Internal forces rather than Russia are to blame for the ineffectiveness of the draft campaign, Kirill Budanov has said
Ukraine has failed in its mobilization drive during the conflict with Russia through its own mistakes, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR), Kirill Budanov, has said.
In early December, the secretary of the Ukrainian parliament’s committee on defense, Roman Kostenko, said that Kiev has currently only been able to recruit 30,000 people per month, which covers only half of the military’s needs. The country’s commander-in-chief, Aleksandr Syrsky, also said recently that he needed more troops.
Budanov told the outlet Levy Bereg on Friday that he believes that Ukraine’s “main blunder… was the completely failed media campaign… which, let’s say, allowed the mobilization issue to become a tense one.”
“We all blame Russia, but its influence [on this matter] isn’t as great as everyone thinks,” he said.
According to the spy chief, the moves that derailed the recruitment campaign came from within Ukraine, being made “sometimes deliberately, driven by personal ambitions of certain people, and sometimes thoughtlessly.”
“We destroyed our own mobilization. Those who say otherwise are wrong. We destroyed it ourselves,” Budanov insisted.
Earlier this week, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said that, according to Moscow’s estimates, the Ukrainian military has lost nearly 500,000 servicemen this year alone, “as a result of which Kiev has lost the ability to replenish its groupings through compulsory mobilization of civilians.”
Ukraine barred nearly all adult men from leaving the country when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev escalated in late 2022 and lowered the draft age from 27 to 25. Nearly 100,000 young men have reportedly fled the country since August when the Ukrainian government issued a decree allowing men aged 18 to 22 to cross the border.
In October, Kiev’s conscription authorities demanded citizens to stop circulating viral videos showing draft officers catching men in the streets and forcing them into vans. Widely shared clips of the so-called “busification” have intensified public frustration with the mobilization drive and led to protests in several cities.
Kirill Dmitriev is on the way to Miami to discuss a Ukraine peace settlement
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has confirmed that he is traveling to the US for a new round of talks on the Ukraine conflict. This comes shortly after US officials held negotiations with Kiev officials.
”On the way to Miami. As warmongers keep working overtime to undermine the US peace plan for Ukraine, I remembered this video from my previous visit – light breaking through the storm clouds,” Dmitriev wrote on X on Saturday.
A source with direct knowledge of the visit told Reuters that Dmitriev is set to meet US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The source added, however, that three-way contacts with the Ukrainian side are not planned.
On the way to Miami 🕊️.
As warmongers keep working overtime to undermine the US peace plan for Ukraine, I remembered this video from my previous visit – light breaking through the storm clouds. 🌤️ pic.twitter.com/LESPIc7qIS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio could also take part in the discussions, the source said. Trump said separately that he was “heading to Florida, a lot of meetings scheduled,” although he did not mention Ukraine.
On Friday, national security advisers from Germany, France, and Britain also traveled to Miami for talks with Witkoff and Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary, Rustem Umerov, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported, citing sources. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also took part. Umerov later confirmed that the discussions had taken place.
The talks revolve around the US peace plan, which would reportedly require Ukraine to relinquish parts of Russia’s Donbass region that it still controls, freeze the front lines in Russia’s Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, agree to neutrality, and reduce the size of the armed forces. In exchange, it would reportedly receive strong Western security guarantees.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has since floated the idea of a referendum on territorial concessions, although Moscow dismissed it as a ploy to prolong the conflict and gain time.
Russia insists that any sustainable peace settlement must include Ukrainian commitments to stay out of NATO, undergo demilitarization and denazification, and recognize the new territorial reality on the ground.
Kirill Dmitriev is on the way to Miami to discuss a Ukraine peace settlement
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has confirmed that he is traveling to the US for a new round of talks on the Ukraine conflict. This comes shortly after US officials held negotiations with Kiev officials.
”On the way to Miami. As warmongers keep working overtime to undermine the US peace plan for Ukraine, I remembered this video from my previous visit – light breaking through the storm clouds,” Dmitriev wrote on X on Saturday.
A source with direct knowledge of the visit told Reuters that Dmitriev is set to meet US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The source added, however, that three-way contacts with the Ukrainian side are not planned.
On the way to Miami 🕊️.
