Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the Vatican basilica, April 26, 2025

EA on RTE: Ukraine Strikes Russian Military in Heart of Moscow

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Ukraine and Europe Push Back Putin’s “Nazi Piglets” Invasion

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia’s Missile and Drone Assault on West of Country

UPDATE 2007 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in his Christmas message:

We mark Christmas in a difficult time.

Sadly, not all of us are at home this evening. Sadly, not everyone still has a home. And sadly, not everyone is with us tonight.

But despite all the suffering that Russia has brought, it is not capable of occupying or bombing what matters most. That is our Ukrainian heart, our faith in one another and our unity.

UPDATE 2001 GMT:

Russian strikes have caused a spill of sunflower oil contaminating the shoreline around Odesa in southern Ukraine, killing wildlife and triggering health warnings.

Video shows frothy brown pools of oil on the shore and slicks atop the Black Sea. Volunteers are scooping up sand and pulling out dead birds out of the water.

The Pivdenny port was temporarily closed during the cleanup.

Marine ecology expert Vladyslav Balinsky said dozens of dead birds lay on the shore in the “ecological disaster”.

UPDATE 1906 GMT:

Two traffic police officers and a third person have been killed in a car explosion in Moscow, Russia’s Investigative Committee has said.

An official from Ukraine’s military intelligence service HUR claimed the operation. HUR sources said the officers were involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine and implicated in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The sources said the two officers were killed and two injured when the operative threw the improvised explosive device through the window of their car.

According to the HUR sources, the officers were involved in the systematic torture of Ukrainian POWs, practices that violate the Geneva Conventions and the laws and customs of war.

The Committee said an explosive device had been triggered when the officers approached a “suspicious person” near their police vehicle on Yeletskaya Street in the south of the capital.

Witnesses reported an explosion around 1:30 a.m.

Russian Telegram channels close to the security services said the third victim was planting the explosive device.

The detonation was less than half a mile from the car bombing that killed Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov on Monday.

UPDATE 1451 GMT:

Briefing journalists about the 20-point Ukraine-Europe plan to end Russia’s invasion (see 1051 GMT), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to negotiate over a demilitarized “economic zone” in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Zelensky said there are two points of difference from the Trump Administration: the status of Donetsk and of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the south of the country.

He emphasized that Kyiv has removed clauses from the 28-point ultimatum, drafted by Vladimir Putin’s top financial advisor Kirill Dmitriev with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, requiring Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donetsk and recognition of occupied areas as Russian.

“A working group will convene to determine the redeployment of forces necessary to end the conflict, as well as to define the parameters of potential future special economic zones,” the President said.

“We are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Donetsk region, while the Americans are trying to find a way,” he explained. “They are looking for a demilitarized zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides.”

Zelensky noted that any Ukrainian withdrawal of troops would have to be approved in a referendum.

UPDATE 1449 GMT:

Ukraine has set afire a synthetic rubber factory in the Tula region, 335 km (208 miles) south of Moscow.

The plant in Efremov produces dual-use synthetic rubber and polymers used in military vehicle tires, armored personnel carriers, and other weapons-related applications.

Tula Governor Alexei Dyumin confirmed an attack caused a fire at “one of the enterprises” in the region but did not identify the facility or provide information on damage or casualties.

UPDATE 1051 GMT:

The Kyiv Independent has published the full text of the 20-point Ukraine-Europe plan to end Russia’s invasion.

