These are the key developments from day 1,397 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025
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Here is where things stand on Monday, December 22:
Fighting
A Russian attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed a 49-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. The killings took place in the village of Izyum.
Russian attacks also killed one person in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, and one person in the southeastern Zaporizhia region, local officials reported.
Russian forces have shelled the Zaporizhia region nearly 5,000 times over the past week, wounding 60 people and damaging hundreds of buildings, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov.
Overall, Russian forces have launched about 1,300 drones, nearly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and nine missiles towards Ukraine over the past week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukraine’s ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, accused Russian forces of “illegally” detaining about 50 residents of the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region and “forcibly deporting” them to Russian territory.
The Kyiv Independent, citing Ukrainian authorities, reported that wreckage from a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia damaged a pipeline in the Krasnodar Krai region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces shot down 29 Ukrainian drones in the past 24-hour period.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Russian forces shot down 252 drones over the Russian-occupied Donbas region, using the “Donbas Dome electronic warfare system” over the past week, the TASS news agency reported.
Politics and diplomacy
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a Ukrainian delegation, led by senior official Rustem Umerov and European officials, as the US continued to host talks in Miami, Florida, on a prospective peace deal for Russia’s war on Ukraine for a third day on Sunday.
Witkoff said in a post on X late on Sunday that the talks with the Ukrainians and Europeans had been “productive and constructive” and focused on a “shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States and Europe”.
In a second post about two hours later, Witkoff said that the US had also had “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev over the past two days.
“Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine [and] highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security,” Witkoff said.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, said that changes made by European countries and Ukraine to the US’s proposals for an end to Russia’s war did not improve prospects for peace.
“I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president was ready to talk with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, after the latter said Europe should reach out to Moscow to end the war.
Macron’s office welcomed the Russian statement, saying: “It is welcome that the Kremlin has publicly agreed to this approach. We will decide in the coming days on the best way to proceed.”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that “202 Indian nationals are believed to have been recruited into the Russian armed forces” during Russia’s war on Ukraine. It said Russian authorities had reported that 26 had been killed and seven were missing.
Sweden’s customs service said on Sunday that Swedish authorities boarded a Russian freighter that anchored in Swedish waters on Friday after developing engine problems, to inspect the cargo. The owners of the vessel, the Adler, are on the European Union’s sanctions list, Martin Hoglund, spokesman at the customs authority, said.
“Shortly after 0100 last night [00:00 GMT] we boarded the ship with support from the Swedish Coast Guard and the police service in order to make a customs inspection,” Hoglund said. “The inspection is still ongoing.”
Let’s jump into her list and maybe you’ll find your own shop that offers the best of both worlds.
(Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times )
Flowerboy Project (Venice)
With Flowerboy Project, equal parts coffeehouse, florist and gift shop, partners Sean Knibb and Stella Shirinda have created an intriguing space that offers a feel-good mix for all the senses.
On Lincoln Boulevard in Venice, the concept cafe and flower shop offers apparel, jewelry, Venice Organics chocolate, home decor and apothecary items alongside fresh-cut and dried floral arrangements.
The cafe serves hot and cold coffee drinks, plus a few specialty drinks such as the Dirty Rose Girl (rose latte) and Lavender Boy (lavender latte), served with flowers on top. Custom flower arrangements are offered at prices ranging from $90 to $175.
(Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times )
Javista at the Atrium (West Hollywood)
Billed as “The Botanist’s Bodega,” the bustling two-story Atrium in West Hollywood is a unique blend of coffee and plants. With Javista Coffee on the ground floor and a delightful array of plants, gifts and additional seating upstairs, the Atrium is a haven for plant enthusiasts and coffee lovers alike.
In addition to coffee staples such as macchiato and espresso, the bodega offers some exotic beverages like the CBTea Latte.
But that’s not all. The Atrium also hosts plant-related workshops, such as a recent one on how to mount a staghorn fern and create a terrarium. Plant lovers will appreciate a variety of plant accessories, including ceramic pots, misters, river stones and LED grow lights.
To support other small businesses, owner Andrew Ruiz stocks a wide selection of books and clothing along with candles from Flamingo Estate, Lavune and Marak, adding a local touch to the Atrium’s offerings.
(Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times)
Little Nelly (Burbank)
Conveniently located in a Burbank neighborhood with plenty of parking, this takeout spot is a great place to shop for gifts while you wait for your espresso or hot combo sandwich (shaved turkey, hot coppa, Gioia burrata, giardiniera, wild arugula and pesto).
The market and sandwich shop, which also offers catering, is filled with cookbooks, handmade ceramics, wood carving boards perfect for charcuterie displays, candles and greeting cards. And for the foodies in your life, the market stocks unique pantry items such as spices, olive oils, vinegar and hot sauce that are perfect for stocking stuffers.
Made by DWC Cafe and Gift Boutique (Downtown L.A.)
Made by DWC, the Skid Row gift shop launched by the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles in 2011, offers handmade gifts — soaps, bath salts, soy candles and greeting cards — crafted by women on L.A.’s Skid Row area as part of a vocational training program.
All profits from the Made store and cafe, which sells organic coffee, smoothies, salads and pastries from Homeboy Industries, help fund the center’s career training and mentorship programs. Note: The gift shop is not open on weekends.
(Lisa Boone/Los Angeles Times)
Sachi.LA (Del Rey)
Influenced by their Japanese heritage, sisters Sachi and Chiyo Hartley opened their Del Rey coffeehouse in 2018 to share “Sachi” — the Japanese kanji character meaning happiness, fortune or good luck — with their community. The coffeehouse, which serves a wide variety of coffee drinks including matcha and the Sachi Special, a signature cold brew with oat milk and vanilla syrup, is just the beginning.
Adjacent to the coffeehouse, which also serves pastries, the sisters have opened a retail space that is a treasure-trove filled with houseplants, gifts, vintage clothes and plant accessories such as bud vases and planters. They also host occasional pop-ups, so keep an eye on their Instagram for updates.
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The National Assembly building in Seoul. Photo by Asia Today
Dec. 19 (Asia Today) — A South Korean civic group said most retired National Assembly officials subject to post-employment screening were cleared to take private-sector jobs, calling the results evidence of a serious revolving-door problem involving major companies, supervised agencies and law firms.
The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said at a news conference Thursday that it analyzed employment screening decisions involving retired National Assembly officials from 2020 to 2025. The group said the review covered lawmakers, aides and National Assembly Secretariat staff.
South Korea’s post-employment screening system is designed to determine whether a retired public official’s new job is closely related to their former duties and whether it should be approved. The purpose is to prevent improper collusion between public officials and private institutions.
CCEJ said 427 of 438 National Assembly cases, or 97.5%, received decisions allowing employment, either as “employment possible” or “employment approved.” The group said “employment possible” applies when the new position is deemed unrelated to the official’s previous duties, while “employment approved” applies when there is a connection but authorities find grounds for a special approval.
CCEJ said more than half of those cleared, 239 people, joined private companies. By major corporate groups, the group said Coupang hired the most, with 16 people, including 15 aides and one policy research fellow. LG followed with 11, SK with 10, Samsung with nine and KT with eight.
CCEJ said the National Assembly holds significant powers, including legislation, budgeting and state audits. It argued that when former officials move directly into jobs at audited agencies, major corporations or law firms tied to their prior duties, it can lead to collusion between politics and business and preferential treatment for former officials.
The group called for stronger requirements for approving post-retirement employment tied to the National Assembly, tighter reviews of job relevance and disclosure of specific reasons when screening results are announced.
Here is where things stand on Sunday, December 21:
Fighting
The death toll from a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s port city of Odesa rose from seven to eight, with at least 30 others wounded, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in Odesa as “harsh” and accused Russia of trying to block Kyiv’s access to the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian leader also said that he is looking to replace the head of the Southern Air Command, Dmytro Karpenko, over the Russian strikes on Odesa.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said Russian forces also attacked the nearby port of Pivdennyi on Saturday, hitting several reservoirs.
Ukraine’s military said its special forces carried out a drone attack on a Lukoil oil rig in the Caspian Sea on Friday, along with the Russian military patrol ship Okhotnik. The military also said that the Filanovsky oil rig, which had been targeted twice this month, was damaged in the strike.
The Ukrainian military also said it destroyed two Russian fighter jets at an airfield in the occupied Crimean peninsula.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces took control of the villages of Svitle and Vysoke, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and the northeastern Luhansk region, respectively.
