The Russian invasion

The outside world's response
Scholz in Kyiv after criticism - underlined his support

On Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Kyiv for the first time in over two years, just weeks after his criticized phone call with Vladimir Putin.

In a post on X afterwards, his message to Putin was:

"We are ready for the long haul. Our support for Ukraine is unwavering. We stand with the Ukrainian people – as long as it takes.”

Zelenskyj has criticized Scholz and Putin's conversation, and pointed out that it could lead to Putin's diplomatic isolation being broken, AP writes. Scholz defends himself by saying that in the conversation he underlined his support for Ukraine.

A stumbling block between the leaders is also Germany's reluctance to give Ukraine long-range Taurus-type robots, which Scholz justifies as not wanting to drag NATO into the war.

Zelenskyy thanked Scholz and the German people for their support in a video clip after the meeting.

The battles
Gloomy situation in Kursk: "We have to wait for Trump"

Several Ukrainian soldiers in the Russian Kursk region unanimously paint a dark picture of the situation in conversations with the BBC.

Almost four months after the offensive, the Russians are steadily regaining ground, while the Ukrainian soldiers have difficulty understanding exactly what they are doing there.

One of the soldiers, Pavlo, testifies to total exhaustion and how new units of war-weary, middle-aged soldiers are sent directly from other war zones without rest.

The order they received is to hold out until Donald Trump is back in the White House at the end of January, he says.

- Our main mission is to hold as much territory as possible until Trump takes office and negotiations begin, in order to exchange it for something later. Nobody knows what.