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Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 03-08-2025 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
The Russian word for meat grinder, myasorubka, has the same double meaning as in English.
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line.
The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photos on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia.
Does University of Alabama homecoming queen Katie Britt have what it takes to stand up to toxic Trump?
Alabama’s junior US Senator Katie Britt continues to get mixed reviews on the Ukraine issue that is challenging America’s historic commitment to freedom and democracy in the world – and that is not good enough.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Britt did not hesitate to answer Tapper’s simple question: “Who is responsible for the war in Ukraine?” Britt’s ready answer: “Putin.”
The world in focus, as seen by Canadian leading global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw in a quick review of the biggest news in international media today.
Two women and a man have been found guilty of spying for Russia in a huge espionage operation from a rundown former guesthouse north of London. Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab assistant, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator, have all been convicted of spying for Russia. The group acted as spies working for the Russian intelligence service, also known as GRU. The women were both involved in relationships with Bizer Dzhambazov, 43, a medical courier who ran the ground operations of the spy ring. The spy ring was run by Orlin Roussev, 46, a former City worker who set up a freelance espionage operation from a 33-room ex-guesthouse in Great Yarmouth. The spy ring’s contact in Moscow was allegedly an Austrian man called Jan Marsalek, 44, the former chief operating officer of a major finance and tech company called Wirecard which collapsed in 2020 amid allegations of fraud. All are Bulgarian nationals with EU-settled status after living in the UK for a number of years. Roussev and Dzhambazov both pleaded guilty to espionage charges but the three others denied the charges. Wanted by the German authorities, Marsalek fled to Russia, where he allegedly ran the network. The cell was said to have used “sophisticated methodology” which included advanced technology and false identities in order to acquire information and imagery, before compiling detailed reports on their targets to send to Moscow. One of the tasks of the spy ring was to gather information about dissidents and prominent individuals of interest to the Russians. Their targets included Christo Grozev, a journalist who worked for the British investigative website Bellingcat and was responsible for identifying the GRU agents accused of poisoning MI6 double agent Sergei Skripal with Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury in March 2018. Marsalek said Vladimir Putin “seriously hated” Grozev and contemplated killing him with a sledgehammer. The spy ring conducted surveillance in Knightsbridge and Kensington in London and even considered using a drone to spray pigs’ blood over the Kazakhstan Embassy as part of a fake protest. Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Scotland Yard’s SO15, which deals with state threats, said it was one of the largest spying investigations in the last 20 years. “This was spying on an almost industrial scale on behalf of the Russian intelligence services and lots of their activity goes to the very heart of the freedoms and national security that we need to try and protect here in the UK,” he said. - Sky News
The Daily Telegraph reported that, since 2020, Marsalek has also been involved in a secret project to supply drones from China for use in the war in Ukraine and in the selling of weapons captured by Putin’s forces on the battlefield back to the People’s Liberation Army, allowing Beijing to uncover Western military secrets. Intelligence sources have told The Telegraph that Marsalek still travels regularly, mainly between Russia and the Middle East, and that he has been linked to both the gold trade and money laundering operations in Namibia.
The wave of protests began spontaneously in Tbilisi and other Georgian cities last year on Nov. 28
Marches and rallies were held across Georgia on March 7, marking 100 days of anti-government protests.
The protests, which have grown in size over the past three months, show no sign of ebbing as citizens demand early parliamentary elections and the release of dozens of people facing criminal charges for participating in the rallies.
By legitimizing Putin’s aggression, undermining NATO, and leaving Europe more vulnerable than ever, Trump send a clear message to China: invasions work, and the West will eventually fold.
Throughout history, great powers have often traded away smaller nations in pursuit of strategic realignments. Today, we may be witnessing another such moment. Donald Trump’s rush to end the war in Ukraine is not about peace; it’s about repositioning the West for what he sees as the true geopolitical struggle of the 21st century: the fight against China.
For Trump, Russia is a distraction; China is the true adversary. He believes Europe is too preoccupied with Putin and must shift to countering Beijing. A quick settlement in Ukraine, even if it forces Kyiv into big concessions, would, in his view, free up Western resources for this larger struggle.
Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.
Stefan Korshak, Kyiv Post’s military correspondent, shares his perspective on recent developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
I think I can safely say that there was, again, this week, a ton of news and developments seemingly impossible to understand because you are in the middle and absorbing it and it’s coming too fast to make sense of. The goal of this week’s review is to take a step back from the information flood.
But before I get going on that, on the ground, where it counts the most, this week saw the Ukrainians pushed back and in some fairly serious trouble in the Kursk region, scoring multiple but not overly-big gains in the Pokrovsk region. Also, there was a big Russian armored attack in Chasiv Yar – repelled – the Ukrainians counterattacked, now they’re back in the center of the town. The atmospheric soldier photo below, I believe, is from the Luhansk/Serebriansk sector, but I’m not positive about that.
Zelensky: Help! Close the Sky! Punish Russia!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called for more sanctions against Russia as overnight strikes killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, days ahead of talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators aimed at securing a truce.
A Russian assault hit the center of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region late on Friday, killing 11 people and wounding 30, according to the emergency services.
Is Trump’s withdrawal of the US from Ukraine the end of American power and the beginning of a new world order?
For decades, the United States has been the backbone of the Western alliance, the guarantor of global security, and a symbol of political and military power that deters those who want to shape the world according to the rules of force rather than those of law.
Today, however, this role-player is facing its greatest challenge since the end of the Cold War – and this challenge is coming from within.
Today’s ongoing conversations between Washington and Moscow bear the hallmarks of the diplomatic deadlock between America and Japan in 1941. Can lessons be learned?
