Ukraine war latest: Trump calls Putin, then welcomes Zelensky, as peace negotiations continue in Florida
Key developments on Dec. 28-29:
- Trump holds call with Putin just before scheduled meeting with Zelensky
- 'I have no deadlines' — Zelensky, Trump hold talks in Florida to discuss an end to Russia's war
- 'It was horrifying, like an earthquake' – Kyiv recovering from mass Russian attack that left 2 killed, 32 injured, ahead of peace talks
- Top anti-Putin Russian commander killed fighting for Ukraine
- Russia aims to recruit over 400,000 soldiers in 2026, Ukraine's military intelligence chief says
- Ukraine, Russia publish videos from Myrnohrad, claim control of front-line town
Trump holds call with Putin just before scheduled meeting with Zelensky
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Dec. 28 that he held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I just had a good and very productive phone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
According to Trump, the call took place earlier in the morning before the start of his official talks with the Ukrainian delegation.
The Kremlin later confirmed the conversation, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledging the call to Russian state media.
Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said the call lasted just over an hour and was initiated by the U.S. side. He added that the two leaders agreed to speak again after Trump concludes his meetings with the Ukrainian delegation, and to establish two working groups focused on security and economic issues.
This was the ninth call between the two leaders since the start of 2025.
Trump said his meeting with Zelensky today will be held at his Mar-a-Lago residence with press present, followed by a joint phone call with European leaders.
Zelensky will be accompanied by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Economy Minister Oleksii Sobolev, Chief of Ukraine's General Staff Andrii Hnatov, First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Oleksandr Bevz, President's Office non-staff advisor.
In Zelensky's Dec. 26 comments to reporters, the president said that Ukraine and the U.S. plan to discuss security guarantees, economic cooperation, as well as "all issues on which there are disagreements," including Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
'I have no deadlines' — Zelensky, Trump hold talks in Florida to discuss an end to Russia's war
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Dec. 28, as the two leaders are expected to discuss the latest peace efforts to end Russia's nearly four-year full-scale war in Ukraine.
The meeting began at 1 p.m. EST (8 p.m. Kyiv time) on Dec. 28, and is taking place at Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. Zelensky arrived to Miami a day prior.
Before the meeting started, Trump and Zelensky took a few questions from journalists.
Trump offered a vague outlook on talks over a revised 20-point peace plan, saying the war could "either end or drag on for a long time with many more casualties." He also said there was no deadline for reaching a peace deal and added that he believed both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders want an agreement.
Trump dismissed a question about security guarantees for Ukraine as “stupid,” but went on to say a strong security agreement would be reached with significant involvement from European countries. He also claimed that Ukraine would see "great economic benefits" after a potential agreement is made.
When asked whether recent Russian attacks on Kyiv showed that Putin was not serious about peace, Trump rejected the suggestion.
“No he’s very serious,” Trump replied. He added that Ukraine had also carried out strong attacks, saying, “I believe Ukraine has made some very strong attacks also. And I don’t say that negatively. You probably have to."
"There have been some explosions in various parts of Russia," he added. "I don't think it came from the Congo. I don't think it came from the United States of America. It possibly came from Ukraine."
Trump said on Dec. 28 that he held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I just had a good and very productive phone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
According to Trump, the call took place earlier in the morning before the start of his official talks with the Ukrainian delegation. The U.S. president said he will call Putin again after completing the talks with Zelensky.
A source close to the Ukrainian delegation told the Kyiv Independent that they don't know how the meeting will unfold and are ready for "all scenarios."
0:00/0:261×Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Miami, Florida, for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 28, 2025. (The Kyiv Independent)
Zelensky is accompanied by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Economy Minister Oleksii Sobolev, Chief of Ukraine's General Staff Andrii Hnatov, First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Oleksandr Bevz, President's Office non-staff advisor.
