THE RUSSO-UKRAINE WAR BRIEF
Day 1157 of the full scale invasion
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. In June 2023 I began providing a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 70 sources daily, which formed the basis of the script. While the Podcast no longer exists I have continued to make this Brief available for my followers here on Substack for those who wish to keep up with the news from the war.
All the latest news on the Russo-Ukraine War 6 days per week
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
For:Apr 24, 2025
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 08:00 on Apr 25 stated that day 1157 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine had begun.
The situation on the line of combat remains tense in some sectors. Ukrainian defenders continue to actively counteract the Russian aggressor, causing them significant losses in personnel, equipment and technology. Exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continuing to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deeper into the territory of Ukraine.
During the past day, 175 combat engagements took place.
Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 1 missile strike, 110 air strikes, used 3148 drones and fired approximately 6,200 artillery shells across the positions of Ukrainian forces and civilians.
Air Force Daily Report
41 ENEMY UAVS SHOT DOWN, 40 SIMULATOR UAVS FAILED TO REACH THEIR TARGETS (LOCATIONALLY LOST)
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On the night of Apr 25, 2025 (from 10:30 p.m. on Apr 24), the enemy attacked with 103 strike UAVs (simulator drones of other types) - launch areas: Kursk, Bryansk, Orel - Russia.
The enemy air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare equipment, and mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
As of 08:30, it has been confirmed that 41 Shahed attack UAVs (and other types of drones) have been shot down in the east, north, and center of the country.
40 enemy drone simulators were lost in location (without negative consequences).
As a result of the enemy attack, the Kharkiv, Sumy, Cherkasy, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk regions suffered.
Combat Operations in the Russian Federation
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US based think tank, in its Apr 24 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment reported that:
Sumy - Kursk Border: Geolocated footage published on Apr 23 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced to northern Loknya (northeast of Sumy City).
Belgorod Incursion: Russian forces recently advanced in northwestern Belgorod Oblast.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 22 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced along Mostovaya Street in southwestern Demidovka (northwest of Belgorod City).
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Toretsk Sector: Ukrainian and Russian forces recently advanced in Toretsk.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 23 indicates that Ukrainian forces recently advanced within northwestern and southwestern Toretsk.
Geolocated footage published on Apr 23 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced within northwestern Toretsk and west of Krymske (east of Toretsk).
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
There have been no major changes to the combat environment since our last report.
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
There have been no major changes to the combat environment since our last report.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing major to report.
THE HOME FRONT
Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 8, injure at least 22 over the past day.
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed eight people and injured at least 22 others over the past day, the Kyiv Independent reported citing regional authorities on Apr 25.
Ukrainian forces downed 41 out of 103 Shahed-type drones and other drones, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported.
Forty more drones disappeared from radars without causing any damage, according to the statement. Drones that disappear from radars before reaching their targets are usually decoys. Russia launches them alongside real drones to overwhelm Ukraine's air defense.
A Russian drone attack on the city of Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed three people, including a child, and injured at least 14 other people, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.
Three children, aged six, 15 and 17, are among the injured.
A 36-year-old man was killed in a Russian drone attack near Chuhuiv in Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Two women, aged 78 and 83, suffered injuries as a result of Russia's shelling near Kupiansk, he added.
Two people were killed in Myrnohrad and Yarova in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Three more people were injured in the region over the past day.
In Kherson Oblast, Russian forces targeted 37 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson. Two people were killed, and three other people were injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
RUSSIAN WORLD
High-ranking Russian general killed in car bombing near Moscow.
A senior Russian general has been killed in an explosion in Moscow, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of Russia confirmed on April 25, the Kyiv Independent reported.
According to Russian state media, a car exploded in the yard of a residential building in the Russian city of Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, killing one person.
The Investigative Committee of Russia later identified the deceased as Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the main operations directorate of Russia’s army.
"According to available data, the explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device," it added.
A criminal case has been opened. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
There is limited publicly available information about Moskalik. He was listed as a member of the Russian delegation during the 2015 Normandy Format talks, set up to find a resolution to Russia's war in eastern Ukraine.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Moskalik was also involved in the high-level Normandy Four meeting in 2019, as well as in talks with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad a year earlier, who has since been ousted.
