Main news
Ukrainian Christmas
Russia is back at Dobropillia a year after it failed there. Now it’s the southern jaw of a pincer on Donbas’s last big free cities
This time Russia brought another army, and Dobropillia’s defenders have until the leaves fall to stop it.
Latest news
21 October 2026
- Daily reviewRusso-Ukrainian war, day 1700: Trump says Russia has been “fine” toward Ukraine on the day a Russian drone killed six people in a Kharkiv Oblast park
- Russia resumes diesel exports to Türkiye, Brazil, after Trump lifts sanctions on fuel supplies, boosting Moscow’s war revenue – Reuters
- South Korea will pull staff from Kyiv over North Korean POW handover made public at the UN
- US restores ballistic missile warnings to Ukraine after a week without advance notice before Russian attacks, Zelenskyy says
- Is a Russian drone near you right now? Ukrainians have developed maps that track drones in near real time
- Russians try to sneak toward Zaporizhzhia through the dried-up Kakhovka Reservoir. Ukrainian intelligence captures three
- Russia has been “fine” toward Ukraine, Trump says, on the same day a Russian drone killed a one-year-old in a public park
- Rubio thinks Starlink is fixed. Kyiv says it still cuts out above 161 km/h
- A diesel tank burns at Transneft’s Druzhba hub as Ukraine keeps striking Russian energy despite Trump’s pressure
- More ballistic missile interceptors and F-16 repairs inside Ukraine: Kyiv’s two asks to Lockheed Martin
- Russian drone kills six in Kharkiv Oblast park, including mother and her 14-month-old in a stroller. Hours later, Ukraine shows photos to US senators
- 31 in May, 63 now: Ukraine’s arms makers pile into a regime of tax breaks and shielded data
- Russia’s Rubicon hunts Ukrainian drone pilots. In Vivaldi, it became the target, and its morale fell sharply, says the Ukrainian general
- No warning, capped Starlink, unsigned Patriots: Zelenskyy lists US holds to senators as Kyiv reads them as pressure
- Ukraine finally voted to tax cheap foreign parcels to unlock €3.7 billion—now Brussels decides whether it was enough, with a €70 billion gap ahead amid ongoing war
- Lithuania’s armed forces chief says patrols on the Kaliningrad border have practically doubled as the troop mission runs into mid-November
- Ukraine has identified nearly 46,000 foreigners from 151 countries in Russia’s army—and says Moscow is on pace to meet its 2026 hiring plan
- Two Germans charged in absentia over Bulgaria’s Starlink fire, one of three recent attacks on satellite links Ukraine relies on against Russia
- Daily reviewRusso-Ukrainian war, days 1699: Ukraine has liberated more territory than Russia has captured since the start of fall
- Fifteen months ago, Ukraine’s online arms store for front-line units didn’t exist. Now, it delivers 1 in 5 drones that state buys
- Trump defends Russia sanctions waiver, says he does not want to drive Moscow from talks
- Ukraine opens its first war-crime case against a ship captain for carrying off 54,000 tons of its stolen grain
- Most Ukrainians reject giving Russia all of Donbas. Support for resistance on rose to 62% after new US pressure, poll finds
Daily Review
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Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1700: Trump says Russia has been “fine” toward Ukraine on the day a Russian drone killed six people in a Kharkiv Oblast park
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Russo-Ukrainian war, days 1699: Ukraine has liberated more territory than Russia has captured since the start of fall
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Russo-Ukrainian war, days 1697–1698: Russia hits Ukraine’s energy 76 times during a US-declared truce, as Trump waives tariffs on Russia’s oil buyers and Romania downs two Russian jet drones
When Kremlin energy talking points come with an Oxford address
Russian energy disinformation does not always look like propaganda. Sometimes it presents itself in the form of expert analysis, a policy advisor, or technical commentary inside Europe's energy debate, and that is exactly what makes this new form of influence worth examining.
In Ukraine’s Vivaldi offensive, nobody rides in the BTR-60s. Bulgaria’s old troop carriers go into Russian bunkers packed with mines
Too thinly armored for infantry, 110 Bulgarian-donated BTR-60s now go into Russian bunkers near Lyman packed with anti-tank mines and nobody inside.
Europe and Ukraine already have the force to stop Russia. What’s missing is the alliance.
The war may reach Europe by 2027; NATO won't be ready until 2035. The fastest deterrent already exists: a declared alliance with Ukraine's combat-proven force.
Ukraine’s tanks are fighting from kilometers back. A 1960s Soviet model does that nearly as well
Ukraine captured more than 40 T-62Ms from Russia, mostly during the 2022 counteroffensives, and has not registered a confirmed combat loss since.
For years Ukraine could jam or switch off Russia’s battlefield comms. Rassvet may be the first it can’t
Sanctioning the firm behind Russia's Starlink won't stop it. It can make every satellite slower and costlier to build—and the clock is short.
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.
Vivaldi’s secret weapon was the targeting, not the robots: Third Corps reconnaissance mapped Russian command nodes, then hit them to cause panic
The officer said disrupting command and communications was one of the tasks set directly by the corps commander, with brigade and corps intelligence identifying the areas to strike.
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor fled. Politicians still choose the man who can prosecute them.
He is only the latest prosecutor general to leave the office in disgrace, and the office is the reason.
Europe gave Russia years to perfect its aerial killing. Ukraine is paying the price. Europe may be next.
Russia has spent four years adapting its drones, missiles and tactics against Ukraine. As Russian attacks become harder to stop, Ukrainian civilians are paying the price – while Europe is increasingly worried about a threat it has had years to prepare for.
“A warning to companies that remain”: Russia takes control of Nestlé and Auchan’s assets – companies that stayed in Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine
The companies had been warned that remaining in Russia could expose their investments to seizure as the Kremlin increasingly uses foreign-owned businesses as leverage. B4Ukraine says companies should leave while they still can.
“I can travel back to Finland and be safe. That is a luxury”: Sanna Marin on the Russian strike that stopped her train from Kyiv
The former Finnish prime minister has visited Ukraine around ten times since the full-scale invasion. This trip, she says, had more air-raid alarms than any of them, and a Russian drone hit the train travelling beside hers to the Polish border.
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.
Ukraine is sending its winning brigades to where the fighting is worst. The 46th just turned up outside Kramatorsk
Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are the last two big cities in the Donbas that Russia does not hold. The 46th Airmobile Brigade left the southeast in early July and reached them before anyone outside the army knew.
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
NATO vows to defend every inch. Svalbard is where Russia plans to prove it won’t.
The CIA chief’s visit to Moscow gave rise to warnings that Russia may be preparing to strike the Baltics. However, Russia has an easier target for the goal of paralyzing NATO.
