Ukraine war latest: Things 'look bad' for Ukraine, key figure in war admits (2025)

German military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a defence ministry spokesperson has said.

"Winter is just around the corner, so there will also be winter equipment, as well as hand-held weapons and warming devices," the spokesperson said today.

A government spokesperson said that the deliveries were part of a military aid package already announced by Berlin in October.

We reported earlier that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Ukraine for the first time in more than two years (see post at 6.56am).

His arrival comes just weeks after he was criticised by Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a phone call with Vladimir Putin.

What do we know about these systems?

IRIS-T sytems are manufactured by Diehl Defense, based in southern Germany, and provide medium-range, high-altitude cover for small cities and armies.

Each system comprises of a missile launcher, a radar, and a fire-control radar and the missiles are said to have a range of 25 miles.

Leopard 1 tanks were post-war Germany's first tank and most of these vehicles have been upgraded with various improvements to armour, firepower and sensors.

The tanks can deliver precise hits at ranges of up to 2.5 miles.

The Kremlin has said a wave of pro-EU protests in Georgia resembled an attempted Ukraine-style "Orange Revolution".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that some of the protesters had clearly broken the law by attacking police, but that Russia would not interfere in the situation.

Georgia is an ex-Soviet state and has had a series of mass protests against what is seen as an increasingly pro-Russia government over the past year.

It has been a nation in turmoil since its parliamentary election in October.

There have been four days of protests in the Georgian capital over the government's decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

The demonstrations came after the EU lambasted Georgia's parliamentary elections.

The ruling Georgian Dream party's disputed victory in the poll on 26 October, widely seen as a referendum on Georgia's aspirations to join the EU, has sparked mass demonstrations, with the opposition boycotting parliament.

The 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine saw the overturning of a fraudulent presidential vote, stopping Kremlin-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych from stealing the Ukrainian presidency.

Vladimir Putin and Russia had gone to great lengths to push Mr Yanukovych as their preferred candidate, but the protests hastened Ukraine's trajectory away from Moscow.

Away from Ukraine, at least 25 people have been killed after Syrian and Russian jets launched airstrikes on Syrian rebels who are making their way through the country after gaining control of Aleppo.

Russia is already stretched militarily and now it has entered another conflict with its ally Syria, which is being threatened by an insurgency.

In 2015, Russia saved President Bashar al Assad from the brink of collapse during the Syrian civil war.

In return, the Assad regime offered Putin unlimited access to military bases - allowing Russia to extend its influence across a much broader area and providing Putin with a military stronghold in the region.

On Sunday, Russian and Syrian jets struck the rebel-held city of Idlib in northern Syria, military sources said, as Assad vowed to crush insurgents.

Residents said one attack hit a crowded residential area in the centre of Idlib, the largest city in a rebel enclave near the Turkish border where around four million people live in makeshift tents.

At least seven people were killed and dozens injured, according to rescuers at the scene.

The Syrian army has also said dozens of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting in Aleppo.

The rebels, led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, took over most of Aleppo in a shock offensive on Saturday.

The Syrian army and its ally Russia say they target the hideouts of insurgent groups and deny attacking civilians.

Donald Trump has repeatedly said he could settle the war in Ukraine within a day.

He has also claimed there were no high-profile wars during his presidency,

Asked about previous comments the president-elect has made, former US national security adviser John Bolton told Sky's Kay Burleythat Trump is somewhat "exaggerating".

"He is telling the truth in the sense that we were in a calmer period in history and we see now what can happen, in part because of the weakness demonstrated by Joe Biden, in withdrawing from Afghanistan and failing to even try to deter the Russians before they invaded Ukraine," he said.

Looking at what Trump could do, he added: "He has said he will get Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a room together and they would solve Ukraine in 24 hours - good luck with that!"

Mr Bolton also noted that threats from Trump that the US could leave NATO should be taken "seriously".

The president-elect has floated the idea of leaving the Western military alliance - something that would have a huge impact on European security.

