Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Publicly at odds with Trump over sanctions and Starlink limits; says Kyiv got no early warning of new strikes

Russia has spent four years attacking Ukraine's power grid, and the pace has not slowed. From Oct. 19 to Oct. 21, it carried out about 60 targeted strikes on energy and oil and gas facilities. The attacks damaged infrastructure in the Rivne, Volyn, Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions and hit western Ukraine.

Updated 20 minutes ago

Says Washington is deliberately delaying interceptors Europe bought for Ukraine; says early warning from partners resumed after a call with Rubio

Ukraine is down to about two Patriot interceptor missiles, from 10 on October 7, a Ukrainian official told The Washington Post. Russian strikes overnight into October 20 killed at least four people in Kyiv.

Updated 18 hours ago

Blamed Russia for attacks on ships off Romania and Bulgaria

NATO ambassadors met in Brussels on October 20 and said the alliance would send more surveillance, reconnaissance and forensic support to the Black Sea, after drone attacks on cargo ships reached Romanian and Bulgarian waters. At least seven commercial vessels have been hit since October 5, and 27 sailors are dead or missing, according to the Carnegie Endowment.

Updated Yesterday

Leading Ukraine as U.S. support frays; says strikes on Russia will continue

On June 1, 2025, Ukraine's Security Service flew 117 drones smuggled into Russia in truck cabins and struck four air bases, gutting Russia's strategic bomber force. Sixteen months on, the toll is still disputed: the SBU claims 41 aircraft hit, while U.S. officials say up to 20, about 10 destroyed.

Updated 2 days ago

Said Russia hit Ukrainian energy sites 76 times since the Oct 11 truce and that Kyiv got no early warning of the Oct 19 barrage

Since early December 2025, the war has featured intensified winter ground operations in Kharkiv and Donetsk alongside massive drone and missile campaigns targeting each side's war economies. Russia's February 16-17 barrage of 425 drones and 29 missiles coincided with Geneva talks that concluded February 18 with limited military progress but no political breakthroughs on territorial compromises or security guarantees. Zelenskyy deemed the outcomes 'not sufficient' and requested a follow-up meeting later in February.

Updated 2 days ago

Announced FP-7's first combat use

Ukraine's first combat launch of its FP-7 ballistic missile succeeded, military expert Pavlo Narozhnyi said, because Russian S-400 air defenses failed to intercept it. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the October 1 strike but has not said what it hit.

Updated 2 days ago

Warned that siding with Putin would be a 'historic mistake'; called the waiver 'a financial reward for Putin'

President Trump signed a law in September that would hit Russian goods with 500% tariffs and tax the countries that buy the most Russian oil. On October 16, he waived most of it, two days before it was set to take effect, saying the move keeps Russia at the bargaining table.

Updated 2 days ago

Criticized the sanctions waiver and diesel deal, and engaged in a public row with Trump over energy attacks

On October 9 Trump announced Russia would supply up to 4.8 million tons of diesel, and Treasury issued a license allowing imports through April 2027. On October 16, he signed an executive order waiving the Lindsey Graham Act sanctions he had signed into law in September, calling the move "in the national interests of the United States."

Updated 3 days ago

Ended Ukraine's pause on refinery strikes Oct. 15 after Russia hit Ukraine's grid, telling the Financial Times 'We're done'; called Trump's waiver of the Graham sanctions act wrong on Oct. 17.

Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones into Russia overnight Oct. 17-18, setting the St Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot ablaze in one of the war's largest aerial attacks. One person died and several were hurt; Russian air defenses said they shot down 1,015 drones over 15 regions.

Updated 3 days ago

Welcomed Trump's 'energy ceasefire' on October 11 while reporting Russian strikes on Ukraine's grid continued; said Ukraine could hold elections under a 60-day ceasefire

Ukrainian drones knocked out three of Yandex's five data centers between October 8 and 11. All three AI supercomputers went down, disrupting taxi, banking, music and cloud services used by millions in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia. Yandex moved customers to rival clouds, waived fees through the end of October, and reports say repairs could take months.

