Amy B. Zegart
Russian troops have regained control of about 64% of the territory in Kursk Oblast captured by Ukraine, senior Russian General Staff officer Sergei Rudsky said in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry newspaper published on Feb. 20.
Ukraine …
European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Kyiv on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war, Costa announced on Feb. 20.
Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced …
Europe urgently needs to rearm. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the broader threat that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime poses to Europe, requires nothing less. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has also now made clear that …
Moscow is worried about recent discussions by NATO countries about a potential deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, the pro-Kremlin news agency Interfax reported on Feb. 20.
Peskov made the statement in …
A Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) operation was behind the detonations of goggles for first-person-view (FPV) drones used by Russian soldiers, a HUR source told the Kyiv Independent on Feb. 20.
The news comes after Russian pro-war Telegram …
The Russian munitions carrier Maia-1 passed the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea as it is likely heading for the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea, the Open Source Center (OSC) research group said on Feb. 19.
This would mark the first …
On the Kursk direction, Russian troops attacked in the area of Sverdlovka, Pogrebki, Cherkasskya Konopelka, Kurilovka, and attempted to advance east of Sverdlovka, southeast of Cherkasskya Konopelka, and north of Fanaseevka.
On the Kharkiv direction, …
Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s gas infrastructure in a mass drone and missile attack overnight on Feb. 20, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure with missiles and drones over …
The Trump administration may try to push through a simplified initial version of the U.S.-Ukraine deal on natural resources extraction, with details to be sorted out at a later date, Reuters reported on Feb. 20, citing two undisclosed sources.
The …
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Russia holds “the cards” in any peace talks with Ukraine as they occupy a significant part of Ukrainian territory, the BBC reported on Feb. 20.
“I think the Russians want to see the war end, I …
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will present U.S. President Donald Trump with a plan to deploy up to 30,000 European troops in Ukraine backed by U.S. firepower, the Telegraph reported on Feb. 19, citing undisclosed Western officials.
Starmer and …
Verification within Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program
Kremlin media are spreading a statement allegedly made by Finnish military journalist Kosti Heiskanen. In an interview with a Russian outlet, he claimed that Ukraine is supposedly …
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least five civilians and injured at least 17 over the past day, regional authorities reported on Feb. 20.
Three people were killed and 10 injured in Russian attacks against Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym …
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 19 that he aims to “resurrect” talks on the agreement for the extraction of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, CNN reported shortly after the U.S. president accused his Ukrainian counterpart of …
A number of European leaders on Feb. 19 reaffirmed their support for President Volodymyr Zelensky after U.S. President Donald Trump accused him of being a “dictator” and espousing false claims about Ukraine.
“Ukraine has been …
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Fox News reported on Feb. 19.
The three leaders will discuss peace negotiations prospects to end Russia’s …
Russia has lost 863,580 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Feb. 20.
This number includes 1,190 casualties Russian forces suffered just over …
Sanctions against Russia remain a key tool of international pressure, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna said on Feb. 19.
“The majority of sanctions, including almost all sovereign assets of the Russian Federation, are …
A district court in Kemerovo Oblast has issued Russia’s first prison sentence under the country’s ban on the so-called “international LGBT movement,” independent Russian outlet Mediazona reported on Feb. 19.
The individual, who had been serving a …
The Belarusian company Agroproduct has been using raw materials from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast to produce rapeseed oil, which it then exported to the European Union.
Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's approval rating plummet to 4 percent, as of February 2025? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no publicly available poll confirming the figure voiced by President Donald Trump on February 18, 2025. …
Oil prices remained near a one-week high on Feb. 19 as concerns over supply disruptions in Russia and the U.S. continued to drive the market. Traders are also closely watching developments on potential sanctions relief, as Washington attempts to …
