Russian shelling killed four people in Ukraine on February 17

According to the National Police of Ukraine, Russian military shelling on February 17, 2026, killed four civilians in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. Nearly 20 others were injured, with casualties also reported in the Kherson and Odesa Oblasts.

A Russian-shelled high-rise apartment building in Zaporizhzhia

The victims of Russian strikes on February 17 included:

• Three employees of the Sloviansk Thermal Power Plant, whose car was targeted by a drone while they were driving in Mykolaivka, Kramatorsk District, the Donetsk Oblast;
• A 48-year-old woman, a resident of Zaporizhzhia.

In addition to those killed, many people sustained injuries. Specifically, an evening Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia wounded six more residents, including a nearly two-year-old child. Furthermore, a 65-year-old man was injured during an enemy strike on Osavulske in the Oblast.

In the Kherson region, six people were injured on February 17.

In the morning, Russian forces targeted a cargo truck with a drone near Sonyachne, injuring the driver. Later, strikes hit Kherson, wounding five more individuals. Among the victims in the regional capital was a 46-year-old healthcare worker from a hospital that was shelled in the Dniprovskyi District.

In the Donetsk Oblast, two additional injuries were reported — coworkers of the energy workers killed near Mykolaivka.

Three more civilians were injured during an overnight Russian strike on the Odesa region. The attack also caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure.

Previously, ZMINA reported that Russian shelling wounded ten people on February 16.

Last week, the Russian military launched more than 1,200 guided aerial bombs (CABs) and 50 missiles at Ukraine; for four consecutive days, children were among the victims of these attacks.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Youth and Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi announced Ukraine’s response to the decision by the organizers of the 2026 Paralympic Games to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete under their national flags. Ukraine will boycott the Opening Ceremony and all other official Paralympic events.

“In response to the outrageous decision by the Paralympic Games organizers to permit Russians and Belarusians to compete under their national flags, Ukrainian officials will not attend the Games,” the minister wrote. “We will also be absent from the Opening Ceremony and will not attend other official Paralympic events. We thank every government official from the free world who will also ignore the official Paralympic festivities. The fight continues!”

Ukraine calls on nations to boycott the 2026 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony if the flags of Russia and Belarus are raised.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stressed that the official emphasized that raising the flags of aggressor states while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues is unacceptable.

“Allowing the flags of aggressor states to be raised at the Paralympic Games while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues is wrong — from both a moral and political standpoint,” Sybiha’s statement reads. “The decision to admit Russia and Belarus under their national symbols ignores a simple truth: these flags and anthems represent regimes that wage aggression, destroy cities, and use sport as a weapon for propaganda. They cannot be separated from the crimes committed under their banner.”

Modern Russia uses Paralympic sports to glorify participants in the war against Ukraine. Permitting the flags of aggressor states at the Opening Ceremony sends a dangerous signal to the world, pushing accountability for crimes into the background.

Sport is intended to uphold universal values that criminal regimes despise. Therefore, the Paralympics must not become a stage for justifying Russia’s actions. In this regard, Ukraine will call on countries to boycott the Paralympic Opening Ceremony, Sybiha said. 

Meanwhile,  BBC Verify pointed out that the Russian disinformation network Matryoshka is using AI-generated videos to discredit Ukrainian athletes at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina.

In other news, talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the US aimed at ending war of Russians again Ukraine have concluded without a breakthrough. The trilateral meetings, held in Geneva, Switzerland, went late on Tuesday but lasted only two hours on Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reported “significant progress” from both sides during the trilateral negotiations in Geneva. During a briefing, she said that both parties have agreed to brief their respective leaders and continue collaborative efforts toward a peace agreement. She further added that an additional round of negotiations is planned for the near future.

Although US envoy Steve Witkoff had also expressed optimism over the talks, both the chief Russian negotiator and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated they had been “difficult”. Some progress was made on “military issues”, including the location of the front line and ceasefire monitoring, according to a Ukrainian diplomatic source.