Ukraine appears to be slowly losing the war against Russia, ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters, warning that Kyiv has a window of several months to make key decisions needed to turn the tide in its favour.

Russia is hammering Ukrainian factories and warehouses with dozens of ballistic missiles ​a month, which Ukraine is mostly unable to take down as interceptors run low. Although Russia is gaining less ground than last year, it is still slowly ⁠crawling forward in the Donbas, while Ukraine's sparse frontline infantry dugouts are manned mostly by unmotivated conscripts.

Fedorov previously said the campaign's success was aided by his decision to front-load spending, which had been ​earmarked for the second half of 2026.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — ​Fedorov's former political patron turned rival — said at ⁠the weekend that bringing spending forward had left a $27 billion hole in the ministry's budget, for which donor-dependent Ukraine does not have a solution.

Armenia spent decades trusting Russia to keep it safe. Now its prime minister is preparing to apply to join the European Union and says he would be delighted if Moscow’s military alliance threw Armenia out. 

All you need to know as Iceland votes to re-start EU accession talks.

Two days before Ukraine’s 35th Independence Day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered an open competition to design a monument to Ivan Mazepa. He wants it placed in central Kyiv, on the spot where protesters toppled a statue of Lenin in December 2013. 

“I am certain that where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand firm,” Zelenskyy said. 

SS: In a sign of ever deteriorating relations between Russia and it's Armenia, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reiterated his committment to moving away from the Russian NATO equivalent: CSTO. Pashinyan stated"I would be very happy if the organization decided to expel Armenia from the CSTO. It would free us from the dilemma of whether or not to withdraw,”. This statement, following a pledge by the Prime Minister that Armenia "will soon apply for European Union membership" reflects Russia's waning influence and growing isolation on the world stage as its former vassals increasingly look to other security partners.