Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 5, 2026
Sunday’s Coverage: Kyiv Strikes 1,550+ Miles Inside Russia
UPDATE 1544 GMT:
President Volodymyr Zelensky says US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the delivery of US-made Patriot air defense interceptors from NATO members to Ukraine.
“We have been waiting for nearly a month for Mr. Hegseth to sign off on missiles for Patriots and NASAMS [rocket systems],” Zelensky wrote. “I instructed our team to raise this with the American side once again. Conversations with other countries are also ongoing.”
The US must give permission for the transfer of Patriots. Hegseth and his Undersecretary of State Elbridge Colby have previously blocked US supplies, including those authorized by the Biden Administration, to Ukraine.
UPDATE 1341 GMT:
Germany is equipping its armed forces with low-cost cruise missiles developed in Ukraine.
German authorities are expected to complete a deal in the coming weeks for an initial batch of the Bars missile for testing. The missile is a jet-powered weapon with a range of up to 1,000 km (620 miles) and a payload of up to 105 kg (231 pounds).
The initial purchase would allow the military to conduct technical trials early next year, potentially paving the way for a larger order of several hundred if the results are satisfactory.
UPDATE 1051 GMT:
Russia’s Digital Development Ministry has proposed building data centers underground, camouflaged from the air and fitted with drone defenses, following several Ukrainian drone attacks.
Guidelines for existing, planned, and under-construction facilities outline the protection standards for three tiers of data centers.
The top tier includes strategic sites whose loss could disrupt key state functions for an hour or more. The second tier includes sites supporting regionally or economically important systems, where outages could last four hours or more. The third tier covers corporate data centers whose damage would not have wider consequences for the state.
Ukrainian drones struck three Yandex data centers, a Sberbank facility under construction, and a data center belonging to social media giant VK between October 8 and October 18.
Around 80% of Russia’s data centers are concentrated in Moscow and the surrounding region, within reach of Ukrainian long-range drones.
UPDATE 1045 GMT:
At least two civilians have been murdered and 35 wounded by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
In the Donetsk region in the east, at least one person was killed and 10 injured.
In the Kharkiv region in the south, at least one person was slain and eight wounded.
Casualties were also recorded in the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions.
UPDATE 0727 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 112 of 140 drones, including 56 of 70 jet-powered UAVs, and three missiles launched by Russia overnight. Strikes were recorded at 15 locations.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Kremlin says it will join talks with Ukraine, including the US, after the American midterm elections and Russia’s National Unity Day on November 4.
Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told State outlet Vesti on Sunday, “The next deadline is now November 4, our major holiday. After that, we will be ready to resume negotiations.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said last Friday that the trilateral talks, the first since February, are expected in the first half of November. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi is a possible venue.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected proposals for a ceasefire on current frontlines, as it seeks more Ukrainian territory and the weakness of the rest of the country.
Zelensky: We Must Have Security Guarantees
Zelensky reiterated on Sunday that security guarantees “cannot be dictated by the Russian side”, and “restrictions on our army and Ukraine’s neutrality are not up for discussion”.
He added that the forthcoming talks cannot force Ukraine’s surrender of territory, notably the rest of the Donetsk region in the east of the country. He pushed aside the proposal of Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, that Ukraine could give up Donetsk for minor Russian concessions over their occupation of parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.
The territorial issue is a red line that can only be discussed at the level of leaders.
Everyone must understand. First, we are not exchanging anything for anything.
Zelenskyy:
We are ready for trilateral talks between technical teams,which must produce concrete results
The Americans asked me, "What specific results do you want?"I said, "Look,can the war end in November during a meeting of the technical teams?"Without the leaders, it won't be completely over.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) October 25, 2026 at 9:01 PM
The President challenged recent moves by Donald Trump — purchases of Russian diesel fuel and refusal to implement sanctions passed by the US Congress last month — that undermine economic restrictions on Russia.
When we talk about Russia’s loyalty, we should not buy it at such a price. Because without sanctions, we could find ourselves in a trilateral dialogue where we still do not know what will happen next, but the sanctions have already been lifted. And who will have the strength we had at the beginning of the war to impose all those sanctions again?
While pursuing a trilateral leaders’ meeting, Zelensky called for ceasefires of attacks on energy infrastructure, ports, and shipping.
“If this is just a political trick and Putin is simply saying, “Yes, I’m ready,” because he does not want escalation with America before the elections — then we will see very quickly in November whether it was a trick or not.
He called on partners to speed up supply of air defense interceptors, noting that in the past week, “Russia has launched about 1,600 guided bombs, 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, and almost 2,300 strike drones at Ukraine”.