While Ukraine has not been officially linked to the recent car bombing, Kyiv has previously targeted Russian officials who play a key role in Russia's full-scale invasion.
Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian Armed Forces' radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops, was killed in an explosion at a residence in Moscow in December 2024, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine told the Kyiv Independent.
Mikhail Shatsky, a Russian expert involved in modernizing missiles launched against Ukraine, was shot dead near Moscow on Dec. 12, a Defense Forces source told the Kyiv Independent.
RELATED INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ukraine, Europe's ceasefire proposal includes US security guarantees, no recognition of Crimea.
A copy of the peace proposal given to the U.S. by Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week includes "robust security guarantees" including from Washington, and no talks on territorial concessions until a "full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea" has been implemented, Reuters reported on April 25.
The document, reprinted in full by the news outlet, contains numerous points that show the diverging viewpoints of the U.S. on one side, and Ukraine and its European allies on the other as they seek to end Russia's full-scale invasion.
The Trump administration has so far refused to offer Kyiv any security guarantees, but the Ukrainian proposal calls for an "Article 5-like agreement" backed by the U.S. while NATO membership for Kyiv remains off the table.
Earlier this week it was reported the U.S. could give de jure recognition to Russia's control over occupied Crimea, but the Ukrainian and European proposal insists that "territorial issues will be discussed and resolved after a full and unconditional ceasefire."
The proposal also demands that sanctions on Russia only be eased after a "sustainable peace" has been achieved, a move the White House is reportedly considering implementing even before a peace deal has been agreed on.
Other points call for the "return (of) all deported and illegally displaced Ukrainian children," the implementation of the minerals deal, and that Ukraine "will be fully reconstructed and compensated financially," including through the use of Russia's frozen assets.
Washington's allies have been voicing growing alarm over the Trump administration’s proposed framework to end the war in Ukraine, which would allow Russia to retain seized Ukrainian territory.
Multiple diplomatic sources told CNN that officials in Europe and Asia are bracing for the outcome of renewed U.S.-Russia talks and fear the plan sends a dangerous message.
"If one country in Europe is forced to give up parts of its legal territory... no country in Europe or elsewhere can feel safe, NATO or no NATO," one diplomat told CNN.
In high-level meetings held in London on April 23, U.S., European, and Ukrainian officials reportedly made progress in narrowing differences.
U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg called the talks "candid, positive and productive." At the same time, a European official said negotiators had "managed to convince the Ukrainians to convince themselves to get in a more U.S. administration-friendly position."
Still, the core issue — territorial concessions — remains fraught. A German official acknowledged that "the Ukrainians are coming around," but emphasized they "have red lines they cannot cross."
Witkoff Arrives in Russia for Ukraine Peace Talks With Putin.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy arrived in Moscow to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin announced Friday afternoon, marking the fourth meeting between the two men since February.
In a video posted by the Kremlin, Witkoff is shown flanked by Russian officials as he enters a large room where Putin often meets with foreign leaders for talks.
Earlier, U.S. officials told Axios that Witkoff was expected to meet with Putin on Friday, as Trump pushes for a ceasefire agreement between Moscow and Kyiv.
Some reports suggested Witkoff may press Russia to recognize Ukraine’s right to maintain its military and defense industry as part of a future peace deal. When Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he said one of Russia’s war goals was to “demilitarize” the country.
Trump said Wednesday that he was “very close” to reaching an agreement with the Kremlin, while accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of being “harder to deal with” after he rejected the idea of recognizing Russian control of the Crimean peninsula.
On Friday, Reuters reported that Ukrainian and European officials have pushed back against U.S. proposals aimed at ending the war, offering counterproposals during recent talks in Paris and London. The differences center on issues, including territorial control and the future of Ukraine’s military.
The U.S. proposal, put forward by Witkoff, includes recognizing Russia’s control over Crimea and parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, while the European-Ukrainian text defers territorial discussions until after a ceasefire, according to Reuters.