Updated 3 days ago

Facing US pressure over diesel deal and Trump's call for his replacement

Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi reclaimed 100 square kilometers in Donetsk in its fourth phase, bringing total gains to 275 sq km and 16 settlements since August. The advance came as President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports and, on October 17, called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's replacement, a major escalation in US pressure on Kyiv.

Updated 3 days ago

Denounces the waiver as rewarding Putin

Drafted by the late Lindsey Graham and signed into law September 18, the Graham Act lets Trump tariff the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil or natural gas up to 100%. Senate aides identify China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan as the top crude buyers.

Updated 3 days ago

Declared Ukraine was 'done' with the energy ceasefire, resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries, and accused the US of withdrawing intelligence-sharing

Ukraine and Russia resumed attacks on each other's energy infrastructure this week, and the US-brokered ceasefire has collapsed. Russia sent a record swarm of drones across nine regions, cutting power to hundreds of thousands, while Ukraine struck an oil refinery in the Ryazan region.

Updated 5 days ago

Rallying support in Brussels; called himself 'betrayed' by Trump

Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi pushed Russian forces back 277 square kilometers in the Donbas. It freed 16 settlements and collapsed an attempted Russian pincer around the fortress cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Updated 5 days ago

Pressing allies for more air-defense interceptors as Russian strikes on ports and energy infrastructure continue

Russia and Ukraine kept striking each other's grain ports through the fall. After the August attacks on Izmail and Novorossiysk, the Black Sea grain trade nearly stopped. Ukraine's grain exports fell 76% in the first two weeks of August from a year earlier, and wheat prices hit $8 a bushel, the highest in three and a half years.

Updated 5 days ago

Leading Ukraine's defense amid ongoing energy strikes into late Feb 2026 (incl. Feb 17,26 ahead of Geneva talks); warned of imminent attacks and condemned as terror

The energy war continued through 2026. In February, Russia launched repeated strikes on Ukraine's grid ahead of peace talks, cutting power to millions. In October, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire collapsed after Moscow struck Ukrainian energy sites hours after agreeing to pause. Ukraine responded by hitting the Ryazan oil refinery, its first strike on Russian energy infrastructure since the truce.

Updated 5 days ago

Offered to halt strikes on Russian refineries if Russia stops attacking Ukraine's energy grid; pressing allies for more Patriot systems

Rescue work in Zaporizhzhia ended October 11 with 23 dead from the strike on an apartment building, including four children. That evening, eight more glide bombs hit residential districts. A 71-year-old woman died and 31 people were hurt, per regional chief Ivan Fedorov.

Updated Oct 13

Leading wartime government; reported fresh Russian strikes on power plants hours after Trump's energy ceasefire claim; called the strikes a response to Putin's refusal to stop the war.

On October 11, hours after President Donald Trump claimed Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire, Moscow struck power plants in Kyiv and Kharkiv, causing blackouts. Russian drones also hit a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 23 people, including four children. Zelensky said Russia had carried out 196 strikes on Ukrainian electrical infrastructure in the week ending October 11.

Updated Oct 12

Announced the POW transfer at the UN General Assembly on Sept 23, 2026; Ukraine denied making a non-disclosure deal

Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly on Sept 23 that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. Seoul says the disclosure broke a secrecy deal, and it has demanded an apology and recalled its ambassador from Kyiv.

Updated Oct 10

In office; promised a response to the strike

A Russian glide bomb killed at least 33 people on two buses at a Kramatorsk bus stop on October 8, regional officials said. The toll rose from an initial 30. Governor Vadym Filashkin suspended all public transport in Kramatorsk and neighboring Slovyansk, saying the buses were targeted to kill as many civilians as possible.

