Overview

• President Zelensky signed legislation this week allowing Ukrainian citizens over 60 to enlist on one-year, non-combat military contracts after passing medical tests.
• Long-standing recruitment problems have driven up the average soldier age and led to reports of physical fatigue, slowed reaction times and memory lapses among veteran troops.
• A Kyiv School of Economics analysis warns that Russia’s Soviet-era equipment stocks are shrinking even as Belarus ramps up arms production to circumvent sanctions.
• Security Service of Ukraine operatives thwarted an FSB plot to assassinate battalion commander Serhij Filimonow and a Russian airstrike on a Zaporizhzhia prison killed 16 inmates and wounded 35.
• International pressure is mounting with President Trump enforcing a ten-day tariff ultimatum, EU demands on anti-corruption reforms and German proposals to restrict welfare for Ukrainian men aged 18–63.