Henry Kissinger, the architect of America’s relationships with both Taiwan and China, is gone. His party, the Republican GOP, has abandoned grand strategy and global leadership in favor of isolationism that prioritizes short-term tactical gains at the expense of long-term national interests. Though I (and others) have consistently argued about the deterrent effect a Russian defeat in Ukraine would have for China’s ambitions against Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific, the history that binds Kyiv to Taipei is overlooked and understudied.
World War II was fought in multiple theatres – namely, but not exclusively, in Europe and in Asia.
The logistics situation is rapidly deteriorating, a Ukrainian activist reported
Russia on Saturday said its troops had retaken three villages seized by Ukraine in the Kursk border region, where Kyiv’s forces have been losing ground recently.
The Russian defense ministry announced the recapture of Viktorovka, Nikolayevka and Staraya Sorochina.
The choice for Europe’s leading nations is simple: Go nuclear or perish.
The willingness of European leaders to ignore Donald Trump’s mendacity and humiliate themselves with displays of fealty to the American president on live television can be explained in two words: nuclear umbrella.
The implosion of the transatlantic relationship over the past two weeks has policy makers across Europe wondering if they can still count on the nuclear shield, which has served as the foundation of their security for decades.
French Philosopher-Film Maker Bernard-Henri Lévy Interviewed in Kyiv Three Years after Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion.
Mixed feelings in the European press on the EU’s decision to boost defense spending.
At an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday, March 6, the EU member states decided to boost their defense spending and fund a massive rearmament push. Debt rules are to be relaxed for military investments and up to 150 billion euros are to be made available in EU loans. A declaration on further support for Ukraine was adopted without Hungary’s participation. What the European press is saying.
Europe has woken up
The energy sector suffered the biggest financial losses and many companies sold their businesses at a discount rate of up to 90-100%.
Foreign companies in Russia have lost $167 billion since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The losses were caused by asset write-offs, unfair court decisions, and business seizures, according to a new report by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).
Nearly $57 billion was lost by companies whose assets were confiscated by Russian authorities or transferred to local entities and state institutions. Before the expropriation, their market value was estimated at around $74 billion.
Turkey has considerably developed its defense industries, with exports growing by 29% to reach $7.1 billion in 2024
Turkey, with NATO’s second-largest army and a Black Sea coastline, is looking to play a key role in Europe’s security after Washington’s pivot away from the region.
After two rounds of crisis talks on Ukraine and security following Washington’s change of policy, Ankara has been quick to warn that European defenses cannot be ensured without its involvement.
The move by the Trump administration represents a reversal in policy, as previously, the US had attempted to deprive Russia of financial revenues enabling it pursue its war goals in Ukraine.
The US government is reportedly exploring ways to ease sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
“The White House has asked the Treasury Department to explore options for easing energy sanctions ahead of expected talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war,” Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
European Union leaders agreed to boost the 27-country union’s defenses
EU chiefs briefed several NATO partners, including Britain, Canada and Turkey, on Friday about the outcome of a meeting on defense of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels a day earlier.
Shaken by the prospect of US disengagement from the continent’s security, European Union leaders agreed to boost the 27-country union’s defenses against the perceived threat from Russia.
The attack came even as Trump threatened economic sanctions
An overnight Russian attack killed at least 14 people in eastern Ukraine as of Saturday afternoon, the country’s emergency service said, days ahead of peace talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian negotiators.
Ukrainians have no option but to hold out against Putin and now Trump
Talking to Ukrainians in the run up to the US election there was some nervousness around the prospect of a Trump presidency, but a sense of hope still that at least with Trump they would learn their fate sooner.
There was a sense here that under Biden, the drip, drip feed of support was a recipe for a certain slow death. Under Trump there was an expectation of a radical shake up of policy and, perhaps, by throwing all the cards on the floor they might just fall for Ukraine.
Slidstvo.Info found testimony from Roshchyna’s cellmate, alleging she was tortured with stabbing and electrocution. Her father still awaits her body months after her apparent death in Sept 2024.
A Ukrainian journalist, who was allegedly stabbed and electrocuted while in Russian detention, weighed just 30 kilograms around the time she died, a major press investigation has found.
Viktoria Roshchyna traveled to Russian-occupied Ukraine in summer 2023 to report on the alleged use of torture chambers by Moscow’s forces in the Zaporizhzhia region. But she ended up being tortured herself, according to research by three Ukrainian news outlets alongside the media freedom organization, Reporters without Borders.
Moscow has forcibly issued 3.5 million passports to Ukrainians living in the occupied territories. Russian authorities threaten property confiscation and deportation.
On the occupied territories of Ukraine, Russia has forcibly issued 3.5 million Russian passports to local residents, British Defence Intelligence reported Friday.
According to the intelligence report, on March 4, Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia had completed the issuance of passports to Ukrainians living in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
Using data from SIPRI (1994), we can calculate the full scale of Ukraine’s nuclear forces at the time and estimate how much the US saved by pressuring Ukraine to give up its deterrent.
The Trump administration is demanding that Ukraine return $350 billion in aid provided by the previous administration – despite the US’ own numbers showing that the actual amount was closer to $100 billion, with half of it spent on American weapons, meaning much of the money never left US defense companies.But there’s a bigger question: Would Ukraine have ever needed this aid if the US hadn’t stripped it of its nuclear arsenal in 1994?
Back then, Washington pushed Kyiv to give up nuclear weapons worth hundreds of billions of dollars, while also saving billions more on US defense programs that would have been required to monitor and counter a nuclear-armed Ukraine.Using data from SIPRI (1994), we can calculate the full scale of Ukraine’s nuclear forces at the time and estimate how much the US saved by pressuring Ukraine to give up its deterrent.
Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.
Key Takeaways from the ISW:
