UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
❗️The death toll from the Russian strike in Ternopil has risen to 25, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Another 73 people were injured.
The European Commission proposes three ways to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine — Reuters.
A letter sent to EU member states by EC President Ursula von der Leyen suggests that the Russian-Ukrainian war could end in 2026.
However, the financial gap in support for Ukraine in 2026–2027 remains “very significant.”
On November 13, the EC transferred the last €4.1 billion to Ukraine under the ERA Loans program, which is repaid using proceeds from frozen Russian assets. This program is now fully exhausted.
An additional €1.9 billion has been allocated under the Ukraine Facility mechanism.
Von der Leyen urged EU countries to make a decision before the December 18–19 summit, noting that the proposed schemes could serve as temporary solutions until the approval of the EU budget for 2028–2034.
The proposals include providing Ukraine with grants or a loan with limited recourse, in which risks would be shared among all EU countries.
Such a loan could be backed by EU borrowing.
The third option is a limited-recourse loan tied to proceeds generated from frozen Russian assets.
Drones have ended trench warfare in Ukraine, according to Politico.
The publication reports that solid trench lines have vanished, replaced by a deadly “gray zone” up to 20 kilometers wide, dominated by drones. Ukrainian officers describe it as a “drone-on-drone war.” The constant presence of drones means that if a unit is detected, “every weapon in the area will immediately rush to destroy you,” making it extremely difficult to hold positions.
One major consequence is the near-total collapse of logistics. Drones make rotations and resupply nearly impossible: vehicles cannot approach within 5–6 kilometers, forcing soldiers to cover the rest on foot while hiding from FPV cameras. This has severely affected morale, and infantrymen who have been in trenches for months are not returning.
The situation for the wounded is also critical. High risks have forced medical stations to move farther away, delaying evacuations by days or weeks. Combat medics rely on telemedicine, instructing soldiers to apply tourniquets via drone footage.
Analysts warn that Russia is systematically expanding the “death zone,” targeting gaps in cover. Experts say the shortage of personnel on the front lines and communication breakdowns are creating a “recipe for slow compression” of the front, allowing Russia to gradually advance.
❗️The Russian Federation has already forcibly mobilized 46,327 Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories, the secretary of the Coordination Headquarters said.
This is the number now fighting against us: more than 5,000 citizens from the Donetsk region, more than 4,500 from the Luhansk region, more than 35,000 from Crimea, 560 from the Zaporizhzhia region, and 478 from the Kherson region. These figures have been confirmed by the Russian side, Usov reported.
The representative of the Coordination Headquarters added that the aggressor continues mobilization and is not stopping.
🇺🇸 The US State Department has approved the sale of a $105 million maintenance and modernization package for Ukrainian Patriot air defense systems.
The package includes modernization of M901 launchers to the M903 configuration, lists of installed equipment and authorized stock for ground support, necessary services, support equipment, spare parts, training, accessories, and other related logistics and program support.
Ukraine will receive its first Skyranger 35 anti-aircraft gun based on the Leopard 1 tank.
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger announced that the German defense company plans to begin deliveries of Skyranger 35 guns on the Leopard 1 chassis to Ukraine. According to him, the first gun will arrive next week.
Spain’s aid to Ukraine this year will total around one billion euros, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez said.
He emphasized that Spain supports Ukraine’s EU accession and the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials responsible for the crime of aggression.
A significant part of this support will be used to purchase American weapons through the PURL mechanism.
Spain will also finance the delivery of essential equipment, including generators, to help support Ukraine’s power grid before winter.
Spain will contribute €100 million to the PURL program for the purchase of air defense missiles, as well as more than €200 million under the SAFE program for joint defense work with Ukraine.
During President Zelenskyy’s visit to Madrid, Ukraine and Spain signed five documents in the areas of military cooperation, tourism, agriculture, and countering Russian disinformation.
Among them were a letter of intent to sign an agreement on technical and financial cooperation, and a Memorandum of Understanding on industrial cooperation in the field of security and defense between the Spanish companies Escribano and Tecnova and the Ukrainian company Praktika.
Russia launched a massive strike on Ukraine overnight. The enemy used a swarm of drones, Kalibr missiles, and Kinzhal missiles, targeting the country’s energy sector.
▫️Ternopil. A high-rise building was severely damaged. A large fire broke out, with thick smoke over the area.
▫️Kharkiv. A large-scale drone attack. Around 40 people were injured, including children. A hospital, residential buildings, cars, and infrastructure were damaged.
▫️Burshtyn. Drone and missile strikes. An attack was reported on the Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant.
▫️Lviv. Drones and missiles caused power outages in the city.
🔥 Ryazan Refinery Suspends Operations After Strikes — Reuters
The fire shut down its main oil refining unit, which has an annual capacity of over 8 million metric tons, or 48% of the plant’s total capacity.
The refinery has also suspended sales of petroleum products on the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange since November 15.
Azerbaijan refused to extradite a Russian agent suspected of coordinating terrorist attacks on DHL warehouses in Europe in 2024.
According to The Washington Post, the suspect is Russian citizen Yaroslav Mikhailov, who used a fake passport to flee to Azerbaijan.
Sources in Western intelligence agencies note Mikhailov’s importance to the Kremlin. This is evidenced by the fact that the heads of three Russian intelligence services — the FSB, the SVR, and the GRU — tried to pressure Baku to extradite him to Russia and reject Poland’s request.
Meanwhile, Poland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Lithuania worked to prevent his return to Russia. The publication reports that Interpol, at Warsaw’s request, issued a secret arrest warrant for Mikhailov for terrorist operations he carried out on behalf of Russian intelligence.
Azerbaijan rejected all requests regarding Mikhailov. As a result, he spent most of last year in limbo: formally not detained, but under surveillance and banned from leaving the country.
Yaroslav Mikhailov is a native of Donetsk, Rostov Oblast. In the 2010s, he worked for a local berry company, Donecorbik.
In 2015, he visited Ukraine several times, including occupied Luhansk Oblast and Kharkiv Oblast. In January 2016, he obtained a Ukrainian passport — later revealed to be fake — under the name Daniil Vladimirovich Gromov.
One in five Russians believes the Sun revolves around the Earth, according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, citing a survey by the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Sixteen percent of respondents are certain that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time.
More than 90% of respondents could not name a single living world-class Russian scientist. The results were similar when they were asked to name any major global scientific achievement of the past ten years.
According to the survey, about 39% of Russians believe in the existence of witches and sorcerers, and 34% believe that psychics can predict the future.
A 17-year-old kickboxing champion, Karyna Bakhur, was killed by rocket fire in Berestyn, Kharkiv region. She was wounded while running to the basement and died during surgery. Karyna was a master of sports, a college student training to become a PE teacher, and worked with young children. She had planned to become a coach.