This note starts from an uncomfortable but necessary premise: Ukraine may lose this war, not necessarily through total military defeat, but through an imposed and unfair settlement. Territorial concessions, frozen occupation, or a political agreement forced under pressure would still amount to failure. The reasons for that failure would not be purely Ukrainian.

Russia’s fossil fuel exports fell in November to their lowest level since the full-scale invasion, further extending the downward trend in earnings.

In Ukraine, “busification” has become more than street slang for forceful draft detentions. It is now a quiet calculation many people make each day — which streets to avoid, when to take out their phone, and whether an encounter with the state will follow the law or test its limits.

On Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, the Bundestag approved a legislative initiative to overhaul the Bundeswehr recruitment system—a new model of military service designed to significantly expand the size of Germany’s armed forces. The bill passed with 323 votes in favor, 272 against, and one abstention.

There are moments in a nation’s life when internal crises reveal not decay, but transformation. Ukraine is living through exactly such a moment. 

A wartime corruption scandal shakes Ukraine — and reveals why this painful moment is necessary for the country’s future.