Ukraine in February 2026: the most important developments in economy
In Ukraine in February 2026, the most widely reported economic and technology development was the cutoff of Russian military access to Starlink satellite internet. SpaceX said in early February it was countering unauthorized use of the terminals to guide drones, and Ukraine introduced a white list allowing only registered terminals. Reports on 5 and 6 February said Russian forces in Ukraine had lost access, at the request of the Ukrainian government. On 18 February a senior Russian military official acknowledged that terminals used by Russian forces had been disabled for two weeks, and Russia was seeking alternatives for its drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian gains in the south were not linked to the reported Starlink disruptions.
Funding and energy supplies became a dispute with Hungary and Slovakia. EU ambassadors agreed the details of a 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine on 4 February, and the European Parliament approved it on 11 February. Hungary then said on 21 February it would block the loan until Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline resumed, and on 22 February it said it would also block a new EU sanctions package. Hungary and Slovakia stopped diesel deliveries to Ukraine on 18 February, and Slovakia halted emergency electricity supplies on 23 February. Ukraine asked the EU to mediate. By 24 February reports said the loan and the sanctions plan had failed after the vetoes.
Ukraine's energy system was severely damaged, and on 7 February the grid operator said all nuclear power plants under Kyiv's control had reduced output. Residents of the capital received electricity for only 1.5 to 2 hours a day, and Odesa suffered a blackout after a drone attack. On 27 February a ceasefire allowed repair work to begin at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The International Monetary Fund approved an 8.1-billion-dollar loan program for Ukraine, with 1.5 billion dollars paid out immediately. The World Bank and partners estimated recovery would cost 588 billion dollars over the next decade.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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