UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia is withdrawing its consent for the operation of the last Polish Consulate General in Irkutsk. This decision was made in response to a similar step taken by Poland.
The US has conveyed to Russia the parameters of the plan agreed with Kyiv in Geneva, and these points will be discussed next week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Other statements:
▫️ Peskov claimed that President Zelenskyy supposedly has a “legitimacy problem” and is allegedly unwilling to hold elections in Ukraine or follow the constitution.
▫️ Russia is not ready to discuss a Ukrainian settlement in a public, “megaphone diplomacy” format.
▫️ Who should recognize the so-called “territorial realities” between Russia and Ukraine, Peskov said, will be determined during the negotiations.
Putin says Russia “does not plan to attack Europe” and is ready to legally document it.
He stated that if European countries “scared their citizens” and want assurances, Russia is ready to “document it in any way you want.”
Putin also claimed that Moscow “has no aggressive plans for Europe” and called those raising fears of an attack “scammers.”
Any temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories will not be legally recognised by the EU and its member states as Russian, according to a new European Parliament resolution.
On Thursday, Parliament called on the EU to take greater responsibility for European security and to support efforts to establish peace in Ukraine as actively as possible.
MEPs emphasise that:
▫️ A sustainable peace must include an effective ceasefire and be based on strong EU and US security guarantees for Kyiv — equal to NATO Article 5 and EU Article 42.7 — to prevent, deter and repel any new aggression.
▫️ Any temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories will not be legally recognised by the EU or its member states as Russian.
▫️ European participation is essential in any peace talks, as the outcome of the war will deeply impact the entire European security system.
▫️ “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, and nothing about Europe without Europe,” the Parliament reiterates.
▫️ Ongoing uncertainty in Washington regarding Ukraine undermines the prospect of lasting peace.
▫️ No peace agreement should include restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
▫️ Ukraine has the sovereign right to choose its security and political alliances. Russia has no veto.
▫️ Any peace agreement must include full compensation from Russia for the material and non-material damage inflicted on Ukraine.
▫️ The EU and its member states should urgently adopt a legally and financially robust “reparations loan” for Ukraine, secured with frozen Russian assets.
▫️ The EU must be involved in decisions on the fate and investment of these assets.
▫️ EU sanctions cannot be lifted until a negotiated peace agreement is fully implemented.
▫️ If Russia refuses to enter serious peace talks, the EU must impose additional substantial sanctions.
In the event of a war with Russia, 800,000 German, American, and other NATO troops would need to be redeployed east to the front lines, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing the 1,200-page Operational Plan Germany (OPLAN DEU).
The document was reportedly prepared by a team led by Lieutenant General André Bodemann, Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr’s Territorial Defense Command.
Work on OPLAN DEU began in March 2023. This is Germany’s first detailed plan since the Cold War outlining how the country would ensure its security and respond to a military attack. Germany’s ports, bridges, and energy facilities are considered especially vulnerable to sabotage — potentially by Russian special forces, Bodemann noted.
He stressed that Germany’s main role would be to act as a logistics hub for NATO, securing supply routes for allied forces. A significant part of the Bundeswehr would also have to move toward the potential conflict zone as tensions rise.
The plan outlines four key threats to Germany’s national security:
• disinformation aimed at influencing government decisions, public opinion and media;
• cyberattacks on energy, telecommunications and other critical sectors;
• espionage;
• sabotage.
“We are not at war, but we have not been at peace for a long time either,” Bodemann said.
🤬 Russian army begins using “Shaheds” to hunt Ukrainian planes — Business Insider
Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Yuriy Mironenko told the publication that Russia is testing new UAV modifications, including those controlled by operators in real time from the temporarily occupied territories, Russia, and Belarus.
This makes countering the drones more difficult, as operators can change routes and even attempt to attack Ukrainian planes or helicopters in the air, he explained.
Journalists note that this tactic is likely aimed at weakening Kyiv’s air defense. There have been no official reports of Ukrainian aircraft being shot down by “Shaheds”, although since 2022 there have been aviation losses during operations against drones.
Numerous of Colombian legionnaires have joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia sector.
Three thousand Colombian soldiers are officially serving in the region as part of a joint project between the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, brigade recruiting centers, and the regional TCC. They fight alongside Ukrainian defenders in the 65th Velykyi Luh Separate Mechanized Brigade.
“We’ve found common ground with them; they understand us, and we understand them. They carry out missions at the same level as our guys and spend several weeks at a time at zero. This helps our soldiers rest,” said the company’s sergeant major, call sign “Bublik” (Eng. — Bagel).
A 24-year-old Colombian soldier, call sign “Mukha” (Eng. — Fly) said the Ukrainian Armed Forces offer “the best conditions for service and a strong comradeship.”
“We leave our dreams, our families, but with one goal — to continue to protect, to fight for this country to be free. For me, it is a pleasure and a pride to be in the Ukrainian army,” Mukha added.
👥🇺🇦 Ukraine has unilaterally transferred 14 civilians to Russia under the “I Want to Live” project.
Thousands of Ukrainian women, children, and elderly people are still being held in Russia. Many were illegally detained in 2022, tortured, and then taken across the border. The Russian side labels many of them “prisoners of war” and agrees to release them only in exchange for captured Russian servicemen.
Ukraine has already managed to bring back 372 civilians. Among them is 51-year-old Serhiy Akhmetov from Bucha, who was held in Russia for more than three years and released only through an exchange.
UNITED24 Media (united24media.com/opinion/what-it-feels-like-when-a-russian-fpv-drone-attacks-a-reporter-and-that-reporter-is-you-13796)
What It Feels Like When a Russian FPV Drone Attacks a Reporter—and That Reporter Is You
Inside Russia’s FPV drone war in Ukraine: a UNITED24 Media journalist’s harrowing firsthand account of surviving a drone strike in 2025.
What It Feels Like When a Russian FPV Drone Attacks a Reporter—and That Reporter Is You (https://united24media.com/opinion/what-it-feels-like-when-a-russian-fpv-drone-attacks-a-reporter-and-that-reporter-is-you-13796)
🇺🇦🇫🇷🥖 French volunteers baked and distributed bread in Kramatorsk for several days
A mobile bakery of the international project “Bakery without Borders” arrived in Kramatorsk for the first time.
French bakers Loïc Nervi, whom locals jokingly call Vitalik, and his partner spent several days baking fresh bread in a mobile van and distributing it to hospitals, shelters, and frontline communities.
Loïc has 27 years of experience and owns four bakeries in southern France. This is his eighth mission in Ukraine.
The International Judo Federation has allowed the Russian national team to participate in international tournaments, the IJF Executive Committee announced.
Russian athletes will be able to compete under their national flag, with the anthem and state symbols. The decision takes effect this month.
This year’s TIME Top 100 Photos includes works by Ukrainian photographers. Images by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov, Evgeny Maloletka, Roman Pilipey and Dmytro Smolienko capture the struggle and brutal reality Ukrainians face amid Russia’s war.