European Union officials are searching for someone to represent Europe’s position in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Politico reported that discussion of candidates intensified after U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg on October 21.
“President Putin disregards the European Union as an authority,” Czech President Petr Pavel said in an interview with the Axel Springer Global Reporters’ Network, of which Politico is a part.
“He doesn’t want to talk to [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen, he doesn’t talk to [the head of European diplomacy] Kaja Kallas. He stopped talking to other European leaders, including [French President] Emmanuel Macron,” he said.
Pavel said the EU needs to “identify a person or a group of people who would speak for Europe.” These don’t necessarily have to be representatives of EU or NATO leadership, he said, but “simply leaders who would be given a mandate by the others to negotiate.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb is among those being considered as a potential lead negotiator for the EU. European diplomatic sources told Politico that Stubb has “the best relationship with Trump among EU leaders” cited Finland’s long border with Russia as another factor.
Stubb took part in a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Witkoff in Oslo that preceded Witkoff’s trip to Russia, according to Politico. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended that meeting and is being considered as a key negotiator for the EU, Politico said. Another candidate is European Council President António Costa.
Sources told Politico that it is critical for the EU to take part in the negotiations as a single entity rather than through the leaders of its individual member states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, with whom he maintains a friendly relationship, could serve as a negotiator.
WSJ sources reported a few days ago that Putin had proposed a trilateral meeting between the leaders of the U.S. and China to discuss ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. The outlet said EU representatives were not going to be invited to the meeting.
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European Union officials are searching for someone to represent Europe’s position in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Politico reported that discussion of candidates intensified after U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg on October 21.
“President Putin disregards the European Union as an authority,” Czech President Petr Pavel said in an interview with the Axel Springer Global Reporters’ Network, of which Politico is a part.
“He doesn’t want to talk to [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen, he doesn’t talk to [the head of European diplomacy] Kaja Kallas. He stopped talking to other European leaders, including [French President] Emmanuel Macron,” he said.
Pavel said the EU needs to “identify a person or a group of people who would speak for Europe.” These don’t necessarily have to be representatives of EU or NATO leadership, he said, but “simply leaders who would be given a mandate by the others to negotiate.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb is among those being considered as a potential lead negotiator for the EU. European diplomatic sources told Politico that Stubb has “the best relationship with Trump among EU leaders” cited Finland’s long border with Russia as another factor.
Stubb took part in a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Witkoff in Oslo that preceded Witkoff’s trip to Russia, according to Politico. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended that meeting and is being considered as a key negotiator for the EU, Politico said. Another candidate is European Council President António Costa.
Sources told Politico that it is critical for the EU to take part in the negotiations as a single entity rather than through the leaders of its individual member states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, with whom he maintains a friendly relationship, could serve as a negotiator.
WSJ sources reported a few days ago that Putin had proposed a trilateral meeting between the leaders of the U.S. and China to discuss ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. The outlet said EU representatives were not going to be invited to the meeting.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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Russian forces struck Kyiv overnight on October 22 with drones and ballistic missiles.
In the Dniprovskyi district, the strikes damaged homes and vehicles and set residential and non-residential buildings on fire, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. One person was killed and five others, including a child, were injured. In the Darnytskyi district, the strikes damaged transportation infrastructure.
In the Obolonskyi district, two people were injured. In the Pecherskyi district, eight people, including three children, were injured. In the Holosiivskyi district, six people were injured. The strikes also damaged non-residential buildings, ambulances, and a monastery.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strikes damaged part of the metro system’s infrastructure at the South Bridge. He did not provide further details.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes in Kyiv hit “Ukrainian military-industrial facilities involved in the production and storage of long- and medium-range cruise missiles and drones, as well as transportation infrastructure sites.”
In the Odesa region, Russian forces struck a food production facility, Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne reported. A fire broke out, destroying the administrative building. No one was injured.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted “port infrastructure facilities in the Odesa region and vessels used in the interests of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.”
