Ukraine: Kyiv urges allies to help fund its drone production

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on supporters of Ukraine to help fund a further increase in drone production.

Russia and Ukraine are both using drones in large numbers in the war, but neither side has disclosed precise figures on their drone production.

"The modern arms race is not about nukes — it is about millions of cheap drones," the minister wrote. "Those who can scale up production quicker will secure peace." Sybiha wrote on X

Ukraine's top diplomat said his country needs money to compete in a drone arms race.

"We can produce up to 20 million drones next year if we get sufficient funding," he added.

Sybiha said Russian President Vladimir Putin would only end the war if he lost "the illusion that he can somehow eventually win on the battlefield" and if the price of continuing the war exceeded the price of ending it.

"Collectively, the international community has enough capacity to force Russia to end this war," Sybiha said. "What we need is a turn from 'as long as it takes' to 'as strong as it gets.'"

Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are racing against time in terms of resources and technology, "We need to achieve parity and advantage to make Putin stop the war."

Ukraine and Greece signed a deal in Athens on Sunday for Kyiv to import US-supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG) from next month.

The agreement between Greece's national gas company DEPA Commercial and Ukraine's Naftogaz will last until March 2026.

The energy deal "marks an essential step in strengthening regional energy cooperation and European energy security," according to the joint statement.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said relations between the two countries "are taking on a crucial new dimension: that of a new secure energy artery, stretching from south to north, from Greece to Ukraine."

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy thanked US President Donald Trump "for the fact that we will be able to receive natural gas not only from Greece, but also via Greece."

In a post on X, the Ukrainian president wrote about the winter challenges facing Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

"I am very glad that over these past months we have been working with Greece on bilateral agreements to support Ukraine’s energy security. And we have a good result," he added. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a major shake-up of state-owned energy companies on Saturday amid the largest corruption scandal to rock the country since the start of Russia's invasion in 2022.

Around $100 million (€86 million) was embezzled from energy companies, according to investigators, sparking widespread public outcry.

Read more about Ukraine's energy corruption scandal.

The Russian army has a reputation for murdering, torturing and treating its own recruits terribly.

"They killed my child," Tatjana Bykova laments in a video message. She uses the term "annulled" to describe how her son, Andrej, was killed by Russian military commanders. 

In October 2025, the independent Russian media outlet Verstka launched a project to highlight widespread torture and so-called "annulment" — a colloquial term for the murder of comrades in the Russian army. 

Read more to find out how such behavior becomes acceptable in a military.

The Russian army on Sunday claimed to have taken two more villages in southern Ukraine.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Telegram that its troops had captured Rivnopillia and Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Moscow has intensified assaults.

Russian news agencies reported that the Russian army said Saturday they had seized the village of Yablukove in the Zaporizhzhia, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

The claims cannot be independently verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said that he will sign an agreement on gas imports with Greece to help cover the country's winter needs.

"Today, we have already prepared an agreement with Greece on gas for Ukraine, which will be another gas supply route to secure imports for the winter as much as possible," he said in a statement on Telegram.

"We already have agreements in place for financing gas imports — and we will cover nearly €2 billion ($2.3 billion) needed for gas imports to compensate for the losses in Ukrainian production caused by Russian strikes," he added

Zelenskyy's statement came ahead of his European tour. On Sunday, he is expected to visit Greece, from where he will travel to France and Spain.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Finland's President Alexander Stubb cautioned that a ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely before the spring of next year.

"I'm not very optimistic about achieving a ceasefire or the beginning of peace negotiations, at least this year," Stubb told AP on Saturday, adding it would be good to "get something going" by March.

Stubb highlighted three major obstacles to a ceasefire: security guarantees for Ukraine, economic recovery and common ground on territorial claims.

On bringing peace to Ukraine, the Finnish leader stressed that President Donald Trump and European leaders need to maximize pressure on Russia and on President Vladimir Putin.

Putin "basically wants to deny the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," he added.

While Stubb praised Trump for imposing new sanctions on two major Russian oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, in October, he argued more must be done so that Kyiv could hit Russia's "military or defense industry."

He also urged European leaders to ramp up financial and military support for Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is working to restart prisoner exchanges with Russia that could secure the release of 1,200 Ukrainians.

"We are ... counting on the resumption of POW exchanges," Zelenskyy posted on X. "Many meetings, negotiations and calls are currently taking place to ensure this." 

His security chief, Rustem Umerov, said on Saturday that he had held consultations mediated by Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on resuming exchanges.

"As a result of these negotiations, the parties agreed to return to the Istanbul agreements," he said. "This concerns the release of 1,200 Ukrainians," Umerov said in a statement on Telegram.

The Istanbul agreements, brokered by Turkey in 2022, outline the guidelines for large-scale, coordinated prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine.

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged thousands of prisoners since then, but the swaps have been sporadic.

"We are working without pause so that Ukrainians who are to return from captivity can celebrate New Year and Christmas at home – at the family table and with their loved ones," Umerov added.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Ukraine's statements.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is working to restart prisoner exchanges with Russia that could secure the release of 1,200 Ukrainians.

The statement comes ahead of Zelenskyy's European tour, which will kick off with the signing of an agreement on gas imports with Greece on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb warned in an interview that a ceasefire is unlikely to happen soon.

Stay tuned for the latest developments and analysis from the ongoing war.