Political news from Kyiv region, government decisions and Ukraine politics
Budapest and Kyiv have agreed to expand language, educational, and cultural rights for the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. The agreement opens the first negotiation cluster of the EU, but Kyiv has not yet publicly confirmed its content.
Shevchenko District Court has released Viktor Husarov from liability: the treason charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence, and the only proven leak became time-barred under the statute of limitations. Criminal liability has been removed, but he has not been acquitted.
# Romanian Pilots Had Orders to Shoot Down and Technical Capability — But "Shahed-2" Still Crashed into a Nine-Story Building in Galati. This Failure Forces the Alliance to Reconsider Not So Much Hardware, but the Legal Architecture of Response.
GUR confirms: Russia is mass-producing "Geran-4" and "Geran-5" and plans to increase their share to half of its entire attack drone fleet. Ukrainian interceptors have already demonstrated that shooting down such targets is possible, but the reaction window has narrowed to just minutes.
The U.S. Secretary of State presented two incompatible theses to Congress simultaneously: peace "does not appear close" because Moscow is not making concessions — but after the war, Washington is ready for better relations with the Kremlin.
# Commander of Latvia's Armed Forces Kaspars Pudans Explains to Financial Times Why Russia Outmatches NATO in Drone Scale, Not Quality — and Why 2028 Is the Critical Threshold The Commander of the Latvian Armed Forces, Kaspars Pudans, has explained to Financial Times why Russia surpasses NATO not through superior quality but through the sheer scale of drone deployment — and why 2028 represents a critical turning point.
Lithuania's defense minister confirmed secret negotiations with Washington regarding the placement of American nuclear warheads. A constitutional ban currently stands in the way — amending it requires 94 parliamentary votes twice, with a three-month interval between votes.
Presidential envoy confirms: London preparing new restrictions following criticism over weakened oil price cap. Whether control mechanism will be implemented remains key question.
# Blocking Logistics in Occupied Crimea is Not the Goal of Azov's Strikes on the Sea of Azov, But a Possible Side Effect. A Corps Officer Explained Where the Real Boundary of the Task Lies.
# Kateryna Maternova Does Not Leave Kyiv. Foreign Ministry Calls Russian Threats Blackmail. What Lies Behind the Latest Escalation of Rhetoric — and Why It Matters.
On May 25, American forces destroyed missile launch installations and Iranian boats attempting to lay mines — an hour before Trump's latest statements about negotiations. CENTCOM called this "deterrence during a ceasefire."
Poland's Foreign Ministry responded to Russian threats of strikes on Kyiv using Moscow's own logic: if this is not a war, but a "special operation" exclusively against military facilities—then any strike on the embassy is a deliberate attack on Poland.
# US State Secretary Reveals Mechanics of Lavrov Call: Putin's Personal Message to Trump About Embassy Threat, Not Direct Evacuation Demand The U.S. State Secretary disclosed the mechanics of the conversation with Lavrov, clarifying that it was a personal message from Putin to Trump regarding threats to the embassy, rather than a direct evacuation demand. The distinction is fundamental.
Bihus.Info revealed that while Bohdan Andriiiv has failed to declare his wife's income for years, the family business is constructing residential complexes in the city where he oversees permits. The partners in these projects are people from structures linked to Hennadii Korban.
After the most massive attack on Kyiv in terms of number of damaged locations, Zakharova threatened... new attacks on Kyiv. Tykhy publicly asked: what does this even indicate — and did not rule out alcoholism.
Zelensky admits that for a long time negotiations with the United States on expanding the production of anti-ballistic systems yielded no results. Now efforts are focused on Europe — where there is already a specific project with an interception cost of up to $1 million.
The President admitted the possibility of ending active combat operations this year — if Ukraine receives security guarantees. For an economy growing at only 2% with 57% of the budget allocated to defense, the difference between "possibly" and "certainly" means years of reconstruction.
# Russia Bans Civil Aircraft Below 5,100 Meters in Moscow Airspace Starting June From June, Russia is prohibiting civil aircraft from flying below 5,100 meters in the Moscow airspace zone — spanning from the Belarusian border to Samara and Yekaterinburg. No official reason has been provided, but the timeline points to a crash near Kolomna, where air defense shot down its own light aircraft.
Washington has once again appealed to Ukraine to help ease European restrictions on Belarusian fertilizers. Sybiga responded: there will be no illusions.
# Foreigners Already Visiting Tank Graveyards in Kyiv Region While State Still Formulating Approaches. Key Question — Who and How Will Determine the Line Between Memory and Spectacle.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister has called Finland's president an authoritative diplomat capable of conducting negotiations with Russia. However, neither the mandate nor the conditions for Europe's participation in the peace process have been determined so far.
# Russia announces new "consecutive" strikes after one of largest attacks on capital, calls for diplomat evacuation A day after one of the largest attacks on the Russian capital, Russia officially announced new "consecutive" strikes and called for diplomats to evacuate. Andriy Kovalenko from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the NSDC explained why now and for what purpose.
Lithuanian drone detection system Sky Fortress undergoes first real-world tests a week after an actual Shahed-type unmanned aircraft entered Lithuanian airspace and went missing for five days.
# Visit of Belarusian Opposition Leader to Kyiv is More Than Symbolic Ukraine is beginning to publicly consider scenarios for its northern border in the post-Lukashenko period.
# U.S. State Department Head Admits Peace Process Has Slowed, Citing Lack of Faith in Diplomacy The U.S. State Secretary acknowledged that the peace process has stalled, attributing the slowdown to both sides placing greater faith in battlefield victories than in diplomatic negotiations. Ukraine's former foreign minister explains why Washington will remain engaged despite the challenges.
Former Foreign Minister Explains Why Beijing-Moscow Relations Are Not Dependence, but Calculated Symbiosis. And Why This Is More Dangerous Than It Appears.
On May 21, a Royal Air Force aircraft carrying John Healey lost GPS signal for three hours. This is not the first such incident — and it is the very repetition that transforms the incident into a documented strategy.
Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has revealed the mechanics of the Kremlin's tactics: involving Europe in negotiations is a way to freeze the next package of sanctions, in particular a complete ban on maritime services that could destroy Russia's shadow tanker fleet.
An adviser to the Presidential Office acknowledged that military leaders traditionally lose the first peace elections. However, voting is only possible three months after a sustainable ceasefire — which Putin has not yet allowed.
On May 25, Russia struck a civilian enterprise in Derhachi in the Kharkiv region — one episode in one of the largest combined attacks of 2025, involving 55 cruise missiles and over 290 drones.