Travel, property, and local info for Ukraine

44+ min ago (533+ words) German pushback on "dictated peace" comes as Rubio ducks NATO Ministerial, sending Landau to Brussels. WASHINGTON DC " US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Monday with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to discuss ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the State Department said Monday night. The call comes amid growing tensions in transatlantic discussions over how to balance pressure on Kyiv with the urgency of ending Russia"s war of aggression. According to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, Rubio emphasized that Washington"s goal remains a swift conclusion to the conflict and a lasting, sustainable peace. That push for an accelerated diplomatic solution, however, is running into firm resistance from a European front wary of forcing a deal on Kyiv. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made that stance clear on Monday in Berlin, standing alongside Polish Prime Minister…...

2+ hour, 17+ min ago (761+ words) US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin has confirmed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that protecting Ukraine's territorial integrity remains the "biggest challenge" in ongoing negotiations over a US plan to end the war, following discussions in Paris with European and US officials. Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a joint news conference on Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's priorities include security guarantees, sovereignty and preventing concessions that would legitimise Moscow's occupation of Ukrainian land. "Our biggest challenge is the territorial issue," he said, urging partners to avoid any outcome that "rewards the war it [Russia] started". The comments came as officials from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom joined discussions in Paris, holding calls with US special envoy Steve Witkoff as part of an intensifying diplomatic push to…...

2+ hour, 25+ min ago (329+ words) The child was a refugee whose family had moved to Montreal in 2022 to escape the unprovoked Russian invasion of their homeland. Canadians grieved her en masse. A Canadian driver charged with the fatal hit-and-run of a Ukrainian toddler was sentenced to a year of house arrest by a Quebec provincial court on Monday, bringing a legal end to the sad story of a refugee family who had escaped the brutal Russian invaders of their homeland in 2022, only to see their daughter killed abroad. In December of 2022, less than a year after her mother Halyna Lehenkovska sought refugee status in Canada with her three children, to rebuild her family life near Montreal while her husband stayed behind to fight the Russians, her daughter Mariia was struck and killed by a car as she was walking to school. Juan Manuel Becerra Garcia,…...

3+ hour, 8+ min ago (254+ words) WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - A US special envoy is headed to Moscow right now, to hammer out the final details on a Russia/Ukraine peace deal. An in-person meeting between Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled for Tuesday. President Trump hopes it will be the final push to get this deal across the finish line. He spoke to reporters while flying back from Florida Sunday night, "I think Russia would like to see it ended. I think Ukraine. I know Ukraine would like to see it end." After days of stalled talks, and a missed Thanksgiving deadline, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hopeful lasting peace can be achieved this week. "We don't just want to end the war. We also want to help Ukraine be safe forever. So never again will they face another invasion and equally…...

3+ hour, 48+ min ago (390+ words) Russia has claimed to have captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a move that would mark a significant gain for its forces. Ukraine, however, dismissed what it described as Moscow's "loud statements" aimed at shaping ongoing negotiations over ending the war. Moscow's assertion follows months of intense fighting for control of the strategic hub, during which Russian forces have suffered thousands of dead and wounded. The claim also comes shortly after high-level talks in Florida between US and Ukrainian officials on ending the conflict, and just one day before the US. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is due in Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. Earlier Monday, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that "despite the difficult situation" in Pokrovsk and nearby areas, Ukrainian troops "continue to hold back the enemy's offensive." Moscow's announcement comes a day…...

5+ hour, 36+ min ago (588+ words) That single idea reveals everything that is wrong with the so-called Trump "peace plan." It treats war as a business transaction. It reduces Ukraine " a nation fighting for survival " to a bargaining chip. And it replaces accountability with accommodation. In this vision, the war would not end by restoring Ukraine's sovereignty, removing occupation forces, or addressing human rights violations. Instead, it would end by rewarding Russia economically " granting access to Western investment in energy, technology, and reconstruction " while pressuring Ukraine to surrender territory and accept constraints on its defense capabilities. The logic is chilling in its clarity: Putin invades, destroys, annexes " and in return, he gets business. Ukraine resists " and is asked to compromise. Diplomats often speak of "pragmatism," but history remembers appeasement. In 1938, territories were traded for "peace in our time," which lasted less than a year. In 2025, similar…...

5+ hour, 52+ min ago (277+ words) Russia launched over 5,000 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine in November alone, including the Russian-made Geran-3 analogue to Tehran's version. Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops had shot down several Shahed jet-powered drones with Ukrainian-made Sting interceptor drones for the first time, during an overnight attack by Russia. Writing on Telegram, Sternenko described this as a "historic achievement." "Tonight, for the first time, our soldiers shot down several Shahed jets with Ukrainian-made Sting interceptor drones," he said. Russia deployed more than 5,000 Shahed-type drones against Ukraine in November 2025, according to the US nonprofit Institute for Science and International Security " an average of 182 launches per day. Ukraine has targeted Russian drone factories in response " for example, Ukraine's military announced on Nov. 6 that a major Shahed base in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Donetsk region had been destroyed. According to Ukrainian thinktank Militarnyi, Russia…...

6+ hour, 8+ min ago (171+ words) Zelenskyy has said that "the territorial issue is the most difficult, as Russia refuses to budge on its demand of Kyiv giving up areas of the eastern Donbas region. Meanwhile, Ukraine is also steadfast on the region's independence from Moscow's stronghold Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the sticking point in the US-brokered peace deal is the Russian demand for land concessions, ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Tuesday. Zelenskyy has said that "the territorial issue is the most difficult, as Russia refuses to budge on its demand of Kyiv giving up areas of the eastern Donbas region. Meanwhile, Ukraine is also steadfast on the region's independence from Moscow's stronghold. Iran discovered a major gold deposit at the Shadan gold mine in South Khorasan. The new vein holds 7.95 million tonnes of oxide gold…...

6+ hour, 11+ min ago (379+ words) At a high-level EU meeting in Brussels, Ukraine pressed for deeper industrial integration, expanded air-defense support and a funding mechanism based on frozen Russian assets. The EU has unveiled a series of new defense initiatives in Brussels as Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal called for the rapid integration of Ukraine's defense industry and urged allies to adopt a financing mechanism grounded in frozen Russian assets. According to statements published by Shmyhal on X, the Ukrainian delegation participated in a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council with defense ministers from all 27 member states on Monday. The discussion centered on joint measures to reinforce Ukraine's resilience and strengthen Europe's overall security. EU ministers formally presented the European Defense Industrial Programme (EDIP) " a "1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) initiative for 2025-2027 that includes a "300 million ($349 million) Ukraine Support Instrument to integrate Ukrainian manufacturers into the European…...

7+ hour, 5+ min ago (619+ words) Kyiv has denied Russian claims of capturing Stavky and Novoselivka near Lyman in eastern Ukraine, calling the statements staged propaganda as heavy fighting continues in the area. The Ukrainian military has denied Moscow's claims that it captured two settlements near Lyman in the Donetsk region. On Nov. 21, Russia's defense ministry claimed to have captured Stavky and Novoselivka, two villages north of the Ukrainian stronghold of Lyman in the Donetsk region. Ukraine's Third Army Corps disputed the statement on Dec. 1, calling the statements from Russia's 20th Army and the Russian defense ministry "another information manipulation." The Third Army Corps said Russian units continue relying on "old tactics," sending small groups into areas not under Moscow's control to film staged videos with Russian flags and falsely claim the settlements have been captured. However, all such groups are being eliminated by Ukrainian forces, the…...