This week, US President Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine met at Mar-a-Lago. Russia also launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine, and the US Department of Justice released a new batch of documents related to the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Babel has compiled the main events of the week so that you can stay up to date with the news.
Zelensky-Trump meeting and peace plan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump met on December 28 in Florida, at the Mar-a-Lago residence. At the meeting, Trump, commenting on negotiations regarding Russiaʼs war against Ukraine, stated that there is currently no clear deadline for concluding a security agreement, but it will definitely be achieved.
Before his trip to the United States, Zelensky visited Canada, where, together with Prime Minister Mark Carney, he held an online conversation with European leaders to agree on positions on the future peace plan. The Ukrainian president emphasizes that legal recognition of the occupied territories is unacceptable, and holding elections or referendums is possible only under safe conditions and in the presence of international observers.
Zelensky also first announced the content of the 20-point peace agreement, prepared with the participation of the United States and European partners, which is intended to become a basic document for ending the war. It provides for confirmation of Ukraineʼs sovereignty, security guarantees from the United States, NATO and Europe, control over the contact line, joint operation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, economic recovery and an investment package, as well as a mechanism for humanitarian settlement and prisoner exchange. Particular attention is paid to holding elections, territorial division and compliance with a non-aggression regime by Russia.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine is ready to put the issue of the peace plan to a nationwide referendum, provided that Russia maintains a ceasefire for at least 60 days. He emphasizes that the final decision on territories and security guarantees will depend on agreements with Trump, and the referendum will help ensure the legitimacy of the agreement among the Ukrainian people. The agreement will be legally binding, and its implementation will be monitored by an international mechanism with the participation of the United States, Europe, NATO and Russia.
Russiaʼs massive attacks on Ukraine
This week, in addition to daily drone attacks, Russia twice attacked Ukraine with combined missiles and drones — on the night of December 23 and 27.
On the night of December 23, the Russians launched 635 strike UAVs and 38 air- and ground-based missiles. The air defense neutralized 587 enemy drones of the “Shahed”, “Gerbera” and other types and 34 Kh-101 and “Iskander-K” cruise missiles. First of all, the Russians hit the energy sector. Energy facilities in the western regions suffered the most. Emergency power outage schedules were introduced throughout the country.
From the evening of December 26 until the morning of the next day, the Russians attacked Ukraine with drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian military neutralized 503 air targets. The main direction of the attack was Kyiv and the region. Two people were killed there, more than 30 were injured. Dozens of residential buildings were destroyed, thousands of residents were left without electricity and heat.
Attacks on Russian targets
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also announced attacks on a number of Russian facilities.
In particular, on December 22, the Ukrainian military attacked the Tamannaftogas oil terminal in the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation. A series of explosions occurred there, damaging a pipeline, two berths and two vessels. A fire also broke out on an area of over 1 000 m², in particular in the tank farm, and a vessel caught fire.
The Ukrainian army also targeted the Russian boat base in Olenivka (temporarily occupied Crimea), destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in the Ukrainka area (occupied part of the Donetsk region), and attacked the locations where Shahed drones were stored and launched near Donetsk.
On the night of December 24, Ukrainian troops attacked several Russian targets in the occupied territory of Ukraine and in the Russian Federation. In the city of Yefremov, Tula region, the Yefremov synthetic rubber plant, which specializes in the production of components for explosives and solid rocket fuel, was under attack. Ukrainian troops also targeted a storage and maintenance site for unmanned boats in the Mirny district of Crimea and a Russian military depot in Dovzhansk (Luhansk region), as well as air defense and Russian units in the occupied part of Ukraine.
On December 25, units of the Ukrainian Air Force attacked the Novoshakhtinsky Oil Products Plant in the Rostov region of Russia with missiles. The Ukrainian military hit the plant with Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles.
On the night of December 28, Ukrainian military attacked the Syzran oil refinery in Russia, a base of unmanned boats in the Chornomorske region (Crimea), a Russian repair unit near Anthracite (Luhansk region), a pontoon ferry near Nikonorivka, and a warehouse for storing “Shaheds” in Makiivka, Donetsk region. A fire broke out at the Syzran oil refinery. This plant processes 7-8.9 million tons of oil annually and is involved in supplying the Russian Armed Forces.
Three “Servant of the People” MPs Suspicion Over Voting Bribes
Three peopleʼs deputies from the "Servant of the People" party were suspected of bribery for voting at meetings of the Verkhovna Rada. According to Babel sources, these are MPs Yevhen Pyvovarov, Ihor Nehulevsky and Yuriy Kisel. They were suspected under Art. 368 of the Criminal Code (bribery). This concerns proceedings from 2021. ZN.UA previously wrote that Articles 255 (creation and participation in a criminal organization) and 369 (giving a bribe to an official) are also indicated in the case.
The press service of SAPO told Babel that they do not yet have information about the suspicions. NABU did not respond to questions at the time of publication of the news.
Ceasefire at the Zaporizhzhia NPP
On December 28, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a local ceasefire near the Zaporizhzhia NPP to repair damaged power lines. The repairs will take several days and are being monitored by an IAEA team. The agency’s director Rafael Grossi thanked both sides for agreeing to a new temporary “window of silence”.
Zelenskyʼs new sanctions
On December 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky synchronized Ukraine’s sanctions with those of the United Kingdom and imposed new restrictions against people and companies that help Russia in its war against Ukraine. The restrictions apply to 40 companies and eight individuals from Russia, Azerbaijan, Singapore, and New Zealand.
