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Ukrainian defenders launched a counterattack and cleared Russian invaders from three villages in Donetsk Oblast, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi reported in a Facebook post on Aug. 24. "Our forces successfully counterattacked and cleared the enemy from the villages of Mykhailivka, Zelenyi Hai, and Volodymyrivka in Donetsk Oblast," Syrskyi stated. While working on the Pokrovsk front, he met with defenders holding the line in Pokrovsk, and listened to reports from corps and brigade commanders on the operational situation. "The situation is indeed challenging; the enemy has concentrated its main efforts on this front line. But we must hold...

US President Donald Trump joined other world leaders in sending messages of support to Ukraine on Sunday as it celebrates Independence Day at a time when there is little hope for peace despite intense diplomatic efforts. Trump sent a letter to Ukraine on the country’s 34th Independence Day – which marks the anniversary of declaring itself free of Soviet rule – praising its courage and saying the United States believes in its future as an independent state. -snip- In the letter, Trump wrote: “The people of Ukraine have an unbreakable spirit, and your county’s courage inspires many. As you mark...

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump started the week declaring a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to prod Moscow and Kyiv closer to peace, announcing he had begun arranging for direct talks between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Four days later, the Republican president’s optimism has diminished. Russia’s top diplomat made it clear Friday that Putin won’t meet with Zelenskyy until the Ukrainians agree to some of Moscow’s longstanding demands to end the conflict. It’s a stinging setback for Trump, who had been touting his diplomatic blitz as resulting in indisputable momentum for a deal to halt...

Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky has accused Russia of "doing everything it can" to prevent a meeting with Vladimir Putin to try to end the war.US President Donald Trump has sought to bring the two leaders together, but he said on Friday "that's like oil and vinegar... they don't get along too well".Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Putin was ready to meet Ukraine's leader "when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all", accusing Zelensky of saying "no to everything". After an intensive week of diplomacy, in which Trump first met Putin in...

By nature’s curious design, I was born an optimist — though in some obscure recess of my soul a cynic curls and whispers his dry, inconvenient truths. I believe neither in immaculate conceptions nor second comings, and certainly not in the benevolence of Russian rulers. The fragile hope entertained by some, that they might one day act with reason, springs from a naïve faith in miracles, and miracles stand at odds with both nature and common sense. At all times, under all tsars, commissars, and the latest Kremlin grotesques, Russian rulers, with rare exceptions, have acted not for the benefit...

The number of dead and seriously wounded Ukrainians is apparently much higher than imagined.Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine some three and a half years ago, the Western media has promoted a non-stop barrage of disinformation about the military developments, trying to present a rosier picture than reality can afford.Perhaps no other aspect of the hostilities has been so blatantly misrepresented as the number of casualties and fatalities.We got to the point where Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky had the nerve to say that Ukraine had had 35 thousand losses.That is particularly absurd since we know that Kiev’s...

"I'm just trying to stop people from being killed."President Donald Trump said Tuesday that there would be no American troops on the ground in Ukraine under his watch. Trump made the comments in an interview on “Fox and Friends” as he recapped his Monday meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European leaders, and a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump added that European nations like France, Germany, and the U.K. might have boots on the ground in Ukraine at some point. “You have my assurance — and I’m president. I’m just trying to stop...

Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a masterful charm offensive to win over President Donald Trump and set up a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin to end the years long war in Ukraine. Trump hyped a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky after he called the Russian leader following a dramatic summit in the White House with European leaders. The potential peace deal immediately drew skeptics, as French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not ‘see President Putin very willing to get peace now.’ Zelensky laid the groundwork by offering a $100 billion weapons deal as an olive branch to Trump. The Ukrainian...

President Trump on Monday did not rule out sending U.S. troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force if a potential peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow can be reached. “We’ll let you know that, maybe later today,” Mr. Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mr. Trump’s refusal to rule out the idea of U.S. boots on the ground in Ukraine is a potential major shift in his policy towards Ukraine as the war-torn nation considers security guarantees to be essential for any peace agreement. Mr. Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that in a bid to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, he plans to set up a direct meeting between the two countries' leaders, followed by a trilateral meeting in which he would take part. Trump revealed the next steps in his attempt to broker a peace deal on Truth Social after a full afternoon of meetings at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders who are eager to see Ukraine safeguarded from future Russian aggression. When the talks ended, Trump wrote, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin...

US President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Monday, calling it "an honor to have Zelensky with us" ahead of joint talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Trump also noted there was a "reasonable chance" for progress following his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Zelensky thanked Trump for his help regarding the meeting and for the letter First Lady Melania Trump sent to Putin about abducted children.

The traditionally Russian-speaking area is at the heart of what the Russian president calls the “root causes” of the war, and taking it over is near the top of his list of territorial and political demands.The proposal to end the war in Ukraine that emerged from the summit in Alaska between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia centers on persuading Kyiv to give up the Donbas, the industrial region in the east.The traditionally Russian-speaking area has been at the heart of what Mr. Putin calls the “root causes” of the war, and taking it over is near...

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not", after a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land. After the two leaders met in Alaska on Friday, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Putin had offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that is one of Moscow's main targets, a source familiar with the matter said. Zelenskiy rejected the demand, the source said. Russia...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia's refusal to agree to a ceasefire is complicating efforts to end the war. "We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing. This complicates the situation," he said in a statement on 'X'. On Monday, the Ukrainian leader travel to Washington DC, where US President Donald Trump has said he will urge Zelensky to agree to a peace deal. Trump has said he wants to bypass a ceasefire in Ukraine to move directly to a permanent peace agreement after his...

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have reached an agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.Still, Ukraine and NATO are “going to have to agree,” Trump stated, noting that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” and “it’s ultimately up to them.” This comes after a three-hour-long meeting between President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and their Russian counterparts. ” I would like to hope that the agreement we’ve reached together will help us bring closer that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine,” Putin...

Watch our live coverage of President Trump's historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage Alaska, with RAV White House correspondent, Brian Glenn.

Aug 14, 2025

Ukrainian defenses are buckling under the relentless Russian pressure. This happened in the area near Pokrovsk: instead of banging their heads against a heavily fortified city, Russian forces, as they do, circumvent it, seeking to cut all supply lines and encircle the defenders, at which point the garrison has to either surrender or be destroyed by attacks from all sides.This playbook was implemented in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Kurakhovo, Ugledar and so many other places.What is striking now is that the northern prong, expected to turn west to encircle Pokrovsk, found weaknesses on the depleted defenses, and dashed north by 9 miles.Post...

Russian forces made a sudden thrust in eastern Ukraine in recent days, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin seeks a battlefield advantage ahead of talks with President Trump on Friday. The infantry penetration, which officials and soldiers said stretched several miles deep near the Ukrainian city of Dobropillya, is a rare move in a war where defenses have gained the upper hand and Russia has struggled to add to the around 20% of Ukraine that it has occupied for much of its 3½-year invasion. Ukraine’s military said it was counterattacking in the area against what it said were small groups of...

breakthrough in eastern Ukraine, advancing past Ukrainian defensive lines near the frontline city of Pokrovsk.👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Russian forces, Ukrainian forces, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald J. Trump are set to meet in Alaska soon.📍WHEN & WHERE: The breakthrough occurred north of Pokrovsk, near Dobropillia, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.🎯IMPACT: The advance risks isolating Ukrainian forces and could have significant implications for the ongoing conflict and the upcoming Alaska summit. Fact is Vlad is breaking throughout the entire line of contact. Ukraine in Shock😲Russian Forces Have Fully Breached the Defenses!⚡️🔥 Military...