Prisoner exchange, Starlink verification, and the assassination attempt on General Alekseev. Weekly digest

This week, 157 Ukrainians returned to their homeland from Russian captivity, Starlink was disconnected for Russians at the front, an attempt was made on the deputy head of the GRU Alekseev in Moscow, and the selection for this yearʼs Eurovision Song Contest has ended in Ukraine.

Babel has compiled the main events of the week so that you can stay up to date with the news.

Starlink Verification

On Monday, February 2, verification of Starlink terminals started in Ukraine. The solution is being implemented together with SpaceX. Only verified and registered devices will work — others will be disabled. Currently, the "white lists" are updated once a day.

The decision was made because the Russians use Starlink to control drones. Such UAVs are difficult to shoot down because they fly low, are resistant to electronic warfare, and are controlled in real time.

Adviser to the Minister of Defense Sergei “Flash” Beskrestnov wrote that due to the blocking of Russian terminals, all command and control of the Russian troops has been disrupted, and assaults have been stopped in many areas. The disruptions in Starlink work were also confirmed by a number of Russian military commanders, Meduza wrote. In their posts, they emphasized that alternatives to Starlink satellite internet in the ranks of the Russian army “simply do not exist” and “much of it, including combat control, was connected to it”.

Exchange

On Thursday, February 5, Ukraine and Russia conducted their 51st prisoner exchange — the first in five months. The exchange was agreed upon during trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States in Abu Dhabi.

157 Ukrainians returned to their homeland: 150 military personnel and seven civilians. Most were captured during the defense of Mariupol in 2022.

Assassination attempt on the GRU lieutenant general

On Friday, February 6, an assassination attempt was made on Vladimir Alekseev, the first deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (known as GRU), in Moscow. The attacker shot him several times in a high-rise building and then fled. Alekseev himself is in the hospital.

The commander of the 1st Corps of the “Azov” National Guard, Denys “Redis” Prokopenko, wrote that Alekseev was a participant in the negotiations on behalf of the Russian Federation on the withdrawal of Ukrainian military personnel from “Azovstal”.

He promised compliance with the Geneva Convention and normal conditions for Ukrainian prisoners. However, these promises turned out to be “worthless” — regular torture of “Azov” prisoners, lack of medical care and hunger are proof of this.

Russian law enforcement officials say the alleged shooter is Russian citizen Lyubomyr Korba, originally from the Ternopil region. They say he arrived in Moscow in late December 2025 and was acting on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence. He was detained in Dubai and extradited to Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said in a comment to Reuters that Ukraine had nothing to do with the incident.

Attacks on Ukrainian energy sector

The Russians have resumed massive attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. The largest attack occurred on the night of Tuesday, February 3. The main target was Kyiv.

The Darnytska TPP was attacked by the Russians with five ballistic missiles, shutting down its operations and will take at least two months to restore them. TPP provided heat to over 1 100 apartment buildings in the Darnytsky and Dniprovsky districts, which still have no heating.

To support people, locations for tent camps have been identified in both districts, and “Ukrzaliznytsia” has sent two “indestructible wagons” to the Darnytsky district. Six more such wagons were sent to Kharkiv, where a local emergency was declared today.

They are open daily from 08:00 to 20:00. DTEK reported that in houses where there is no heating, the lights will be turned off less often, only six hours a day.

LELÉKA will represent Ukraine at Eurovision

On the evening of Saturday, February 7, the final of the National Selection for Eurovision 2026, which will take place in May in Vienna, took place. The winner was singer LELÉKA. She received 10 votes from the jury and the same number from the audience.

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