bodyguard was killed and three more injured, Kommersant newspaper said.
“The assassination attempt on Sarkisyan was carefully planned and was ordered. Investigators are currently identifying those who ordered the crime,” TASS quoted a law enforcement official as saying.
Baza, a Telegram channel with contacts in Russia’s security services, published video showing major damage to the building’s lobby.
In December, Ukraine’s SBU security service described Sarkisyan as a crime boss in the Donetsk region, much of which has been controlled by Moscow since 2014, and said that he was officially suspected of participating in and aiding “illegal armed groups”.
It said he had formed a pro-Russian military unit made up of local convict fighters and had organised purchases of supplies for frontline units.
Mediazona, an independent Russian outlet that covers law enforcement, reported that Armenian-born Sarkisyan had been a longtime organised crime figure in the Donetsk region city of Horlivka.
In 2022, it said, he founded a pro-Russian paramilitary unit composed mostly of his fellow ethnic Armenians to fight against Kyiv’s forces.
In December, Ukraine took credit for the killing of Russian General Igor Kirillov in a bomb blast outside a Moscow apartment building. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Monday’s blast. DM