Deserters are often shot - maybe it was a choice to either fight and potentially live or die immediately.
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Contact the PP Team
The Russian invasion of Ukraine
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finalfantasy7
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you indians do come up with a load off rubbish, hes not surrounded by russians 24/7 even if he went into combat by so called force, he can run away, russians wont be chasing after him either - they know he's usless
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Zelensky plans to meet Trump on Sunday for talks on ending Russian war
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida at the weekend, as talks continue on ending Russia's full-scale war.
Zelensky said he expected the meeting to take place on Sunday and to focus on a US-brokered 20-point peace plan, as well as separate proposals for US security guarantees.
However, in a sign of the gulf between Moscow and Kyiv, a senior Russian official said that plan was "radically different" to the one it was negotiating with Washington.
Russia has spoken of "slow but steady progress" in talks but has not commented on Zelensky's offer to withdraw troops from the eastern Donbas, if Russia pulls back too.
www.bbc.com
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida at the weekend, as talks continue on ending Russia's full-scale war.
Zelensky said he expected the meeting to take place on Sunday and to focus on a US-brokered 20-point peace plan, as well as separate proposals for US security guarantees.
However, in a sign of the gulf between Moscow and Kyiv, a senior Russian official said that plan was "radically different" to the one it was negotiating with Washington.
Russia has spoken of "slow but steady progress" in talks but has not commented on Zelensky's offer to withdraw troops from the eastern Donbas, if Russia pulls back too.
Zelensky plans to meet Trump on Sunday for talks on peace deal
The Ukrainian leader says he will see the US president in Florida and believes "a lot can be decided before the new year".
www.bbc.com
I'm British Pakistani so try again.
Read the article and make a more informed view of the situation.
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Thousands without power in Kyiv after massive Russian attack
A third of residents in Ukraine's capital Kyiv are without power after a "massive bombing" of residential areas and critical infrastructure by Russia overnight, Ukraine's foreign minister has said.
Andrii Sybiha said residents had been left without heating in freezing winter temperatures.
At least one person was killed and 30 others were injured in the strikes, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.
The attacks happened hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky departed for Florida, where he will meet Donald Trump on Sunday for peace talks.
Russia's ministry of defence said it had launched a "massive retaliatory strike" on Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities.
It said it used long-range, land-, air-, and sea-based precision weapons to target the facilities, which it claimed were being used "in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex".
Following the strikes, Zelensky repeated his claim that Russia does "not want to end the war and is trying to use every opportunity to inflict more pain on Ukraine".
Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said Russia directed almost 500 drones and 40 missiles towards Kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure.
The apartment block of BBC journalist Anastasiya Gribanova was struck, leaving some homes on the higher levels of the high-rise building in flames. Gribanova, who was in the building's elevator at the time, was unharmed.
Reuters A firefighter works at a residential building that is ablazeReuters
A house in Kyiv was also hit, Ukraine's emergency services said
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said that 68 people were evacuated from a retirement home in the eastern Darnytskyi district.
"Russian representatives are having long conversations, but in reality the Daggers [missiles] and Shaheds [drones] are speaking for them," Zelensky wrote on Telegram, saying that Vladimir Putin does not want to end the war.
"This sick activity can only be responded to with really strong steps. America has this opportunity, Europe has this opportunity, many of our partners have this opportunity," he wrote, urging allies to show strength against Russian aggression.
The strikes saw Poland, which shares a 530km-long (320-miles) border with western Ukraine, ready its fighter jets, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance.
The move was "aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened regions," Poland's Armed Forces said.
Later on Saturday morning, it concluded that there had been no violation of the country's airspace.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its air defences destroyed seven Ukrainian drones overnight.
On Saturday, Zelensky, EU leaders and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are expected to hold a phone call to discuss the road to peace.
Zelensky's new 20-point draft is a revised version of an earlier 28-point plan which was drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but widely seen as being too favourable to Russia.
The Ukrainian president has voiced optimism around the new draft, describing it as "a foundational document on ending the war", but Trump warned that Zelensky "doesn't have anything until I approve it" in an interview with Politico.
The draft reportedly includes security guarantees from the US, Nato and European allies for a co-ordinated military response if Russia were to invade Ukraine again.
Control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas has been a sticking point in talks so far, but now Zelensky has said a "free economic zone" could be an option.
Trump told Politico that he was expecting to see the new draft on Sunday.
"I think it's going to go good with him. I think it's going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin," Trump said in the interview, adding that he expects to speak with Russia's president "soon".
Thousands without power in Kyiv after massive Russian attack
Authorities say a third of residents in the Ukrainian capital have been left without heating in freezing weather.
www.bbc.com
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Ukraine 'not in a hurry' to end war peacefully, says Putin
Putin in military camouflage clothing sitting in a leather chair
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he can see that Ukraine's leaders "are not in a hurry" to end the war using peaceful means.
He also says that if Kyiv is "unwilling to resolve this [conflict] peacefully" then Russia will resolve it "through a special military operation by force".
