Portal:Current events/2026 February 21

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Ukrainian forces launch long-range FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, striking the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Votkinsk, Udmurtia, Russia. Another missile strikes a natural-gas processing plant in Samara Oblast. (The Telegraph) (DW)
  • Eastern front of the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Russian forces capture the village of Karpivka in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, as they attempt to advance towards Lyman. (Devdiscourse)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Afghanistan–Pakistan clashes
    • Pakistan conducts intelligence-based strikes on seven locations along the Durand Line in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan targeting alleged camps of the Pakistani Taliban and an affiliate of the Islamic State, resulting in dozens of fatalities and injuries. (NDTV) (AFP via The Straits Times)
  • Two soldiers and five militants are killed in a shootout in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Reuters)
• Syrian conflict
  • The Islamic State claims responsibility for two attacks on security personnel in northern and eastern Syria, in which a soldier and a civilian were killed. (Reuters)
• Terrorism in Ukraine
  • A policewoman is killed and at least 15 others are injured, including some seriously, in two explosions at a shop in Lviv, Ukraine. The attacks are being treated as terrorism. (TRT World)

Arts and culture

• 76th Berlin International Film Festival
  • At this year's Berlin Film Festival, İlker Çatak's Yellow Letters wins the Golden Bear. (AFP via The Philippine Star)

Business and economy

• Tariffs in the second Trump administration
  • United States president Donald Trump raises the global tariff on imports from 10% to 15% under emergency powers that permit the measure for up to 150 days after the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a 1977 law does not authorize the imposition of his earlier country-specific tariffs. The administration states that the new rate applies broadly, with exemptions for certain sectors and goods covered by existing trade agreements. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025–26 Australian bushfire season
  • The state emergency service of Victoria, Australia, issues the highest-level emergency evacuation warning for areas surrounding the A1 Mine Settlement of Gaffneys Creek, as an uncontrolled bushfire burns the settlement. (Reuters)
• Libyan crisis
  • At least five bodies of refugees wash ashore near Tripoli, Libya. Residents also observe a child's body carried back to sea by strong waves, prompting a coast guard search operation. (Reuters)