Ukraine updates: Kyiv reports Russian barrage ahead of talks

Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola on Thursday said that at least two South African nationals had died fighting for Russia in the war in Ukraine after being tricked into traveling there by a recruitment scheme. 

It's the first time South African authorities have confirmed the deaths in combat of any of their citizens who were allegedly lured to Russia with false promises of employment or training. 

Lamola did not name the individuals or say when they had died, but said that their familites had been informed.

The minister had traveled to the east coast city of Durban to visit the families of 11 South Africans who returned home on Wednesday after they were allegedly recruited in a scheme promising them security training. 

He said another four men caught up in the same scheme had been previously repatriated while two more remained in Russia with "severe injuries." 

Urkainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday evening that the latest talks in Geneva meant there was "more readiness" for the next round of trilateral talks with Russia. 

"As a result of today's meetings, there is already more readiness for the next trilateral format," he said. "Most likely, the next meeting will be in the Emirates, specifically in Abu Dhabi. We expect the format to be in early March."

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state media that Russia had no "deadlines" for bringing an end to fighting in Ukraine or striking some kind of deal. 

"Have you heard anything from us about deadlines? We have no deadlines, we have tasks. We are getting them done," Lavrov said. 

Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev was also present in Geneva on Thursday, and according to state news agency RIA, he spoke with US officials. RIA reported that he declined to comment on the outcome of the meeting. 

Meanwhile, other Kremlin-aligned media reported that Dmitriev also declined to comment on whether he also spoke with Ukrainian negotiators in Geneva.

US and Ukrainian officials concluded their talks at Geneva's Hotel des Bergues on Thursday, with each delegation seen leaving the negotiating venue. 

"Today in Geneva we continue our work within the framework of the negotiation process. A bilateral meeting with the American delegation has begun -- with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner," Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said earlier.

Ukraine aims to "synchronize positions" with the US ahead of fresh trilateral talks in March, he said. 

Police in Kenya have arresed a man on suspicion of human trafficking.

It's part of an investigation of an alleged scheme to dupe Kenyans with promises of skilled work in Russia, only for them to end up fighting on the front lines in Ukraine. 

The man was arrested in the northern Kenyan town of Moyale, near the border with Ethiopia, charged with trafficking 25 Kenyans to Russia last year. 

Police spokesman Michael Muchiri said he was trying to flee after returning from Russia. The man had gone missing after families started protesting the disappearances and deaths of their relatives in the war in Ukraine.

Kenya's government last week said that more than 1,000 Kenyans were recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine, and that at least 89 were still on the front lines, with 39 hospitalized and 28 missing in action. At least one person was confirmed dead, it said. 

Russia's Embassy in Nairobi denied the allegations, saying it never issued visas to anyone intending to travel to Russia to fight in Ukraine.

However it also said, "The Russian Federation does not preclude citizens of foreign countries from voluntarily enlisting in the armed forces."

Kenya's Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi told the Associated Press earlier this month that he would seek a trip to Russia to mount a "diplomatic approach to rein in any dubious entites that are taking advantage of anyone in this misadventure." 

He also said attempts were ongoing to secure the release of Kenyans in Ukrainian prisons "if indeed there are Kenyans who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law." 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said that Russia launched an overnight barrage of some 420 drones and 39 missiles at Ukraine, ahead of talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators in Switzerland. 

Zelenskyy said the bombardment, which included 11 ballistic missiles, targeted both critical infrastructure and residential areas. He said that eight separate regions had reported damage. 

"Most missiles launched today were successfully intercepted thanks to our partners swiftly sending part of the air defense missiles agreed upon at the recent Ramstein meeting. Unfortunately, there were also hits," Zelenskyy said. 

Zelenskyy's comments come ahead of the latest round of talks in the US-led push to broker an end to the conflict.

Famously a war that President Donald Trump once boasted he would end within "a day" of returning to the White House while on the campaign trail, the negotiating process has now dragged on for a year with few clear signs of progress. At least judging by the public comments of Russia and Ukraine from outside, the two sides' positions still appear to be very far removed. 

Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, heads the Ukrainian delegation, while Trump's representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are negotiating for the US.

The divisions have been particularly evident during the past week amid the emotionally charged fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. But Zelenskyy also stressed on Thursday that in Kyiv's mind, the war was more than a decade old, having begun with Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, to which he said "the world effectively turned a blind eye."

Hello and welcome to our updates on or pertaining to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 26, 2026. 

Further negotiations are expected later in the day in Geneva, as US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner race from Iranian nuclear talks straight into continued efforts to broker an end to the four-year war in Switzerland. 

The negotiations do not come amid any obvious signs of progress, following a charged few days around the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion in late February of 2022.