Overview
- EU leaders and Ukraine’s president issued a joint statement supporting an immediate halt to fighting with the current line of contact as the baseline for negotiations and reaffirming that borders cannot be changed by force.
- European officials pushed to strengthen Kyiv’s leverage through added military support, use of frozen Russian assets and expanded winter energy assistance, including appeals to third countries for repair equipment and gas.
- Ukraine reported 202 combat engagements in the past day, concentrated on the Pokrovsk axis, while air defences said they downed or suppressed 58 of 98 attacking drones during a multi‑directional strike.
- Russian attacks on energy infrastructure caused a region‑wide blackout in Chernihiv, with the Energy Ministry saying repair crews cannot safely start work because drones are loitering over damaged sites; the EU said it is assessing urgent help for the city.
- Ukraine’s security service reported multiple counterintelligence successes, including the arrest of an Odesa state‑bank cashier accused of passing military clients’ data to the FSB, the foiling of planned bombings in Izmail and a 15‑year sentence for an agent tied to plots in the north; Bulgaria signaled it could grant Putin overflight for Budapest, as Poland warned a court could order a detention under the ICC warrant.