Main news
Ukrainian Christmas
Ukraine could loft its AI drones 8,000 meters up—then let them glide into Russia
With help from a balloon, a Hornet AI drone could double its striking range.
Latest news
23 May 2026
- Daily reviewRusso-Ukrainian war, day 1549: Ukraine’s Hornet AI drone captured but secrets stay safe
- Ukraine documents 11,000 Russian FPV attacks on civilians, including “double strikes” on same site after medics and firefighters arrive
- Ukraine receives remains of Andrii Melnyk, OUN’s second head and Sachsenhausen prisoner. He will be reburied at pantheon of heroes
- InternationalTulsi Gabbard, the DNI who called Biden a ‘warmonger’ for backing Ukraine is resigning
- Russia threatens NATO member Latvia with retaliation. Rubio calls it “concerning”
- Russia’s 1,392-vessel shadow fleet is now hybrid-warfare tool. It will continue as long as its export capacity remains unharmed
- Russia captures Hornet AI drone that Ukraine uses to cut logistics 150 km behind front — without software that makes it work
- Ukraine strikes “Rubicon” elite Russian drone unit in occupied Luhansk Oblast — while Moscow accuses Kyiv of hitting civilians
- Trump announces 5,000 US troops to Poland — one week after US froze scheduled combat-team rotation and amid Russia’s threat
- AnalysisUkraine’s attack on Moscow: Show of force? Yes. Path of revenge? Not quite.
- InterviewUkraine’s deputy agriculture minister on the 2026 sowing, the labor crisis, and a sector holding steady under fire
- Russia is “directing” Ukrainian drones into NATO territory, Estonian foreign minister says
- Ukraine has struck 24 of Russia’s 33 largest refineries since 2022, Russian media reports
- Money MattersEU will return to buying Russian gas once war ends, new Hungarian PM Magyar predicts
- InternationalRussia’s secret “Skythen” project would station nuclear missiles on seabed, German media report
- Putin wants war concluded this year on victorious terms including Donbas, Bloomberg reports
- Ukraine’s FM Sybiha informs NATO allies of growing Belarus threats at Helsingborg meeting
- Russia’s 4th-largest oil refinery in Kstovo halts its main crude unit after 20 May attack
- Ukrainian drone strike halts NORSI’s main crude unit, Reuters reports
- Russia is building 10 more launch pads at its Tsymbulova base for jet-powered missile-drones with 1,000 km range
- US approves potential $108.1 million sale to sustain Ukraine’s FrankenSAM HAWK
- Pentagon: Ukraine retook 400 km² after cutting Russian troops off from Elon Musk’s Starlink internet
- Ukraine uncovers $1.6 million food-procurement scheme: defense official “forgets” quality-check clause on $9.1 million in contracts
Daily Review
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1549: Ukraine’s Hornet AI drone captured but secrets stay safe
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1548: One SBU strike — and an FSB site, a PANTSIR-S1, and around 100 Russian troops out of action
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1547: Russia escalates Baltic threats as experts warn of manufactured pretext for aggression
Frontline tool Ukraine can’t fight without: 5,000 pickups now procured through largest-ever open tender
The Defense Procurement Agency will run the process in stages through framework agreements, with first deliveries expected by end of year.
From job offers to “meat assaults”: The deception of Russia’s foreign fighters
A joint human rights report reveals that Russia’s global recruitment system increasingly relies on deception, coercion, and economic desperation to funnel tens of thousands of foreign nationals into high-intensity combat in Ukraine.
Days after Trump leaves Beijing, Putin arrives—gas price gap and Ukraine on the table
Putin arrives in Beijing days after Trump's visit. China wants Russian gas at $50 per thousand cubic meters; it currently pays $258.
Even the FSB knows you won’t believe it—so Russia now lies only to Russians
A Ukrainian military intelligence official maps how Russian disinformation flipped—from flooding Ukraine to feeding Russians.
Xi pledged to stop arming Iran—US intelligence warns the weapons still flow
Xi pledged to stop arming Iran, but US intelligence says covert Chinese weapons shipments continue via third countries—no deal, no monitors signed.
Russia’s last “Ukraine peace deal” led to Europe’s biggest war since WWII. Here’s why this one could be worse.
Moscow isn’t just negotiating—it’s setting the stage. Behind closed doors, familiar tactics are at play, and the consequences could reshape Europe’s future once again.
Ukraine’s homemade glide bomb may have an edge over the American and French ones
It took more than a year of development, but Ukraine's new precision glide bomb is finally ready for action.
Ukraine’s steel capacity fell fourfold after Russia destroyed Azovstal. Now EU’s new quota could cost it €1 billion more
Brussels offered Ukraine 713,000 tonnes duty-free. Ukraine shipped 2.65 million tonnes to the EU last year.
10% now, 23% after a ceasefire, 59% only at peace—Ukraine’s verdict on a wartime vote hasn’t moved all year
At the Lviv Media Forum, sociologist Tymofii Brik laid out the polling behind a settled question—and a less settled one underneath it.
Russia is ‘largely defeated’ from Mali to Syria, France’s foreign minister says
French FM Jean-Noël Barrot calls Russia "largely defeated" in Africa—as its Africa Corps flees Kidal and Mali's junta cries betrayal.
“Stop treating Russia’s bankers as faceless technocrats”: inside the war crimes case against Russia’s central bank
A landmark ICC complaint reframes Russia's financial occupation of Ukraine — pillaged banks, forced rubles, and passport-gated medical care — as a war crime
Why is Ukraine losing ground? Mobilization crisis and command failures exposed
Ukraine's military problems can no longer be ignored as mobilization failures and systemic issues lead to mounting territorial losses
Evergreens
Yes, Ukraine can win the war – ex-minister decodes victory plan
Zelenskyy's plan and Ukraine's victory are completely realistic, says Andriy Zagorodnyuk. But there is a crucial caveat -- the current paradigm must be changed.
Mendel told Tucker Carlson many tales about Zelenskyy. All blame the country being invaded
Most of what former Ukrainian press secretary Iuliia Mendel told Tucker Carlson about events after 2021 is secondhand. The facts tell a different story.
A realistic victory strategy for Ukraine
In a war where offensive operations are equally difficult on both sides, not losing is already winning in the next year and a half
Analysis
Can “good morals” become a legal weapon in Ukraine’s new Civil Code?
Brussels says reform is “necessary.” It also says quick answers to complex questions are always a problem.
