He stepped on a mine, took two bullets, survived a grenade launcher strike and a drone drop. Five wounds. Each time, he returned to the front, Telehraf reports.
His name is Ruslan Knysh. Today, he has no limbs. 1/
Ruslan: І knew I wouldn’t wait until the enemy came to drive me out of my home. I decided to take my fate into my own hands.
Ruslan is 20. He is from Donetsk region. He spent his first three years in an orphanage. As a teenager, he consciously switched to Ukrainian. 2/
At 18, Ruslan took an academic leave and decided to go to war. His mother was against it.
In late 2023, he packed his things, took his documents, and ran away from home. 3/
Zelenskyy travels to Mar-a-Lago Sunday, willing to cede eastern territory as part of a demilitarized zone, pending Ukrainian voter approval.
Ukraine isn't the obstacle to ending Putin's war — WSJ. 1/
Ukraine opposed giving up territory in Donetsk, where a 31-mile fortified defensive line has slowed Russia. Now both sides could withdraw from current positions.
This is especially significant given Russia violated 2014 and 2015 Minsk cease-fires to prepare for 2022 invasion. 2/
In return, the West would offer security guarantees akin to NATO's Article 5 — an attack on one is an attack on all.
But these guarantees must be explicit, firm, and in the US case approved by Congress. Without Congressional backing, they won't be worth much when Putin tests them. 3/
Putin: Judging by the pace along the line of contact, our interest in the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories they currently occupy has effectively fallen to zero.
[We are not interested in peace and will continue the war.] 1/
Putin: Hostilities were unleashed after the coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014, after the leaders of the Kyiv regime failed to ensure the people of southeastern Ukraine the right to self-determination.
[Did not allow Russia to peacefully annex half of Ukraine.] 2/
Putin: Kyiv chose to start a war, we are trying to end it. It is necessary to withdraw the troops of the Kyiv regime from southeastern Ukraine, and there will be no hostilities.
[Russia cannot seize territories. Ukraine must cede them voluntarily for “peace.”] 3/
Zelenskyy: Florida's meeting with Trump will be public. We agreed on it during talks in Miami.
We’re putting everything on paper: security guarantees, recovery deals, a 20-point plan. Some points mean compromise. But Ukraine will never legally recognize the occupation, Babel. 1/
Zelenskyy: The most sensitive issues in a peace deal are territories and the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
Russia will demand voting rights for Ukrainians in Russia and in occupied areas. Then it will use it to call Ukraine’s elections and government illegitimate. 2/
Zelenskyy: To hold elections or a referendum, it must be safe across all of Ukraine. Observers must be present.
If it comes to decisions that raise many questions, we — Ukraine and the US — will take it to the public. 3/
Sanctions are hitting Russia’s energy sector on two fronts.
Plans to triple LNG output to 100M tons a year have been delayed by several years, while Russia’s flagship Urals crude has plunged to about $34 per barrel, Bloomberg. 1/
Russia planned to triple LNG output to 100M tons per year by 2030, targeting a 20% share of the global market.
Deputy PM Novak said sanctions have pushed this goal back “by some years,” without giving a new deadline. 2/
Western sanctions hit both current and future Russian LNG projects.
The US blacklisted all LNG projects except Yamal LNG and sanctioned the shipping fleet used to export super-chilled fuel. 3/