Exclusives
 |
Europe finally cuts the cord: Russian gas to vanish from EU markets by 2027. Russian gas still accounts for an estimated 13% of EU imports in 2025, but the new deal aims to close this final energy vulnerability permanently. |
 |
The West saved Moldova from Russia. It's still "searching" for how to help Georgia. After 365 days of daily protests, Georgians are still waiting for Europe to find that "safe channel" |
 |
Russia has more armored vehicles now than in 2022. The math is ugly.. Yes, Russia has lost a lot of armored vehicles. But the sheer size of its Cold War vehicle stockpile means it can replace every loss—and then some. |
 |
As Russian strikes hit industry, retail demand stays unexpectedly strong (INFOGRAPHIC). Nine months of retail growth masks deepening trouble on factory floors. |
Military
130 bombs per day: Russia drops 84,000 KABs on Ukraine in two years.
Frontline report: Moldova escapes Moscow's orbit through slow strangulation of Russian influence. Thirty-three years after independence, Moldova is finally breaking free - not through war, but through the deliberate dismantling of every lever Russia once possessed. Unionist sentiment, once marginal, has become the fastest-growing political force in the country.
Russia sends animals onto battlefield to distract Ukrainian troops while assault teams attack from behind. Fog, new cloaks, live animal decoys: Russia throws everything at Ukrainian lines.
20 Russian bodies in 10 square meters: Price Moscow pays to use Pokrovsk as leverage in peace talks, and city still holds. Russia plants flags for peace talks optics. Ukrainian forces turn flag-bearers into targets.
Ukraine denies involvement in attack on Russian tanker off the coast of Türkiye.
Frontline report: From Melitopol to Moscow, resistance forces give Russia a war it can't see coming
. Near-daily sabotage and intelligence leaks are eroding the Kremlin's confidence in rear-area security.
Intelligence and technology
NATO general: "I see no signs of waning support" as Ukraine's 2% drone force inflicts half of Russian losses. Two percent of Ukraine's armed forces are responsible for 30 to 50 percent of Russian casualties.
Ukraine's frontline is place where humans can't survive alone: Robots carry wounded through fire, retrieve disabled drones, recover vehicles (VIDEO). Through fire and Russian drones overhead, Ukrainian robots evacuate soldier with nearly severed leg.
Germany finds out US weapons freeze to Ukraine from its own embassy, Not Washington. The US suspended certain weapons deliveries to Ukraine last summer without informing Germany.
NATO chief: Ukraine to get $5 billion in US weapons by year-end, $12 billion more in 2026. The PURL program coordinating US weapons purchases for Ukraine has reached its $4 billion target for 2024, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed. Total deliveries could reach at least $17 billion through 2026, though continued funding from NATO members is essential.
International
Witkoff, Kushner expected to fly from Putin to Zelenskyy in Europe — Axios
. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to travel directly from their Moscow talks with Vladimir Putin to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a European country, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reports.
Zelenskyy awaits Kushner-Putin meeting results as peace plan shrinks from 28 to 20 points. The US-backed peace plan for Ukraine has been revised to 20 points following consultations in Geneva and Florida, President Zelenskyy confirmed during his Ireland visit, adding that "some things still need to be worked out."
Sweden allocates $116 million in winter aid package to Ukraine. As European partners coordinate winter support for Ukraine, Sweden committed $116 million targeting energy supply and damaged infrastructure repair.
Zelenskyy warns Russia "launched new disinformation campaigns" as Trump envoy set to meet Putin in Moscow. Ukrainian intelligence to share evidence of Russia exploiting peace talks.
Political and legal developments
Ukraine recovers 7,000 looted artifacts from ex-Crimean official who fled to occupied territory. Valeriy Horbatov, the ex-lawmaker who fled to Russian-occupied territory before the full-scale invasion and was exposed for financing DNR terrorists, agreed to hand over 7,000 archaeological finds spanning from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation reports.
Frontline report: Russia revives Soviet-era barter trade as oil revenues plunge and currency reserves dry up. Moscow has issued a 14-page guide instructing companies on how to structure goods-for-goods contracts and bypass banking channels, with at least eight documented transactions swapping wheat and flax for Chinese cars and appliances.
Read our earlier daily review here.