In Zelensky's Dec. 26 comments to reporters, the president said that Ukraine and the U.S. plan to discuss security guarantees, economic cooperation, as well as "all issues on which there are disagreements," including Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, at the meeting in Florida.
Zelensky also said that the 20-point plan is 90% complete, and he views the meeting with Trump as an opportunity to ensure that everything is 100% ready.
"It is not easy, and no one is saying that it will be 100% ready right away. Nevertheless, we must use every meeting and every conversation to bring us closer to the desired result," he said.
Zelensky on Dec. 23 unveiled a draft of the revised peace plan to end Russia's full-scale war. The initial 28-point plan, which effectively pushed Ukraine toward capitulation, has been reworked into a 20-point framework.
In addition, a three-party security guarantee draft between Ukraine, the U.S., and Europe has been developed, as well as a bilateral security guarantee agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. Another document between Kyiv and Washington is focused on economic cooperation and was described as the "roadmap for Ukraine’s prosperity."
In his remarks to reporters on Dec. 26, Zelensky said it's important to find an opportunity to hold talks not only with the U.S., but also with Russia and European countries.
"Of course, the 20-point agreement cannot be signed without Russia and without the Europeans."
'It was horrifying, like an earthquake' – Kyiv recovering from mass Russian attack that left 2 killed, 32 injured, ahead of peace talks
Kyiv came under a mass combined missile and drone attack overnight on Dec. 27.
The attack started with Russia launching several Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, Iskander ballistic missiles, and a group of Kalibr cruise missiles at the capital shortly before 2 a.m. Kyiv time, monitoring channels reported.
Drones kept attacking the capital throughout the night. The air raid alert lasted for nearly 10 hours, and was only turned off after 11 a.m. on Dec. 27.
Another wave came at noon, with drones targeting Kyiv for an hour, until it was all clear again at 1:30 p.m.
"When it seemed that the terrible night was over, we woke up to a terrifying explosion at eight in the morning," Tetiana Donets, a Kyiv resident, told the Kyiv Independent.
"We didn't understand what had happened and only later saw in the news that a missile had hit the fourth floor of the neighboring building. The whole street is covered with debris and glass. It's been emotionally difficult."
As she was still recovering from the news of the close hit, Donets learned that the attack shattered the windows in her office in another part of Kyiv, and had to head there to clean it up.
Drones and falling debris slammed into apartment blocks across the city, igniting fires that spread floor by floor. In one 18-story building in the city's Dniprovskyi district, a person is believed to be trapped under the rubble on the fifth floor, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
At least 32 people were injured in Kyiv during the attack, including two children, according to the latest update shared by the Kyiv Police Force. An elderly man was killed in the city's Dniprovskyi district, while his wife is in critical condition at the hospital.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that at least one other person was killed in the town of Bila Tserka, Kyiv Oblast. As of noon, he said, firefighters and first responders were still working on five locations in Kyiv.
The attack cut off heat to a third of the capital, including 4,000 residential buildings, Klitschko added. Engineers are working to restore power. Some households lost water supply, too.
Russian drones also struck a gas production facility and a combined heat and power plant belonging to Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas giant, the company reported.
"It is clear that these attacks are synchronized with the drop in temperatures. The enemy is trying to exploit freezing weather and peak demand in order to disable the system," Naftogaz's CEO Serhii Koretskyi said.
Ongoing energy outages have become routine for the capital in the past two months, following Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. Households are left without electricity for up to 15 hours per day.
Polish military aircraft were mobilized overnight in response to Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine, Poland’s Armed Forces reported on X.
Several explosions were heard across the capital, according to Kyiv Independent reporters on the ground, as well as in Kyiv Oblast, where power outages were reported in the town of Brovary and surrounding areas following the strikes. Brovary is located 20 kilometers (around 12 miles) northeast of Kyiv.
A fire was reported in the city’s Holosiivskyi district in southwestern Kyiv, while debris fell in the Obolonskyi (northern Kyiv) and Desnianskyi (eastern Kyiv) districts.
