Russian officials have been promising lucrative salaries to volunteers and mobilized men that are more than twice the average Russian civilian salary, the Institute for the Study of War wrote in its latest update.
The Kremlin will likely have to tap into the federal budget more heavily in the near future to cover the costs of salaries, the ISW said.
Zelensky tells Fox News' Bret Baier that Ukraine has demonstrated concrete steps toward peace over the past month and raised the possibility of a referendum on the peace plan. At the same time, a referendum would not legitimize withdrawing from Ukrainian territory, given the current security realities.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Dec. 29 that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him Ukraine had tried to attack Putin's residence, an allegation Kyiv has denied. "I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it," Trump said.
Zelensky dismissed Russian claims that Ukrainian drones targeted Putin’s residence as “another lie,” warning Moscow is using the allegation as a pretext for possible strikes on Kyiv and government buildings.
Kyiv failed to implement nine indicators in the last three months of 2025, the highest number missed in any quarter since the Ukraine Facility began in 2024, according to a Dec. 29 assessment by RRR4U.
"President Trump has concluded a positive call with President Putin concerning Ukraine," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command says Huliaipole is now a gray zone, with no clear front line anymore, according to spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn.
"I told (Trump) that we would like to consider guarantees for 30, 40, or even 50 years, and that would be a historic decision by president Trump. The president said he would think about it," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russian troops shot dead two unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war on Dec. 27 in the village of Shakhove near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Dec. 29, in what appeared to be at least the third reported case this month of captured Ukrainian soldiers being killed after being taken prisoner.
Explosions reportedly rocked the Khanskaya military airfield near the southern Russian city of Maykop as air defenses were engaged late on Dec. 29.
"They're going to be helping. Russia is going to be helping," U.S. President Donald Trump said when asked if Moscow would hold any responsibility for Ukraine's reconstruction.
