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Russia’s war against Ukraine
Destroyed homes following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv on May 25, 2025. Russian attacks on Ukraine have intensified in recent days despite the two sides holding their first direct talks since 2022, in Istanbul on May 16. (Andrew Kravchenko / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
‘I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,’ says Trump as Russia unleashes 3rd consecutive attack on Ukraine. “I’ve always gotten along with him,” Trump said of Putin to reporters at an airport in New Jersey on May 25. “But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”
US silence ‘encourages Putin‘, Zelensky says after massive Russian attack. “Without really strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will definitely help,” Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram on May 25.
Ukraine brings home 303 POWs in final phase of biggest prisoner swap with Russia. The prisoner exchange took place in three phases carried out over three days, and was agreed on during peace talks held in Turkey on May 16, the first direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in three years.
Largest-ever Ukrainian-Russian prisoner swap comes under fire for lacking Azov fighters, civilians. As Kyiv completed its largest prisoner exchange of the war on May 25, exchanging 1,000 Ukrainian POWs for 1,000 Russians, some spoke out on social media to criticize authorities for failing to return certain captives.
Russia ‘categorically’ rejected unconditional ceasefire in peace talks, Ukrainian official says. “I do not think that (the Russian negotiating team’s) directives had a position that allowed for the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Ukrainian side on a ceasefire,” Kyslytsia said.
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Kyiv launches drone attack on Moscow, official claims, following Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine overnight. Several Ukrainian drones were downed by Russian air defenses on their approach to Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed on May 25. Sobyanin’s report comes following Russia’s large-scale missile and drone attack on multiple cities of Ukraine, which killed 12 people and injured 60.
Russian commander claims Putin’s helicopter was ‘at the epicenter’ of Ukrainian drone attack. “We were simultaneously engaged in an air defense battle and ensuring airspace security for the president’s helicopter flight,” Yury Dashkin, commander of an air defense division, said, as cited by the Russian news agency on May 25.
Russia upgrades Iskander ballistic missiles, more difficult for Ukraine’s Patriots to intercept, Air Force says. “It complicates (the interception), but doesn’t make the interception impossible,” Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said. “I think our partners are already working to improve the system’s capabilities.”
China supplying Russian military factories with chemicals, gunpowder, components, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence chief says. Beijing is supplying “special chemicals, gunpowder, and components” to 20 Russian military-industrial manufacturing facilities, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Ivashchenko said in an interview partially released on May 25.
Damage reported after train runs over explosive device in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, governor claims. A rail line was damaged in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast on May 25 after a cargo train ran over an explosive device planted underneath the tracks, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed.
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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine concludes 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap with Russia; Russian missile, drone attack kills 12, injures 79
Ukraine brought home 303 prisoners of war on May 25 in the final phase of a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange with Russia. The prisoner exchange, agreed upon during peace talks in Turkey on May 16, was carried out in three phases over three days.
Photo: Francis Farrell / The Kyiv Independent
Human cost of Russia’s war
Russian missile, drone attack kills 12, injures 79. Russia launched 69 missiles overnight and 298 drones, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
2 women killed in Russian strike on residential building in Kupiansk. “At this moment, two people are known to have died – women aged 85 and 56,” Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.
Over 109,600 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation. Since the last update in early May, the confirmed death toll of Russian soldiers has risen by at least 2,009 people.
Russia advancing and ex-official assassination | Ukraine This Week
International response
‘Ceasefire now‘ — Trump’s Ukraine envoy reacts to Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine. “The indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect innocents. These attacks are shameful,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said on X without explicitly naming Russia.
Russians ‘mock’ US and peace process with latest attacks on Ukraine, EU ambassador says. “How will the world react to Putin’s terror and clear provocation? To his mockery of any ceasefire discussion? I must admit, I ask that myself,” Mathernova wrote. “Putin is clearly after his stated goal, killing Ukrainians and forcing Ukraine into submission. Sadly, the only language he understands is the language of force.”
‘Putin is not interested in peace’ — German FM calls for additional sanctions following large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not interested in peace, he wants to continue this war, and we must not allow this, which is why the European Union will agree on additional sanctions,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on May 25.
Germany sets 2029 deadline to fully arm military amid fears of Russian threat, Reuters reports. NATO is expected to ask Berlin to at least quadruple its air defense systems, ranging from long-range platforms such as the Patriot to short-range interceptors, according to Reuters.
In other news
Zelensky enacts new sanctions targeting propagandists, criminal networks, Russian financiers. “Ukraine continues to coordinate its sanction decisions with the sanction regimes of the European Union and other key global jurisdictions,” Zelensky said.
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