Kremlin Adviser Says Russian Police and National Guard Would Stay in Donbas After Any Peace Deal

A senior Kremlin adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told the Russian business daily Kommersant that Moscow would insist on keeping Russian police and the National Guard in Ukraine’s Donbas to "maintain order and organize life" even if a peace settlement ends the nearly four‑year war. Ushakov said Moscow would only endorse a ceasefire after Ukrainian forces withdrew from the front line and suggested a postwar configuration could include no regular troops in some areas but would retain Russian security presence.

Diplomatic Stalemate

The statement underscores a central impasse in U.S.‑led negotiations: which side would control territory Russia seized beginning in 2014 and expanded after its full‑scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Widely cited estimates put territory under Russian control at roughly 20% of Ukraine. Ukraine says its constitution forbids surrendering land; Russia has declared parts of Donetsk and other regions to be Russian territory following the 2022 annexations. Ushakov told Kommersant that, regardless of talks’ outcome, "this territory (the Donbas) is Russian Federation territory."

U.S. Role and Political Remarks

American mediators have spent months trying to reconcile Kyiv’s and Moscow’s demands while U.S. President Donald Trump has urged a swift resolution, describing the negotiations as "a very complex real estate deal" and saying he wants more progress before sending envoys to potential European meetings. In October, Trump also suggested the Donbas might need to be "cut up" to reach a settlement — a remark that has been criticized by some observers and would likely be unacceptable to Ukrainian leaders.

Battlefield Developments

Fighting continues across multiple fronts. Ukrainian forces reported retaking several settlements and northern districts near Kupiansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region after a months‑long operation to sever Russian supply routes. The Ukrainian National Guard said villages regained include Kindrashivka and Radkivka, and that more than 200 Russian troops were encircled in parts of central Kupiansk; these claims could not be independently verified.

Ukraine has also reported expanding long‑range strike capabilities. The country’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) said an operation in the Caspian Sea struck two Russian vessels — named Kompozitor Rakhmaninov and Askar‑Saridzha — which the SSO says are under U.S. sanctions for transporting arms between Russia and Iran. The SSO did not specify the weapons used in the attack.

Drone Attacks and Civilian Impact

Cross‑border strikes and drone activity have affected civilians and infrastructure on both sides. Acting Governor Vitaly Korolev said a Ukrainian drone incident wounded seven people, including a child, in the Russian city of Tver when debris struck an apartment building. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down 90 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Inside Ukraine, Russian drones struck a residential area of Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding four, according to the local military administration head. The Odesa region suffered a large‑scale drone attack that damaged energy infrastructure and left more than 90,000 people without power, officials said. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched about 80 drones across the country during the night.

What This Means

Ushakov’s comments signal that any negotiated settlement could still include a continued Russian security role in occupied regions — a prospect Kyiv has already rejected. Continued fighting, reciprocal strikes and competing territorial claims make a diplomatic breakthrough difficult and underscore the fragile relationship between battlefield gains and negotiating leverage.

Note: Many battlefield claims reported by both sides have not been independently verified by international observers.