War in Ukraine: strike in Kursk, two dead in Belgorod, concessions “for both sides”… an update on the situation

A Russian soldier in Kursk Oblast. MAXPPP – RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY HANDOUT

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Sunday, February 2, 2025, discover the latest news around this conflict

Russia blames Ukraine for deadly strike in Kursk region

The Russian government on Sunday accused Ukraine of launching a missile attack that killed four people the previous day on a school building used as a shelter for elderly people in Sudzha, in Russia's Kursk region.

“The Ukrainian armed forces have committed another war crime by launching a targeted missile strike on a boarding school in the city of Sudzha,”, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, saying the missile strike came from the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine.

Two killed after Ukrainian attacks in Belgorod region

Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, was the was the target of multiple Ukrainian drone attacks on Sunday and two civilians were killed, the region's governor said.

A man was killed in the village of Malinovka, about 8 km east of the border, Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app. Several other localities were attacked by Ukraine on Sunday morning.

Later in the day, a car was attacked by a drone, killing a woman who died in hospital and wounding another civilian, the governor added. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 44 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours. Ukraine did not immediately comment.

Both sides deny targeting civilians. Belgorod and other regions bordering Ukraine have been the target of Ukrainian strikes since the start of the war, particularly against military, energy and transport infrastructure, kyiv says.

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Ukraine and Russia “will have to make concessions”, says US envoy

The US envoy for the war in Ukraine, former General Keith Kellogg, said on Sunday that “both sides will have to make concessions” to end the conflict triggered by the Russian invasion.

“Both sides will have to make concessions. That's how negotiations work work, and I think both sides will make concessions,” the Trump-appointed envoy told Fox News. “It can't just go one way.”

“It's in our interest, both here in the United States and internationally, to make sure that we end”to the nearly three-year-old conflict, Keith Kellogg added. “And I think President Trump is the only person who can do that. I'm very confident that it will work.”

“The only person Putin is really willing to talk to, as he has disparaged other leaders, is President Trump,” , the octogenarian former general insisted.

“We're going to have discussions with everybody, and then, probably in the near future, find a way to end this conflict. And that's a good thing for both sides,” , he added affirmed.

The prospect of negotiations between Moscow and kyiv has been increasingly discussed since Donald Trump's return to the White House, seen as a potential turning point in the war.

The American president has criticized the sums spent by the United States to help Ukraine, but he has also adopted a harsh tone with Moscow, which he has threatened with additional sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that he was ready for talks with Ukraine, but not with Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he described as “illegitimate”. “It's not up to him to decide”, the US envoy responded on Sunday.