A family evacuates from the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, August 2025

EA on France 24 and Talk TV: Can Ukraine-Europe Get Progress from Trump-Putin Meeting?

EA on International Outlets: Anticipating Trump-Putin Meeting on Russia’s Ukraine Invasion

UPDATE 2212 GMT:

The White House has censored footage of Donald Trump applauding Vladimir Putin several times as he greeted the Russian leader in Alaska.

Trump’s office edited video so it began a split-second after Trump finished his third round of applause for Putin.

The Kremlin Press Office quickly distributed the photograph of the Trump clapping for “his Russian counterpart”.

UPDATE 2154 GMT:

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has noted:

Zelensky summarized the list of areas attacked by the Russians in the last 24 hours: “Sumy – a Russian strike on the central market. Dnipro region – strikes on cities and enterprises. Zaporizhzhia, Kherson region, Donetsk region – deliberate Russian strikes.” He explained:

The war continues, and it is precisely because there is neither an order nor even a signal that Moscow is preparing to end this war.

Russia must end the war that it itself started and has been dragging out for years. The killings must stop. A meeting of leaders is needed – at the very least, Ukraine, America, and the Russian side – and it is precisely in such a format that effective decisions are possible. Security guarantees are needed. Lasting peace is needed.

UPDATE 2148 GMT:

Ukrainian and European activists are poking fun at Donald Trump’s reception for Vladimir Putin, wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court, in Alaska.

Ukrainian journalist and political Mustafa Nayyem posted over the image of US troops laying down the red carpet for Putin, under his plane blazoned with “Russia”:

UPDATE 1820 GMT:

Donald Trump has told reporters aboard Air Force One:

I want to see a ceasefire.

This is not to do with Europe. Europe’s not telling me what to do, but they’re going to be involved in the process, obviously, as well as Zelensky, but I want to see a ceasefire rapidly.

I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.

UPDATE 1813 GMT:

The UK Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, says Donald Trump has offered to join European forces in security guarantees to Ukraine following a settlement ending Russia’s invasion.

Mandelson said it is premature for Trump to give details.

Once an agreement is reached, we in Britain and as Europeans have got to put in place not only monitors of the ceasefire but also arrangements on the ground that, if triggered by a further aggression from Russia, would be tripped and we would be there standing at Ukraine’s side.

He continued:

The US President has said it has to be land for peace. The question is how much land and what sort of peace.

That is what we will be watching very carefully, but we know, whatever the settlement, the Ukrainian armed forces need to be rebuilt, reequipped, resupplied, retrained to deal with the future continuing threat hanging over them from Russia – because Putin is not going to go away.

UPDATE 1307 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted, in response to Donald Trump’s declaration of “HIGH STAKES” in the meeting with Vladimir Putin:

Indeed, high stakes.

The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side.

It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia.

We are counting on America. We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible.

Zelensky used a post by Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki, marking the 105th anniversary of Polish and Ukrainian forces checking the Soviet Army’s westward advance at the Battle of Warsaw, to link past and present:

Next to Russia, only the cooperation of free nations provides true protection for each of them.

UPDATE 0818 GMT:

Ukrainian drones struck and set afire an oil refinery overnight in Russia’s Samara regime, amid Kyiv’s latest attacks on facilities supporting Moscow’s invasion.

The Rosneft refinery is in Syzran, around 811 km (504 miles) from Ukraine’s border. It produces a wide range of fuels, including aviation fuel, while supplying the Russian armed forces.

UPDATE 0754 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in Alaska, possibly making a statement with his choice of attire:

The $120 sweatshirt is sold by Selsovet, based in Chelyabinsk near the Ural Mountains, which specialises in “Soviet heritage” clothing.

Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis commented:

UPDATE 0744 GMT:

A pro-Ukraine rally in Anchorage, Alaska, the site of the Trump-Putin meeting, on Thursday:

UPDATE 0727 GMT:

At least six civilians were murdered and at least 17 injured, including a child, by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 63 of 97 drones. The other 34 struck 13 locations.

The Russians also fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, two civilians were killed and seven injured.

In the neighboring Kharkiv region, four people were slain and two wounded.

In the Kherson region in the south, one person was murdered and five injured, including a child. A multi-story building, 22 houses, farm buildings, gas pipelines, and a car were damaged.

Casualties were also reported in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.

UPDATE 0603 GMT:

The independent Russian outlet Meduza reports on a State-imposed Internet cutoff in parts of Nizhny Novgorod for more than two months.

Since spring, mobile Internet providers have been disabling service across Russia for periods from a few hours to several days. Authorities argue that the measures are necessary to protect civilians and strategically important facilities from Ukrainian drone attacks.

Nizhny Novgorod is around 760 km (471 miles) from the Ukraine border. It is home to the Sverdlov plant, which produces ammunition, and the Korund chemical plant, which manufactures materials for combat airplanes and helicopters.

On June 9, Ukrainian drones attacked the Savasleyka military airbase, damaging two fighter jets. Soon after that, mobile Internet service was curbed and then halted in nearby towns.

Residents say public utilities, transport, and ambulance services have been disrupted. Small businesses have been seriously affected.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Authorities have ordered the evacuation of families with children from the town of Druzhkivka in eastern Ukraine, as Russia steps up its assault to seize more territory in the Donetsk region.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, announced the evacuation of Druzhkivka and four nearby villages. He said 1,879 children remained in the settlements.

He noted Russian shelling with almost 3,000 strikes daily, telling parents, “Take care of your loved ones — your children. Evacuate in time. Evacuate while it is still possible. Protect your loved ones and do not put them in danger.”

Small groups of Russian troops had broken through in the area, advancing up to 10 km (6 miles). On Wednesday, Ukraine ordered evacuations from Bilozerske, another town near the advance.

Ukrainian commanders say they have now contained the Russian operations and brought in reinforcements. However, they have been criticized by military analysts and former officers for weaknesses in the defensive line in Donetsk, amid strains on Ukraine’s manpower.

“I sincerely don’t know what exactly is being reported to you,” posted Bohdan Krotevych, who recently quit as the chief of staff of the Azov Brigade, “but I’m informing you: on the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka line, without exaggeration, it’s complete chaos.”

And this chaos has been growing for a long time, worsening with each passing day. The command structures currently being appointed (or already appointed) to “fix the unfixable” will most likely be blamed for the chaos that’s already unfolding.

He said, “The systemic problem began with the depletion of reserves,” amid Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region in western Russia from August 2024.

Druzhkivka, an industrial city on key transport routes, lies about 80 km (50 miles) northeast of occupied Donetsk city and has remained under Ukrainian control through Russia’s full-scale 41 1/2-month invasion. It had a pre-war population of almost 54,000. Its position along key transport routes makes it a vital defensive and logistical hub.

Map: Institute for the Study of War