Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Paris, November 17, 2025 (Sarah Meyssonnier/AFP)

EA-Ukraine VideoCast: A Federov-Musk Scheme v. President Zelensky?

EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Could Kyiv Hit Russia With Ballistic Missiles By End of 2026?

Saturday’s Coverage: Russia Murders 20+ Civilians, Injures 130+ in Kryvyi Rih and Mykolaiv

UPDATE 1651 GMT:

Ukrainian drones have struck two Russian fighter jets, a large missile-carrying drone, high-value radars, and other air defense assets.

The commander of Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, said the Su-33 and the Mig-29 jets and the Orion strike drone were hit at the Vityazevo airfield in Krasnodar Krai in southwest Russia.

UPDATE 1645 GMT:

At least five people were murdered and at least 44 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 97 of 127 drones, but 27 struck 22 locations.

In the Zaporizhzhia region in southeast Ukraine, three people were killed and 20 injured.

In the Donetsk region in the east, two people were killed and five wounded.

Casualties were also reported in the Kherson, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

UPDATE 1625 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated that elections cannot be held during wartime.

Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, dismissed by Zelensky on July 15, called for a vote in an online video released last week.

The President told journalists on Sunday:

If we want to destroy the country, then during a war like this we can move toward elections.

Elections right now are a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine. My strategy is to bring the country to the end of the war and preserve an independent and sovereign state.

Ukraine’s Constitution bars elections during martial law.

Zelensky said some partners have called for a vote, but have not offered concrete conditions under which it could be conducted safely, legitimately, and democratically.

He noted that any election would have to include military personnel, residents of frontline areas, and millions of Ukrainians living abroad. It would have to ensure voters are protected from Russian attacks.

The President returned to the dismissal of Fedorov, which has sparked protests in Kyiv and other cities. He cited the serious ocnflict between the Defense Minister and Commander-in-Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was later replaced.

There cannot be a conflict at this level between the leaders. The Commander-in-Chief cannot work without the Defense Ministry and the Defense Minister, and the Defense Minister cannot work without the Commander-in-Chief. It is simply a catastrophe in a country at war.

He added, “Two weeks before the decision, I told them I was giving them an opportunity: meet yourselves, resolve it. They did not meet. It cannot work like that.”

Zelensky said he remained grateful to both Fedorov and Syrskyi for their work. He offered the former Defense Minister four different government roles after his dismissal, but Fedorov rejected them all.

In a Saturday interview, Fedorov declared widespread corruption within the Defense Ministry as he reiterated his call for elections.

There are many people who have built various schemes around their own interests, and they are essentially slowing down the adoption of the right decisions….

This isn’t about one person, two people, or just some top officials. We’re talking about hundreds of people who have simply become accustomed over the years to making money from the state budget. Corruption actually prevents us from ending the war from a position of strength.

Fedorov refrained from identifying any individuals, saying “Ukrainians will learn these names” through future law-enforcement recordings and press coverage.

Again calling for “the restoration of the democratic cycle”, he said of elections, “We need to prepare for its return….It is realistic, and we shouldn’t wait until some crisis happens and then desperately search for solutions.”

Asked if he had any ambition for the Presidency, Fedorov said, “I’ll decide whether to support someone, act independently, or not go any further at all.” He said his immediate plan is to work in the private sector through defense-industry related think tanks and teaching of university courses on reforms.

UPDATE 1158 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed a new operation targeting Russian ballistic missile launchers near the border.

Zelensky said the Ukrainian military struck an Iskander launcher on Saturday, without providing details.

The President described the attacks as an alternative tactic, given amid Ukraine’s lack of anti-ballistic missile interceptors.

UPDATE 0641 GMT:

Two civilians were murdered and several wounded by a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv on Saturday afternoon, as German Foreign Minister Johann Wadepuhl was visiting the capital.

The attack was on the Boryspil district, on the eastern outskirts of the city.

Wadepuhl pledged an additional €50 million ($58 million) in humanitarian support to help Ukrainians in frontline regions and to prepare for the coming winter.

UPDATE 0635 GMT:

On Saturday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted a US delegation led by Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s former envoy, to discuss the urgent need for air defense missiles.

Kellogg was pushed out by the Trump Administration in January in favor of envoys more sympathetic to the Kremlin, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

UPDATE 0628 GMT:

Ukraine has struck a logistics center of Russian online retailer Ozon for the second time in two days.

Ukrainian drones set afire the center in the city of Orenburg, around 1,000 km (620 miles) from the border, overnight.

The attacks are the first on Ozon, Russia’s second-largest online marketplace. Early Friday, Ukraine struck the company’s center in the Samara region.

Ozon is the main competitor to “Russia’s Amazon”, Wildberries, which has suffered billions in losses from Ukrainian attacks since mid-July.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: France’s President Emmanuel Macron has pledged assistance for Ukraine’s air defenses, as Kyiv faces its vulnerability to Russia’s ballistic missile strikes on energy infrastructure and other civilian sites.

After a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, Macron said Paris will speed up the delivery of missiles and other military equipment.

“It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression. I announced to President Zelensky the strengthening of our support, with the delivery of interceptors,” Macron posted.

Zelensky said Macron agreed to help Kyiv in its communications with international partners that possess Patriot air defense systems.

As Russia escalates the strikes, particularly on and near Kyiv, Zelensky has said that Ukraine has only 1/10th of the anti-ballistic missile capacity which it needs for the winter.

The Trump Administration has been unreliable as a source for assistance. The prospect of aid has been further dimmed by the Administration’s failing War on Iran, in which the US has expended more of its Patriot stocks.