These are the key developments from day 1,380 of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Published On 5 Dec 20255 Dec 2025<\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s where things stand on Friday, December 5:<\/p>\n
Fighting<\/p>\n
\nAnother targeted strike by russian forces has damaged the Kherson CHP plant \u2014 after yesterday\u2019s attack it is almost completely destroyed. Several employees were injured. This is a purely civilian facility providing heat to residents. Such targeted bombing is terrorism. The photo\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/jcFHzG4cpN<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Sergii Koretskyi (@KoretskyiUA) December 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Peace deal<\/p>\n
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- Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will take full control of Ukraine\u2019s Donbas region by force unless Ukrainian forces withdraw, something Kyiv has flatly rejected. \u201cEither we liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops leave these territories,\u201d Putin told India Today news magazine ahead of his two-day state visit<\/a> to New Delhi to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/li>\n
- Putin also said that his meeting earlier this week<\/a> with United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been \u201cvery useful\u201d, and that it had been based on the proposals discussed with President Donald Trump in Alaska, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.<\/li>\n
- Ukraine wants \u201creal peace, not appeasement\u201d with Russia, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the security and rights body seeking a role for itself in a post-war Ukraine.<\/li>\n
- \u201cWe still remember the names of those who betrayed future generations in Munich. This should never be repeated again,\u201d he said, referring to the 1938 agreement with Nazi Germany in which Britain, France and Italy agreed to Hitler\u2019s annexation of the Sudetenland in what was then Czechoslovakia.<\/li>\n
- Seven more Ukrainian children, six boys and one girl, have been returned from Russia<\/a> to their families, US First Lady Melania Trump has said. \u201cI commend the leadership and persistent diplomacy of Russia and Ukraine in the pursuit of the reunification of children and families. Their bridge-building has created a tangible collaborative environment \u2013 an anchor for optimism,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Financial aid<\/p>\n
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- Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he hopes to have a \u201cfruitful discussion\u201d with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday about a European Union plan<\/a> to use Russian frozen assets to support Ukraine against Russia\u2019s invasion. Belgium, which holds the majority of the assets, has raised various legal concerns and remains unconvinced of the plan.<\/li>\n
- \u201cI hope it will be a fruitful conversation and that we will find a solution that we can then present to Europe over the next two weeks,\u201d De Wever said.<\/li>\n
- Chancellor Merz said his aim was to speak with De Wever as soon as possible to convince him to drop his opposition so the parties could move forward on the issue.<\/li>\n
- Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated that any \u201cillegal action\u201d by the EU in relation to its frozen assets would elicit \u201cthe harshest reaction\u201d, and that Moscow was already preparing a \u201cpackage of countermeasures\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Sanctions<\/p>\n
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- President Putin has challenged heavy US pressure<\/a> on India not to buy Russian fuel due to Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine during his ongoing India state visit. Putin\u2019s first visit to India in four years aims to increase sales of Russian oil, missile systems and fighter jets and widen business links beyond energy and defence equipment.<\/li>\n
- The US has issued a general licence authorising certain transactions involving Lukoil retail service stations located outside of Russia, according to a post on the US Department of the Treasury website.<\/li>\n
- Russia is considering retaliatory measures against the Faroe Islands after the Faroese parliament passed a law giving the government the authority to bar Russian fishing companies from its waters, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.<\/li>\n
- The Faroese public broadcaster said on Wednesday that parliament had passed a law authorising the foreign minister to bar two big Russian fishing companies, Norebo and Murman Seafood, from fishing in Faroese waters or docking in Faroese harbours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Europe<\/p>\n
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- Turkiye summoned Ukraine\u2019s ambassador and Russia\u2019s acting charges d\u2019affaires to convey its concerns over a series of attacks on Russia-linked vessels<\/a> inside its exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. \u201cWe are witnessing a very serious escalation in recent weeks in the Russia-Ukraine war with reciprocal attacks. And lastly, there were certain attacks in the Black Sea within our exclusive economic zone as well,\u201d Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci told parliament\u2019s foreign affairs commission.<\/li>\n
- President Putin must have ordered the Novichok nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018, in a \u201creckless\u201d display of power that led to the death of an innocent woman, a United Kingdom public inquiry has concluded<\/a>. Skripal was found along with his daughter, Yulia, slumped unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018 after Novichok was applied to the front door handle of his nearby home. Four months later, mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess died from exposure to the poison after her partner found a counterfeit perfume bottle which Russian spies had used to smuggle the military-grade nerve agent into the country, the inquiry said.<\/li>\n
- The UK government responded to the ruling by sanctioning GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency accused of carrying out the assassination, for which Skripal once worked.<\/li>\n
- Germany has deployed five Eurofighter jets and some 150 military personnel to the Polish town of Malbork to help secure the country\u2019s airspace, the German air force said, in response to Russian drone incursions in September.<\/li>\n
- An Irish navy ship spotted up to five drones operating near the flight path of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s aircraft as he arrived for a state visit to Ireland on Monday, The Irish Times reported on Thursday. The sighting triggered a major security alert amid fears it was an attempt to interfere with the flight path, the outlet said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n