Diplomacy and ceasefire talks
Zelenskyy said the United States proposed a new format for talks with Russia, comprised of three-way talks at the level of national security advisers from Ukraine, Russia, and the US.
The Ukrainian leader expressed scepticism that the talks would result in “anything new”, but added that he believes that US-led talks have the best chance of success.
He added that he would support trilateral discussions if they led to progress in areas such as prisoner swaps or a meeting of national leaders. “If such a meeting could be held now to allow for swaps of prisoners of war, or if a meeting of national security advisers achieves agreement on a leaders’ meeting… I cannot be opposed. We would support such a US proposal. Let’s see how things go,” he said.
Zelenskyy also pushed back against calls for Ukraine to hold elections as the war drags on, stating that voting cannot take place in Russian-occupied areas and that security conditions must first improve. “It is not [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who decides when and in what format the elections in Ukraine will take place,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy urged European leaders to approve a measure to seize frozen Russian assets and use them to fund Ukraine’s war effort, saying that doing so will strengthen Ukraine’s leverage at the negotiating table. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Ukraine will need about 137 billion euros ($161bn) in 2026 and 2027, as the demands of the war continue to strain the country’s economy.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev held talks with his US counterpart, Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the city of Miami.
“The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,” Dmitriev said
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov attended a summit in Cairo, held to advance closer cooperation between Russia and African nations, and attended by more than 50 countries. Lavrov pitched Russia as a “reliable partner” to African countries in areas such as security and national sovereignty.
Weapons
Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksandr Kamyshin announced a deal with Portugal on the joint production of maritime drones, saying it would help “defend Europe from the sea”.
These are the key developments from day 1,395 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 20 Dec 202520 Dec 2025
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Here is where things stand on Saturday, 20 December :
Fighting
Russian attacks targeting ports in Ukraine’s Odesa killed seven people and wounded 15, Governor Oleh Kiper said in a post on Telegram.
Kiper described the attack as “massive” and said it involved Russian ballistic missiles, which targeted trucks that caught fire.
The Kyiv Independent news outlet reported that Odesa city has been suffering from chronic power outages since December 13, due to earlier Russian attacks.
Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s Dnipro region with artillery shelling and drones, damaging homes, power lines and a gas pipeline, Vladyslav Hayvanenko, acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, wrote on Facebook.
Ukraine has taken back control of almost all of its northern city of Kupiansk after isolating Russian forces and unending Russian claims to have seized the key urban centre.
Aid
European Union leaders agreed to provide a $105.5bn interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet the country’s military and economic needs for the next two years.
EU leaders decided to borrow cash on capital markets to fund Ukraine’s defence against Russia, rather than use frozen Russian assets, diplomats said.
Diplomacy
In his annual “results of the year” speech in Moscow on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for refusing to discuss giving up the Ukrainian Russia has seized, as part of truce negotiations.
“We know from statements from Zelenskyy that he’s not prepared to discuss territory issues,” Putin said.
The Russian president also attacked Europe’s handling of frozen Russian assets, labelling plans to use them to fund Ukraine as “robbery”, rather than theft, because it was being done openly.
“Whatever they stole, they’ll have to give it back someday,” Putin said, pledging to pursue legal action in courts that he described as “independent of political decisions”.
Ceasefire talks
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that progress has been made to end Russia’s war on Ukraine in a year-end address in Washington, DC.
“I think we’ve made progress, but we have a ways to go, and obviously, the hardest issues are always the last issues,” Rubio told reporters.
“We don’t see surrender any time in the near future, and only a negotiated settlement can end this war,” Rubio said, adding that any decision about ending the war will be up to Ukraine and Russia, and not the US.
Top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov, who is in the US for ceasefire discussions, said the US and Kyiv had agreed to continue their joint efforts to reach a ceasefire.
“We agreed with our American partners on further steps and on continuing our joint work in the near future,” Umerov wrote on Telegram, without providing further details. He added that he had informed Zelenskyy of the outcome of the talks.
Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is heading to Miami for a meeting with Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a Russian source told Reuters.
The meeting in Miami this weekend comes after Witkoff and Kushner held talks in Berlin with Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week to try to reach a deal to end the war.
The Russian source said that any meeting between Dmitriev and Ukrainian negotiators currently in the US had been ruled out.