  • 1. The signatories affirm that Ukraine is a sovereign state.
  • 2. The document constitutes a full and unquestionable non-aggression agreement between Russia and Ukraine. A monitoring mechanism will be set up to oversee the conflict line using satellite-based unmanned surveillance, ensuring early detection of violations.
  • 3. Ukraine will receive security guarantees.
  • 4. The size of Ukraine’s Armed Forces will remain at 800,000 personnel during peacetime.
  • 5. The US, NATO, and European signatory states will provide Ukraine with “Article 5–like” guarantees. Following points apply:
  • A) If Russia invades Ukraine, a coordinated military response will be launched, and all global sanctions against Russia will be reinstated.
  • B) If Ukraine invades Russia or opens fire at Russian territory without provocation, the security guarantees will be considered void. If Russia opens fire on Ukraine, the security guarantees will come into effect.
  • C) The US will receive compensation for providing security guarantees. [This provision has now been removed.]
  • D) Previously signed bilateral security agreements between Ukraine and around 30 countries will remain in place.
  • 6. Russia will formalize its non-aggression stance towards Europe and Ukraine in all necessary laws and documents, ratifying them by Russia’s State Duma.
  • 7. Ukraine will become an EU member at a clearly designated time and will receive a short-term preferential access to the European market.
  • 8. Ukraine will receive a global development package, detailed in a separate agreement, covering various economic areas:
  • A) A development fund will be created for investing in fast-growing industries, including technology, data centers, and artificial intelligence.
  • B) The US and US companies will work with Ukraine to jointly invest in the restoration, modernization, and operation of Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, including pipelines and storage facilities.
  • C) Joint efforts will be made to rebuild war-torn areas, focusing on restoring and modernizing cities and residential neighborhoods.
  • D) Infrastructure development will be prioritized.
  • E) Extraction of minerals and natural resources will be expanded.
  • F) The World Bank will provide a special funding package to support the acceleration of these efforts.
  • G) A high-level working group will be established, including the appointment of a leading global financial expert as the prosperity administrator to oversee the implementation of the strategic recovery plan and future prosperity.
  • 9. The creation of several funds to address the restoration of the Ukrainian economy, the reconstruction of damaged areas and regions, and humanitarian issues will be established. The aim is to mobilize $800 billion, the estimated cost of the damage from the Russian war.
  • 10. Ukraine will accelerate the process of negotiating a free trade agreement with the US.
  • 11. Ukraine reaffirms its commitment to remaining a non-nuclear state, in accordance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
  • 12. Control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the restoration of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.
  • 13. Ukraine and Russia will introduce school courses that promote understanding and tolerance of different cultures, fight racism and prejudice. Ukraine will approve EU rules on religious tolerance and minority language protection.
  • 14. In Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, the line of military positions on the date of signing will be recognized as the de facto front line.
  • A) To determine troop movements needed to end the war and set up potential “free economic zones,” with Russia withdrawing its troops from these areas.
  • B) Russia must withdraw its troops from occupied parts of Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts for the agreement to take effect.
  • C) International forces will be placed along the front line to monitor the agreement’s implementation.
  • D) The parties agree to follow the rules and obligations imposed by the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, including universal human rights.
  • 15. Russia and Ukraine commit to refraining from using force to alter territorial arrangements and will resolve any disputes through diplomatic means.
  • 16. Russia will not obstruct Ukraine’s use of the Dnipro River and the Black Sea for commercial purposes. A separate maritime agreement will ensure freedom of navigation and transport, with the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit being demilitarized.
  • 17. Establishment of a humanitarian committee that will ensure the following:
  • A) All-for-all prisoner exchange.
  • B) All detained civilians, including children and political prisoners, will be freed.
  • C) Actions will be taken to address the problems and alleviate the suffering of conflict victims.
  • 18. Ukraine must hold presidential elections as soon as possible after the deal is signed.
  • 19. The deal will be legally binding. Its implementation will be monitored by the Peace Council, chaired by US President Donald Trump. Ukraine, Europe, NATO, Russia, and the US will be part of this process. Violations will lead to sanctions.
  • 20. The ceasefire will take effect immediately once all parties agree to the deal.

    • UPDATE 0904 GMT:

    Russia’s shutdown of the Internet and blocking of messaging applications is hindering regional administration and causing public discontent.

    The Kremlin is trying to push residents onto the State-built Max messenger and has hinted that a full block of Telegram may be imminent.

    In late November, amid the initial shutdown of mobile Internet service in the Belgorod region in western Russia, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov posted, “This is disrupting part of the communications infrastructure we rely on here in the Belgorod region, above all for alerts and other safety functions.”

    Outages have affected St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Arkhangelsk, and other cities and regions across Russia since May.

    At the end of November, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor announced a full block on WhatsApp and continuing cutoff of Armenia’s Zangi app and Apple’s FaceTime.

