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I don't think many people saw this one coming, but it makes sense in a perverse way. Events in the Middle East have conspired to create a situation in which Ukraine has become an indispensable ally and munitions supplier to Gulf Arab states. Nobody in the world has as much experience fighting Iranian drones as does Ukraine, and they have become extraordinarily proficient at destroying them before they do any damage, and at a price that cannot be beat. The Gulf states, having blown through an awful lot of their anti-air magazines, are having to quickly learn how to defend...

U.S.-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have not reached a dead end, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 30 in response to a question from the Kyiv Independent, arguing that negotiations are merely postponed. The comments come as diplomacy appears stalled, with the U.S. now focused on the war in Iran and no new Kyiv-Moscow-Washington talks scheduled. Despite the pause, Zelensky sought to project momentum, even as fundamental disagreements — particularly over territory — remain unresolved. "The trilateral meeting must take place; it is undoubtedly being postponed because the U.S. is currently focused on Iran," Zelensky said about a...

In an interview with NBC News’ Raf Sanchez, President Zelenskyy says that he hopes President Trump cares about the future of Ukraine, but “they care about the United States more.”

A newly reported operation suggests Kyiv may have found another low-cost way to disrupt Russian forces away from the front line: heated insoles allegedly rigged with small explosive charges and sent through volunteer aid channels. According to Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi, operatives from Ukraine’s special services allegedly inserted explosive-filled heated insoles into shipments destined for Russian military units. The items were reportedly moved with the help of Russian volunteers and charitable foundations, allowing them to pass as ordinary humanitarian aid. That is what makes this sort of sabotage effective, Treston Wheat, chief geopolitical officer at Insight Forward, told me: it exploits...

The U.S. war on Iran set up Russia’s economy for a major rescue after oil prices soared after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But if President Vladimir Putin was expecting a huge windfall, that view may literally be going up in smoke. With one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies cut off, Russian oil suddenly became much more valuable. After trading at a steep discount to Brent crude, Urals oil nearly reached parity with the global benchmark. The U.S. also temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian crude, despite warnings that the move would provide a vital influx of revenue to...

General or partial assessments of the number of victims in the war in Ukraine reveal the high human cost of an armed conflict unprecedented in Europe in the last eight decades. With estimates of nearly two million military casualties, it is reminiscent of the worst conflicts experienced in the 20th century on the Old Continent. The most conservative figures — around half a million deaths on the Ukrainian side — are five times higher than those of the Balkan War (1992-1995), which totaled 100,000, of whom 13,500 were civilians. The Ukrainian Commissioner for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances has just...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 27 that President Volodymyr Zelensky's claims about Ukraine withdrawing from the Donbas region in exchange for security guarantees are untrue. "That's a lie. And I saw him say that, and it's unfortunate he would say that, because he knows that's not true and that's not what he was told," Rubio told reporters. "What he was told is the obvious: Security guarantees are not going to kick in until there's an end to the war, because otherwise you're in — you're getting yourself involved in the war." In an interview with Reuters...

Poland placed air defenses on the 'highest state of readiness' as Russian strikes approached NATO airspace, Poland's operational command said Russia launched nearly 400 drones and dozens of missiles across Ukraine overnight Monday, triggering NATO to scramble fighter jets in neighboring countries, according to reports. The massive aerial assault killed at least four and injured >24, with strikes hitting multiple regions including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv Poland and Romania both scrambled fighter jets as Russian strikes approached NATO airspace, East2West reported, with Warsaw placing air defenses on the "highest state of readiness," Poland’s operational command said. "Due to the activity...

Russian air defenses downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday, in what was the largest reported overnight attack on Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine more than four years ago. The drones were stopped over 13 Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The attack underlined the growing capability of Ukraine’s domestically developed and manufactured long-range drones. It came a day after Russia fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at civilian areas of Ukraine in the space of 24 hours, extending its usual nighttime...

Ukrainian drones entered Estonian and Latvian air spaces from Russia overnight, with one hitting infrastructure and another crashing on land, Tallinn and Riga have said. The incident occurred around the same time as Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on the Russian port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea, some 25km (15 miles) away from the Estonian border. The country's security police chief, Margo Palloson, said it was "a Ukrainian drone that deviated from its course, which was possibly affected in Russian airspace." Latvian Prime Minister Edgars Rinkevics also confirmed the drone that hit its territory was Ukrainian. Latvia's Defence...

Beriev A-50U radar planes are Russia’s eyes in the sky. As Ukraine knocks out more of the A-50Us, Russian forces are slowly going blind. Russia went to war in February 2022 with potentially just seven Beriev A-50U radar planes The A-50Us use top-mounted radars to watch for Ukrainian warplanes and drones In a series of attacks going back three years, the Ukrainians may have knocked out more than half of the A-50Us A drone strike last week reportedly damaged a fourth A-50U on the ground in western Russia Sortieing drones deep inside Russia on 17 March, Ukrainian forces may have...

