23.11.2025

The Kyiv Independent: Five Ukrainian prisoners of war were executed by Russian soldiers, Ukrainian mapping and analytical organization DeepState reported on Nov. 22.

Reuters: Europeans have submitted a modified version of the US-Kremlin plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv's armed forces and territorial concessions, according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday. The document, prepared for talks on the plan in Geneva, proposes that Ukraine's military be capped at 800,000 "in peacetime" rather than a blanket cap of 600,000 proposed by the US.

The Kyiv Independent: Secretive talks between the U.S. and Russia left out key White House officials and have been ongoing for weeks, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 23.

Bloomberg: Ukraine and its European allies will insist that discussions with Russia on any territorial swaps can only take place once the war ceases along the current line of contact (archive).

The Kyiv Independent: A group of European lawmakers has signed on to a letter warning Trump against pandering to Russia. The 47 signatories include parliamentarians from countries ranging from Ireland to North Macedonia.

NBC News: Trump inserted fresh tensions into the high-stakes Ukraine-Russia peace talks on Sunday, publicly accusing Kyiv’s leaders of showing “zero gratitude” for U.S. support just as U.S. officials in Geneva were working to show a united front.

CNN: Lawmakers critical of Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war said Saturday they spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told them that the peace plan Trump is pushing Kyiv to accept is a “wish list” of the Russians and not the actual proposal offering Washington’s positions. A State Department spokesperson denied their account, calling it “blatantly false.”

Reuters: The Trump admin's processing delays on the humanitarian program for Ukrainians launched by former president Biden left nearly 200,000 people at risk of losing their legal status as of March 31.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces are clearing out central Pokrovsk from Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian military said on Nov. 23.

22.11.2025

CNN: A top-secret Russian unit based in Moscow has changed the landscape of drone warfare, turning what was an advantage for the Ukrainians into a vulnerability.

The Kyiv Independent: U.S. politicians have sent a sharp warning that Trump's new peace proposal rewards "Russian butchery" and undermines international security.

The Moscow Times: Belarus, a close Russian ally, pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens, state TV said on Saturday, as part of an agreement between Lukashenko and Trump.

The Guardian: US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a 'peace deal' in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future.

FT: The Kremlin has decided to publicly blame the west for a forthcoming tax rise to spare Putin from criticism that his war economy is starting to hurt ordinary Russians. The Russian president’s top officials, including domestic policy chief Sergei Kirienko, participated in at least one of the meetings on how to divert blame for the economic hardship (archive).

The Kyiv Independent: Russian troops appear to have captured more than 15 villages in southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast since September, exploiting the weather and Ukraine’s low manpower to scale up their offensive, according to the Finnish Black Bird Group open-source intelligence collective.

Reuters: U.S. officials and lawmakers are increasingly concerned about a meeting last month in which representatives of the Trump administration met with Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who is under U.S. sanctions, to draft a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

ISW: Russian military command appears to be redeploying relatively elite forces to the Pokrovsk direction, likely in response to the slowed rate of Russian advances.

21.11.2025

Reuters: Discounts for Russian flagship Urals crude in Indian ports have tripled since August against dated Brent as U.S. sanctions drive key buyers away from Moscow-supplied oil.

Reuters: French and Ukrainian drone makers are racing to clinch co-production agreements and orders by year-end, industry, diplomatic and military sources said, even as financing and competition from other European countries pose major challenges.

Reuters: Ukraine said on Friday its forces were holding defensive lines in the northern part of the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk and were blocking attempts by Russian troops to advance further.

RFE/RL: Russia's leading film studio and several regional historical museums are buying drones and military-capable electronic equipment for use in Ukraine in what appears to be an unusual example of cultural institutions being forced to spend budget funds on the war effort.

Politico: Two of the world’s most prolific state-linked cybercrime groups — Russia’s Gamaredon and North Korea’s Lazarus collective — have been spotted sharing resources, new research showed on Thursday.

BBC: The former leader of Reform UK in Wales has been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison after admitting taking bribes for pro-Russia interviews and speeches.

Reuters: The United States has threatened to cut intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine to press it into agreeing to the framework of a U.S.-brokered 'peace deal'.

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