    Regional officials note that many residents in their area rely exclusively on mobile Internet, and some communities — especially remote villages cut off from large cities by rivers or tundra — have no wired Internet at all.

    One official summarized:

    It’s wrecked people’s daily routines. Some people might shrug it off and stop using WhatsApp — even though plenty of people are unhappy about it being blocked — and switch to other ways of staying in touch. But when you can’t pay by card in a store or café, can’t call a taxi, can’t place an online order because the payment won’t go through, there’s no way to just ignore that.

    UPDATE 0837 GMT:

    The suspicious death of a militia leader has highlighted the in-fighting within the Russian establishment.

    Pjotr Sauer of The Guardian reports on the demise of Stanislav Orlov, the founder of the far-right Española formation of football hooligans and neo-Nazi volunteers fighting as volunteers in the invasion of Ukraine.

    Orlov perished more than two weeks ago. Despite an elaborate funeral in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the cause has not been officially reported.

    Kremlin-linked Russian sites and independent outlets say the militia leader was ambushed and shot at his home in Russian-occupied Crimea by the Kremlin’s security services.

    “Orlov’s death is yet another demonstrative elimination of radicals who have slipped out of control, following the same logic as the removal of Prigozhin,” says Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political analyst. The apparent killing was intended to serve as “a warning meant to discourage others from pursuing an independent path”.

    Española, which abruptly announced in October that it is disbanding with its units absorbed into the Russian army, said cautiously, “We cannot fail to note that many people are interested in the reasons for Spaniard’s [Orlov’s] death – and we are no less so.”

    UPDATE 0645 GMT:

    At least one civilian has been murdered and three injured by Russian strikes on 27 settlements on the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.

    Governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian forces carried out 17 major attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia and other areas such as Huliaipole.

    In the neighboring Kherson region,one person was killed and five others were injured over the past day. An apartment building, two private houses, a trolleybus network, and a private vehicle were damaged.

    UPDATE 0636 GMT:

    A Russian strike could collapse the internal radiation shelter at the defunct Chornobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine, the plant’s director has warned.

    Sergiy Tarakanov said full restoration of the shelter, damaged by Russian attacks, could take three to four years. He said the next assault could bring down the inner shell.

    If a missile or drone hits it directly, or even falls somewhere nearby – for example, an Iskander [short-range ballistic missile], God forbid – it will cause a mini-earthquake in the area.

    No one can guarantee that the shelter facility will remain standing after that. That is the main threat.

    After an inspection in late November, the The International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the steel confinement structure, built at a cost of €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion) next to the destroyed reactor, “had lost its primary safety functions”.

    ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the Trump Administration to help end Russia’s invasion, declaring, “We sense that America wants to reach a final agreement.”

    In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky assured, “Ukraine has never been, and will never be, an obstacle to peace.”

    He promoted the European-Ukrainian proposal for a ceasefire along current frontlines, security guarantees, and Ukraine’s reconstruction: “We are working actively and doing everything necessary to ensure that the documents come to fruition and that they are realistic.”

    He continued:

    The key is that Russia must not sabotage this diplomacy and must take ending the war 100% seriously. If it doesn’t, then additional pressure on Russia must follow. The world has all the instruments needed to make that pressure effective and ensure that peace is achieved.

    The Kremlin has rejected any ceasefire. Instead, it has demanded more Ukrainian territory and a permanent state of military and political weakness for the rest of the country.

    Trying to break Kyiv’s resistance, the Russians have escalated missile and drone strikes on civilian areas, particularly on energy infrastructure.

    Early Tuesday, Russia fired more than 650 drones and 30 missiles. At least three civilians were murdered, including a toddler.

    Zelensky commented:

    The Russians are trying to ruin this holiday, this sacred day. No surprise there.

    That’s the way their country is. That’s the kind of neighbor they are. It is vital that the world sees this and that it cannot be left unaddressed.

    Pope Leo XIV told reporters at his residence near Rome, “Among the things that cause me great sadness is the fact that Russia has apparently rejected a request for a truce.”

    He said, “I am renewing my request to all people of goodwill to respect a day of peace – at least on the feast of the birth of our saviour….I hope they will listen and there will be 24 hours of peace in the whole world.”