Regional Security
Turkiye’s Ministry of the Interior said that it found a Russian-made reconnaissance drone in the İzmit district of Kocaeli, in northwestern Turkiye, based on “initial findings” from an ongoing investigation.
An “unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) believed to be of the Russian-made Orlan-10 type, used for reconnaissance and surveillance, was found,” the ministry said in a post on X.
Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defence said on Monday that it had shot down a drone over the Black Sea as it approached Turkish airspace, according to local reports, without providing further details.
Ukraine’s Ukrinform news site reported on Friday that after the drone was shot down, Turkiye had informed both Kyiv and Moscow “of the need to act cautiously” so as not to “negatively affect security in the Black Sea”.
These are the key developments from day 1,394 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 19 Dec 202519 Dec 2025
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Here is where things stand on Friday, December 19:
Fighting
Three people, including two crew members of a cargo vessel, were killed in overnight Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian port of Rostov-on-Don and the town of Bataysk in the country’s southern Rostov region, local governor Yury Slyusar said.
Russian strikes near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa killed a woman in her car and hit infrastructure. Odesa’s Governor Oleh Kiper said a Russian drone killed a woman crossing a bridge in her car, and three children were injured in the incident.
Kiper also asked residents whose homes have been affected by extended power outages to be patient and to end blocking roads in protest against the blackouts.
“As a result of enemy attacks, the energy infrastructure in Odesa region has suffered extensive damage,” Kiper said.
About 180,000 consumers have been left without electricity across five Ukrainian regions after Russian attacks, Ukraine’s acting energy minister, Artem Nekrasov, said.
Nekrasov said the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia, the central regions of Cherkasy and Dnipropetrovsk, and the northeastern region of Sumy have been impacted.
Russia fired the Oreshnik at Ukraine for the first time in November 2024, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has boasted that the missile is impossible to intercept and has destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon.
Sanctions
European Union leaders have agreed in principle at a summit in Brussels to work on financing Ukraine in 2026 and 2027 through the use of frozen Russian assets rather than EU borrowing, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
EU leaders were still trying to overcome differences over the plan, with talks in Brussels focused on seeking to reassure Belgium, which holds most of the frozen assets, and other concerned countries, that Europe would share the legal and financial risks resulting from the initiative.
A new draft of the deal offered Belgium and other countries unlimited guarantees for damages should Moscow successfully sue them for using Russian assets to finance Ukraine.
Diplomats said the deal could be a problem for some governments, who would need parliamentary approval. The new draft also offered EU countries and institutions, whose assets may be seized by Russia in retaliation, the possibility to offset such damages against Russian assets held by the EU.
The text of the draft deal also offered a mechanism of unconditional, irrevocable, on-demand guarantees that the EU would swiftly repay the Russian central bank assets in all circumstances should the need arise.
Russia’s central bank has said it will extend legal action beyond its lawsuit against Belgium-based depository Euroclear and sue European banks in a Russian court over attempts the EU’s plans to use frozen Russian assets as loans for Kyiv.
Britain has imposed more sanctions targeting Russian oil companies, including 24 individuals and entities, in what it described as a move against Russia’s largest remaining unsanctioned oil companies: Tatneft, Russneft, NNK-Oil and Rusneftegaz.
Peace talks
Ukrainian peace negotiators are en route to the United States and plan to meet Washington’s negotiating team on Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
US President Donald Trump said he believes talks to end the war in Ukraine are “getting close to something” as Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan to meet a Russian delegation in Miami this weekend.
Aid
The Ukraine-US reconstruction fund, established as part of a Trump-pushed minerals deal the two countries signed in April, has approved its asset policies and is poised to begin reviewing its first investment opportunities in 2026, the US body overseeing the fund said.
The Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said the fund’s second meeting “reached final consensus necessary to bring the fund to full operational status”. Potential deals could focus on critical minerals extraction and energy development as well as on maritime infrastructure, the DFC said.
Ukraine is facing a foreign aid shortfall of 45-50 billion euros ($53-$59bn) in 2026, President Zelenskyy said, adding that if Kyiv did not receive a first tranche of a loan secured by Russian assets by next spring, it would have to cut drone production.
Ukraine has clinched a long-awaited deal to restructure $2.6bn of growth-linked debt, with creditors overwhelmingly accepting a bonds-and-cash swap offer – a key step for the country to emerge from the sovereign default it suffered in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Politics and diplomacy
President Zelenskyy said he saw no need to change Ukraine’s constitution enshrining its aim to become a NATO member state. A block on Ukraine joining the military alliance has been a core Russian demand to end its war.
