Exclusives
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As Kyiv faces a €71.7billion gap, Japan won’t join Europe’s frozen-assets plan. EU diplomats say Tokyo’s real calculation isn’t a legal one. |
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Ukraine’s Su-27 fleet is vanishing—and no one can save it. 19 Su-27s down, no allies to send more |
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Ukraine’s drone war has an unintended target: Kazakhstan (INFOGRAPHIC). Ukraine’s strikes on Novorossiysk threaten an economy that never diversified from Russia. |
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Zelenskyy under US pressure to accept Trump “peace” plan fast, Axios says. Unnamed Ukrainian officials believe Trump’s advisers recently echoed Moscow’s demand that Kyiv surrender all of Donetsk Oblast. |
Military
Russia's Syzran refinery goes offline after repeat Ukrainian drone strikes. Repairs could take about a month, sources say.
Frontline report: Ukrainian forces launch clearing operations in Kupiansk after cutting Russian supply line. With their supply line cut and reinforcements unable to reach them, Russian soldiers trapped in Kupiansk are increasingly choosing to surrender, according to footage and reports from the area. Ukraine says about 60 enemy troops remain in the town.
Frontline report: Putin threatens to cut Ukraine off from the sea, but Russia's options are shrinking fast. After only two tankers in the Black Sea were destroyed and another damaged off Senegal, Moscow's early reaction shows how exposed it feels.
Ukraine hits Russian drone base in Donetsk and fuel tanks in Luhansk Oblast (VIDEO, MAP). FP-2 drones targeted a UAV warehouse in Donetsk and a large fuel storage in Simeikyne, Luhansk Oblast, on 8 December.
Ukrainian forces retreat from salient south of Pokrovsk to avoid encirclement (MAP). A coordinated withdrawal from Lysiivka and Sukhyi Yar villages reportedly helped troops avoid Russian encirclement and stabilize the frontline.
Intelligence and technology
Russia's secret weapon: Elite Rubikon unit with unlimited budget cuts key Ukrainian supply route between Kharkiv and Donetsk. Russia's drone elite succeeds by sacrificing its own infantry. Ukraine can't do the same.
"Provocations will continue": Expert says Belarus balloon attacks are joint Russia test of EU limits. Lithuania declared emergency. The EU did nothing. That's exactly what Moscow wanted.
International
As Germany appeals to China for peace, Zelenskyy says Beijing has no interest in ending Russia's war against Ukraine. Beijing's strategic rivalry with Washington makes a Russian defeat undesirable for China, Ukraine's leader believes.
Netherlands pledges €700 million for Ukraine, as previous aid runs out faster than planned. Russian daily war cost: $1B.
"Russia spreads violence wherever it sets foot", Ukraine says after Bucha-style atrocities from "white men" revealed in Mali. Whether Wagner or Africa Corps, Russia's violence follows the same script.
Ukrainian activists in London target luxury brands funneling billions to Kremlin. Brunello Cucinelli, Dolce & Gabbana, Agent Provocateur still operate in Russia despite four years of war.
Russia revives USSR's abandoned 1986 project, threatening Arctic, to blackmail Central Asia after it escaped Russian gas. $100 billion to reroute rivers, destabilize climate, and blackmail post-Soviet nations.
Humanitarian and social impact
Some 13,000 Ukrainians at risk, 3,500 can't evacuate alone: Russia strikes dam that was once Kharkiv's "road of life". Ukraine says: "Our response plans have been ready since 2022."
From Stalin's camps to Kherson's basements: Russia deploys Soviet filtration methods in Ukraine. Memorial Human Rights Center documents kidnappings, torture, extrajudicial killings in first Russian rights mission since 2022 invasion.
Russia jails 2nd most journalists worldwide. More than half are Ukrainians – RSF. Reporters Without Borders' annual survey highlights Viktoria Roshchyna's death in Russian custody and Antoni Lallican's death from a Russian drone strike.
Conference of European Churches does what WCC wouldn't — calls Russia's "holy war" heresy. It effectively becomes first international church body to condemn "Russian world" ideology driving Moscow's war.
Political and legal developments
BREAKING: Zelenskyy asks US and Europe to ensure security for Ukraine for elections that could be held within 90 days. Will the US protect polling stations from Russian strikes?
Zelenskyy: Ukraine, Europe ready to present peace proposals to US. Zelenskyy: "Everything depends on whether Russia is ready to stop the bloodshed."
US peace proposal down to 20 points, anti-Ukrainian ideas cut, Zelenskyy says. Zelenskyy said the base of the plan remains the same, but openly anti-Ukrainian points have been removed.
Ukraine ready for energy ceasefire, but Putin "won't stop until he gets his ultimatums" – presidential office. Attacks are the only way Russia can push its demands on Ukraine, office says.
ISW: Kremlin statements again show Russia's unwillingness to pursue real peace. Russian officials repeated demands centered on forcing Ukraine into a one-sided agreement.
Putin boasts of economic strength. ISW says he's bluffing to pressure the West. Analysts say Kremlin pairs economic claims with "inevitable victory" narrative.
Zelenskyy faces "Jenga" dilemma as every candidate for top job is irreplaceable. The spy chief who terrifies Russia might be too valuable to promote.
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