The comments were made while the Russian premier was visiting an unspecified military command post.
Source: BBC
Putin in military camouflage clothing sitting in a leather chair
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he can see that Ukraine's leaders "are not in a hurry" to end the war using peaceful means.
He also says that if Kyiv is "unwilling to resolve this [conflict] peacefully" then Russia will resolve it "through a special military operation by force".
The comments were made while the Russian premier was visiting an unspecified military command post.
Source: BBC
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Zelensky says Russia 'doesn't want peace', ahead of Florida meeting with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, for the latest round of talks aimed at ending nearly four years of war with Russia.
The pair will discuss an updated version of a US-brokered peace plan, which Moscow is yet to support, as well as separate proposals for US security guarantees.
Their meeting at Trump's Mar-a-lago home follows intense Russian bombardment of Kyiv over the weekend, which the Ukrainian president said is evidence that Moscow "doesn't want peace".
The 10-hour missile and drone barrage targeting Ukraine's capital killed two people and left 32 others injured, local authorities said.
Zelensky is expected to raise security guarantees and territorial concessions for Ukraine in his Sunday meeting with Trump, both of which are issues that Russia has previously been unwilling to compromise on.
They will also discuss the new 20-point peace plan, a revised version of the earlier 28-point plan drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff which was widely seen as being too favourable to Russia.
Control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas has been a major sticking point in talks so far, but Zelensky has now said a "free economic zone" could be an option.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The regions are collectively known as Donbas.
The Kremlin has not commented on Zelensky's offer to withdraw troops from the eastern Donbas region, if Russia pulls back too.
But on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was "in no hurry to resolve this conflict peacefully", according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Putin added that if Kyiv did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, Russia would accomplis
The Ukrainian president has voiced optimism about the new draft of the peace plan, describing it as "a foundational document on ending the war".
On Friday, he told reporters that the 20-point plan was 90% complete: "Our task is to make sure everything is 100% ready."
But in an interview with Politico, Trump warned that Zelensky "doesn't have anything until I approve it".
Trump added that he was expecting to see the new draft on Sunday.
"I think it's going to go good with him. I think it's going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin," Trump said in the interview, adding that he expects to speak with Russia's president "soon".
Following meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Zelensky said Moscow's latest attack on Kyiv was "Russia's answer [to] our peace efforts and this really shows that Putin doesn't want peace".
Zelensky also took a call with European leaders to discuss diplomatic "priorities" ahead of his meeting with Trump, adding that "strong positions are needed" to move forward with the plan.
Kyiv has the "full support" of European and Nato leaders, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia's latest attack on Kyiv caused significant damage to energy infrastructure, with 40% of residential buildings in Kyiv and nearby districts left without heating.
Russia's defence ministry said long-range precision weapons were used to target energy facilities, which it claimed were being used "in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex".
Russia directed almost 500 drones and 40 missiles towards Kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials.
Pictures showed gaping holes in apartment buildings and homes on fire following the strikes.
The apartment block of BBC journalist Anastasiya Gribanova was struck, leaving some homes on the higher levels of the high-rise building in flames. Gribanova, who was in the building's elevator at the time, was unharmed.
The attack saw Poland, which shares a 530km-long (320 miles) border with western Ukraine, ready its fighter jets, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance.
Later on Saturday morning, it concluded that there had been no violation of the country's airspace.
Russia's defence ministry said its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed almost 200 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions, including eight over Moscow.
BBC
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, for the latest round of talks aimed at ending nearly four years of war with Russia.
The pair will discuss an updated version of a US-brokered peace plan, which Moscow is yet to support, as well as separate proposals for US security guarantees.
Their meeting at Trump's Mar-a-lago home follows intense Russian bombardment of Kyiv over the weekend, which the Ukrainian president said is evidence that Moscow "doesn't want peace".
The 10-hour missile and drone barrage targeting Ukraine's capital killed two people and left 32 others injured, local authorities said.
Zelensky is expected to raise security guarantees and territorial concessions for Ukraine in his Sunday meeting with Trump, both of which are issues that Russia has previously been unwilling to compromise on.
They will also discuss the new 20-point peace plan, a revised version of the earlier 28-point plan drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff which was widely seen as being too favourable to Russia.
Control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas has been a major sticking point in talks so far, but Zelensky has now said a "free economic zone" could be an option.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The regions are collectively known as Donbas.
The Kremlin has not commented on Zelensky's offer to withdraw troops from the eastern Donbas region, if Russia pulls back too.
But on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was "in no hurry to resolve this conflict peacefully", according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Putin added that if Kyiv did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, Russia would accomplis
The Ukrainian president has voiced optimism about the new draft of the peace plan, describing it as "a foundational document on ending the war".
On Friday, he told reporters that the 20-point plan was 90% complete: "Our task is to make sure everything is 100% ready."
But in an interview with Politico, Trump warned that Zelensky "doesn't have anything until I approve it".
Trump added that he was expecting to see the new draft on Sunday.
