That is how a Ukrainian soldier remembers the last days of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna in Russian captivity — a witness account that finally puts a human face on how she died, The Guardian. 1/
Roshchyna was 27 when she disappeared in the summer of 2022, reporting from occupied Ukraine.
She became one of an estimated 16,000 Ukrainian civilians detained by Russia. For 2 years, her fate was unknown. Now, a fellow prisoner has described her final journey. 2/
Mykyta Semenov, an Azov soldier released this summer, travelled with her by train and truck to Sizo-3 prison in Kizel, deep inside Russia near the Urals.
Semenov: I saw her walking down the corridor. Light blue summer dress with flowers. Sporty sneakers. A small makeup mirror. 3/
It is the most heavily fortified region in Europe and the core of Ukraine’s new kill-zone defense system.
Handing it over would mean giving Russia operational depth it failed to seize by force — Untited24. 1/
Russia’s strategy: trade diplomacy for what it could not conquer militarily.
In three years, Moscow lost close to 1 million soldiers killed and wounded to capture just 1.45% of Ukrainian territory. During this time, Donetsk turned into a fortress belt 2/
FPV drones changed the battlefield.
Since mid-2023, drones achieve 80%+ hit rates in open terrain and cost less than artillery shells. Classic Soviet-style trenches collapsed under constant aerial surveillance and precision strikes. 3/
Ukrainian ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna for Fox News: No. Talks mention freezing front lines, but Russia keeps attacking civilians.
Odesa, has no water or electricity for five days. There’s no peace here. That’s a war. 1/
Q: How likely is a peace agreement from these talks?
Stefanishyna: The talks are about ending war in Ukraine, not signing a document
Ukraine, Europe, and the US are pushing for a real peace deal that stops the fighting and prevents new attacks. The only one stalling is Putin 2/
Q: How would security guarantees work if Ukraine gives up NATO aspirations?
Stefanishyna: The guarantees must be legally binding and irreversible. The form is still open. One option is approval by the US Congress and signing it into law. 3X
A Russian soldier smashed 75 y.o. Ludmyla’s face with a rifle, slashed her stomach, and raped her.
Diplomats discuss “blanket amnesty” in the new peace plan.
To them it's a compromise. To Ukraine, it means pardoning the man who sliced open a grandmother — The Times. 1/
Filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko sees Ludmyla’s broken face reading the new “peace plan.” Alisa knows this hell. In 2014, a Russian officer forced her to strip and bathe.
He cleaned his gun, watched her naked fear, then raped her. “They didn’t kill me, but they broke me.” 2/
Iryna Dovhan, 63, was tied to a post in a town square, wrapped in a Ukrainian flag. Passers-by beat her and spat on her.
But the second blow came from the justice system.
A prosecutor refused to record her rape. He told her: "Your dignity has been compromised." 3/
Putin has lost over 1 million soldiers killed or wounded in Ukraine, but is winning something bigger.
FP columnist Michael Hirsh argues that after nearly four years of war, Putin has succeeded in his core goal: exposing deep fractures inside what used to be called “the West.” 1/
Militarily, Russia failed.
After nearly four years of war, Putin controls only 20% of Ukrainian territory, failed to erase Ukrainian statehood and triggered NATO’s expansion with Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
This is not a battlefield victory. 2/
But Putin’s strategic objective was broader.
From the start, he bet that NATO unity would fracture under pressure.
Today, the U.S. and Europe openly clash over Ukraine, peace terms, Russia’s role, and even the meaning of “the West.” 3/