On November 18, 2025, Ukraine carried out drone strikes on two major power plants, Zuivska and Starobesheve, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region. These plants supplied electricity to civilians as well as Russian military units in the area.

Russian forces have surrounded the embattled Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and control 70 per cent of it, President Vladimir Putin claimed on Thursday, though Kyiv's top general insisted Ukrainian defenders were pushing back hard amid fierce fighting in the city centre.

Russia claimed on Thursday that its forces took control of another settlement in Ukraine’s Donetsk region amid its ongoing offensives in the over three-and-a-half-year war.

Russian forces advance in Pokrovsk and Siversk amid intensified conflict in Ukraine. While Moscow claims progress, Ukrainian military reports successful defense against numerous Russian assaults. The strategic capture of Pokrovsk could enable Moscow to target key Ukrainian-controlled cities.

From the front-line city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk, to Zaporizhzhia in the south, there is little doubt that Russia is making advances. But, battlefield monitors suggest the picture is not quite so bleak for Ukraine as Trump and Putin suggest.

A senior Ukrainian defense official told Business Insider that Russian infiltration tactics have been successful in bad weather.

According to leaks and draft texts seen by multiple outlets, the original US plan was built around a hard trade-off: Kyiv would accept major territorial concessions—effectively recognizing Russian control over Crimea,

A push by the Trump administration to end Russia's war on Ukraine appears to make headway, with Kyiv saying Zelenskyy could visit D.C. within days to finalize a deal.

Amid U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal, Ukraine claims to be holding Russian forces at Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian troops report “search & destroy” missions inside the city,