"I think it's going to go good with him. I think it's going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin," Trump said in the interview, adding that he expects to speak with Russia's president "soon".
Following meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Zelensky said Moscow's latest attack on Kyiv was "Russia's answer [to] our peace efforts and this really shows that Putin doesn't want peace".
Zelensky also took a call with European leaders to discuss diplomatic "priorities" ahead of his meeting with Trump, adding that "strong positions are needed" to move forward with the plan.
Kyiv has the "full support" of European and Nato leaders, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia's latest attack on Kyiv caused significant damage to energy infrastructure, with 40% of residential buildings in Kyiv and nearby districts left without heating.
Russia's defence ministry said long-range precision weapons were used to target energy facilities, which it claimed were being used "in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex".
Russia directed almost 500 drones and 40 missiles towards Kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials.
Pictures showed gaping holes in apartment buildings and homes on fire following the strikes.
The apartment block of BBC journalist Anastasiya Gribanova was struck, leaving some homes on the higher levels of the high-rise building in flames. Gribanova, who was in the building's elevator at the time, was unharmed.
The attack saw Poland, which shares a 530km-long (320 miles) border with western Ukraine, ready its fighter jets, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance.
Later on Saturday morning, it concluded that there had been no violation of the country's airspace.
Russia's defence ministry said its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed almost 200 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions, including eight over Moscow.
BBC
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Ukraine denies drone attack on Putin's residence
President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied allegations by Russia that Ukraine launched a drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin's residences.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Kyiv had launched an attack overnight using 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Putin's state residence in Russia's northwestern Novgorod region.
Russia said it would now review its position in peace negotiations.
Zelensky dismissed the claim as "typical Russian lies", intended to give the Kremlin an excuse to continue attacks on Ukraine. He said that Russia had previously targeted government buildings in Kyiv.
www.bbc.com
President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied allegations by Russia that Ukraine launched a drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin's residences.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Kyiv had launched an attack overnight using 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Putin's state residence in Russia's northwestern Novgorod region.
Russia said it would now review its position in peace negotiations.
Zelensky dismissed the claim as "typical Russian lies", intended to give the Kremlin an excuse to continue attacks on Ukraine. He said that Russia had previously targeted government buildings in Kyiv.
Ukraine denies drone attack on Putin's residence
Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting a presidential residence, which President Zelensky called "typical Russian lies".
www.bbc.com
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Russia's losses in Ukraine rise faster than ever, as US pushes for peace deal
Over the past 10 months, Russian losses in the war with Ukraine have been growing faster than any time since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, BBC analysis suggests.
As peace efforts intensified in 2025 under pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration, 40% more obituaries of soldiers were published in Russian sources compared with the previous year.
Overall, the BBC has confirmed the names of almost 160,000 people killed fighting on Russia's side in Ukraine.
BBC News Russian has been counting Russian war losses together with independent outlet Mediazona and a group of volunteers since February 2022. We keep a list of named individuals whose deaths we were able to confirm using official reports, newspapers, social media, and new memorials and graves.
The real death toll is believed to be much higher, and military experts we have consulted believe our analysis of cemeteries, war memorials and obituaries might represent 45-65% of the total.
That would put the number of Russian deaths at between 243,000 and 352,000.
The number of obituaries for any given period is a preliminary estimate of the confirmed losses, as some need additional verification and will eventually be discarded. But it can indicate how the intensity of fighting is changing over time.
2025 starts with a relatively low number of published obituaries in January, compared with the previous months. Then the number rises in February, when Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked directly for the first time about ending the war in Ukraine.
The next peak in August coincides with the two presidents meeting each other in Alaska, a diplomatic coup for Putin that was widely seen as an end to his international isolation.
In October, when a planned second Russia-US summit was eventually shelved, and then in November, when the US presented a 28-point peace proposal, an average of 322 obituaries were published per day - twice the average in 2024.
It is difficult to put increased Russian losses down to any one factor, but the Kremlin sees territorial gains as a way of influencing negotiations with the US in its favour: Putin aide Yuri Ushakov stressed recently that "recent successes" had had a positive impact.
Murat Mukashev was among those who gambled on a quick peace deal, and it cost him his life.
Mukashev was an activist who had never supported Putin's policies.
Over the years, he had taken part in demonstrations against police violence and torture, and joined rallies for LGBT rights and the release of Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's main opponent who died in prison in 2024.
He had repeatedly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine on social media from 2022. Then, in early 2024, Mukashev was detained near his home in Moscow and charged with large-scale drug dealing.
While his case was being tried he was offered a contract with the defence ministry, according to his friends and family.
They saw the heavy charges levelled against him as a typical ploy to get people to sign up. A 2024 law allows the accused a way out of a criminal conviction if they join up - an attractive option in a country with an acquittal rate of less than 1%.
Mukashev refused the offer, and the court sentenced him to 10 years in a high-security penal colony.
In prison in November 2024, he changed his mind. Friends said he was encouraged by Trump's promises to end the war quickly and decided he needed to sign up as soon as possible to secure his release before a peace deal was reached.