Closer to the end of the attack, an apartment building was hit in the northwestern part of Kyiv in Shevchenkivsky District, on Oleny Telihy Street.
Liubov Chernenko, 73, has lived in the building on Telihy Street her whole life. On the early afternoon of Dec. 27, she was standing outside it, waiting as first responders were working on the site. Her third floor apartment was damaged and will need repairs. The woman said she can hardly walk and relies on her son to take care of her.
"My kitchen window was knocked out, the doors in one room as well," Chernenko told the Kyiv Independent. "The other rooms are fine, just full of smoke and dust. My neighbor on the fourth floor said her balcony was completely gone. My balcony is damaged too, but I can’t get there to check it."
She said the building was hit at 10:30 a.m. that day. She had just taken her medicine and was in bed.
"I didn’t even see or hear the explosion," the woman said. "Things just started flying all around me. It was horrifying, felt like an earthquake."
"They were bombing us all night," she added. "I heard explosions all night. Most seemed far away, but I still barely slept."
In Vyshhorod, some five kilometers (nine miles) north of Kyiv, several windows were damaged in a high-rise building, while in Kyiv Oblast’s Boryspil district an unspecified number of warehouses, as well as two cars, were damaged, Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said, adding that critical infrastructure was once again under attack.
Separately, one person was injured in the attack in western Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and was taken to a hospital, according to Kalashnyk.
Top anti-Putin Russian commander killed fighting for Ukraine
One of the most prominent anti-Kremlin Russians fighting on Ukraine's side was killed during a combat mission in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southern Ukraine, the Russian Volunteer Corps militia reported on Dec. 27.
Denis Kapustin, also known by his nom de guerre "White Rex," led the right-wing Russian Volunteer Corps until he was killed by an FPV drone on the southern front, according to preliminary reports. More details are expected later.
"We will definitely take revenge, Denis," the Russian Volunteer Corps wrote on their Telegram channel. "Your legacy lives on."
Kapustin was a known far-right activist, banned from the Schengen area for his neo-Nazi views and involvement in far-right football hooliganism. His family moved from Moscow to Germany when Kapustin was 17. He relocated to Ukraine in 2017.
In a 2023 interview, Kapustin admitted he was right-wing but disputed the "neo-Nazi" label, saying "you will never find me raising my hand in a Hitler sign."
In the early stages of Russia's full-scale invasion, he helped set up the first units of what would later become Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade and Third Army Corps.
"We together confronted the common enemy in the battle for Kyiv," the Third Army Corps wrote on Telegram on Dec. 27.
"He perceived (Ukraine) as a place of real resistance and freedom."
Kapustin then set up the Russian Volunteer Corps in August 2022 with the end goal of overthrowing Russian President Vladimir Putin. The group has spoken against Putin’s regime of “lies, corruption, and lawlessness.”
"Only our victory will bring peace to Russia! As long as Putin and his gang of thieves sit in the Kremlin, the war will continue," the militia wrote on its website.
The militia made headlines in 2023 and 2024 for their cross-border incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, capturing dozens of Russian soldiers in the process. Kyiv has said that while they are part of Ukrainian defense and security forces, their incursions into Russia were not taking place under Kyiv's orders.
The Ukrainian-equipped militia has fought alongside other anti-Kremlin Russian groups, like the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Siberian Battalion. Following their cross-border attacks in March 2024, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, noted that the groups were "becoming a force."
Russia aims to recruit over 400,000 soldiers in 2026, Ukraine's military intelligence chief says
Russia has fulfilled its mobilization goals in 2025 and has set its mobilization target to recruit 409,000 Russian soldiers in 2026, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, told Suspilne in a year-end interview.
Budanov told Suspilne in an interview published on Dec. 27 that Moscow fulfilled its 2025 mobilization target of 403,000 Russian soldiers at the start of December and will reach 103% of their target by the end of 2025.
