Madyar, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Force Commander: Putin hits his own people hardest — drains their money, kills their social media. Every dictator needs to know the limit.
This one has no brakes and breaks himself.
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Madyar: Ending the war? Stopping it — maybe, under pressure. But Russia demands we leave Donetsk.
That won't happen. No deal without third parties. Even a frozen line buys time — they rearm in years, then push again: Ukraine, then NATO members.
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Madyar: Don't get emotional about Hungary's new leader. Let it settle. Hungary bans me — I couldn't care less.
My father is Hungarian, my kids born there. But I'm Ukrainian, I live this war. What the new leaders do — time will tell.
63 nations in Brussels backed returning Ukrainian children Russia abducted.
Sybiha, Ukraine's FM: "Russians are afraid of this topic. They demand to remove it from the agenda, because they understand that they are committing a crime and fear justice" — United24 Media. 1/
Ukraine has returned 2,000+ children so far. Russia still holds tens of thousands.
The EU, Ukraine, and Canada convened the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children on May 11, on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. 2/
The EU pledged €50M to strengthen child protection systems in Ukraine.
Lithuania committed €10M to counter forced deportations, and Germany added €1.4M for social and psychological aid. 3/
Miroslav Simonov, a Russian drone operator from an elite unit defected to Ukraine, walking six miles through the front line at night, dodging sentries and minefields.
He carried drone secrets and intelligence on Russia's Rubicon Centre. — The Times.
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Miroslav Simonov, 24, was an estate agent in Novosibirsk. He arrived in Moscow for a prestigious course — and was immediately arrested for not completing national service.
Officers watched him sign a military contract. Within weeks, he was at the front.
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In his drone unit, Simonov watched his commander joke in a chat after a strike hit a residential building — a 20-year-old girl in intensive care, grandmothers and children wounded.
"This is war. War will write everything off, will forgive everything," an officer told him.
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Putin said the war in Ukraine may be "coming to an end." In April, Russia lost 45 sq miles — its first net territorial loss since August 2024.
Ukrainian strikes cut Russian oil exports from 5.2M to 3.5M barrels a day. — The Guardian.
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In April, Russia lost 45 sq miles of Ukrainian territory — the first net loss since August 2024. Ukraine recaptured Kupiansk in December.
Gains in Zaporizhzhia reversed after Russia lost Starlink access. A slow-motion Russian victory no longer looks certain.
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Ukraine claims it killed or wounded more Russian soldiers than Russia recruited for five straight months.
March and April: ~35,000 casualties each month. Russian recruitment: 24,000–30,000 per month. Putin has no appetite for a second public mobilization.
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The Iran war should have given Moscow an oil windfall, fiscal breathing room, and fresh leverage in Ukraine.
The opposite happened. Since the war began, Kyiv has been in its strongest stretch on and off the battlefield in years — Casey Michel, The Moscow Times. 1/
Russia's offensive slowed to a WWI-style slog while Kyiv held the line.
For the first time in nearly 3 years, Ukraine retook more territory than Russia — some of it captured by a brigade of robots and drones alone. 2/
Drones did most of the work.
Ukraine now launches more cross-border drone attacks than Russia — confirmed by both the Ukrainian Air Force and Russia's Defense Ministry. 3/