Blackout in Ukraine and Moldova, murder of policemen in the Cherkasy region and return of bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers. Weekly digest

This week, the EU Council officially decided to phase out imports of Russian gas and LNG, law enforcement officers died in the Cherkasy region during a special operation to detain a murder suspect, and Russia returned 1 000 bodies of the dead to Ukraine.

Babel has collected the main news of the week to keep you up to date.

Blackout due to technological disruption

Emergency power outages on February 31 occurred, in particular, in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Mykolaiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions. In Kyiv, the metro stopped due to emergency power outages, and escalators did not work. “Kyivvodokanal” reported that there was no water throughout the city.

Due to the difficult energy situation in Ukraine, power outages have also begun in Moldova. NewsMaker wrote that there is no electricity in Chisinau and its suburbs, as well as in the cities of Taraclia, Cahul and Novi Aneni. Due to the mass blackout, traffic lights there did not work, and hospitals in several regions were switched to generators.

The EU Council has finally banned imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG

The EU Council officially adopted a decision on January 26 to phase out imports of Russian pipeline and liquefied natural gas. The document also provides for control over supplies and the search for alternative energy sources.

The ban will take effect six weeks after the regulation comes into force. Current contracts will have a transition period. The EU says this phased approach will limit the impact on prices and markets.

Four police officers died in the Cherkasy region while detaining a murder suspect

In the Cherkasy region, during a special operation to detain a murder suspect, he opened aimed fire on law enforcement officers. Four police officers died as a result of the shooting, and the attacker was eliminated.

Among the fallen were the commander of the rapid response platoon of the special forces police company of the Main Police Department in Cherkasy region, police major Serhiy Safronov; the deputy commander of this company, police major Oleksandr Florinsky; the inspector of the rapid response platoon, senior police lieutenant Denys Polovinka; and the community police officer of the Cherkasy district police department, police major Volodymyr Boyko. All of the deceased were participants in the hostilities.

1 000 bodies of the dead returned to Ukraine from Russia

On Thursday, January 29, Russia returned 1 000 bodies to Ukraine. This is the first exchange of bodies in 2026. The Russians claim that the transferred bodies belong to Ukrainian servicemen. However, during previous exchanges, it turned out that the Russians also transferred the bodies of Russian military personnel.

Experts will soon conduct an examination of the bodies to identify them. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that the process of identifying the bodies is complicated by their condition.

Israel returns body of last hostage taken by Hamas in October 7, 2023 attack

After searching a cemetery in eastern Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces found the body of Staff Sergeant Ran Gwili, the last hostage captured by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.

Gwili was killed defending a kibbutz in southern Israel during an attack by Hamas militants. His body was kidnapped along with 251 live hostages. The return of all hostages — dead and alive — was one of the conditions for moving to the second phase of US President Donald Trumpʼs peace plan for the Gaza Strip.

EU and India sign historic free trade agreement

The European Union and India have concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement that will be the largest ever for both sides and will create a common free trade area for almost 2 billion people.

Trade in goods and services between the EU and India is currently worth over €180 billion per year and supports around 800 000 jobs in the EU. The agreement is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032, and by eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6% of EU exports, EU companies will save almost €4 billion each year.

HACC of Ukraine has set bail for former employees of the State Border Service of Ukraine — 10 million for Deyneko and 2 million for Marushchak

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has set bail of 10 million and 2 million hryvnias for former heads of the State Border Service of Ukraine suspected of taking bribes. The names are not mentioned, but it is likely that they are Serhiy Deyneko and Oleksandr Marushchak, respectively.

Deyneko is the former head of the State Border Guard Service, and Marushchak is the former head of the checkpoint department. The suspects were ordered not to travel abroad without permission.

The US Department of Justice has published new Epstein files: Donald Trumpʼs name is mentioned over three thousand times

The Justice Department on January 30 released more than three million pages of documents potentially related to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They include 2 000 videos and 180 000 images.

The new batch of files mentions US President Donald Trump more than three thousand times. It is stated that he organized parties at his Mar-a-Lago residence, where Epstein brought children, and the US president put them up for "auction" among the rich.

Russia has allegedly agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine by February 1 at the request of US President Donald Trump.

Russia has allegedly agreed to "refrain" from strikes on Ukraine until February 1 at the request of the US President Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a comment to Russian propagandists.

According to him, Moscow took this step to “create favorable conditions for negotiations”. Peskov also noted that a new round of talks could likely take place in Abu Dhabi on February 1.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on January 30 that there were no strikes on energy facilities last night. He noted that the Russian army is currently refocusing on strikes on logistics.

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