by Oui
Sun May 25th, 2025 at 04:38:32 PM EST
See updates below the fold …
Putin's helicopter reportedly evades a swarm drone attack in Kursk | Bulgarian Military - 5 hrs ago |
On May 20, 2025, a helicopter carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly found itself in the midst of a defensive operation against a swarm of Ukrainian drones during a visit to Russia's Kursk region, according to unverified social media reports.
No official statements from the Kremlin, Russian Ministry of Defense, or Ukrainian authorities have confirmed the report, leaving its authenticity in question. The lack of detailed evidence and the reliance on unverified sources underscore the challenges of navigating information in a war marked by competing narratives.
Russia says Putin's helicopter was caught in Ukrainian drone swarm
In an interview with the channel Russia 1 aired on Sunday, Dashkin revealed that Putin's helicopter had found itself "in the epicenter of an operation to repel a massive drone attack by the enemy" in Kursk Region.
Kiev launched an "unprecedented" UAV assault on the region when the president was there, with Russian air defenses destroying 46 incoming fixed-wing UAVs, according to Dashkin.
"I would like to stress the fact that the intensity of the attacks during the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's aircraft over the territory of Kursk Region increased significantly," he added.
The air defense units in the area had to "simultaneously conduct anti-aircraft combat and ensure the safety of the president's helicopter in the air. The task was accomplished. The attack of the enemy drones was repelled, with all aerial targets being hit," Dashkin stated.
Ukraine significantly intensified its drone strikes inside Russia this past week.
[Update-2]
Ukraine's SHOCKING Putin Assassination Bid: How Russia Saved
President's Chopper From Drone Swarm | TOI News |
ENF OF UPDATE
Retribution didn't take long ... stop the war ... stop the insanity.
Russia unleashes its largest air attack of war, killing at least 12, Ukraine says | CBC Canada News |
Onslaught of drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital and other regions early Sunday
.
Russia's largest aerial attack on Ukraine since starting war kills 12 people | DW News |
Ukraine ’tries to kill Putin' by downing his helicopter in Russia war zone mission | Daily Express |
Ukraine launched repeated military drone attacks at the moment when Vladimir Putin made a rare visit close to the war zone, a Russian major-general says.
[Update-1]
Zelensky Failed to Brag “He Killed Putin”
The beggar is moaning his losses once again.
Zelensky says ’US silence' over Russian attacks encourages Putin | BBC Report from London |
In a pointed message to US President Donald Trump - who has previously claimed that Putin is interested in ending the war - Zelensky said: "The world may go on vacation, but the war continues, despite weekends and weekdays.
"This cannot be ignored. America's silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin."
When Zelensky refers to "American silence", he likely means the further sanctions Washington has so far resisted imposing on Moscow for its continued invasion.
His argument is that Russia's war machine is not being starved sufficiently, and that the Kremlin is not being incentivised enough to meaningfully engage in ceasefire talks.
Trump has said he wants to use more of a carrot than stick when it comes to convincing Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, but, aside from direct Ukraine-Russia talks and further prisoner of war exchanges, there has been little to no progress on bringing a pause in fighting closer, despite the US president's growing impatience.
Zelensky puts his faith (and all chips) on Europe … doesn’t seem to be a wise bet going forward …
Patience is wearing thin …
Ukraine's Azov Brigade soldiers left out of large-scale prisoner swap, its commander says
Largest-ever Ukrainian-Russian prisoner swap comes under fire for lacking Azov fighters, civilian \ Kyiv Independent |
Prokopenko said that Ukraine needs to change its tactics, writing, "There are options, we just need to adapt and start looking for new ways and configurations. Because not a single Azov resident among 1,000 exchanged people is a shame for our entire state."
Separately, writer and journalist Stanislav Aseyev criticized the exchange on Facebook for failing to include civilians who have spent more than eight years in captivity.
"The list of hostages that I handed over to President (Volodymyr) Zelensky back in January 2020 has remained a list," Aseyev wrote.
"The vast majority of these people are in the 32nd maximum security colony in Makiivka, where they were taken after Isolation and from other prisons. Some of these people actively helped our special services. I don't know if there is anyone in the history of this war for 11 years who has been in prison longer.”
Ukraine ‘should focus on hi-tech war of survival rather than recapturing territory’ | The Guardian |
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has said Kyiv should focus on fighting a “hi-tech war of survival” that minimises the loss of its military personnel and not expect to recapture Russian-occupied territory, including Crimea and in the Donbas.
The comments by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former head of Ukraine’s armed forces, comes during an apparently widespread effort from Ukrainian officials to reset public expectations over the progress of a war that has ground on for more than three years amid fears there is no end in sight to the fighting.
Zaluzhnyi’s comments, made at a forum in Kyiv on Thursday that he addressed by video, mark a change in emphasis from earlier in the conflict when Ukrainian leaders were insistent that the country needed to liberate all Russian-occupied land including Crimea.
“I hope that there are not people in this room who still hope for some kind of miracle or lucky sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, the borders of 1991 or 2022 and that there will be great happiness afterward,” the RBK Ukraine news site and other media quoted Zaluzhnyi telling the forum.