Among them are those involved in the deportation and “re-education” of Ukrainian children, as well as in the supply of components for the production of missiles and drones. The restrictions also include companies from Russia, Hong Kong, the UAE, Thailand, Turkey, India, and Singapore that help circumvent international sanctions.
Separately, the NSDC imposed sanctions on eight South Sudanese military personnel for continuing hostilities, disrupting peace talks, and violating human rights. The list includes the commander of the Defense Forces, the head of the Presidential Guard, and the chief of the General Staff.
Talk about elections during war
The head of the “Servant of the People” faction Davyd Arakhamia reported on December 22 that the MPs in the Verkhovna Rada are forming a working group that should promptly work out the issue of a possible presidential election during martial law. Later, its creation was approved by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk. He stated that the law on elections during wartime will be applied once.
At a meeting of this parliamentary working group, Arakhamia stated that a hybrid voting format — offline and online — could be considered for elections during the war. Voting over several days is also possible.
He noted that the participation of internally displaced persons in the vote could be a problem. According to the head of the Servant of the People faction, the voter register does not have accurate data on all internally displaced persons, because they often "do not register because they are afraid of mobilization". And their low turnout could "undermine the legitimacy" of the elections.
Zelensky commented on the holding of elections, stating that they are possible only in safe territories and can take place through a referendum or changes in legislation, and the results must be legitimate for the entire peace agreement; this requires at least a 60-day ceasefire and the presence of international observers.
The “Midas” Case and a Conversation with Tymur Mindich in Israel
On December 26, journalists from Ukrainska Pravda found businessman Tymur Mindich in Israel, who appears in NABU and SAPO case on corruption at “Energoatom”.
Journalist Mykhailo Tkach personally spoke with him about the case. He stated that “the media has already made him an extremist” and “declared him guilty”. He called the case itself a “steep media attack”.
He confirmed that he was familiar with both former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and had communicated with them. At the same time, he assured that he had "never in my life" given them any instructions.
He called the published conversations taken out of context.
According to Mindich, during Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs presidency, he communicated very little with him and the last time they spoke was a long time ago.
While searching for Mindich, UP film crew was attacked by unknown individuals. When Tkach asked the businessman about it, he assured him that his security guards were in no way involved in the attack, and that he only learned about the journalistsʼ arrival in Israel from Telegram channels.
What happened at the front?
On December 23, Ukrainian troops withdrew from Siversk (Donetsk region). The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the city is under fire control of the Ukrainian military.
On the same day, it became known that about a hundred Russian soldiers entered the border village of Hrabovske (Sumy region). They tried to gain a foothold in the southern part of the village. The attack was sudden. The Russian soldiers tried to capture Hrabovske in order to advance further towards the neighboring village of Ryasne. According to the Ukrainian military, Russian units are gaining a foothold in the southern part of Hrabovske. Ukrainian forces are trying to dislodge them from their occupied positions, and fighting is ongoing.
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Lubinets also stated that Russia provided a list of civilians who were illegally deported from the border village of Hrabovske, and informed where and in what conditions they are being held. According to him, there are 52 civilians, there are no children among them. Lubinets added that the deportees are currently in one of the front-line regions of Russia.
The Ombudsman demands that his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, urgently return people to Ukraine and has sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Lubinets suggests that Russia will try to set conditions for the return of Ukrainian citizens.
On December 25, it was reported that during the fighting in the fall of 2025, Ukrainian military forces liberated 5 villages in the Dnipropetrovsk region. These are the villages of Orestopol, Novoselivka, Sosnivka, Khoroshe and Vorone. The liberation operation lasted for more than 100 days in the fall of 2025.
"The Epstein Files"
Last week, the US Department of Justice released a new batch of documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. On December 24, the department announced that it had received more than a million additional files from the US Attorneyʼs Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI, which it plans to release after reviewing and redacting to protect victims.
The documents include Donald Trump and Epsteinʼs letters to Larry Nassar, as well as details of Epsteinʼs private jet flights from 1993 to 1996 that carried women who could be witnesses in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Justice Department also returned photos of Trump to its files after a review found they did not reveal confidential information about the victims (the photos show Trump, Epstein, Melania Trump and Maxwell), as well as edited photos of Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and Diana Ross with children, whose faces have been hidden to protect minors. The department noted that some of the materials contained “false and sensational” statements against Trump that were submitted to the FBI before the 2020 election.
Russian gas and oil, sanctions
Last week, it was reported that Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to China hit a record high of 1.6 million tonnes per month in November, more than double the previous year’s level. That made Russia China’s second-largest LNG supplier after Qatar. Russia has cut prices to attract Chinese buyers, while China is cutting purchases from the US and diversifying suppliers.
Despite sanctions, Moscow is trying to make up for the loss of the European market, with Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Novak acknowledging that restrictions from the US and other countries will delay Russia’s plans to triple LNG production and reach 20% of the global market by 2030.
Meanwhile, Indiaʼs Reliance Industries has resumed imports of Russian crude oil at a discount, buying from non-sanctioned suppliers, including “Rosexport”. The crude is supplied to the countryʼs largest refinery in Jamnagar, with a capacity of 660 000 barrels per day, serving Indiaʼs domestic market, but December imports could fall to 800 000-1.5 million barrels per day due to restrictions and reduced demand.
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