Sephora leaves Russia

11:33 AM

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 2, injure 27 over past day.

Ukrainian forces downed 74 out of the 128 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones, and an Iskander-M ballistic missiles launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Thirty-eight drones disappeared from radars without causing any damage, according to the statement.

11:30 AM

4 Chechen officers killed in car bombing in Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine's HUR claims.

The first blast was followed by more explosions, as the officers were allegedly transporting ammunition that detonated.

12:42 AM  (Updated:  May 22, 2025 10:35 am)

Judiciary

Hated, tainted, and covertly pro-Russian — Andriy Portnov, the top Ukrainian ex-official shot dead in Spain

9:14 AM

Mass Ukrainian drone strike targets Moscow, Russia claims, multiple airports closed.

All four Moscow airports — Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky — as well as airports in Tambov and Vladimir were temporarily closed.

4:47 PM  (Updated:  May 22, 2025 9:02 am)

'Suspicious' Russian 'shadow fleet' tanker spotted near undersea power cable sparks Polish military intervention.

"After the effective intervention of our military, the ship sailed to one of the Russian ports," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X.

8:11 AM

General Staff: Russia has lost 977,650 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.

The number includes 870 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

9:15 PM  (Updated:  May 22, 2025 7:40 am)

Kursk incursion

Top commander’s resignation puts new scrutiny on Ukraine’s military leadership

5:58 AM

Ukraine to pitch harsher Russian sanctions to EU next week as US sanctions fall through, Reuters reports.

Reuters reported on May 21 that Ukraine will propose to the EU that the bloc speed up the seizure of frozen Russian assets to provide to Kyiv. The additional proposed sanctions would also target foreign companies that assist Russia through the use of technology, and "the introduction of secondary sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil".

5:07 AM

UK accuses Russian GRU of carrying out cyberattacks targeting logistics, technology organizations.

The United Kingdom has exposed a cyber campaign orchestrated by Russian military intelligence (GRU) targeting Western logistics and technology organizations involved in delivering foreign assistance to Ukraine, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) announced on May 21.

1:36 AM

'We don't want this anymore' — Russia rejects ceasefire in Ukraine, Lavrov says.

Russia rejects a ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

12:13 AM

'War crimes have been committed' — Rubio admits Russia is an aggressor, declines to label Putin as a war criminal.

"War crimes have been committed, no doubt, and who is responsible for that, there will be a time and place for that accountability, but right now the job is to end the war," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

11:16 PM

Ukraine working on 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange with Russia, Zelensky says.

"We have to release all our people, unconditionally. We are trying to do the maximum we can. We are trying very hard," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

10:11 PM

War update

Ukraine war latest: Russian semiconductor plant making missile, jet parts hit in Ukrainian attack, military says

9:45 AM  (Updated:  May 21, 2025 9:57 pm)

Russian semiconductor plant making missile, jet parts hit in Ukrainian attack, military says.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces struck Russia's Bolkhov semiconductor plant in Oryol Oblast, which is producing parts for Sukhoi warplanes and Iskander and Kinzhal missiles, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on May 21.

9:42 PM

Ukrainian officials deny Russian troop presence in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, called the online claims "fake" and said that the accompanying photograph allegedly showing Russian troops in the area was also fabricated.

9:28 PM

Iran's parliament ratifies 20-year strategic agreement with Russia.

While the pact does not include a mutual defense clause, it outlines commitments for both countries to cooperate against common military threats, enhance military-technical collaboration, and participate in joint military exercises, according to Reuters.

8:44 PM

Trump claims 'progress' on ending Russia-Ukraine war.

"We are trying to settle Russia-Ukraine," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters. "I spoke with President Putin for two hours the day before yesterday. I think we made a lot of progress. But that's a bloodbath."

8:25 PM

Ukraine dismisses Russian claims of full control over Kursk Oblast, says fighting ongoing.

"The statements by representatives of (Russia) about the alleged end of combat operations in Kursk Oblast do not reflect the actual situation," Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement.

7:42 PM

Ukrainian weapons

What happens to all the guns in Ukraine post-war?

7:22 PM

NATO summit in The Hague to focus on long-term support, lasting peace for Ukraine, Rutte says.

"We must ensure that Ukraine, while the fight continues, receives all possible collective support to be in the best possible position to continue," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.

6:10 PM  (Updated:  May 21, 2025 6:57 pm)

Russia intercepts drone attack on Moscow, prompting flight disruptions and emergency response.

As of 5 p.m. local time, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed seven drones to be intercepted as they approached the Russian capital.

6:51 PM

Ukraine Reforms Tracker Weekly — Issue 26

5:09 PM

Video

Historian Timothy Ash on the 'new West' after 'Trump shock.'

With the fading U.S. global leadership under Donald Trump, Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, and growing populism at home, Europe faces a stark choice: step up or fall into irrelevance. Speaking with the Kyiv Independent on May 16, British historian Timothy Garton Ash paints a picture of a West in transition.

12:36 PM  (Updated:  May 21, 2025 4:50 pm)

Controversial Ukrainian ex-official Portnov shot dead in Madrid, source says.

Andriy Portnov, a former top official in Ukraine's ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration, was shot dead by an unidentified attacker or attackers outside the American School in Madrid, Reuters reported on May 21, citing a source close to the investigation.

3:47 PM

Almost 50,000 draft-age men detained trying to illegally cross border since 2022, Border Guard says.

The number of cases has "significantly increased" since the beginning of martial law, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard Service.