Jonathan Brown

Skovorodynivka, Ukraine. February, 2026.

📷 by Ivan Samoilov for @en.afp.com

Odesa, Ukraine. February, 2026.

📷 by Oleksandr Gimanov for @en.afp.com

A City Where Every Step Outside Risks Death by Drone

"In Kherson, a city of broad tree-lined boulevards and stately czarist-era mansions, residents fear the open sky."

A very good read from Andrew Kramer of @nytimes.com with pictures from Mauricio Lima.

'Just a show': Ukrainians believe Russia wants war, not talks Hours after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators ended their first round of peace talks in the United Arab Emirates last Friday, Russian forces pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles.

A source in the Ukrainian presidency told @en.afp.com that negotiators were engaging with talks despite the belief that Moscow wants to fight.

The hope is that Trump will see that Russia is the obstacle to peace, lose patience with Putin, and then "we will get more weapons", the source said.

Kyiv, Ukraine. January, 2026

📷by Sergei Gapon for @en.afp.com

The marketplace has superseded diplomacy in Ukraine talks Kyiv is having to deal with actors who treat reconstruction as a money grab

"No conflict shoddily mediated by fixers and compromised officials operating outside formal channels will produce a well-structured peace."

Chinese parts supplier takes stake in leading Russian drone maker Tie-up marks new level of co-operation between Moscow and Beijing’s military industrial complexes

on.ft.com/4p8yTSG Chinese parts supplier takes stake in leading Russian drone maker

Lviv, Ukraine. October, 2025.

📸 by Yuriy Dyachyshyn for @afp.com

MOSCOW (AFP): Kremlin says Russia-Ukraine peace talks on 'pause'

Kyiv, Ukraine. August, 2025

📸by Genya Savilov for @afp.com

Kharkiv, Ukraine. August, 2024

📸 by Ivan Samoilov for @en.afp.com

Why Putin Thinks Russia Has the Upper Hand Against Ukraine As he heads to Alaska for talks with President Trump, the Russian leader projects confidence that his edge on the battlefield will secure a peace deal on his terms. It’s the result of a yearslong re-e...

Why Putin Thinks Russia Has the Upper Hand www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Russia’s Economy Has Survived Putin’s War Despite years of sanctions for annexing Crimea and a later full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy endured. Now, with Donald Trump shifting global alliances, it’s Europe that’s at a crossroad...

www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...

Ukraine’s Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making As U.S.-Russia summit approaches, Ukrainian military faces growing divisions between the rank-and-file and top brass

Privately, many Ukrainian soldiers repeat a bitter refrain: “Big Soviet army beats little Soviet army.”

Russia Goes After Ukraine With Distant Strikes and New Tactics

“Vasyl, do you have hope?”

The soldier laughed. “No,” he replied.

Home by Home, Russia Is Selling Occupied Ukraine to Russians Kremlin-linked construction firms reap profits from redevelopment of housing destroyed by Russia’s invasion.

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Derk Sauer, western media magnate in Russia, 1952-2025 Dutch editor founded The Moscow Times and Russian editions of magazines including Cosmopolitan and Playboy

on.ft.com/4mrAX6F

Devastating

'We refuse to see them die': AFP addresses about journalists' risk of starvation in Gaza

AFP says its journalists are starving to death in Gaza

Ukrainian Troops Struggle to Hold the Line on the Eastern Front

“It’s extremely difficult to deliver supplies, to rotate troops — to do anything, really.”

The Weapon That Terrorizes Ukrainians by Night

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/m...

MEZHOVA, Ukraine. June, 2025

📸 by Tetiana Dzhafarova for @afp.com