NEW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s willingness to compromise ahead of trilateral US-Ukrainian-Russian talks in Geneva, Switzerland on February 17 to 18. 🧵(1/4) Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 14, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar021426

NEW: Russia is blocking WhatsApp and other Western social media platforms, media outlets, and means of bypassing internet restrictions as part of an intensification of the Kremlin’s campaign to reassert control over the Russian information space and prevent access to the global internet. (1/5)

Jared Goyette speaks with a Canadian volunteer, Brittney Shki-Giizis, who left the Canadian military to fight in Ukraine. A former tank instructor, she explains why she chose to come to the front to serve in a Ukrainian unit.

NEW: Kremlin officials recently have been repeating the same messages about Russia’s commitment to its original war aims in Ukraine to various media sources that reach international and domestic audiences. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 11, 2026 update: isw.pub/UkrWar021126

The Ukrainian president’s move comes amid pressure by the White House to hold both votes by May 15 or risk losing proposed US security guarantees. ft.trib.al/7CayP4W

“President Trump has extravagant plans for the Gaza Strip. The only problem is that they bear no connection to the grim realities on the ground,” Hussein Ibish argues.

NEW: Special Report | Russia’s FPV drone campaign in Ukraine institutionalizes intentional civilian harm as a tool of war (1/5)  Read more: isw.pub/RussiaFPV Key Takeaways ⬇️

Head of Estonia’s foreign intelligence service Kaupo Rosin: “there is absolutely no discussion about how to really cooperate with the U.S. in a meaningful way” apnews.com/article/russ...

Second day of Ukraine-Russia peace talks in UAE end without breakthrough

/1. A report by French television on a Ukrainian crew operating a civilian An-28 modified into a “Shahed hunter,” which already has an impressive 114 shootdowns to its credit.

NEW: US, Ukrainian, and Russian delegations continued trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on February 4. Read the full Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 4, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar020426 Additional Key Takeaways ⬇️ (1/4)

Trouble Is Brewing in Syria by Jerome Drevon and Nanar Hawach via @foreignaffairs.com www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/troubl...

INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.

Lizzie Johnson's boss Siobhán O'Grady, the WaPo Ukraine bureau chief, has been laid off as well:

NEW: RU resumed its combined missile & drone strike campaign against UA energy infrastructure on the night of February 2-3, after the moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes. Read the Feb 3, 2026 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment: isw.pub/UkrWar020326 More Key Takeaways ⬇️ (1/7)

Putin just disrespected Trump by unleashing one of the most relentless attacks on Ukraine in this entire war, right after Trump publicly claimed he got Putin to agree not to attack. And she has the guts to call Biden weak? Seriously?

Ukraine agrees multi-tier plan for enforcing any ceasefire with Russia giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

9/ The Syrian government, in coordination with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), deployed internal security forces to SDF territory, which marks the first successful collaboration between the two parties and a major step toward the SDF’s integration into the Syrian state.

Video segment: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqT...

Situation in the Kherson region via @theguardian.com with ISW's mapping data. ‘It’s not just about surviving’: the Ukrainian frontline city where life goes on under cover by @petersbeaumont1.bsky.social Full article here: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

5/ Russia is building up military infrastructure near the Finnish border, likely as part of wider military expansion efforts that seek to prepare the Russian force for a potential future conflict with NATO.

NEW: Russian drones struck a maternity hospital and a bus carrying miners on February 1, causing significant civilian casualties. (1/7) Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 1, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar020126 Other Key Takeaways:

NEW: Russian forces’ months of strikes have significantly degraded and damaged the Ukrainian energy grid, which is now facing significant problems even during the moratorium on Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. 🧵(1/5) Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar013126

NEW: CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping has expanded his military purges to include two of the seniormost officers in the PLA. Xi may have purged them because he saw them as undermining his leadership and military objectives. Read more on Xi Jinping’s military purges: isw.pub/CMCPurges013026

A number of Middle Eastern governments are trying to push the U.S. and Iran into talks to head off a possible conflict—efforts that so far are failing to gain traction as both sides dig in.

[email protected]: Russian military officials have repeatedly presented inflated claims of Russian advances across the frontline in recent weeks,” ISW wrote in comments published Wednesday. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Trump says Putin has agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian capital ft.trib.al/1H9xxW0

See our original report on how Russia is using Starlink here: understandingwar.org/research/rus...

NEW: The United States is reportedly pushing Ukraine to cede the remainder of Donetsk Oblast to Russia in exchange for US security guarantees.🧵(1/9) Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 27, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar012726 Other Key Takeaways: ⬇️

Washington signalled Kyiv would receive more backing if — as the price of peace with Russia — it agreed to withdraw its forces from the Donbas region, said people familiar with talks. ft.trib.al/y51HdFb

Syrian media report that Russia is withdrawing its troops from the base at Qamishli airport. Helicopters, fighter jets, and military equipment are being loaded onto transport aircraft.

Important @wsj.com article on the recent events in Syria. @aronlund.bsky.social, Dareen Khalifa, and @akmckeever.bsky.social all make an appearance. www.wsj.com/world/middle...

NEW: The Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to extend their ceasefire in northeastern Syria for 15 days on January 24. (1/7) Iran Update, January 24, 2026: isw.pub/IranUpdate01...

3/ The Syrian government has deployed at least three Syrian divisions along Kobani frontlines that contain militias or fighters that have participated in Turkish-backed offensives targeting the YPG in northern Syria and, in some cases, committed human rights abuses against Kurdish civilians.

NEW: The Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) may agree to extend the US-mediated ceasefire, according to Kurdish sources and mediators. (1/7)

NEW: Ukrainian and US officials continued meetings in Switzerland on January 22. Putin is trying to use Trump’s Board of Peace to curry favor with Trump and negotiate the release of frozen Russian assets to fuel the Russian economy. (1/8)