As warmongers keep working overtime to undermine the US peace plan for Ukraine, I remembered this video from my previous visit – light breaking through the storm clouds. 🌤️ pic.twitter.com/LESPIc7qIS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio could also take part in the discussions, the source said. Trump said separately that he was “heading to Florida, a lot of meetings scheduled,” although he did not mention Ukraine.
On Friday, national security advisers from Germany, France, and Britain also traveled to Miami for talks with Witkoff and Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary, Rustem Umerov, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported, citing sources. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also took part. Umerov later confirmed that the discussions had taken place.
The talks revolve around the US peace plan, which would reportedly require Ukraine to relinquish parts of Russia’s Donbass region that it still controls, freeze the front lines in Russia’s Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, agree to neutrality, and reduce the size of the armed forces. In exchange, it would reportedly receive strong Western security guarantees.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has since floated the idea of a referendum on territorial concessions, although Moscow dismissed it as a ploy to prolong the conflict and gain time.
Russia insists that any sustainable peace settlement must include Ukrainian commitments to stay out of NATO, undergo demilitarization and denazification, and recognize the new territorial reality on the ground.
Bloc members plan to raise €90 billion for Kiev through common debt after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets as collateral
EU taxpayers will have to pay €3 billion a year in borrowing costs to finance Kiev’s collapsing economy and military under a newly approved loan scheme, Politico reported on Friday, citing senior bloc officials.
Kiev’s European backers this week failed to approve a ‘reparations loan’ that would have used about $210 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets as collateral to cover Ukraine’s huge budget shortfall. Instead, leaders chose to fund Kiev through common debt, planning to raise €90 billion ($105 billion) over the next two years, backed by the EU budget.
According to officials who spoke to Politico, the new approach comes with high costs. Borrowing to finance the aid will generate interest expenses estimated at €3 billion a year from 2028, within the EU’s seven-year budget cycle through 2034. With no independent revenue stream, the bloc will have to cover the debt through national budgets and EU contributions, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for as long as the loan remains outstanding. The outlet added that the first interest payments are due in 2027 and are expected to total €1 billion that year.
The joint borrowing scheme faced opposition from the outset, with critics warning that many EU countries, including France and Italy, already carry high debt and large budget deficits, and that further common borrowing would deepen fiscal strain and shift risks onto taxpayers.
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic secured exemptions from the deal, meaning they will not be participating in the new borrowing plan. Commenting on the decision, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a long-time critic of aid to Kiev, said Ukraine “won’t ever be able to repay” the loan, leaving its interest and principal to be covered by those who provided it.
“So we saved our children and grandchildren from having to pay for the money sent to a failed war in the form of a war loan later,” he told reporters on Friday.
Russia has long accused Kiev’s European backers of prolonging the conflict by continuing to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week accused the EU of being “obsessed with finding money to continue the war.”
The US top diplomat pointed out that his briefing took place on the same day as the Russian leader’s Q&A session
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to overshadow him after learning that his briefing was staged almost simultaneously with the latter’s end-of-year press conference.
During the annual Direct Line Q&A session in Moscow, the Russian president answered questions from citizens and journalists for almost four-and-a-half-hours.
At a briefing at the US State Department later in the day, a journalist addressed Rubio without giving his name, saying: “Vladimir Putin today…”
“Oh, I thought you were introducing yourself,” the secretary of state laughed. “‘Hey, I am Vladimir Putin’… What are you doing here?”
After being told by the journalist, who was actually Nick Schifrin from PBS NewsHour, that Putin had ended his press conference not long ago, Rubio replied by saying: “Wow, he’s trying to step on my message,” causing laughs in the audience.
However, Rubio assured those present that his briefing would not be as extensive as the Russian leader’s Q&A session. “Oh, well, don’t worry about that,” he said.
RUBIO: Yes, sir
REPORTER: Vladimir Putin today–
RUBIO: Oh, I thought you were introducing yourself as Vladimir Putin. What are you doing here?
REPORTER: Definitely not. He had his end of the year press conference today
Speaking in a more serious tone about Washington’s attempts to end the Ukraine conflict, Rubio explained that US officials “try to understand what the Russian position – how much can they give and what do they have to have. We understand the Ukrainian position. And we try to find whether those two things can overlap.”
