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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky films an address near the entrance to the front line city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast on Dec.12, 2025, amid reports of successful Ukrainian counterattack in the region. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)

‘Reality speaks for itself’ — From war-torn Kupiansk, Zelensky praises troops after reports of successful Ukrainian counterattack. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised troops in the Kupiansk direction and said battlefield gains strengthen Ukraine’s diplomatic position, as the National Guard’s 2nd Khartiia Corps reported a counterattack north of the city.

Witkoff to meet Zelensky, European leaders over the weekend to discuss US peace plan, WSJ reports. The reported meeting involving Zelensky follows news that Kyiv and its European partners handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework, with territorial concessions dominating tensions between the parties.

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Ukraine confirms drone strike on major Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl. Russia’s Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl, one of the country’s five largest, is reportedly on fire after being struck in an overnight drone attack on Dec. 12, officials and local Telegram channels said.

Explosions reported at Russian oil refinery amid drone attack. Explosions were reported in Russia’s Saratov Oblast overnight on Dec. 13 as officials warned of a possible drone attack, with unverified local reports indicating the Saratov oil refinery had been targeted.

Ukraine strikes Russian oil facilities in Caspian Sea again, SBU source says. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) carried out a second drone strike this week on Russia’s Vladimir Filanovsky oil production platform in the Caspian Sea, also hitting the nearby Korchagin platform, an SBU source said Dec. 12.

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Ukraine war latest: ‘No military purpose’ — Russia strikes cargo ship in Odesa Oblast

Russian forces launched a missile strike on the civilian port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast, damaging a cargo ship, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 12.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine / DSNS

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Peace plan drama — Ukraine and Europe hand US revisions as Trump grows ‘sick of meetings’

Ukraine and its European partners have handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework aimed at ending Russia’s war, the Kyiv Independent has learned.

Photo: Roberto Schmidt / Henry Nicholls – WPA Pool / Getty Images / Collage by the Kyiv Independent

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Explainer: Why Russia’s nuclear industry has escaped major sanctions

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly threatened the use of atomic weapons, yet its much-prized nuclear industry has faced little in the way of meaningful sanctions.

Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

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EU indefinitely freezes Russian assets, moving closer to financial lifeline for Ukraine

The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank reserves, moving the bloc a step closer to securing a financial lifeline to Kyiv as the war heads into its fourth year.

Photo: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

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Opinions and insights

Ukraine world’s deadliest conflict in 2025 despite US-brokered peace talks, analysis finds

Russia’s war in Ukraine was the world’s deadliest conflict in 2025, according to a new report that tracks conflicts globally, despite U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the nearly four-year invasion.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

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15 Ukrainians are suing US tech factories over chips in Russia’s deadly weapons

Despite years of sanctions and export controls, U.S.-made electronic components — which have unique markings and cannot be copied — continue to appear in Russian cruise missiles and drones. Investigations have repeatedly found these chips inside weapons used in some of the war’s most devastating attacks.

Photo: Anya Korzun

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Russia’s air defenses have a Flamingo-sized weak spot, report suggests

Ukraine’s domestically produced cruise missiles could help deal a devastating blow to Russia’s air defense production, enabling increasingly effective long-range drone strikes against other targets inside Russia, a new report published on Dec. 12 says.

Photo: militarnyi.com

International response

Europe must prepare for war with Russia, NATO chief warns. “We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned.

Moscow files lawsuit against Euroclear as Russian assets debate continues. The Russian Central Bank said in a press release that it had sued Euroclear, the Belgian financial institution holding the vast majority of Europe’s frozen assets, in a Moscow court on Dec. 12.

In other news

SBU says it detained 3 suspected Russian agents over deadly Kyiv bombing that killed National Guard serviceman. Ukraine’s Security Service said Friday that it detained three men suspected of planting two homemade bombs that killed a National Guard serviceman and wounded four other people in Kyiv a day earlier.

‘I will come after each of you’ — Ukraine’s prosecutor general threatens critics after resignation rumors. “You don’t need to hide; I will come after each of you personally,” said Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, responding to a wave of anonymous posts alleging he had submitted a letter of resignation.

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