US and Israel linked nonprofits raised $600k-$700k per Ukrainian child with cancer and delivered $1,200-$1,700 to the families.

The Kyiv Independent traced the money, the contracts, the ads, and the payouts behind these campaigns. 1/ The campaigns run mostly from the United States, use Israeli fundraising platforms, and keep operators anonymous.

They target donors worldwide with ads in English, German, French, Bulgarian, and more — while blocking access from Ukrainian IPs. 2/

Zelenskyy: The Americans have proposed a direct negotiation in the Ukraine-US-Russia format, and possibly Europe.

Today there is no peace deal, and there cannot be one until the war is stopped. Ukraine’s MFA is working on creating the infrastructure for elections abroad. 1/ Zelenskyy: There is no peace agreement today. And there may not be one.

A peace agreement will exist only when it is not just on paper, but when it is signed by leaders and when the war has stopped. That is what constitutes an agreement — unlike the Budapest Memorandum. 2/

Rubio: I won’t discuss deal details in public. No peace is possible unless Ukraine agrees and unless Russia agrees.

Ukraine is a combatant. If it says no, there is no peace. The U.S. will not force a deal on anyone.

1/ Rubio: We’re trying to define what Ukraine can live with and what Russia can live with, then push those positions closer.

Wars end by surrender or negotiation. We don’t see surrender from either side, so only a negotiated settlement can end this war.

2/

An 18-year-old from occupied Crimea was about to be drafted into the Russian army. Instead, he escaped more than 3,000 kilometers and reached Kyiv.

This is the story of Artem, who chose flight over serving the state that occupied his home. — Suspilne 1/ Artem was born in Zaporizhzhia. At age five, his family moved to Sevastopol. In 2014, Russia occupied Crimea. From that moment on, his life unfolded inside a closed, repressive system that punished dissent and offered young people no real choices. 2/

Leva, Ukrainian marine infantry just came back after a concussion.

Leva: I walked onto the position. Snow still lay there. Blood stains showed through it.

Crimson drops spread on the white slope. A drone buzzed “bzzzz”. I stared at those stains, and it burned me, reports UP. 1/ Leva: The dugout smelled of urine, smoke, and dust. A Russian drone had just killed a buddy there. I came back from a concussion.

My eardrums did not heal. Sleep broke. Paranoia hit. The mortar kept landing closer and closer. 2/

The US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund is fully operational and poised to start its first investments in 2026.

Development Finance Corporation activated a fund of this size and complexity in less than a year, advancing US-Ukraine shared national interests, — DFC.

1/ The Fund's board reached final consensus on investment policies, fund policies, and investment strategy. Alvarez & Marsal was announced as Fund Advisor in November. The board includes DFC General Counsel and Head of Investments.

2/

China and Russia aim to make the US an isolated, second-tier state.

Trump's first term declared great-power competition.

His second term now obscures that reality, pursuing policies that give adversaries what they want, — Bloomberg. 1/ Putin's war targets the Western community that reduced Russia after the Cold War.

He wages hybrid warfare against US allies: drone incursions, sabotage, attacks on US water systems and meat-packing plants.
2/

Bolton: If Trump is not really committed to Article 5, how committed is he to Article 5-like guarantees?

Zelenskyy needs to remember: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

If you want to take a guarantee from Trump, good luck is all I can say. 1/ Bolton: I've seen reported there's no commitment by the United States to put American troops in Ukraine. American troops are the tripwire.

No American troops in Ukraine means it's a long way from the east coast to Ukraine. 2/

Putin: We see signals from Kyiv that they’re ready for dialogue. We want peace — but only on the terms I set June 2024 and by addressing the so-called “root causes.”

[That means Ukraine’s capitulation. What “progress” is Russia talking about?]

1/ Putin: We don’t see Ukraine ready for peace. This began with the 2014 coup and broken Minsk deals.

In 2022 we told Kyiv to withdraw troops from Donbas. They refused. In Istanbul they agreed, then walked away. Now they again reject ending the war peacefully.

2/

I told CNN Ukraine’s shift on NATO creates an opening: “fine, no NATO — but give us NATO-level protection.” Labels don’t matter, guarantees do.

Now it’s on the U.S. and Europe to build real security — money, structure, and the ability to act if Russia strikes. 1/ Q: If Trump pressures Zelenskyy, not Moscow, why would Russia give anything?

Me: I agree. Early on the US pushed Ukraine more than Russia. Now it’s shifting to real guarantees and reconstruction funds. Russia’s line is keep the Donbas grind or pause a few years.