"I think it will happen if Trump follows through," he said. "It's possible for the next four years he will be distracted."

He explained that Trump "distrusts the alliance and doesn't understand what collective defence is all about".

"I'm very worried about it now," he added. "It's a bad season and people should take the threat of withdrawal very seriously."

Desertion cases in Ukrainehit 60,000 this year, nearly double the previous two years, The Financial Times reports.

From January to October 2024, Ukrainian prosecutors opened 60,000 criminal cases against soldiers for unauthorised abandonment of positions - which is almost twice as many as they initiated in 2022 and 2023 combined.

Some of the men have since returned to the front but others have gone into hiding.

What does the law say?

Earlier this year, Ukraine lowered its draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25.

The bill expanded the number of civilians the army could mobilise into its ranks to fight under martial law, which came into force when the invasion began.

Men of military age are barred from leaving Ukraine and those who desert the army face up to 12 years in prison.

A Moscow politician who is serving time in jailfor speaking out against Russia's war in Ukraine has been handed an additional three-year prison term.

Alexei Gorinov, a 63-year-old former member of a Moscow municipal council, is already serving a seven-year prison term for public criticism of Russia's invasion.

He was convicted in July 2022 for "spreading false information" about the Russian army at a council meeting.

The councillor allegedly voiced scepticism about a children's art competition in his constituency while saying that "every day children are dying" in Ukraine.

And on Friday, he appeared at a court for charges of "justifying terrorism" in prison and jailed for a further three years, after a second case was put against him.

Gorinov rejected the accusations last week, independent news site Mediazona reports.

Military analyst Sean Bell will be on hand early this afternoon to answer your questions on the conflict.

His focus will be on military matters as Ukraine struggles to hold back the Russian advance.

Submit your question in the box above.

Ukraine does not have the means to "turn the tables" in the war and will lose if it carries on like it is now, former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

Kuleba acknowledged in an interview with the Financial Times that things "look bad" on the battlefield.

"Do we today have the means and tools to turn the tables and change the trajectory of how things are happening? No, we don't. And if it continues like this, we will lose the war," he said.

But the former minister, who resigned in September amid a wide-ranging reshuffle of the Ukrainian cabinet, noted that things "looked worse" on the battlefield in the first few months of the conflict.

"Everyone is asking what Ukraine is ready to do, what Ukraine is ready to accept. And I say, guys, first find the answer to the question [of] what Putin is ready to accept. Because this is the place where the war comes from."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview with Sky News' Stuart Ramsayon Friday that an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv's control could end "the hot stage of the war" in Ukraine.

But Kuleba said he believes NATO no longer provides the security guarantees it once did - and added that it essentially relies on a willingness from the US to act to defend it.

He pointed to Article 5, which sees members agree that an armed attack against one or more nations be considered an attack against them all.

"In reality it is based on one sentence - 'the United States will defend every inch of the territory of our allies'. And this sentence belongs to Biden. What if you have a president who says he's not going to defend every inch of your territory?... If Trump says anything like that, the NATO shield is gone and Putin will feel free to do whatever he wants," he said.

Olaf Scholz has arrived in Kyiv for a surprise visit.

The German chancellor, who travelled to the Ukrainian capital by train last night, is set to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announce the delivery this month of further military equipment worth €650m (£539m).

"Germany will remain Ukraine's strongest supporter in Europe," he said in a post to X.

It marks his first visit to Ukraine in more than two-and-a-half years.

It comes after Scholz sparked outrage last month when he spoke to Vladimir Putin in an hour-long phone call that Zelenskyy said opened a "Pandora's box" and undermined efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin.

Russia launched 110 drones at Ukraine overnight, according to the military.

The Ukrainian air forces said that of the drones, 52 were shot down and 50 were "lost", likely due to electronic warfare.

One drone was still in Ukrainian airspace and six left in the direction of Belarus and Russia, it added.

As we reported in our 6.22 post, a Russian drone hit a residential building in the western city of Ternopil, hundreds of miles from the frontline, killing at least one person and injuring others.