Illia Kabachynskyi

Ukraine and France have signed a long-term defense cooperation pact, under which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Emmanuel Macron agreed to deepen military coordination for the next decade. Among the key elements of the agreement is the potential transfer of French Rafale multirole fighter jets—a type Ukraine has never operated before.

The Russian army attacked Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Emergency services reported damage in nearly all districts of the city, with casualties confirmed.

One of the Kremlin’s key demands in any negotiation is the complete transfer of the Donetsk region under Russian control, but after 11 years of war in Ukraine, including nearly four years of full-scale invasion, Russia still hasn’t managed to seize its 26,000 square kilometers.

Gunvor, one of the world’s top oil traders, has pulled out of a deal to buy Russian oil company Lukoil’s foreign assets after the US imposed sanctions. The Treasury Department made clear: it will never approve the transaction unless Russian aggression in Ukraine ends. Gunvor claims it cut ties with Russia years ago, but US regulators aren’t convinced.

Pokrovsk is the Kremlin’s top military objective through the end of the year. Nearly a third of all Russian forces stationed in Ukraine have been redeployed to this front.

US President Donald Trump has sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil—Russia’s top oil giants—dealing what appears to be a major blow to their global operations. While the Kremlin downplays the move, early signs point to a very different story.