A steep rise in soldiers' obituaries is documented by the BBC as part of its work in counting Russian war losses.

President Donald Trump's advisers held talks on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany to discuss the next steps in ending Russia's war in Ukraine,

Between January and November, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier in December. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023,

Off the battlefield, each side is trying to influence President Trump’s perception of the military conflict as they look to negotiate a peace settlement in their favor.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States is offering his country security guarantees for 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan.

Russia launched about 52,000 drones in overnight attacks on Ukraine in 2025, according to data aggregated by Kyle Glen of the U.K.-based Centre for Information Resilience, compared with around 14,000 launched between 2022 and 2024. Odesa is becoming a major target.

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces were advancing into Ukrainian defences and that President Vladimir Putin ordered expansion of a buffer zone in Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkiv in 2026,

Russell Allan Wilson, who spent several years fighting for Ukraine, has been remembered as someone who "gave his life so others could keep theirs".