“Ukraine – Russia”

Vasyl Malyuk, architect of high-risk operations deep inside Russia, is moved aside after a power struggle and the political fallout from a corruption inquiry

The spy who led some of Ukraine’s most daring operations of the war has been forced to resign by President Zelensky as part of the fallout of a corruption scandal.

Vasyl Malyuk, head of the domestic security services known as the SBU, spent the weekend fighting for his position after the president made it known that he intended to redeploy him.

During a meeting with Zelensky on Saturday, the spymaster apparently refused to stand down. He was supported by several senior figures within the Ukrainian military and security establishment who publicly warned the president against his removal, arguing that it could weaken the country’s war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has named spy chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff, just over a month after his previous top aide resigned in a corruption row.

“At this time, Ukraine needs greater focus on security issues,” Zelensky said in a social media post, alongside a photo of his meeting with Gen Budanov in Kyiv.

The 39-year-old has until now led the Hur military intelligence, which has claimed a number of highly effective strikes against Russia.

Throughout the past year, correspondents for The Times have travelled the length and breadth of Ukraine to report on the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. With a new president in the White House, shifts on the battlefield and political crises in Kyiv, it has been perhaps the most consequential year since 2022. Here are some reflections from our writers on moments that stayed with them from the past year and what they may mean for the future.

A battlefield encounter between a Ukrainian drone and a Russian soldier on horseback ended in victory for modern weaponry over centuries-old tactics.

Russia’s invasion has seen technological advances that have changed the nature of warfare, from the ubiquitous use of drones to hypersonic missiles.

Yet Russia’s shortage of military vehicles means that some of President Putin’s troops are trying to use horses to avoid getting stuck in the mud as they launch assaults on Ukrainian lines.

Related …

Absolute must watch for the crowd saying taxpayers billions to Ukraine and sanctions have Russia backed into a corner. Watch this reality check from Niall Ferguson

"Russian real wages have risen 22% since the war began. Unemployment simply doesn't exist. Disposable income is up… pic.twitter.com/AIwsRiQGsf

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) December 30, 2025

Russia, the US and Ukraine agree that a deal on ending almost four years of full-scale war is edging closer but, in the words of President Donald Trump, “one or two very thorny, very tough issues” remain.

Two of the trickiest issues in Washington’s 20-point plan involve territory and the fate of Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

The Kremlin agrees with Trump that negotiations are “at a final stage”, and Zelensky’s next step is to meet European leaders in France on 6 January, but any one of the sticking points could jeopardise a deal.

IT IS the season of peace on earth and goodwill to all. The Holy Land is indeed more tranquil than it’s been for a while, although it’s just one murderous outrage from yet another battle in the series of wars that have continued since the United Nations created the State of Israel.

Then there is Ukraine, now approaching the fifth year of its war with Russia, another conflict where an irresistible force has encountered an immovable object. The search for a solution is as elusive as it is in the Middle East. Until one can be found the body count, destruction and hatred continue to rise.

The US has offered Ukraine security guarantees for 15 years, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, during talks on a revised peace plan with Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.

The US president said an agreement on this point was “close to 95%” done, but Ukraine’s leader has since said he would like guarantees for up to 50 years.

President Zelensky outlined territorial issues and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as the last unresolved matters, with little said on the future of Ukraine’s contested Donbas region.

Oops …

Zelensky makes PERFECTLY choreographed entrance in Canada

Meeting PM Carney before Trump

Staff shouting ‘READY? READY?’

All smiles for the cameras pic.twitter.com/KeL6Ntol97

— RT (@RT_com) December 27, 2025

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has given a positive assessment of a conversation he had with US envoys on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Zelensky said Thursday’s call with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which lasted nearly an hour, had yielded “new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and… timing on how to bring a real peace closer”. He added later that he would hold another meeting with President Donald Trump “in the near future”.

Earlier this week Zelensky gave details of an updated 20-point peace plan, agreed by US and Ukrainian envoys in Florida.