2/

Timothy Snyder’s sharpest claim is that Ukraine sits at the start of big human stories: the first large cities, the spread of Indo-European languages, and the grain routes that fed ancient empires. — Ukrainska Pravda 1/ Snyder describes an ongoing research project with unusual scale: 3 years of work by 100+ Ukrainian and international scholars writing a “longue durée” history of Ukraine, from geology and ecology to the present war. 2/

Rutte: Putin has to know, if he would try to attack Ukraine again [after a peace deal], the reaction will be devastating.

Ukraine’s armed forces will be the first line of defense, followed by the Coalition of the willing, with leadership from the UK and France. 1/ Rutte: The key question is how to prevent Russia from attacking, avoiding a repeat of the Minsk 2 failure in 2014. Security guarantees will be essential to prevent future Russian aggression. 2/

Zelenskyy: There’s still a key question I don’t have an answer to. If Ukraine is not in NATO, how do security guarantees actually work?

What exactly will the United States do if Russia attacks again? How will these guarantees function in practice?

1/ Zelenskyy: We can’t let Ukraine face next year without answers on financing. The risk is real: a $45–50 billion deficit, possibly more.

Russia talks more about war than peace. Ukraine must stay strong — this isn’t just about the front, it’s about our ability to survive.

2/

Ukraine’s war is increasingly being fought by women.

As the full-scale war enters its fifth year, manpower shortages are reshaping the front line.

More than 70,000 women now serve in Ukraine’s military, including 5,500 in combat roles, up 40% since 2021. - Forbes 1/ As Ukraine enters the fifth year of full-scale war, manpower shortages are forcing a structural shift.

Women are moving from support roles into frontline combat, drone strikes, and high-risk evacuations. 2/

Russians smashed the locks of Oleksandr’s clinic in Melitopol, ripped out his equipment screw by screw, and moved an occupation lawyer into his private apartment. 15 years of work vanished.

Le Libre writes how Russians steal Ukrainian businesses. 1/ Denys Katyoukha: I weighed every word on my website, now Russians copy-pasted it all.

They declared his "Admiral" resort in Kyrylivka "ownerless" and handed it to a businessman from Crimea. Denys watches his life's work through a screen while occupiers swim in his pool. 2/

Russia has tripled attacks on Ukraine's railways in six months — over 600 strikes since July.

Lozova station, hit by 15 drones, is back running in two days. But daily trains dropped from 32 before the invasion to just 8 now — The Times. 1/ Nina Zabiela, whose family worked the railway for generations, rushed to the station in her nightclothes to find the 19th-century building ablaze. Two killed, including a railway engineer.

"The railway is like my family. Why did they have to destroy this beautiful building?" 2/

Dutch PM Schoof: Today we signed together the establishment of the international claims commission that will focus on compensation for war damage inflicted in Ukraine.
Accountability has been a top priority for the Netherlands since the end of 2022. 1/ Schoof: Almost daily we see that Russia is carrying out a ruthless attacks against the Ukrainian population, economy, and infrastructure.

Homes are being shelled, businesses destroyed, and energy facilities severely damaged. 2/

The EU has sanctioned two of the most influential oil traders behind Russia’s shadow fleet.

Etibar Eyyub (Azerbaijan) and Murtaza Lakhani (Pakistan) are accused of keeping Russian oil exports alive despite Western sanctions. — WSJ 1/ Brussels says both men provided a “substantial source of revenue” to Moscow by moving oil and refined fuels on risky tankers that conceal cargo origins.

Assets in the EU are frozen, travel is banned and business ties are cut. 2/

Trump is preparing new sanctions on Russia’s energy sector if Vladimir Putin rejects a peace deal with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the plans.

Targets include Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers and the traders who move its crude. — Bloomberg 1/ The measures could be announced this week. Scott Bessent briefed European ambassadors, while the Kremlin warned that new sanctions would “harm relations,” signaling Moscow’s vulnerability on energy exports. 2/

Will Russia capture Myrnohrad by the end of 2025?

This is a live betting market on Polymarket, where traders wager millions on the fall of Ukrainian cities.

Polymarket presents itself as a neutral “truth machine” for forecasting reality. — EP 1/ Polymarket is a crypto-based prediction platform where users buy “Yes” or “No” shares on real-world events.

Prices move with demand and are framed as probabilities: a 60-cent share implies a 60% chance. 2/

Russia's S-400 air defense system runs on US-made components, Kazakhstan ceramics, and Chinese middlemen — Kyiv Post.

A new RUSI report maps 70+ vulnerabilities in the production chain. Ukraine is already striking the supply routes. 1/ The S-400 needs RO4003C high-frequency laminate from US-based Rogers Corporation for its phased-array radars. Russia doesn't produce this at scale. Despite export controls, Russian defense firms buy it through China and Hong Kong intermediaries. 2/