Initially setting its goal of enlisting 343,000 people in 2025, the Kremlin increased its target half way through the year amid an uptick in recruitment.
The overwhelming majority of Russian recruits serve as contract soldiers, Budanov said, with reports of some recruits receiving upwards of 2 million rubles (approximately $25,000) as a first-time sign-on bonus.
"Money for all wars has been one of the main levers for recruiting people," Budanov added. "This is how they lure people into the army."
To avoid another large-scale draft following the deeply unpopular partial mobilization in 2022, Moscow has leaned on lucrative contracts and extensive recruitment campaigns, offering large signing bonuses and a generous benefits package.
In addition to contract soldiers, Russia is continuing to systematically recruit foreign nationals to fight in its war against Ukraine, officials from Ukraine's intelligence service said Dec. 26.
In December alone, more than 150 foreign nationals from 25 countries were identified as having been recruited into the Russian army, with about 200 more preparing to join, said Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service.
As of October, Russia had mobilized more than 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries, according to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. North Koreans account for the largest contingent of foreign fighters fighting for Russia, the agency said.
Russia has also resorted to enlisting hundreds of thousands of convicts and recruiting people with chronic medical conditions, including HIV and hepatitis.
Despite making progress along the front line in 2025, Russian soldiers face mass casualties amid Russia's lack of protective equipment, inadequate training, and Russia's "human wave" style of attacks, among other factors.
According to a joint investigation by BBC Russia and independent Russian media outlet Mediazona, over 156,000 Russian soldiers have been confirmed as casualties on the battlefield — although the totals are far higher.
As of Dec. 27, Russia has lost a total of 1,203,310 troops since the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine's General Staff reported. The estimate, which is broadly in-line with estimates made by Western intelligence agencies, likely includes those killed, captured, wounded, and missing.
Ukraine, Russia publish videos from Myrnohrad, claim control of front-line town
Ukrainian and Russian troops have been publishing conflicting claims, and videos, of who controls the front-line town of Myrnohrad, located just northeast of embattled Pokrovsk.
Ukraine's Armed Forces issued a statement on Dec. 28, alleging they continue to hold key positions in the front-line city of Myrnohrad in Donetsk Oblast. The Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released a video of the ongoing combat operations in the Corps' defense sector.
"Unable to gain control of the city, the enemy has resorted to propagandist actions on the southern outskirts of Myrnohrad. The primary target of these actions appears to be their domestic audience, who remain in a constant state of pre-New Year’s intoxication," the Air Assault Forces said in a statement.
0:00/0:501×Video of the ongoing combat operations in the 7th Rapid Response Corps of the Air Assault Forces' defense sector, released on Dec. 28, 2025. (7th Rapid Response Corps of the Air Assault Forces/Facebook)
Meanwhile, Russian state-controlled media began circulating videos online of what appears to be Russian soldiers raising flags in several of the town's destroyed neighborhoods.
In one instance, a Russian soldier dressed as Father Frost (Santa Claus) raises a Russian flag on top of heavily damaged building in an unidentified location.
There have been isolated instances of Russian troops covertly infiltrating the central areas of Myrnohrad, according to Ukrainian reports.
The conflicting reports come after Russian claimed of occupying the front-line cities of Myrnohrad in Donetsk Oblast and Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces dismissed these claims on Dec. 27, calling them false and "a weapon of disinformation."
Pokrovsk, a key fortress city in Donetsk Oblast, has been one of the most fiercely contested areas of the front line, with Ukrainian forces holding off a major Russian assault for the past year. Myrnohrad is a satellite town of Pokrovsk, located less than 3 kilometers (2 miles) away.
Favorable weather, including fog and rain that limit Ukrainian drone operations, allowed Russian forces to advance in the area this fall by moving in small groups without heavy equipment. Russian soldiers also disguised themselves in civilian clothes, a move that violates the laws of war.