Putin said during his press conference that he believed that the US diplomatic efforts are “serious and sincere.” He reiterated that Russia is ready to settle the Ukraine conflict based on the principles he had laid out in his address to the Russian Foreign Ministry in June 2024.
Back then, the president said that Moscow would stop the fighting and engage in talks if Kiev withdraws its forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, abandons its aspirations to join NATO, and if sanctions against Russia are lifted.
“The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents – above all the leaders of the Kiev regime and their European sponsors,” Putin stressed.
The Hungarian PM has posted a video mocking the push to use frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine after the proposal was defeated on Thursday
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has cast himself and other opponents of the ‘reparations loan’ scheme for Ukraine as ‘EU Ghostbusters’ in a video posted on X on Friday.
In the video, released a day after he and his allies blocked the loan scheme at a Brussels summit, the veteran politician mocked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other backers of the plan as ‘ghosts’ that his team saved the EU from.
On Thursday, EU states failed to agree on using $210 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets as collateral for a loan to fund Kiev’s collapsing economy and military. Despite pressure from von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the plan was blocked by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Slovakia’s Robert Fico, the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babis, and Orban.
In the video, the Hungarian leader strings together clips of himself and other opponents of the scheme, set to the iconic theme from the 1984 comedy ‘Ghostbusters’. The montage is interspersed with shots of von der Leyen and Merz, synced to the lyrics: “if there’s something weird and it don’t look good.” Orban’s group appears to the line: “Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!”
Orban warned on Friday that using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine would have amounted to a declaration of war. He added that it has become clear that private EU companies hold more assets in Russia than the frozen Russian assets in Europe, meaning the bloc would face heavy losses in the event of retaliation by Moscow.
Russia, which regards any use of its assets as theft, has sued Euroclear over damages from the freeze and vowed to extend the case to the European banks that hold them. The EU has dismissed the lawsuit as “speculative,” though experts warn that it could damage the bloc’s financial institutions if it expands beyond Russia.
At Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual end-of-year Q&A session on Friday, he warned Kiev’s Western backers that tapping the frozen assets would backfire, causing reputational damage and undermining the Western financial system, adding that the assets will eventually have to be returned, regardless of “whatever they steal and however they do it.”
The country’s militarization would degrade security in Northeast Asia, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said
The abandonment of Japan’s long-standing non-nuclear stance would worsen the security situation in Northeast Asia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has warned.
Last month, Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was considering initiating discussions with her allies on revising the country’s three non-nuclear principles – long-standing pledges not to possess, produce, or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons. Takaichi is said to believe that prohibiting the deployment of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil weakens US nuclear deterrence.
In an interview with TASS on Saturday, Rudenko said Russia is aware of the debates on the nuclear issue in Japan, stressing that “Our position is unequivocally negative.”
“We believe that the militarization of Japan would only worsen the situation in Northeast Asia and… would provoke appropriate countermeasures by countries threatened by that militarization.”
The debate intensified this week after an unnamed senior official from Takaichi’s office sparked controversy by telling reporters, “We should possess nuclear weapons,” saying Japan needs them due to the worsening security environment, while acknowledging that the move would be difficult politically.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara later said Japan’s nuclear policy has not changed, reiterating the government’s commitment to the non-nuclear principles.
Japan’s non-nuclear stance is closely tied to its post-war identity as the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, after the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Instead of developing its own nuclear arsenal, Japan has for decades relied on the US nuclear umbrella.
The country’s militarization would degrade security in Northeast Asia, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said
The abandonment of Japan’s long-standing non-nuclear stance would worsen the security situation in Northeast Asia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has warned.
Last month, Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was considering initiating discussions with her allies on revising the country’s three non-nuclear principles – long-standing pledges not to possess, produce, or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons. Takaichi is said to believe that prohibiting the deployment of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil weakens US nuclear deterrence.
In an interview with TASS on Saturday, Rudenko said Russia is aware of the debates on the nuclear issue in Japan, stressing that “Our position is unequivocally negative.”
“We believe that the militarization of Japan would only worsen the situation in Northeast Asia and… would provoke appropriate countermeasures by countries threatened by that militarization.”