"He saw this as a chance to be released instead of being imprisoned for 10 years of strict regime," reads a statement from his support group.
There was no explanation of how he reconciled taking part in the war with his reluctance to kill.
On June 11 2025, Mukashev died fighting as part of an assault squad in the Kharkiv region of north-eastern Ukraine.
Like him, the majority of Russians killed at the front in 2025 had nothing to do with the military at the start of the full-scale war, BBC figures show.
But since the bloody battle for the city of Avdiivka in October 2023, there has been a steady increase in casualties among so-called "volunteers" - those who have voluntarily signed a contract since the start of the invasion.
They now appear to form the majority of Russia's new recruits, as opposed to professional soldiers who joined the army before the invasion or those mobilised for military service afterwards.
A year ago 15% of Russian military deaths were volunteers, but in 2025 it was one in three.
Local governments, under pressure to maintain a constant flow of new recruits, advertise hefty pay-outs, meet people who have large debts and campaign in universities and colleges.
This means that the Kremlin has been able to compensate for heavy losses at the front while avoiding the politically risky move of a large-scale mandatory mobilisation.
By October, 336,000 people had signed up for the military this year, according to National Security Council deputy chief Dmitry Medvedev - well over 30,000 a month.
Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte has since said that 25,000 Russian soldiers are being killed every month. If both are right, Russia is still recruiting more soldiers than it is losing.
Based on obituaries and relatives' accounts, most of those who signed up to fight did so voluntarily; but there are reports of pressure and coercion, especially on regular conscripts and those charged with criminal offences.
Some recruits mistakenly believe that after they have signed up for a year they can return to their old life with money in their pockets.
A new recruit can earn up to 10m roubles (£95,000; $128,000) in a year. In reality all contracts signed with the defence ministry since September 2022 are automatically renewed until the war is over.
According to Nato, the total number of Russian dead and wounded in the war is 1.1 million, and one official has estimated there have been 250,000 fatalities.
This is in line with the BBC's calculations, although our list does not include those killed serving in the militia of two occupied regions in eastern Ukraine, which we estimate to be between 21,000 and 23,500 fighters.
Ukraine has also sustained heavy losses.
Last February, President Volodymyr Zelensky put the number of battlefield deaths at 46,000 and 380,000 others wounded.
Tens of thousands more were either missing in action or held captive, he added.
Based on other estimates and cross-referencing data, we believe the number of Ukrainians killed by now is as high as 140,000.
BBC
Over the past 10 months, Russian losses in the war with Ukraine have been growing faster than any time since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, BBC analysis suggests.
As peace efforts intensified in 2025 under pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration, 40% more obituaries of soldiers were published in Russian sources compared with the previous year.
Overall, the BBC has confirmed the names of almost 160,000 people killed fighting on Russia's side in Ukraine.
BBC News Russian has been counting Russian war losses together with independent outlet Mediazona and a group of volunteers since February 2022. We keep a list of named individuals whose deaths we were able to confirm using official reports, newspapers, social media, and new memorials and graves.
The real death toll is believed to be much higher, and military experts we have consulted believe our analysis of cemeteries, war memorials and obituaries might represent 45-65% of the total.
That would put the number of Russian deaths at between 243,000 and 352,000.
The number of obituaries for any given period is a preliminary estimate of the confirmed losses, as some need additional verification and will eventually be discarded. But it can indicate how the intensity of fighting is changing over time.
2025 starts with a relatively low number of published obituaries in January, compared with the previous months. Then the number rises in February, when Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked directly for the first time about ending the war in Ukraine.
The next peak in August coincides with the two presidents meeting each other in Alaska, a diplomatic coup for Putin that was widely seen as an end to his international isolation.
In October, when a planned second Russia-US summit was eventually shelved, and then in November, when the US presented a 28-point peace proposal, an average of 322 obituaries were published per day - twice the average in 2024.
It is difficult to put increased Russian losses down to any one factor, but the Kremlin sees territorial gains as a way of influencing negotiations with the US in its favour: Putin aide Yuri Ushakov stressed recently that "recent successes" had had a positive impact.
Murat Mukashev was among those who gambled on a quick peace deal, and it cost him his life.
Mukashev was an activist who had never supported Putin's policies.
Over the years, he had taken part in demonstrations against police violence and torture, and joined rallies for LGBT rights and the release of Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's main opponent who died in prison in 2024.
He had repeatedly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine on social media from 2022. Then, in early 2024, Mukashev was detained near his home in Moscow and charged with large-scale drug dealing.
While his case was being tried he was offered a contract with the defence ministry, according to his friends and family.
They saw the heavy charges levelled against him as a typical ploy to get people to sign up. A 2024 law allows the accused a way out of a criminal conviction if they join up - an attractive option in a country with an acquittal rate of less than 1%.
Mukashev refused the offer, and the court sentenced him to 10 years in a high-security penal colony.
