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Strikes and a helmet: Ukraine on 12 February 2026
Summary
A look back at a day when the war's toll followed Ukraine into the Winter Olympics and drone attacks continued on both sides of the border.
What did the war look like on 12 February 2026? It reached as far as the Winter Olympics, where the International Olympic Committee disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing because of his helmet. The helmet carried images of Ukrainian athletes killed by Russian Armed Forces.
The days before
The disqualification came after several days of strikes and counter-strikes. On 10 February, a Russian airstrike on Sloviansk, in Donetsk Oblast, killed two people.
On 11 February, a Russian airstrike on Bohodukhiv, in Kharkiv Oblast, killed four people and injured two others.
The same day, Ukrainian drones attacked the Volgograd refinery in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, overnight. Multiple explosions were reported and the refinery was ablaze. Volgograd International Airport was closed in response to the attack.
A day in context
Taken together, the reports from 10 to 12 February show the war on three fronts: civilian casualties in Ukrainian towns, Ukrainian drone attacks on industrial sites inside Russia, and the sporting arena, where the memory of dead Ukrainian athletes became the subject of a ruling by the IOC.
The IOC's decision on 12 February concerned the helmet itself, which displayed images of the athletes killed.