Updated Oct 10

Accused US of inaction; confirmed Ukrainian negotiators will meet Trump envoys later this week; said at least 78 civilians killed in last 48 hours

Russian strikes killed at least 78 civilians in two days, including a glide-bomb attack on buses in Kramatorsk that killed at least 30. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a negotiated settlement is "currently unattainable" because Russia insists on full control of Donetsk Oblast.

Updated Oct 8

Hosted the Carpathian summit and welcomed Poland into the coalition

Poland sat out the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition when it launched in July. On September 18, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Poland had joined, ending a two-month gap that Warsaw attributed to "a certain misunderstanding."

Updated Sep 21

Met with US envoys in Kyiv

President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for their first official visit to Ukraine. The trip came a day after a three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, part of a renewed push to end a war now in its fifth year.

Updated Sep 7

Called for more air defense support after the attack on his hometown

Two Russian drones hit the largest shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih on a Friday afternoon, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 130. The second drone arrived about 30 minutes after the first, when rescue crews were already pulling people from the rubble — a tactic known as a double-tap strike.

Updated Aug 23

Confirmed and defended the Caspian strikes

For five months, the 2026 Iran war stayed in the south — the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf. On July 25, Ukrainian drones struck cargo ships more than 1,000 miles north, in the Caspian Sea.

Updated Jul 26

Ordered the command reshuffle

Ukraine changed the general running its war. On July 22, President Volodymyr Zelensky named Mykhailo Drapatyi, a 43-year-old combat commander, to replace 60-year-old Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Updated Jul 22

Leading the Freyja push inside the new coalition

A single Patriot interceptor costs about $3.8 million, and the US makes only so many each year. On July 14, 2026, Ukraine and nine European countries agreed to build their own, cheaper alternative and share the factories that make them.

Updated Jul 14

Rejecting Russia's capture claim

Russia says it holds Kostiantynivka. Ukraine says its troops are still fighting inside the city. On July 5, 2026, Russia's Defense Ministry offered a six-hour truce there for July 6 to hand back the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers. Kyiv rejected the offer.

Updated Jul 5

Pursuing deep-strike campaign against Russian refineries as strategic leverage before winter; condemned Russia's July 2 Kyiv bombardment as deliberate escalation

On June 29, Putin publicly acknowledged that Ukrainian drone strikes are causing fuel shortages across Russia—the first time the Kremlin has detailed the campaign's domestic toll. Russia responded two days later with a barrage of 74 missiles and 496 drones that killed at least 21 people in Kyiv, Moscow citing the oil infrastructure attacks as justification.

Updated Jul 2

Building the Drone Deal buyer network that exports now depend on

Ukraine's arms makers now build more weapons than their own government can afford to buy. On July 1, 2026, the Cabinet approved the first formal procedure to sell that surplus abroad, ending a de facto export freeze in place since Russia's full-scale invasion.

Updated Jul 2

Reported 216 drones fired as truce expired; prisoner exchange not completed; proposed extending truce and an 'airport truce'; both rejected by Russia

The Trump-brokered three-day ceasefire expired at midnight on May 12, and Russia launched 216 attack drones at Ukraine within hours. Ukrainian air defenses neutralized 192 of them. At least one person was killed in Dnipropetrovsk, and debris set fire to a 16-storey residential building in Kyiv's Obolon district.

Updated May 31

Secured defense pacts with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar; expanding drone exports, weapons swaps, and ceasefire leverage across Gulf

Russia began bombing Ukrainian cities with Iranian-made Shahed drones in October 2022. Over three and a half years later, Ukraine has transformed that threat into an exportable edge: low-cost interceptor drones, as cheap as $2,100 each, now handling over 70% of Shahed kills.

Updated May 30

Facing energy ultimatums from two EU neighbors while managing wartime electricity crisis

For decades, Russian oil flowed west through the Druzhba pipeline and European electricity flowed east into Ukraine's war-battered grid. That exchange collapsed after a Russian drone strike knocked out the pipeline's main Ukrainian pumping station on January 27. Slovakia and Hungary, the last European Union members importing Russian crude through the pipeline, then escalated from halting diesel exports to threatening Ukraine's electricity supply.

