Russian ship fires lasers at British war plane & Trump 'in secret consultation' with Kremlin over Ukraine

Day 1,364.

Today, as Ukraine confirms the latest use of US ATACMS missiles inside Russia and Britain tracks a Russian spy ship in UK waters, we examine growing pressure on President Zelensky to dismiss a senior official over the widening nuclear-energy corruption scandal – with Andriy Yermak increasingly in the spotlight. We also report on allegations that a former British civil servant committed war crimes in Ukraine, and discuss why Spain is attempting to return to Donald Trump’s good graces with a new €1 billion purchase of U.S. weapons for Ukraine. Later, we speak with the Foreign Minister of Czechia, who says he expects imminent movement on efforts to unlock frozen Russian state assets. 

Contributors

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

Joe Barnes (Brussels Correspondent). @Barnes_Joe on X.

With thanks to Jan Lipavský, Foreign Minister of Czechia.

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

British ex-civil servant accused of Ukraine war crimes (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/19/british-ex-civil-servant-graham-phillips-ukraine-war-crimes/ 

Russian spy ship fires lasers to blind RAF pilots (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/19/russian-spy-blinds-military-pilots-spy-ship-lasers/ 

Scoop: U.S. secretly drafting new plan to end Ukraine war (Axios):

https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/ukraine-peace-plan-trump-russia-witkoff 

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