In prison in November 2024, he changed his mind. Friends said he was encouraged by Trump's promises to end the war quickly and decided he needed to sign up as soon as possible to secure his release before a peace deal was reached.
"He saw this as a chance to be released instead of being imprisoned for 10 years of strict regime," reads a statement from his support group.
There was no explanation of how he reconciled taking part in the war with his reluctance to kill.
On June 11 2025, Mukashev died fighting as part of an assault squad in the Kharkiv region of north-eastern Ukraine.
Like him, the majority of Russians killed at the front in 2025 had nothing to do with the military at the start of the full-scale war, BBC figures show.
But since the bloody battle for the city of Avdiivka in October 2023, there has been a steady increase in casualties among so-called "volunteers" - those who have voluntarily signed a contract since the start of the invasion.
They now appear to form the majority of Russia's new recruits, as opposed to professional soldiers who joined the army before the invasion or those mobilised for military service afterwards.
A year ago 15% of Russian military deaths were volunteers, but in 2025 it was one in three.
Local governments, under pressure to maintain a constant flow of new recruits, advertise hefty pay-outs, meet people who have large debts and campaign in universities and colleges.
This means that the Kremlin has been able to compensate for heavy losses at the front while avoiding the politically risky move of a large-scale mandatory mobilisation.
By October, 336,000 people had signed up for the military this year, according to National Security Council deputy chief Dmitry Medvedev - well over 30,000 a month.
Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte has since said that 25,000 Russian soldiers are being killed every month. If both are right, Russia is still recruiting more soldiers than it is losing.
Based on obituaries and relatives' accounts, most of those who signed up to fight did so voluntarily; but there are reports of pressure and coercion, especially on regular conscripts and those charged with criminal offences.
Some recruits mistakenly believe that after they have signed up for a year they can return to their old life with money in their pockets.
A new recruit can earn up to 10m roubles (£95,000; $128,000) in a year. In reality all contracts signed with the defence ministry since September 2022 are automatically renewed until the war is over.
According to Nato, the total number of Russian dead and wounded in the war is 1.1 million, and one official has estimated there have been 250,000 fatalities.
This is in line with the BBC's calculations, although our list does not include those killed serving in the militia of two occupied regions in eastern Ukraine, which we estimate to be between 21,000 and 23,500 fighters.
Ukraine has also sustained heavy losses.
Last February, President Volodymyr Zelensky put the number of battlefield deaths at 46,000 and 380,000 others wounded.
Tens of thousands more were either missing in action or held captive, he added.
Based on other estimates and cross-referencing data, we believe the number of Ukrainians killed by now is as high as 140,000.
BBC
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- Aug 29, 2023
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Zelensky says peace deal is 90% ready in New Year address
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said a peace agreement to end the war with Russia is "90% ready", in a New Year address that largely focused on resistance to Moscow's full-scale invasion.
Zelensky said the remaining 10% of the agreement to end nearly four years of conflict would "determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".
In his own New Year speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his troops that "we believe in you and our victory".
Earlier on Wednesday, Moscow also released what it said was evidence of Ukraine using drones to target Putin's private home on Lake Valdai in north-west Russia, allegations Kyiv has strenuously denied.
It included a map allegedly showing that the drones were launched from the Sumy and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine and a video of a downed drone lying in snowy woodland. A serviceman standing next to the wreckage claims it is a Ukrainian Chaklun drone.
The BBC hasn't been able to verify the footage, and it is not possible to locate where it was shot.
Russia would review its position on the ongoing peace negotiations as a result of the alleged incident, the Kremlin said.
However, Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, on Wednesday described the Russian claims as a "deliberate distraction" and an attempt to derail the peace process.
In his 20-minute address to the nation, Zelensky said that Ukraine did not want peace "at any cost", adding that "we want the end of the war – not the end of Ukraine".
He said that a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern Donbas region means "everything will be over", a reference to Russia's maximalist demand that Moscow secure full control of the industrial area in any peace agreement.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The two regions are known collectively as Donbas.
Its fate has been a major obstacle throughout negotiations, with Russia consistently unwilling to compromise on its aim to seize full control of Donbas.
In the address, Zelensky thanked leaders that have supported Ukraine, but said that "intentions must become security guarantees, and therefore - be ratified".
Following talks between Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Florida earlier this week, the Ukrainian leader said Washington had offered security guarantees for 15 years - but a time frame for their implementation is not yet clear.
"Signatures under weak agreements only fuel war," Zelensky said in his address. "Either the world stops Russia's war, or Russia drags the world into its war."
By comparison, Putin's New Year address was much shorter.
Addressing the war in Ukraine, which Moscow describes as a "special military operation", Putin said: "We strive to bring joy and warmth through our care for those in need of support and, of course, to stand by our heroes – the participants in the special military operation – in both word and deed."
Separately, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used his New Year message to praise the "invincible alliance" between Pyongyang and Moscow, while praising soldiers who are fighting in "alien lands".
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to aid Russia in its invasion, along with missiles and long-range weapons, South Korean officials have said.
At least 600 of those soldiers have died, according to South Korean estimates.