The two sides also diverge on sanctions and security terms, with Ukraine seeking stronger guarantees and compensation funded by frozen Russian assets.
Trump has faced criticism for appearing more amenable to Russia’s demands than to those of Ukraine and its European allies. Kremlin officials have repeatedly praised the Trump administration’s shift in foreign policy priorities.
On Thursday, Trump called on Putin to “get this Peace Deal DONE” following a wave of Russian airstrikes on Kyiv that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said Moscow was ready to make a deal and that remaining issues were being “fine tuned.”
Zelenskyy has urged an “immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire” in response to the recent deadly attacks on Ukrainian cities.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s patience was “running very thin” amid the protracted negotiations.
EU to unveil roadmap in May to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels.
The EU is preparing a roadmap to fully phase out Russian fossil fuel imports, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on April 24 during the Summit on the Future of Energy Security. The Kyiv Independent reports.
Von der Leyen emphasized that the roadmap, set to be announced in two weeks, will lay out concrete steps to eliminate the bloc’s reliance on energy supplies from Russia.
The strategy was originally planned for publication in March, but was postponed due to rising uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs.
“For decades, I must say, we failed to recognize the costs that came with this dependence,” she said, referencing Europe's former overreliance on Russia, which once supplied 45% of the EU’s gas, half of its coal, and nearly a third of its oil.
“That reality was exposed after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia tried to exploit our overdependence by cutting us off from gas. They failed,” von der Leyen said.
The European Commission President credited the EU’s REPowerEU initiative for accelerating the clean energy transition and lowering Russian gas imports from 45% to 18% in 2024. The strategy, she said, not only strengthened Europe’s energy security but also deprived Moscow of critical funding “for its war economy.”
The EU committed in 2022 to fully ending Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027, but the process has faced political and logistical problems.
While pipeline gas from Russia has largely been cut off, most recently following Ukraine's decision not to renew its transit deal with Gazprom in December 2024, the bloc remains dependent on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which made up 19% of EU gas and LNG supplies in 2024.
Unlike crude oil and coal, Russian gas has not been sanctioned due to internal divisions within the 27-member bloc. On April 17, Reuters reported that restrictions on LNG are unlikely to be part of the EU's upcoming 17th sanctions package.
Zelenskyy urges the US to reject neutrality and side firmly with Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with Ben Shapiro, called on the U.S. to recognize Russia as an aggressor state and “not look for balance in words,” emphasizing that Ukraine seeks peace through strength and views the U.S. as a key strategic partner on Apr 25.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it is in Russia’s interest to use force, “because they are the aggressor,” as he called on the United States to clearly recognize who is responsible for the war.
Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude to Trump and the American people for their continued support.
“Inspectors from the United States, Europe, and Ukraine are all working. We have complete accountability and transparency within the Ministry of Defense,” he said. “Every figure is accessible — dating back to the first year of the war.”
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has received around $104 billion to $105 billion from the United States, with most of that aid arriving in the form of military equipment.
He noted that while weapons were delivered to Ukraine, some of the funding was used for logistics and transportation — costs paid to third-party providers outside of Ukraine.
“Ukrainian companies were not eligible to receive this money for logistics, so it didn’t enter our government or private sector,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that the U.S. received detailed reports on Ukraine’s military operations, including what he called the largest ground campaign in decades.
“The U.S. knows exactly where its money is going — and where it’s not,” he said.
President Trump has previously said he does not view Russia as a roadblock to securing a 30-day ceasefire.
On Apr 23, he criticized Zelenskyy for saying Ukraine would never recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Trump called Zelenskyy’s remarks “damaging to the peace process,” adding that Crimea “was lost many years ago” and that Ukraine’s situation is “terrible.”
Son of CIA Deputy Director Killed While Fighting for Russia.
The 21-year-old son of the Deputy Director of the CIA fought for Russia against Ukraine, having signed a contract with the Russian military, and was later killed, Militarnyi reported citing an investigation by IStories.
The young man in question is Michael Gloss, the son of Juliane Gallina Gloss, the CIA’s Deputy Director for Digital Innovation, and Iraq war veteran Larry Gloss.