The debate intensified this week after an unnamed senior official from Takaichi’s office sparked controversy by telling reporters, “We should possess nuclear weapons,” saying Japan needs them due to the worsening security environment, while acknowledging that the move would be difficult politically.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara later said Japan’s nuclear policy has not changed, reiterating the government’s commitment to the non-nuclear principles.
Japan’s non-nuclear stance is closely tied to its post-war identity as the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, after the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Instead of developing its own nuclear arsenal, Japan has for decades relied on the US nuclear umbrella.
The authorities have consistently erased anything deemed Russian from public life
The Ukrainian authorities have voted to dismantle a series of monuments and memorials in Kiev, including a monument to renowned writer Mikhail Bulgakov, as part of the country’s ongoing campaign to purge public spaces of symbols tied to its shared history with Russia.
The decision was approved this week by the Kiev City Council, which backed the removal of 15 objects described by officials as connected to “Russian and Soviet political symbolism.”
Among those slated for demolition are monuments to Bulgakov, the celebrated author of ‘The Master and Margarita’, poet Anna Akhmatova, composer Mikhail Glinka, as well as a commemorative plaque honoring Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Bulgakov, who was born in Kiev in 1891 when the city was part of the Russian Empire, wrote primarily in Russian and is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
Ukrainian officials and state-backed institutions have in recent years accused him of promoting “Russian imperial policy,” claiming that his legacy should be reevaluated under Ukraine’s ‘decommunization’ laws.
The list of removals also includes a sign reading ‘Kiev – Hero City’, featuring a five-pointed star awarded during the Soviet era for the city’s role in World War II, a boundary marker bearing the Soviet coat of arms, and a commemorative stone marking the 100th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin’s birth.
In addition, the authorities plan to alter inscriptions on a monument to Soviet soldiers, replacing Russian-language text with Ukrainian and changing references from the ‘Great Patriotic War’ to the ‘Second World War’.
Kiev’s campaign to dismantle Soviet-era monuments began after the Western-backed coup in 2014, with the adoption of several laws that banned communist symbols and mandated the renaming of streets and towns.
Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, the effort has been broadened to target cultural figures and landmarks associated with Russia more generally, including writers, composers, and historical figures with no direct political role.
Moscow has condemned the destruction of cultural heritage and attacks on historical memory, accusing Kiev of violating international norms and infringing on the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Russian officials have described the campaign as an attempt to rewrite history and sever Ukraine from its cultural roots.
The authorities have consistently erased anything deemed Russian from public life
The Ukrainian authorities have voted to dismantle a series of monuments and memorials in Kiev, including a monument to renowned writer Mikhail Bulgakov, as part of the country’s ongoing campaign to purge public spaces of symbols tied to its shared history with Russia.
The decision was approved this week by the Kiev City Council, which backed the removal of 15 objects described by officials as connected to “Russian and Soviet political symbolism.”
Among those slated for demolition are monuments to Bulgakov, the celebrated author of ‘The Master and Margarita’, poet Anna Akhmatova, composer Mikhail Glinka, as well as a commemorative plaque honoring Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Bulgakov, who was born in Kiev in 1891 when the city was part of the Russian Empire, wrote primarily in Russian and is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
Ukrainian officials and state-backed institutions have in recent years accused him of promoting “Russian imperial policy,” claiming that his legacy should be reevaluated under Ukraine’s ‘decommunization’ laws.
The list of removals also includes a sign reading ‘Kiev – Hero City’, featuring a five-pointed star awarded during the Soviet era for the city’s role in World War II, a boundary marker bearing the Soviet coat of arms, and a commemorative stone marking the 100th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin’s birth.
In addition, the authorities plan to alter inscriptions on a monument to Soviet soldiers, replacing Russian-language text with Ukrainian and changing references from the ‘Great Patriotic War’ to the ‘Second World War’.
Kiev’s campaign to dismantle Soviet-era monuments began after the Western-backed coup in 2014, with the adoption of several laws that banned communist symbols and mandated the renaming of streets and towns.
Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, the effort has been broadened to target cultural figures and landmarks associated with Russia more generally, including writers, composers, and historical figures with no direct political role.
Moscow has condemned the destruction of cultural heritage and attacks on historical memory, accusing Kiev of violating international norms and infringing on the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Russian officials have described the campaign as an attempt to rewrite history and sever Ukraine from its cultural roots.