Russia strikes Kyiv with drones and various types of missiles daily. The latest attack, on October 22, came just hours after U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg to meet with Vladimir Putin for talks focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
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Russian forces struck Kyiv overnight on October 22 with drones and ballistic missiles.
In the Dniprovskyi district, the strikes damaged homes and vehicles and set residential and non-residential buildings on fire, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. One person was killed and five others, including a child, were injured. In the Darnytskyi district, the strikes damaged transportation infrastructure.
In the Obolonskyi district, two people were injured. In the Pecherskyi district, eight people, including three children, were injured. In the Holosiivskyi district, six people were injured. The strikes also damaged non-residential buildings, ambulances, and a monastery.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strikes damaged part of the metro system’s infrastructure at the South Bridge. He did not provide further details.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes in Kyiv hit “Ukrainian military-industrial facilities involved in the production and storage of long- and medium-range cruise missiles and drones, as well as transportation infrastructure sites.”
In the Odesa region, Russian forces struck a food production facility, Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne reported. A fire broke out, destroying the administrative building. No one was injured.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted “port infrastructure facilities in the Odesa region and vessels used in the interests of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.”
Russia strikes Kyiv with drones and various types of missiles daily. The latest attack, on October 22, came just hours after U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg to meet with Vladimir Putin for talks focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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Ukrainian forces attacked several Russian regions with drones overnight on October 22, including Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region. In Voronovo, part of the New Moscow area, two people were injured in the strike.
In Serpukhov, outside Moscow, a strike hit the Defense Ministry’s “75 Arsenal” plant, which produces weapons and ammunition, according to the independent Telegram channel Astra. The Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ said the strike on the Moscow region involved not only drones but also missiles.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 163 drones were shot down as they approached the city since the evening of October 21. In total, he said, 630 Ukrainian drones were headed toward Moscow and the Moscow region, and most of them were destroyed at “distant frontiers.”
Ukrainian drones also struck Lipetsk. Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov said the attack damaged windows and facades of private homes and apartment buildings, as well as a clinic, in the regional capital. A man born in 2001 was injured and hospitalized. Astra reported that the strike sparked a fire on the upper floors of a building in the “Atmosfera” residential complex.
Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said 44 drones were shot down overnight over the city of Voronezh and the Voronezh region. Local authorities in the Tula region said 70 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight. In Voronezh, the attack damaged the roofs and facades of private homes, apartment buildings, and a public facility. In Tula and the Zaoksky district, private homes sustained damage.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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Ukrainian forces attacked several Russian regions with drones overnight on October 22, including Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region. In Voronovo, part of the New Moscow area, two people were injured in the strike.
In Serpukhov, outside Moscow, a strike hit the Defense Ministry’s “75 Arsenal” plant, which produces weapons and ammunition, according to the independent Telegram channel Astra. The Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ said the strike on the Moscow region involved not only drones but also missiles.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 163 drones were shot down as they approached the city since the evening of October 21. In total, he said, 630 Ukrainian drones were headed toward Moscow and the Moscow region, and most of them were destroyed at “distant frontiers.”
Ukrainian drones also struck Lipetsk. Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov said the attack damaged windows and facades of private homes and apartment buildings, as well as a clinic, in the regional capital. A man born in 2001 was injured and hospitalized. Astra reported that the strike sparked a fire on the upper floors of a building in the “Atmosfera” residential complex.
Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said 44 drones were shot down overnight over the city of Voronezh and the Voronezh region. Local authorities in the Tula region said 70 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight. In Voronezh, the attack damaged the roofs and facades of private homes, apartment buildings, and a public facility. In Tula and the Zaoksky district, private homes sustained damage.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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Poland has suspended delivery of a large weapons package to Ukraine over the Lviv Regional Council’s decision to declare 2027 the year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a source told the news outlet RBC Ukraine.
Lviv Regional Council members voted at an October 20 plenary session to declare 2027 the year of the UPA, its commander Roman Shukhevych, and Ukrainian political figure Oleh Olzhych.
