Russia Ukraine war latest: Moscow claims capture of towns in east as six dead in overnight attacks – UK Times

Just over 70 per cent of Ukrainians support gradual Nato accession akin to West Germany’s model, a survey by the Kyiv-based New Europe Center showed.

This invitation would cover Ukraine, but the alliance’s defensive umbrella would only extend to occupied territories after liberation.

Different Nato accession pathways are gaining traction in both the West and Kyiv as Russia holds a military advantage on the battlefield and the prospect of liberating occupied territories militarily remains slim.

Officials in Kyiv are warning the incoming Trump administration that it would be a catastrophic mistake to force negotiations between Ukraine and Russia before Ukrainian forces have gained the territorial advantage on the battlefield.

“The bottom line is that there are no simple, quick decisions to be made here,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky. “The initiative has to be controlled. It must not be given away to Russia.”

The war-time president’s aides have said that failure to make Vladimir Putin “feel pain” before negotiating would embolden the Russian president, weaken Ukraine and ultimately damage the West’s reputation and interests.

Mr Podolyak said 46 per cent of the Russian refinery sector, a key sector of Russia’s economy, is under attack from Ukraine and several key Russian military infrastructure are also being hit.

“We need to be able to keep up this kind of pressure if we are to enter negotiations from a position of strength. Only if Russia is suffering losses will it be willing to negotiate meaningfully,” he said.

Russia’s casualties mounted to a record high of 434,000 in 2024, with 150,000 deaths, Ukraine’s commander in chief of the armed forces said.

The toll is higher than the previous two years combined, he said.

“By our calculations, total [Russian] losses amounted to over 434,000 personnel, of whom approximately 150,000 were killed in 2024 alone,” Ukraine commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrski told a Ukrainian TV channel TSN yesterday. “This year of combat has cost them more than the previous two years of the war combined,” he said.

Russia has lost nearly 819,000 of its soldiers, including those killed, captured or wounded since the start of the invasion. Of these 1,580 casualties were reported in the past day.

Serge in his blue anorak, Olena in her black faux fur jacket – an inconspicuous couple on a trip in Kyiv to show their daughter the capital they did so much to save three years ago.

Their clandestine work as part of self-starting groups of volunteers, heroic by the standards of any war, turned back two invading Russian convoys as they converged on Kyiv in 2022. Serge and a small group of comrades, veterans of Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, took on Putin’s invaders in hit-and-run raids using pickup trucks and weapons they found in a warehouse in Sumy province.

Now Donald Trump is threatening to turn the course of history against Ukraine, by cutting US military support to the embattled nation. This could ultimately allow Vladimir Putin to hang on to the 20 per cent of the country Russia has already taken as part of a future peace deal forced on Kyiv.

Ukrainian air defences shot down 43 out of 61 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack that targeted nine regions across Ukraine, the air force said.

It said that 15 other drones were “lost”, in reference to Kyiv using electronic warfare to redirect them.

No major damage or casualties were immediately reported by officials.

Trump heads into the White House thoroughly puffed up by his role in securing the Gaza ceasefire, writes World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley. His allies and enemies around the world will now be plotting to exploit his vanity further