This week, the US, Israel, and Iran entered a new war, a suspect in the murder of the former head of the Presidential Administration of Yanukovych Andriy Portnov was detained in Germany, and the co-owner of the “Fire Point” company (which produces “Flamingo” missiles) Denys Shtielerman showed footage of the first tests of the new FP-7 ballistic missile.
Babel has compiled the main events of the week so that you can stay up to date with the news.
War in the Middle East
On the morning of Saturday, February 28, the US and Israel began attacking Iran. The Israelis called the operation “Lion’s Roar”, the US called it “Epic Fury”. In the evening, it became known about the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He died in his residence during US and Israeli strikes on the morning of February 28.
Iran responded by attacking American bases in the Persian Gulf countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. Iran also attacked Israel with ballistic missiles. Some Iranian drones and missiles targeted infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries. For example, at the airports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi (UAE), one person was killed and 11 were injured due to Iranian attacks.
Britainʼs Defense Secretary John Healy said Iran had fired two missiles toward Cyprus, where British military bases are located. Healy says they were not directly aimed at British bases, but it shows how "indiscriminate" Iranʼs response is.
Detention of suspects in Portnovʼs murder
On Wednesday, February 25, Spanish and German law enforcement officers detained in Germany a suspect in the murder of Andriy Portnov, former deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Viktor Yanukovych. The Cologne prosecutorʼs office later told Deutsche Welle that it was considering the extradition of Portnov. The prosecutorʼs office did not specify to which country.
Andriy Portnov was shot dead on the morning of May 21 near the American School in Madrid. He was driving a Mercedes when the shooting began. Portnov suffered at least three gunshot wounds, the fatal one to the head. The investigation was classified on May 22.
Portnov worked in the Administration of President Yanukovych from 2011 to 2014. He actively opposed the Maidan and soon fled to Russia, and from there moved to Austria. From 2014 to 2015, Portnov was on the EU sanctions list for individuals involved in the embezzlement of state funds and human rights violations.
Portnov advocated for amnesty for “Berkut” fighters, and also threatened journalists and activists. In 2018, SBU opened a case of treason against Portnov, for which the Service was sued. In December 2021, the US imposed sanctions against Portnov.
A fiber-optic drone flew to Kharkiv for the first time
On February 25, a Russian fiber-optic FPV drone flew to Kharkiv for the first time. It hit a tree.
Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Serhiy (“Flash”) Beskrestnov said that since it is a drone on fiber optics, it cannot be detected by electronic reconnaissance. But it is possible thanks to radar stations. However, if the drone flies low, they are ineffective. “Flash” suggests that acoustic detection methods can help here.
The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutorʼs Office has opened proceedings on the fact of a war crime.
The US postpones sanctions against Lukoil for the fourth time
On Thursday, February 26, Reuters, citing four sources, as well as a document from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, wrote that the US had postponed the date of imposing sanctions against the foreign assets of Russian oil giant “Lukoil” for the fourth time: from February 28 to April 1.
This is explained by the fact that it takes time to conclude sales agreements. According to three sources, the issue of American sanctions against “Lukoil” and the largest Russian oil producer, state-owned “Rosneft”, was raised in recent rounds of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
On February 7, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had told him that Putin’s special representative Kirill Dmitriev had offered the White House an economic deal worth $12 trillion. One source told Reuters that the offer included “Lukoil” assets, which could further complicate the sale.
The head of SBU of the Zhytomyr region and the commander of Air Force logistics were sent to pre-trial detention center
On Friday, February 27, a court remanded Colonel Andriy Ukrainets, the commander of logistics for the Ukrainian Air Force, and Volodymyr Kompanichenko, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region, in custody until April 25, with the option of a bail of UAH 7 million.
They were detained two days earlier in a case of embezzlement of UAH 1.4 billion allocated for the construction of aircraft shelters. Both face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The state allocated this money in May 2025. However, the SBU inspections revealed that the projects did not meet security requirements, the shelters did not guarantee proper protection of aviation, and the cost of the work was significantly overstated.
Despite this, the contractors began to receive advance payments. In order to hide the embezzlement of funds and stop inspections, the commander of the Air Force Logistics Andriy Ukrainets turned to the head of the regional SBU department with a request to "assist" in bribing the leadership of military counterintelligence.
According to the investigation, he agreed and acted as a "guarantor" of the scheme, since he had previously involved one of the contractors. Law enforcement officers established that the defendants offered about UAH 13 million (1% of the financing amount) for concealing the embezzlement.
They also planned to involve "loyal" auditors to prepare fictitious conclusions on the quality of construction. On February 25, while trying to transfer some of the money, the participants in the scheme were detained. $320 thousand was seized from them.
Prosecutor General Kravchenko also published recordings of the suspectsʼ conversations. They express their willingness to become guarantors of a scheme of thefts during the construction of shelters. One of them questions the importance of the work, emphasizing that the issue of their actual implementation is of no interest to anyone. Another assures that "the issue will be closed within a week".
FP-7 missile test
On February 27, the co-owner of the “Fire Point” company (which produces “Flamingo” missiles) Denys Shtielerman showed footage of the first tests of the new FP-7 ballistic missile.
The missile has a range of up to 200 km and a maximum speed of 1 500 mps. Its combat load is 150 kg, its circular deviation is 14 m, and its maximum flight duration is 250 seconds.
The FP-7 is designed to attack targets at medium ranges. The missile will be launched from ground platforms.
“Fire Point” reported the development of the FP-7 back in the fall of 2025. At that time, they also talked about the development of Ukrainian air defense systems, as well as the FP-9 ballistic missile, which is capable of hitting targets deep in the rear.
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