“To be honest, I don’t think we need to change our country’s constitution,” Zelenskyy said. “Certainly not because of calls from the Russian Federation or anyone else,” he said.
Earlier this week, Zelenskyy said Ukraine could compromise on NATO membership if given bilateral security guarantees with protections similar to NATO’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member as an attack against all.
Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya met Chinese foreign ministerial aide Liu Bin in Beijing, where the pair “discussed ways to strengthen trade and economic cooperation, and issues of co-operation within international organisations”, the Foreign Ministry said.
Russian affairs
Sergei Yeremeyev, a Belarusian man accused by Russia of blowing up two trains in Siberia for Ukraine, has been jailed for 22 years. Yeremeyev was found guilty of carrying out an act of terrorism and of planting explosives on two freight trains in 2023.
British man Hayden Davies, who fought for Ukraine against Russia, has been sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security prison camp after being convicted of being a paid mercenary, Russian prosecutors said. The 30-year-old was tried by a court in a part of Russian-controlled Donetsk.
Like many of you, I don’t need another good Italian cookbook. Yet I’ve found Amber Guinness’ “quanto basta” or “just enough” approach in her newest book “Winter in Tuscany: Cozy Recipes and the Quanto Basta Way “ (Thames & Hudson) immensely appealing — and useful when I’m looking for dinner ideas. A vegetarian take on the Tuscan beef stew peposo? She captures the original’s hearty flavors with chestnuts, mushrooms, red wine and lots of thyme. Despite her “House of Guinness” lineage, this Guinness, who grew up in Tuscany, has an easy, approachable style. Consider “emergency rosemary and garlic spaghetti,” a 10-minute preparation from Siena that is more in the vein of the un-recipe approach that her fellow Florence-based author Faith Willinger favors. Sometimes, in the “one’s own way is usually the best” philosophy she advocates, I’ll use Guinness’ recipes as good suggestions to tinker with — as I did the other night with her orecchiette with Brussels sprouts and pancetta. Other times, I’ll relax and just follow her conversational instructions for say, “Good Time” radicchio, Gorgonzola and walnut lasagne, which includes the line, “remove any sad outer leaves from the radicchio.”
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter where the final days of the college football season are upon us. I’ve spent the past week trying to catch up on shopping for Christmas, which — checks notes — is only 10 days away??
So what better time to consider what USC might need for the year to come and put together a transfer portal wishlist of sorts, with portal season fast approaching.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
5. Offensive line
Returning starters: LT Elijah Paige, LG Tobias Raymond, C Kilian O’Connor, RG Alani Noa, RT Justin Tauanuu
Other expected returners: Elijah Vaikona, Aaron Dunn, Alex Payne, Kaylon Miller
Notable newcomers: OT Keenyi Pepe, OG Esun Tafa
Offensive line coach Zach Hanson did a great job this season with the hand he was dealt. USC had injuries up and down its line, as Paige and O’Connor missed half the season. With most of last year’s line potentially returning, and a lot of young linemen entering Year 2, USC should have more depth to work with up front.
That said, it could stand to upgrade on the interior. USC pursued a transfer center to start over O’Connor last year and struck out on J’Onre Reed. Could they take another swing at that spot? As this season proved, there’s no such thing as having too many capable linemen.
4. Wide receiver
Returning starters: Tanook Hines
Other expected returners: Zacharyus Williams, Corey Simms
Makai Lemon is on his way to the NFL, and my expectation is that Ja’Kobi Lane will follow him. That leaves USC with just one returning starter at receiver, albeit one with a lot of promise.
Hines has the ability to be the Trojans’ No. 1 wideout, but he won’t be able to hold down the passing attack alone. USC will need to add at least one starter to the mix to fill out a receiving corps that is suddenly quite thin. Fortunately, USC has never had trouble finding a transfer for that purpose.
Zacharyus Williams seemed primed to contribute in 2025, but injuries derailed his start to the season. He could step into a bigger role. Several freshmen could see opportunities early, too, the most intriguing to me being Mosley, whose shiftiness reminds me of Lemon.
