Key events on day 1,454 of the Russia-Ukraine war on Tuesday, February 17: Ukraine recaptured 201 square kilometers of territory from Russia last week. This was helped by a Starlink communication shutdown affecting Russian forces, said the Institute for the Study of War. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of more Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector. Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 62 strike drones and six missiles overnight. Russia claimed to have shot down 345 Ukrainian drones and captured two eastern settlements: Pokrovka and Minkivka. In Russia’s Krasnodar region, a fire broke out and was put out at the Black Sea port of Taman, damaged earlier by a Ukrainian drone attack. Ukraine received 4.4 million rounds of large-calibre ammunition from Czech producers with foreign funding, Czech President Petr Pavel said. Ceasefire talks continued in Geneva with Ukraine’s negotiation team head Rustem Umerov aiming for “constructive work and substantive meetings on security and humanitarian issues.” Russia’s delegation, led by Vladimir Medinsky, focuses on territorial and broader issues. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed senior officials including military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin took part. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban assured US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Hungary’s support for US peace efforts and openness to hosting a peace summit. Hungary and Slovakia asked Croatia to help secure Russian oil after pipeline flow disruptions blamed on Kyiv. Ukraine denied blame, posting photos of pipeline fires and accusing Russia. Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico also blamed Ukraine for delaying pipeline reopening. Ukraine’s anticorruption police accused ex-energy minister German Galushchenko of laundering kickbacks and hiding money offshore after his arrest. The probe spans 15 foreign countries. Russian oil producers may face sharp output cuts due to US and EU export restrictions, potentially weakening Moscow’s war funds. France agreed to give safe haven to anti-Kremlin Russian activists Alexei and Nadezhda Ishimov, detained by US law enforcement. Nadezhda was later stopped from leaving the US due to travel permit issues. The couple fled Russia in 2022 amid Kremlin crackdowns after the invasion.