Ukraine

Ukrainian emergency crews were battling to restore power to northern parts of the country as Russian forces continued to attack crucial civilian infrastructure with drone and rocket attacks, while Ukraine's strategic Pokrovsk region remained under pressure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law the withdrawal of Russia from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture. The move effectively eliminates oversight of the country’s prisons and detention facilities at a time when Moscow faces widespread accusations of torture and inhuman treatment against its own citizens, Ukrainian civilians, and prisoners of war.

Japan is reviewing an invitation from Latvia to join a group of nations sending drones and technology to Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion. … The Drone Coalition — most members from across Europe, along with Australia and New Zealand — has already pledged 1.8 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in support. If Tokyo signs on, it would be the first country from East Asia to join.

In November 2024, Ukraine adopted a law which provides survivors of CRSV with the opportunity to receive interim reparation payments during an active war, becoming the first country to implement reparations for survivors of CRSV during an ongoing conflict. 

"After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form," Trump wrote.

New research shared with RFE/RL shows that leading Chinese universities linked to the country’s defense sector have significantly increased their research partnerships with Russian institutions, providing Moscow with access to new technology and expertise that can help counteract Western sanctions applied since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

At the end of August, the Ukrainian government allowed men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country, where martial law has been imposed since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the decision would keep more young men in Ukraine by giving them the freedom to leave and return as they pleased. He insisted the new rule would not impair the country's defense capabilities. 

Measures against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine will also target more banks, the Kremlin's so-called shadow fleet -- transport for Moscow to skirt sanctions -- third-country firms, and the blacklisting of a number of individuals, especially those deemed responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children. 

Ukraine spends around a third of its entire economic output on defence and relies on tens of billions of dollars of financial assistance from its Western allies to keep its economy afloat. Speaking at a conference in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Denys Shmygal said his country risked losing more land to Russia if it continued to be outspent on the battlefield.

Wednesday morning's incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace led to jets being scrambled, an emergency government meeting being called - and concerns that Europe and Nato's resolve against Moscow may not be up to the test. … Russia has pushed back against accusations that the incursion was deliberate – though it also stopped short of denying its drones had trespassed sovereign Polish airspace.