4 Million people have left the Ukraine since Russia invaded ….
Ukraine President Zelensky has warned the leaders of Europe that TEN TIMES that amount , FORTY Million Ukrainians COULD leave Ukraine instead of leaving under Russian control if Russian conquered the Ukraine….
Zelensky isn’t signalling a Ukraine defeat….
He IS trying to cement support from Europe since the American President ain’t his countries friend and is a reluctant ally…
Europe HAS been extending annual loans to Ukraine since the war started ….
(Zelensky has been making regular trips to European countries too keep money and support coming to his country)
Russian drone’s keep landing in some European countries these days….
The American President has been upfront in trying to HELP the Russian President as he HAS done for YEARS…..
Trump’s announcement of NOT honoring Congress’s action, in the late Sen. Graham’s name , to KEEP sanctions against Russia has NOT be greeted with agreement from Congress, BOTH PARTIES….
Now Trump’s Sec. of State says Trump is gonna have a 60 day duration as a test?
Zelensky expects Trump to try and help Putin in other ways if he can get away with it….
Both side’s keep throwing drones at each other….
Including Ukraine targeting Russian oil facilities ….
Again?
I agree with ISW ‘s view that Russian President Putin is NOT interested in ANYTHING short of getting the Luhansk and Donbas/Donetsk region or even the Whole Ukraine ….
This winter will be telling…..
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Friday that as many as 20 million Ukrainians could be forced to flee to Europe if his country falls to Russia.
“Russia is killing us,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a press conference on Friday during a summit of European Union leaders, adding Ukrainians were being “pushed” out of their country. “They [Russia] don’t want to stop.”
In the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, millions of Ukrainians fled their homes in Europe’s fastest and largest refugee crisis since World War II. Today, over 4 million Ukrainians live in EU countries under temporary protection status, with the largest populations in Germany, Poland and Czechia, according to Eurostat.
Zelenskyy’s stark warning comes as Ukraine heads into a brutal fifth wartime winter under Russian bombardment. Kyiv faces a budget shortfall of $30 to $35 million next year, according to projections from the International Monetary Fund — even accounting for a €90 billion loan Brussels agreed to provide last year.
The Ukrainian president traveled to Brussels to meet with European leaders and shore up financial support for his embattled country. While the EU is Ukraine’s staunchest backer, the bloc’s list of priorities is stacked with rising energy costs, looming elections, geopolitical crises and an impasse over its €2 trillion budget….
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US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said that US President DonaldTrump’s waiver of sweeping sanctions and tariffs on Russia would be a 60-day pause to “analyse” their impact on the global economy. Rubio said also no one at the White House ordered the slow down of the speed of Ukraine’s access to Starlink to prevent it from being used on drones flying faster than 100mph, referring to Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet network.
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“The president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy,” Rubio said, noting that the economic restrictions involved a number of countries, not just Russia. Pointing to high energy prices and the Iran war, “we need that period of time to sort of study all this and figure out what the right combination is,” he said.
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Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia days before they were to take effect drew outrage Saturday from members of Congress, which had overwhelmingly passed the legislation. Republican Senator Rick Scott said it was clear Russia was the aggressor, and said the US had “to do everything we can to put economic pressure on Russia”. On social media, fellow Republican Thom Tillis described the move as “beyond irresponsible” and a capitulation “to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine”.
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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects the Trump administration to lift more sanctions against Russia in the future and has called for Europe to establish its own negotiations with Moscow as the US has sought better ties and business deals with the Kremlin. “Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue, and I believe that the ‘diesel deal’ is the first step,” said Zelenskyy on Saturday. “Unfortunately, it seems to me that this cannot stop Putin; on the contrary, he feels joy and happiness that he has such support.”
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Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, had met Friday with US presidential envoy Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Zelenskyy said the US was working to arrange a three-way meeting involving him, Trump and Putin, potentially in the Middle East, Europe or the US.
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Russian air defence units intercepted and destroyed nearly 200 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. Sobyanin, in a long series of online posts, noted that 195 drones had been destroyed since midnight, with emergency crews examining debris on the ground. Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said two Moscow airports – Domodedovo and Vnukovo – had suspended flight operations.
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Romania said Saturday it shot down two Russian drones over the Black Sea, the latest in a spate of incidents believed to be spillover from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ships have been attacked in recent days by drones in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and Bulgaria…..
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ISW…Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 17, 2026
- It remains unclear whether Ukrainian forces can use SpaceX’s low-earth orbit satellite communication technology (Starlink and Starshield) to intercept Russian jet-powered drones as of October 17.
- The Ukrainian military officially refuted Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov’s exaggerated battlefield claims from October 16.
- US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on the night of October 16 that waives key sanctions, restrictions, and tariff provisions against Russia from the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act – a decision that will help Russia finance and protract the war in Ukraine.
- Polish authorities warn that Russia may escalate its sabotage attempts and provocations against Polish logistics infrastructure, likely in an attempt to disrupt the transportation of Western aid to Ukraine during Winter 2026-2027.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced east of Kramatorsk, and Russian forces recently advanced north of Kostyantynivka.
- Russia launched 332 drones and an unspecified number of missiles and Banderol/Dan-T loitering munitions against Ukraine overnight….
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Daily Kos grunt Report for Today…
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