Travel, property, and local info for Ukraine

12+ min ago (655+ words) Drone attacks hit oil depots and refineries in Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Krasnodar Krai, and Crimea, triggering fires, evacuations, and airport closures, Russian officials said. Drone strikes hit oil depots and refineries across several Russian regions and annexed Crimea overnight, causing fires, evacuations, and airport disruptions, Russian officials and local channels reported. An oil depot in Uryupinsk, Russia's Volgograd Region, was hit overnight, Governor Andrei Bocharov reported. The strike caused a fire, and residents of nearby homes were evacuated to a temporary shelter. No casualties were reported. According to Bocharov, the facility was damaged by a drone attack. The independent outlet Astra reported that the strike hit the AlfaOil depot on Shtemenko Street, which, according to publicly available data, contains 18 tanks storing gasoline and diesel fuel. The same facility was previously attacked on Dec. 3. Drones also struck the Novo-Yaroslavsky Oil Refinery (PAO…...

27+ min ago (1261+ words) Why the Dayton Peace Agreement is the wrong model for Ukraine. Thirty years ago, on Dec. 14, 1995, the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia gathered in Paris to sign the US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement, ending a war that killed 100,000 people and displaced two million more. The deal, hammered out over three weeks at an Ohio Air Force base, stopped the bloodshed. Now, as the Trump administration searches for ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Dayton keeps surfacing as a model " proof that American muscle, backed by force, can end impossible conflicts. The comparison is tempting. Both wars feature territorial conquest, ethnic grievances, great power politics, and horrific civilian casualties. Look closer, though. Dayton offers less a roadmap than a warning. Yes, it stopped the killing. It also legitimized ethnic cleansing, rewarded aggression, and created a state generally considered to be dysfunctional…...

1+ hour, 34+ min ago (619+ words) A new campaign targeting Washington insiders argues Putin will break any peace deal, warns of drone threats to NATO, and calls for hard negotiations to deter Russia. The Ukraine Freedom Project is currently running a digital ad campaign for the thirty second ad'Putin is a Liar'to a targeted list of 4,000 Washington DC insiders. We project our audience will see the commercial about 96x each on average.'You can watch it here. Vladimir Putin has violated every ceasefire he has signed with Ukraine. Putin doesn't want peace. He won't stop with Ukraine. He wants to take over Eastern Europe, rebuild the Soviet Union and'threaten America. President Trump is the only person in the world who can stop him. Any peace agreement today requires some amount of good behavior from Putin, a characteristic which he has yet to display. Putin is currently in…...

3+ hour, 32+ min ago (60+ words) These are the key developments from day 1,389 of Russia's war on Ukraine. Here is where things stand on Sunday, December 14: Two people were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of ... These are the key developments from day 1,389 of Russia's war on Ukraine. Here is where things stand on Sunday, December 14:...

4+ hour, 10+ min ago (145+ words) The total combat losses of Russian forces from February 24, 2022 to December 14, 2025, in the war against Ukraine amount to approximately 1,188,490 personnel, including 710 over the past day, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. " Ukrinform. Sunday, 14 December 2025, 07:45 This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, according to Ukrinform. Russia has also lost 11,410 (+1) tanks, 23,721 (+7) armored combat vehicles, 35,041 (+9) artillery systems, 1,567 (+0) multiple launch rocket systems, 1,259 (+1) air defense systems, 432 (+0) aircraft, 347 (+0) helicopters, 90,124 (+440) operational-tactical UAVs, 4,073 (+13) cruise missiles, 28 (+0) warships/boats, 1 (+0) submarine, 69,798 (+81) vehicles and fuel tankers, and 4,026 (+0) units of special equipment. The information is being updated....

4+ hour, 13+ min ago (690+ words) Berlin talks spotlight deep divides between European powers and the US over Ukraine's future. WASHINGTON, DC " As President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for a tense diplomatic sprint in Berlin, Western capitals are bracing for a showdown that could reshape the trajectory of Russia's war in Ukraine. The stakes are high: Kyiv is pressing for ironclad security guarantees, European partners are wary of overcommitting while scrambling to keep a fractured alliance aligned ahead of a possible year-end deal. Zelensky delivered a measured mix of cautious optimism and urgent pragmatism in a Saturday evening address, setting the stage for a high-stakes diplomatic push in Berlin later this week. As Kyiv eyes a "political agreement to end the war," the talks are already exposing sharp strategic divergences among Ukraine's closest backers. "We are currently preparing for meetings with the US side and our European…...

4+ hour, 51+ min ago (409+ words) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on Saturday amid heightened diplomatic activity around efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine. Their discussion focused on work linked to US-led peace proposals and possible steps to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to support Kyiv financially. "Both agreed that this is a pivotal moment for Ukraine's future and that Europe will stand with them for as long as it takes to achieve a just and lasting peace," a Downing Street spokesperson said after the call. The talks came as the White House confirmed that US President Donald Trump's special envoy would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders in Berlin over the weekend. Ahead of those meetings, Zelensky warned that Russia "still aims to destroy" Ukraine, after what Kyiv described as "massive" overnight…...

5+ hour, 23+ min ago (1227+ words) Lawmakers, legal scholars and human rights advocates say the case for genocide is no longer theoretical " and that Washington's caution is becoming the risk. WASHINGTON DC " As Russia's war against Ukraine grinds toward its fourth year, a once-academic argument is breaking into the political mainstream: that Moscow's campaign should be formally labeled genocide " not just a catalogue of war crimes, but a case of intent to destroy a people. The message was unmistakable. The debate over Ukraine, speakers argued, has stalled at the wrong altitude. War crimes are no longer the question. Genocidal intent is. And the stakes of naming it as such are enormous. Invoking the UN Genocide Convention, advocates contend, would trigger a far more binding set of legal and moral obligations for the United States and its allies " limiting diplomatic wiggle room and raising the cost of…...

7+ hour, 57+ min ago (205+ words) Russia has crossed a chilling threshold in the Ukraine war with reports of a weapon rarely seen in action. A night strike on Odesa is now being described as more than another barrage, but a deliberate signal aimed far beyond the battlefield. Russia reportedly launched four Kinzhal hypersonic missiles from MiG31 jets, with two aimed directly at Odesa'marking the first time this "airborne Iskander" has been used on the Black Sea port. Fires at ports, energy sites and civilian infrastructure have reignited fears of a wider Black Sea escalation. | Videos Putin's rarest weapon unleashed: Russia drops Kinzhals, leaving Odesa in darkness. . . Ukraine stunned Russia has crossed a chilling threshold in the Ukraine war with reports of a weapon rarely seen in action. A night strike on Odesa is now being described as more than another barrage, but a deliberate signal aimed…...

10+ hour, 7+ min ago (697+ words) The EU froze indefinitely "210 billion of Russian sovereign assets held in the bloc on Friday as Kyiv and its European allies sought to strengthen their hand at a critical phase in US-orchestrated peace talks. The freezing paves the way for a loan to be raised against the assets to prop up Ukraine's defence. EU leaders still have to overcome strong objections from Belgium, where the assets are mostly held, at a summit next week. Italy has also sided with Belgium. In a statement on Friday evening, the two countries " along with Bulgaria and Malta " urged the EU to "continue exploring and discussing alternative options" to meet Ukraine's financial needs, potentially through an EU loan facility, which they argued would present "significantly less risk". Moscow also fired back, filing a lawsuit against Euroclear, the Brussels-based depository holding most of the assets,…...