Updated May 29

Pressed for EU accession timeline at Munich

For six decades, the Munich Security Conference is the West's main annual defense gathering. On February 15, 2026, the 62nd edition closed with NATO allies announcing military commitments—including Britain's Operation Firecrest Arctic carrier deployment—as tensions with Washington and Trump's April China visit loom.

Updated May 29

Pressing for progress on peace negotiations amid US deadline

For seventy-five years, the transatlantic alliance operated on a simple premise: America leads, Europe follows, and collective defense binds them together. That arrangement is being renegotiated: at the Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2026, European leaders gather not to coordinate with Washington but to assess how much they can still count on it.

Updated May 29

Visited Kupiansk frontline in December 2025

Russian forces have spent more than two years trying to recapture Kupiansk, a railway hub they lost in five days during Ukraine's 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive. On February 9, 2026, they launched a mechanized assault east of the city, claiming to have captured Petropavlivka and Stepova Novoselivka, though Ukrainian forces said they repelled multiple attacks there.

Updated May 27

Active; leading sanctions policy coordination with Western allies

Ukraine first passed sanctions legislation in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. Twelve years and a full-scale invasion later, Kyiv is targeting the cryptocurrency networks and third-country shell companies that funnel billions of dollars to Russian missile factories. On February 8, 2026, President Zelenskyy signed decrees sanctioning 128 individuals and 97 legal entities—including the A7 crypto ecosystem, which Ukrainian officials say processed billions for weapons procurement.

Updated May 27

Pursuing domestic weapons production and European defense partnerships

Poland has delivered over 300 tanks, 14 fighter jets, and more than €4.5 billion in military equipment to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. On February 5-6, 2026, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a letter of intent in Kyiv to establish joint production lines for weapons, ammunition, and drones. The agreement, backed by EU SAFE programme funding and Polish government credits, shifts from emergency wartime aid to institutionalized defense industry integration on both sides of the border.

Updated May 27

Delivered scathing critique of European inaction

This year's World Economic Forum (the first in 55 years without founder Klaus Schwab) became an emergency diplomatic summit when Trump's tariff threats over Greenland drew record attendance from 60+ heads of state. By week's end, a NATO 'framework deal' had defused the immediate crisis, and Canadian PM Mark Carney declared to applause from European and middle-power leaders that the U.S.-led rules-based order is over.

Updated May 22

Potential Trump meeting and $800B deal signing unconfirmed; White House says 'no bilateral meetings scheduled' at Davos

For 55 years, the World Economic Forum at Davos was neutral ground where adversaries brokered deals. This year, 65 heads of state and nearly 3,000 leaders arrived just 48 hours after Trump announced 10% tariffs on eight European allies. The tariffs escalate to 25% by June unless Denmark agrees to sell Greenland.

Updated May 22

Leading peace negotiations while criticizing European hesitancy and finalizing security guarantees

For nearly three years after Russia's 2022 invasion, Ukraine relied on American satellites and signals intelligence for roughly 75-80% of its battlefield awareness, but in ten months France claims to have replaced most of that. President Macron announced on January 15, 2026, that France now provides two-thirds of Ukraine's intelligence—a restructuring forced by Washington's March 2025 decision to suspend most intelligence sharing as leverage in peace negotiations. Yet Macron's assertion contradicts Ukraine's own intelligence officials: the former GUR chief stated in December 2025 that the US remained the key provider, and concerns about US intelligence leaks to Moscow have reportedly chilled Kyiv's information sharing with Washington.

Updated May 21

Leading emergency response to energy crisis

Ukraine started the war with 38 GW of power generation capacity; 28 months of Russian strikes cut that to 11 GW. Winter demand hit 18 GW on January 15, 2026. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal told parliament on January 16 that 'not a single power plant left in Ukraine' has escaped Russian attack.

