Ukrainian interior ministry reports that the Russians have taken Gostomel, 15KM from KYIV
FLASH Russian forces breakthrough in Kyiv Oblast
Ukrainian officials say a Russian helicopter airborne landing attempt is under way at the Hostomel military airport just outside Kyiv.
Russian forces advance in Kherson Oblast, north of Crimea, reaching city of Nova Kakhova near the Dnieper River
Zelensky: Ukraine breaks off diplomatic relations with Russia. For all those who have not yet lost their conscience in Russia, it is time to go out and protest against the war with Ukraine.
Ukrainian Army claims: Recaptured Schastia, Luhansk Oblast whilst killing 50 enemy soldiers, destroying equipment. Seven enemy planes and two helicopters downed, 4 enemy tanks destroyed with casualties strewn across road near Kharkiv.
Russian breakthrough at Kharkiv; Russian troops seized two villages in the Luhansk Oblast
Ukraine says Russian Armed Forces cross the border in Lugansk, Kharkiv and Chernihiv
Russia's Defense Ministry says Ukrainian air defenses have been 'neutralized' - TASS
Ukraine’s interior ministry now says the country’s northern border is under attacks from Russian forces, with Belarusian support. Russian troops rolling into Ukraine via Belarusian border, says CNN
The President of Belarus gave orders to his army to integrate and cooperate with the Russian army in the invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry confirms “missiles have just struck at the center of the Military Administration, airfields, military depots, in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.” Also artillery shelling at border areas.
Russian Defense Ministry: Military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields and aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being put out of action by high-precision weapons - RIA
Ukrainian Interior Ministry says nationwide there are hundreds of casualties as a result of attacks- CNN
NEWSFLASH: UKRAINE IMPOSES MARTIAL LAW AFTER RUSSIA DECLARES WAR
Putin in an address declares military operation against Ukraine!
The heads of the DPR and LPR Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik appealed to Vladimir Putin with a request to assist in repelling aggression from the Ukrainian Armed Forces in order to avoid civilian casualties and avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Donbass, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the head of the Russian state, said.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin received letters from the head of the Lugansk People's Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, and the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin. The heads of these republics, on their own behalf and on behalf of their people, once again express gratitude to the president of Russia for the recognition of their states," Peskov said.
The spokesman also said that Pushilin and Pasechnik mentioned that the situation remains tense in Donbass, and people continue to evacuate.
"The actions of the Kiev regime testify to the unwillingness to end the war in the Donbass," the letter read, as quoted by Peskov, adding that Donbass leaders also say "the Kiev regime aims to solve the conflict by force."
Trump Orders ‘Pause’ on U.S. Aid to Ukraine After Oval Office Clash With Zelensky
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.
The move comes just days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance tore into Zelensky for what they perceived as insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion U.S. has appropriated for military aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants Zelensky “committed” to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to "ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.
The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia, the official said.
The halting of military aid comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine as he sought to pressure Zelensky to launch an investigation into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment.
In the leadup to the 2024 election, Trump vowed a quick end to the war in Ukraine, even once boasting that he could bring a halt to the fighting in one day. He has shown increasing frustration with Zelensky over the war while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long admired, can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce is reached.
Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelensky for suggesting that the end of the war likely “is still very, very far away.” Zelensky had suggested it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war as he tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, responding to comments Zelensky made late Sunday to reporters.
Trump, at a White House event later Monday, referred to Zelensky's reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.”
Zelensky later took to social media in an effort to further explain his thinking. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments, but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”
“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelensky added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”
Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelensky’s visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back the U.S. for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House had billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.
Vance, in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that aired Monday evening, said European allies were doing Ukraine a disservice by not pressing Zelensky to find an endgame to the war.
“A lot of our European friends puff him up,” Vance said. “They say, you know, you’re a freedom fighter. You need to keep fighting forever. Well, fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?”
Democrats said the pausing of aid to Ukraine was dangerous and ill-advised.
Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who is co-chair of the Congressional EU Caucus, said the decision “is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security.”
The Biden administration provided Kyiv with more than $66.5 billion in military aid and weapons since the war began. It had left unspent about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding to send more weapons to Ukraine from existing U.S. stockpiles — a sum that had not been affected by the foreign aid freeze that Trump put in place when he first took office.
“This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis — Republicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin’s aggression,” Boyle said in a statement. “Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance.”
Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, said the pausing of aid was “another extortion” of Zelensky.
“This is the exact opposite of peace through strength,” Goldman said. “Instead, what it is is it’s another extortion of President Zelensky, illegally withholding aid in order to get President Zelensky to agree to a minerals deal."
Trump's national security adviser said Zelensky’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.
“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said Monday on Fox News' “America’s Newsroom.” "And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”
Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelensky is becoming untenable.
Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelensky and between Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead.
“He thinks Russia is winning. ... And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured," said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Trump on Monday suggested he hasn't given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak about the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, earlier Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.
Key GOP senators also indicated before the announcement of paused aid that they see a path to put U.S.-Ukraine relations back on track.
“We got to lower the temperature,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., “and get to a deal that’s economically beneficial and takes care of our interests as well as the interests of the Ukrainian people.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who is a close ally of Trump, said he believes the president and Zelensky can “move past it.”
“Getting the minerals deal done is a first step,” Mullin said. After that, he said, Zelensky needs to be “realistic on what a peace deal looks like.”
https://time.com/7263913/trump-slams-zelensky-russia-ukraine-war-end/