The publication learned that while studying at a U.S. college, he participated in protests against the abortion ban and in defense of climate action. He was generally a pacifist.
In 2023, Michael, without finishing his studies, went on a world trip. He traveled to several countries, including Turkey, where he helped clear rubble after the earthquake.
He told his friends that he wanted to go to work in Russia. After obtaining a visa in August 2023, he arrived in Vladikavkaz, then traveled to other Russian cities, and eventually ended up in Moscow.
He also joined the Russian VK social network, where he subscribed to groups about Lenin, Stalin, and posted videos with Putin. He also bought a Soviet flag.
As the publication uncovered, on September 1, 2023, Michael had just one week left on his visa to stay in Russia. He planned to travel to Europe. However, by September 5, he was already at a Russian army recruitment center in Moscow. There were other foreigners as well, including citizens from Nepal and China.
He was assigned to the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment of the Russian Airborne Forces. However, Michael told his family that he was supposedly in Russia for work and was saving money to travel through Africa.
Later, he created a profile on the Odnoklassniki social network, where he posted videos from the location of his unit.
In December 2023, Gloss likely arrived in the Donetsk region as part of the Russian invasion forces.
As IStories reports, on April 4, 2024, Michael was killed. This likely occurred during the Russian forces’ offensive in the Bakhmut sector. However, Michael was not buried until December 2024. His parents did not mention the cause of death in the obituary, but referred to it as tragic.
MILITARY & TECH
Russia experiments with different strike packages to attempt to mitigate Ukraines air defences.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US based think tank, in its Apr 24 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment reported that Russian forces conducted a large series of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine overnight on Apr 23 to 24, the largest strike series against Kyiv City thus far in 2025. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 215 drones and missiles at Ukraine, including 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Bryansk, Voronezh, and Kursk oblasts; 37 Kh-101 cruise missiles from airspace over Saratov Oblast; six Iskander-K cruise missiles from occupied Donetsk Oblast; 12 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea; four Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missiles from airspace over Belgorod Oblast; and 145 Shahed and decoy drones from Bryansk and Kursk oblasts; Millerovo, Rostov Oblast: Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai; and occupied Cape Chauda, Crimea.
Russian forces have adjusted their long-range strike tactics and weapons in recent weeks, likely to mitigate Ukrainian air defenses and inflict significant damage even when Ukrainian forces intercept some Russian drones and missiles. Such adaptations disproportionately affect civilians, as ISW has previously noted. US President Donald Trump stated in a post on Truth Social on Apr 24 that he is "not happy" with Russia's overnight strikes against Kyiv City, calling them "not necessary" and stating that Russia has "very bad timing." Trump called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop such strikes and agree to his proposal to end the war.
Missile that killed 12 in Russian strike on Kyiv was North Korean, Zelenskyy says.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday the Russian missile that struck a residential building in Kyiv overnight and killed 12 people was supplied by North Korea, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
A North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) missile hit a residential block in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv's centre during a major aerial attack by Russia, a Ukrainian military source told Reuters.
"According to preliminary information, the Russians used a ballistic missile manufactured in North Korea. Our special services are verifying all the details," Zelenskyy said.
Russia made no comment on Zelenskyy's remarks. Russia and North Korea have denied weapons transfers that would violate U.N. embargoes.
Russia's military cooperation with North Korea grew rapidly as Moscow became internationally isolated after invading Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine says North Korea has supplied Russia with vast amounts of artillery shells as well as rocket systems, thousands of troops and ballistic missiles, which Moscow began using for strikes against Ukraine at the end of 2023.
By the start of 2025, Pyongyang had supplied Russia with 148 KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles, Ukraine's military spy agency says.
KN-23 (KN-23A) missiles are armed with warheads of up to one tonne, which is more powerful than the Russian equivalent missiles, the Ukrainian source said.
In the initial readout after the Russian attack, Kyiv said seven ballistic missiles were used in total, identifying them broadly as Iskander-M/KN-23.
North Korea's involvement in Ukraine has alarmed not only European capitals but also South Korea and its allies in Asia, who fear that lessons learned from war could be unleashed on them one day.
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