Updated May 21

Confirmed second-tranche preparations underway; authorized retaliatory drone strikes on Russia May 17

Russia and Ukraine each handed back 205 prisoners on May 15, the first tranche of a 1,000-for-1,000 swap Donald Trump brokered in early May. Zelenskyy said on May 16 that work on the next round's prisoner lists is ongoing. The swap is still the only deliverable from months of US-led talks.

Updated May 20

Intensifying air defense appeals; preparing for continued trilateral negotiations

After nearly four years of war, Ukraine's allies are rushing to finalize security commitments amid persistent Russian military pressure and a critical air defense gap. In January 2026, the Coalition of the Willing's Paris summit produced a 35-country declaration backing US-led ceasefire monitoring and British and French pledges to station 15,000 troops in military hubs post-ceasefire.

Updated May 18

Leading war effort and peace negotiations, term extended indefinitely under martial law

On December 28, President Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced 90% agreement on a revised 20-point peace framework at Mar-a-Lago. The next day Russia claimed Ukraine attacked Putin's residence with drones—a charge Kyiv denies, calling it fabricated to sabotage talks. The alleged attack exposes how fragile negotiations are: while diplomats inch toward compromise, the shadow war continues and Moscow weaponizes accusations to 'toughen' its bargaining position. The real question after nearly four years of invasion is whether either side will stop fighting long enough to sign a deal.

Updated May 16

Offering to abandon NATO membership bid in exchange for legally binding guarantees

Zelensky just did something he once treated as untouchable: he offered to drop Ukraine's NATO bid. Not as surrender, but as a trade—Kyiv gives up the alliance path, and the West gives Ukraine legally binding protection strong enough to scare Moscow off for good.

Updated May 15

Leading wartime government; pressing allies for air defense and leverage in talks

Ukrainian officials say more than 450 drones and about 30 missiles hit energy and port infrastructure overnight. Odesa and surrounding areas went dark.

Updated May 15

Leading Ukraine’s negotiating position; publicly rejecting territorial concessions

In early 2025, Trump launched an aggressive push to "end the war" in Ukraine. He tied resumed military aid and intelligence sharing to Kyiv's acceptance of a U.S.-drafted peace framework that includes territorial concessions to Russia and long-term limits on Ukraine's sovereignty.

Updated May 10

Ukrainian president balancing domestic constraints with intensive diplomacy; reports 90% agreement on peace framework

By late December 2025, the controversial 28-point plan was replaced by a revised 20-point framework. Zelenskyy said it was '90 percent agreed' with Washington, with '100 percent' consensus on U.S.–Ukraine security guarantees.

Updated May 10

Key stakeholder under pressure in U.S.–Russia–Ukraine peace talks

In early December 2025, the Trump administration published a National Security Strategy abandoning Russia as a primary threat, emphasizing 'flexible realism,' reviving the Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere, and seeking a negotiated Ukraine peace while re-establishing stability with Moscow. Within days, the Kremlin praised the strategy, saying it 'corresponds in many ways' with Russia's worldview and welcoming the shift from treating Russia as a direct adversary.

Updated May 10

Negotiating under military pressure but rejecting formal territorial concessions

In late 2025, U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine was "really, really close." Two disputes remain: the fate of Donbas, especially Ukrainian-held areas in Donetsk, and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (Russia-occupied and the largest in Europe).

Updated May 10

Declares formal energy emergency and demands accelerated Western support as grid deteriorates to 60% capacity

Since October 2022, Russia has waged a parallel war on Ukraine's electricity, heating and transport systems, launching repeated waves of missiles and drones at power plants, high-voltage substations, rail hubs and ports. The campaign intensified in winter 2025–26 with near-daily barrages. These destroyed 70% of generating capacity, forced a formal energy emergency on January 15, 2026, and left the grid meeting only 60% of national electricity needs amid temperatures as low as minus 20°C.

Updated May 10