The source told RBC Ukraine that the Lviv regional authorities had “managed” to hold the vote just as Poland was preparing to send Ukraine a large military aid package. “Their irresponsible actions have now put delivery of this package on hold. Intensive efforts are underway through back channels to resolve a problem that was created out of nothing,” the source said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the Lviv Regional Council’s decision “unwise” and said it “harms Ukraine itself.” Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the decision unacceptable, saying it “deepens divisions” between the two peoples. “The Ukrainian authorities must distance themselves from this position,” he said.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki said Ukraine had assured Poland that the Lviv Regional Council’s decision would not take effect. He said the resolution had disappeared from the council’s website after Poland intervened.
The Lviv Regional Council’s Facebook post announcing the year of the UPA is now unavailable.
Issues surrounding the Ukrainian Insurgent Army regularly strain relations between Poland and Ukraine. The most recent such dispute arose in the spring of 2026, when Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA” to the Separate Special Operations Center North, part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces. The decision drew sharp criticism in Poland because UPA fighters took part in the Volhynia massacres of 1943–1944, in which an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 Poles and 20,000 to 30,000 Ukrainians were killed. After Poland condemned the decision, Zelensky promised to open the archives on the Volhynia massacres.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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Poland has suspended delivery of a large weapons package to Ukraine over the Lviv Regional Council’s decision to declare 2027 the year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a source told the news outlet RBC Ukraine.
Lviv Regional Council members voted at an October 20 plenary session to declare 2027 the year of the UPA, its commander Roman Shukhevych, and Ukrainian political figure Oleh Olzhych.
The source told RBC Ukraine that the Lviv regional authorities had “managed” to hold the vote just as Poland was preparing to send Ukraine a large military aid package. “Their irresponsible actions have now put delivery of this package on hold. Intensive efforts are underway through back channels to resolve a problem that was created out of nothing,” the source said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the Lviv Regional Council’s decision “unwise” and said it “harms Ukraine itself.” Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the decision unacceptable, saying it “deepens divisions” between the two peoples. “The Ukrainian authorities must distance themselves from this position,” he said.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki said Ukraine had assured Poland that the Lviv Regional Council’s decision would not take effect. He said the resolution had disappeared from the council’s website after Poland intervened.
The Lviv Regional Council’s Facebook post announcing the year of the UPA is now unavailable.
Issues surrounding the Ukrainian Insurgent Army regularly strain relations between Poland and Ukraine. The most recent such dispute arose in the spring of 2026, when Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA” to the Separate Special Operations Center North, part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces. The decision drew sharp criticism in Poland because UPA fighters took part in the Volhynia massacres of 1943–1944, in which an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 Poles and 20,000 to 30,000 Ukrainians were killed. After Poland condemned the decision, Zelensky promised to open the archives on the Volhynia massacres.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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Oleg Mikhailov was detained in Moscow on suspicion of “justifying terrorism,” the Telegram channel Novaya Respublika and the BNK news agency reported.
The regional branch of Russia’s Communist Party confirmed his detention to BNK. Novaya Respublika reported that Mikhailov was charged with “justifying terrorism” over a 2024 post about sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, who was sentenced that year to five years in a penal colony, also for “justifying terrorism.”
Mikhailov is being held in a temporary detention facility. A court will decide on October 22 whether to keep him in custody or impose other restrictions pending trial. The provision he is accused of violating, Part 2 of Article 205.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code, carries a fine or five to seven years in prison, according to Novaya Respublika.
Oleg Mikhailov heads the Communist Party’s regional branch in Komi and is a former member of the republic’s State Council. In September 2021, he won a State Duma seat in a single-member district. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and Ukraine imposed sanctions on him. The United States sanctioned him over the passage of a law against “fake news” about the military, even though he had not voted for it.
In the 2026 State Duma election, Mikhailov finished second in the Syktyvkar single-member district, losing to a candidate who had fought in the war. During the campaign, Mikhailov was the only candidate from Komi to call for peace. A month and a half before the vote, there was an attempt to remove him from the ballot.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
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