Zelensky has expressed a desire for peace negotiations to resume and accelerate this month with the involvement of both US and European officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron said European states and allies who are due to meet in Paris on 6 January "will make concrete commitments to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace on our European continent".
On Wednesday, Trump's advisers held talks with Zelensky and national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany about ending the war in Ukraine.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said they discussed "strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart".
But any deal will ultimately need Russian buy-in, which does not seem forthcoming - and which the alleged drone incident over Putin's residence may have pushed further into the distance.
BBC
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said a peace agreement to end the war with Russia is "90% ready", in a New Year address that largely focused on resistance to Moscow's full-scale invasion.
Zelensky said the remaining 10% of the agreement to end nearly four years of conflict would "determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe".
In his own New Year speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his troops that "we believe in you and our victory".
Earlier on Wednesday, Moscow also released what it said was evidence of Ukraine using drones to target Putin's private home on Lake Valdai in north-west Russia, allegations Kyiv has strenuously denied.
It included a map allegedly showing that the drones were launched from the Sumy and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine and a video of a downed drone lying in snowy woodland. A serviceman standing next to the wreckage claims it is a Ukrainian Chaklun drone.
The BBC hasn't been able to verify the footage, and it is not possible to locate where it was shot.
Russia would review its position on the ongoing peace negotiations as a result of the alleged incident, the Kremlin said.
However, Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, on Wednesday described the Russian claims as a "deliberate distraction" and an attempt to derail the peace process.
In his 20-minute address to the nation, Zelensky said that Ukraine did not want peace "at any cost", adding that "we want the end of the war – not the end of Ukraine".
He said that a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern Donbas region means "everything will be over", a reference to Russia's maximalist demand that Moscow secure full control of the industrial area in any peace agreement.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The two regions are known collectively as Donbas.
Its fate has been a major obstacle throughout negotiations, with Russia consistently unwilling to compromise on its aim to seize full control of Donbas.
In the address, Zelensky thanked leaders that have supported Ukraine, but said that "intentions must become security guarantees, and therefore - be ratified".
Following talks between Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Florida earlier this week, the Ukrainian leader said Washington had offered security guarantees for 15 years - but a time frame for their implementation is not yet clear.
"Signatures under weak agreements only fuel war," Zelensky said in his address. "Either the world stops Russia's war, or Russia drags the world into its war."
By comparison, Putin's New Year address was much shorter.
Addressing the war in Ukraine, which Moscow describes as a "special military operation", Putin said: "We strive to bring joy and warmth through our care for those in need of support and, of course, to stand by our heroes – the participants in the special military operation – in both word and deed."
Separately, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used his New Year message to praise the "invincible alliance" between Pyongyang and Moscow, while praising soldiers who are fighting in "alien lands".
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to aid Russia in its invasion, along with missiles and long-range weapons, South Korean officials have said.
At least 600 of those soldiers have died, according to South Korean estimates.
Zelensky has expressed a desire for peace negotiations to resume and accelerate this month with the involvement of both US and European officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron said European states and allies who are due to meet in Paris on 6 January "will make concrete commitments to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace on our European continent".
On Wednesday, Trump's advisers held talks with Zelensky and national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany about ending the war in Ukraine.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said they discussed "strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart".
But any deal will ultimately need Russian buy-in, which does not seem forthcoming - and which the alleged drone incident over Putin's residence may have pushed further into the distance.
BBC
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New year drone strike kills 24 in Russian-occupied Ukraine, Moscow says
A Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and injured at least 50 more as they celebrated the new year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said, as tensions between the two countries continue to rise despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks.
Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader, Vladimir Saldo, said in a statement on Telegram on Thursday. He said one of the drones was carrying an incendiary mixture that sparked a blaze.
On Thursday evening a Ukrainian military spokesperson told the Interfax Ukraine news agency that Kyiv’s forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites.
The general staff spokesperson did not refer specifically to Russian accounts of a strike on a hotel, but said all strikes by the Ukrainian military were published on a general staff social media page.
“The Defence Forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at enemy military targets, fuel and energy facilities of the Russian Federation, and other legitimate targets,” Interfax quoted the spokesperson as saying.
A number of Russian officials condemned the attack. The chair of the upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, said it strengthened Russia’s resolve to quickly achieve its goals in its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine.
The strike “once again demonstrates the validity of our initial demands”, Matviyenko said.
The statement follows claims from Moscow that Ukraine had launched a long-range drone attack against one of Vladimir Putin’s official residences in north-western Russia on Tuesday. Kyiv said the claims were a lie.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday that its specialists had accessed the navigation system in one of the drones it claimed was used in the attack, and that data extracted confirmed that Putin’s residence was the target.
The ministry did not share evidence of its findings, but officials said it would transfer the data to US officials “through established channels”.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the CIA had determined that no attempted attack had taken place. Donald Trump had initially said he was “very angry” about the purported attack, but he later posted a link on social media to a New York Post editorial describing the Russian claims as “bluster”.