Ukraine should not hold elections this year, officials from the country’s electoral commission have concluded, setting Kyiv on a collision course with the United States. Members of the official working group on elections were due to present draft legislation to parliament late last month, but told The Times they had yet to resolve key questions on how to secure fair elections free from Russian attacks or interference. They plan to continue deliberating on the issue until at least the end of May. The group has agreed, however, that Ukraine should only enter a campaign period at least six months after...

Moscow proposed a quid pro quo to the U.S. under which the Kremlin would stop sharing intelligence information with Iran, such as the precise coordinates of U.S. military assets in the Middle East, if Washington ceased supplying Ukraine with intel about Russia.Two people familiar with the U.S.-Russia negotiations said that such a proposal was made by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev to Trump administration envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during their meeting last week in Miami.The U.S. rejected the proposal, the people added. They, like all other officials cited in this article, were granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of...

Volodymyr Zelensky today appeared to tacitly attack Donald Trump for easing sanctions on Russian oil to cut prices hammered by his attack on Iran. The Ukrainian president used a speech in Parliament to thank the UK for keeping up pressure on 'wealthy madman' Vladimir Putin despite fresh fighting in the Middle East. Last week Trump signed a one-month sanction waiver allowing countries to buy Russian oil currently floating around in tankers unable to dock anywhere. It was designed to ease prices that spiked when Iran put a block on shipping transiting the Straits of Hormuz off its south coast. In...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters he had a "very good call" with ​Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine ​and the conflict in the Middle East. "There's ⁠tremendous hatred between President Putin and (Ukraine's) ​President Zelenskiy. They can't seem to ​get it together, but I think it was a positive call on that subject," Trump said. Trump ​added that Putin "wants to be helpful" ​with the Iran conflict. "I said, 'You could be more helpful ‌by ⁠getting the Ukraine-Russia war over with. That will be more helpful,'" Trump told reporters in a press conference at ​his Florida ​golf...

Robert Fico 🇸🇰@RobertFicoSVKREACTION OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC, ROBERT FICO, TO THE BLACKMAILING BEHAVIOR OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ZELENSKYYI express full solidarity with the Prime Minister of Hungary, @PM_ViktorOrban. If the Ukrainian president continues like this, it may happen that other EU member states will also block the 90-billion loan for Ukraine.And I officially ask all the highest representatives of the European Union and I will be very specific: 👉🏻 the President of the European Commission, @vonderleyen👉🏻 the President of the European Council, @eucopresident👉🏻 and also the so-called EU foreign affairs chief, @kajakallas☝🏻 to distance themselves from these...

Russia is one of the biggest winners in the early days of the largest U.S. military confrontation in decades, as Iranian missiles deplete stocks of Patriot interceptors that Ukraine needs for its defense. Even before the Iran campaign, production bottlenecks in the U.S.-made Patriot system had drained Ukraine’s reserves and left European allies on yearslong waiting lists. Those shortfalls have allowed Russia to punch through gaps in Ukraine’s air defenses, devastating its power infrastructure and casting Ukrainian cities into blackouts.

Ukraine is offering to share its hard-won battlefield lessons on Iranian drones with allies now confronting the same threat it has for years, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warning that no country can assume it’s fully protected from the kind of drone barrages Russia unleashes nightly. “Everyone can now see that Ukraine’s experience in defense is, in many respects, irreplaceable,” Zelensky said in a post to X Monday urging deeper cooperation with partners. “We are ready to share this experience and help those nations that helped Ukraine this winter and throughout this war. We are ready to work on developing...

Today, the most important developments come from the Huliaipole direction. Here, north of the main stronghold, Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian positions and are expanding their advance. Russian defenses began to fall apart more quickly than anticipated, allowing even deeper penetration by Ukrainian forces. Recently, the Ukrainian command reported restoring control over more than 400 square kilometers through counterattacks, while daily combat intensity in the direction has reached roughly fifty engagements per day. As Ukrainian forces regain control over key terrain, they improve their ability to observe Russian movement, making it harder for Russian forces to reposition without being...

Ukraine's government says Russia indicated during recent talks in Geneva that it could accept U.S.-backed security guarantees as part of a potential post-war settlement, though major differences remain unresolved. On Saturday, Kyrylo Budanov, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a televised interview that Russian representatives signaled openness to security guarantees proposed by the United States, reported Reuters. "At the last talks, the Russian side said for example that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States," Budanov said.