Russia’s defence ministry also released a video of a downed drone it said was involved in the attack.
The night-time clip shows a man in camouflage gear, a helmet and a Kevlar vest standing near a damaged drone lying in snow. The man, his face covered, talks about the drone. Neither the man nor the defence ministry provided any location or date, and neither the video nor its claims could be independently verified.
Kyiv has called the allegations of an attack on Putin’s residence a ruse to derail ongoing peace negotiations, which have gathered pace in recent weeks on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in his new year address that a peace deal was “90% ready” but that the remaining 10%, believed to include key sticking points such as territory, would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live”.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Wednesday that he, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process”.
“We focused on how to move the discussions forward in a practical way on behalf of [the] peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” he wrote on X.
Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, reaffirmed that European and Ukrainian officials planned to meet on Saturday, and Zelenskyy is expected to hold talks with European leaders next week.
www.theguardian.com
A Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and injured at least 50 more as they celebrated the new year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said, as tensions between the two countries continue to rise despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks.
Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader, Vladimir Saldo, said in a statement on Telegram on Thursday. He said one of the drones was carrying an incendiary mixture that sparked a blaze.
On Thursday evening a Ukrainian military spokesperson told the Interfax Ukraine news agency that Kyiv’s forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites.
The general staff spokesperson did not refer specifically to Russian accounts of a strike on a hotel, but said all strikes by the Ukrainian military were published on a general staff social media page.
“The Defence Forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at enemy military targets, fuel and energy facilities of the Russian Federation, and other legitimate targets,” Interfax quoted the spokesperson as saying.
A number of Russian officials condemned the attack. The chair of the upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, said it strengthened Russia’s resolve to quickly achieve its goals in its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine.
The strike “once again demonstrates the validity of our initial demands”, Matviyenko said.
The statement follows claims from Moscow that Ukraine had launched a long-range drone attack against one of Vladimir Putin’s official residences in north-western Russia on Tuesday. Kyiv said the claims were a lie.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday that its specialists had accessed the navigation system in one of the drones it claimed was used in the attack, and that data extracted confirmed that Putin’s residence was the target.
The ministry did not share evidence of its findings, but officials said it would transfer the data to US officials “through established channels”.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the CIA had determined that no attempted attack had taken place. Donald Trump had initially said he was “very angry” about the purported attack, but he later posted a link on social media to a New York Post editorial describing the Russian claims as “bluster”.
Russia’s defence ministry also released a video of a downed drone it said was involved in the attack.
The night-time clip shows a man in camouflage gear, a helmet and a Kevlar vest standing near a damaged drone lying in snow. The man, his face covered, talks about the drone. Neither the man nor the defence ministry provided any location or date, and neither the video nor its claims could be independently verified.
Kyiv has called the allegations of an attack on Putin’s residence a ruse to derail ongoing peace negotiations, which have gathered pace in recent weeks on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in his new year address that a peace deal was “90% ready” but that the remaining 10%, believed to include key sticking points such as territory, would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live”.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Wednesday that he, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process”.
“We focused on how to move the discussions forward in a practical way on behalf of [the] peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” he wrote on X.
Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, reaffirmed that European and Ukrainian officials planned to meet on Saturday, and Zelenskyy is expected to hold talks with European leaders next week.
New year drone strike kills 24 in Russian-occupied Ukraine, Moscow says
Ukraine rejects claim, saying its forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites
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UK and France to send troops to Ukraine if peace deal agreed
The UK and France have signed a declaration of intent on deploying troops in Ukraine if a peace deal is made with Russia, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.
After talks with Ukraine's allies in Paris, he said the UK and France would "establish military hubs across Ukraine and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment" to deter future invasion.
The allies also proposed that the US would take the lead in monitoring a ceasefire.
Russia has repeatedly warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be a "legitimate target", but has not yet commented on the announcement.
www.bbc.com
The UK and France have signed a declaration of intent on deploying troops in Ukraine if a peace deal is made with Russia, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.
After talks with Ukraine's allies in Paris, he said the UK and France would "establish military hubs across Ukraine and build protected facilities for weapons and military equipment" to deter future invasion.
The allies also proposed that the US would take the lead in monitoring a ceasefire.
Russia has repeatedly warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be a "legitimate target", but has not yet commented on the announcement.
UK and France to send troops to Ukraine if peace deal agreed with Russia
The announcement was made by UK PM Sir Keir Starmer after a meeting of Ukraine's allies in Paris.
www.bbc.com
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Russia hits Ukraine with rarely-used Oreshnik missile in fresh strikes
Russia has used the Oreshnik ballistic missile as part of a massive overnight strike on Ukraine.
Four people were killed and 25 others injured in Kyiv on Thursday night, where loud booms could be heard for several hours, setting the sky alight with explosions.
It is only the second time that Moscow has used the Oreshnik, which was first deployed to hit the central city of Dnipro in November 2024.
Russia's defence ministry said the strike was a response to a Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin's residence in late December, which Kyiv denies carrying out.
While the ministry did not specify what had been the Oreshnik's target, shortly before midnight (22:00 GMT) videos began circulating on social media showing numerous explosions on the outskirts of the western city of Lviv.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian authorities confirmed that a ballistic missile had struck infrastructure in Lviv, about 60km (40 miles) from the Polish border.
The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range, hypersonic ballistic missile, meaning it can potentially reach up to 5,500km (3,417 miles). It is thought to have a warhead that deliberately fragments during its final descent into several, independently targeted inert projectiles, causing distinctive repeated explosions moments apart.
"Such a strike close to EU and Nato border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community," Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
The strike was launched "in response to [Putin's] own hallucinations," he added, referring to the alleged drone attack on the president's home in December.
The EU immediately cast serious doubt on whether the strike had ever happened, and last week Donald Trump said he did not think any such attack had taken place.
Zelensky said in addition to the Oreshnik there were 13 ballistic missiles that targeted energy facilities and civilian infrastructure overnight, along with 22 cruise missiles and 242 drones.
One damaged a building at the Qatari embassy, he added.
He accused the attacks of aiming "against the normal life of ordinary people" during a cold spell and added everything possible was being done to restore heating and electricity.
As Lviv and other western regions were targeted on Thursday night, more than a dozen missiles and hundreds of drones were deployed during the attack on Kyiv.
A paramedic was among those killed while arriving at a damaged apartment in Kyiv. The capital's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, and Zelensky said it had been a "double-tap" hit – in which the first strike is followed by a second, killing rescuers who have arrived to help the injured.
Two apartment buildings along the east bank of the Dnipro River and a high-rise building in the city's central district were also targeted.
The power supply was disrupted in several of the city's neighbourhoods in the middle of a particularly harsh winter and as Kyiv braces for -15C (5F) temperatures this weekend.
The targeting of power plants has become a constant feature of this war, with Ukraine increasingly responding in kind to Russia's sustained attacks on energy infrastructure that regularly leave millions without access to electricity or heating.
On Thursday night, as Moscow's attack on Ukraine was ongoing, half a million people in the Russian region of Belgorod were left without power following Ukrainian shelling of infrastructure, the local governor said.
Authorities also said that a Ukrainian strike on a Russian power plant in the city of Oryol, further north, affected the water and heating systems.
BBC
Russia has used the Oreshnik ballistic missile as part of a massive overnight strike on Ukraine.
Four people were killed and 25 others injured in Kyiv on Thursday night, where loud booms could be heard for several hours, setting the sky alight with explosions.
It is only the second time that Moscow has used the Oreshnik, which was first deployed to hit the central city of Dnipro in November 2024.
Russia's defence ministry said the strike was a response to a Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin's residence in late December, which Kyiv denies carrying out.
While the ministry did not specify what had been the Oreshnik's target, shortly before midnight (22:00 GMT) videos began circulating on social media showing numerous explosions on the outskirts of the western city of Lviv.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian authorities confirmed that a ballistic missile had struck infrastructure in Lviv, about 60km (40 miles) from the Polish border.
The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range, hypersonic ballistic missile, meaning it can potentially reach up to 5,500km (3,417 miles). It is thought to have a warhead that deliberately fragments during its final descent into several, independently targeted inert projectiles, causing distinctive repeated explosions moments apart.
"Such a strike close to EU and Nato border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community," Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
The strike was launched "in response to [Putin's] own hallucinations," he added, referring to the alleged drone attack on the president's home in December.
The EU immediately cast serious doubt on whether the strike had ever happened, and last week Donald Trump said he did not think any such attack had taken place.
Zelensky said in addition to the Oreshnik there were 13 ballistic missiles that targeted energy facilities and civilian infrastructure overnight, along with 22 cruise missiles and 242 drones.
One damaged a building at the Qatari embassy, he added.
He accused the attacks of aiming "against the normal life of ordinary people" during a cold spell and added everything possible was being done to restore heating and electricity.
As Lviv and other western regions were targeted on Thursday night, more than a dozen missiles and hundreds of drones were deployed during the attack on Kyiv.
A paramedic was among those killed while arriving at a damaged apartment in Kyiv. The capital's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, and Zelensky said it had been a "double-tap" hit – in which the first strike is followed by a second, killing rescuers who have arrived to help the injured.
Two apartment buildings along the east bank of the Dnipro River and a high-rise building in the city's central district were also targeted.
The power supply was disrupted in several of the city's neighbourhoods in the middle of a particularly harsh winter and as Kyiv braces for -15C (5F) temperatures this weekend.
The targeting of power plants has become a constant feature of this war, with Ukraine increasingly responding in kind to Russia's sustained attacks on energy infrastructure that regularly leave millions without access to electricity or heating.
On Thursday night, as Moscow's attack on Ukraine was ongoing, half a million people in the Russian region of Belgorod were left without power following Ukrainian shelling of infrastructure, the local governor said.
Authorities also said that a Ukrainian strike on a Russian power plant in the city of Oryol, further north, affected the water and heating systems.
BBC
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