3. Cornerback
Returning starters: Marcelles Williams
Other expected returners: Chasen Johnson, Alex Graham, RJ Sermons, Kevin Longstreet
Notable newcomers: Elbert Hill, Brandon Lockhart
Injuries decimated this group last season and made it difficult for the secondary to find its stride. Now the room will have to be mostly rebuilt, with several corners out of eligibility or leaving in the portal.
Marcelles Williams should be better. Chasen Johnson was primed to start in 2025 and should be expected to step into that spot in 2026, while other young players, like Alex Graham and RJ Sermons, could take a huge step in Year 2.
But if there’s a lockdown outside corner in the portal, USC needs to do whatever it can to get them to L.A.
2. Interior defensive line
Returning starters: Devan Thompkins, Jide Abasiri
Other expected returners: Jahkeem Stewart, Floyd Boucard, Jah Jarrett
USC was supposed to be much improved on the interior in 2025, and that simply wasn’t the case, especially against the run. Experienced tackles like Keeshawn Silver and Thompkins, who entered the season with a lot of hype, never lived up to expectations. Jarrett was a disappointment before getting hurt, and Abasiri was inconsistent.
Stewart and Boucard both showed glimpses of major potential in spite of injuries, and both need to be on the field more next season. But this group is in need of a game-wrecker against the run, a stopper who can clog up the interior and hold his own in the Big Ten.
Those tackles don’t grow on trees, unfortunately. USC has tried to find them — and failed — on multiple occasions, the latest being Silver. But unless USC wants to rely heavily on its youth at defensive tackle next season, it’s going to need to find reinforcements from the transfer portal, no matter what.
1. Linebacker
Returning starters: Desman Stephens
Other expected returners: Jadyn Walker, Ta’Mere Robinson, AJ Tuitele
Notable newcomers: Talanoa Ili, Shaun Scott
This group was rough in 2025, and it’s set to lose its leader in Eric Gentry. Stephens felt miscast as a middle linebacker this season, and Walker, while dynamic, was still trying to figure things out in his first full season.
Walker and Stephens should be better with another offseason under their belt. But would anyone feel good going into next season with both as the primary starters at linebacker? I doubt it.
USC has already been linked to North Carolina linebacker Khmori House, and I doubt he’ll be the last linebacker that’s talked about as a possible Trojan. USC may bring in multiple linebackers and also have no choice but to count on a few of its young guys making the leap. Ili, in particular, is intriguing as a top-100 recruit.
Where does Makai Lemon’s season rank?
Makai Lemon
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Makai Lemon’s coronation as college football’s top receiver in 2025 was made complete last week as he became the second Trojan wideout to be awarded the Biletnikoff.
The only other Biletnikoff winner in the award’s 30 years of existence was Marqise Lee, who finished the 2012 season with an NCAA-leading 118 catches, 1,721 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns. Lemon had 39 fewer catches and 565 fewer yards this season.
That’s largely a reflection of how prolific Lee was in 2012. But the fact that Lemon’s Biletnikoff-winning performance doesn’t rank in the top 10 statistically in any category in USC history shows just how many great receivers USC has had in the last quarter century.
Five USC receivers have caught over 100 passes in a season, four of which came in the last 15 years. Drake London would have made it six — and won his own Biletnikoff — if he hadn’t injured his ankle in 2021.
Lemon’s 79 catches rank 13th in USC history, his 11 touchdowns are tied for 11th.
That’s not to take away from what Lemon has done this season. His ability to create yards after the catch is perhaps unlike any other receiver in school history. But in the annals of great seasons for USC receivers, Lemon may never look quite as impressive on paper as it felt in person.
Lindsay Gottlieb
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
—Waymond Jordan will return to USC in 2026. And that’s huge news for USC’s rushing attack, which will now be able to deploy one of the Big Ten’s most dynamic 1-2 punches with Jordan and King Miller. Jordan didn’t play the second half of the season after suffering an ankle injury that required surgery. Had he continued his pace from the first half of the season, Jordan probably wouldn’t be coming back to USC in 2026 … because he’d be on his way to the NFL. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Jordan comes into next season as arguably the best returning back in the Big Ten. If USC hopes to hold up during its gauntlet of a conference slate, the run game will have to lead the way.
—Notre Dame is losing its scheduling leverage. The tides have really started to turn on the Irish ever since they declined a bowl invite following their College Football Playoff snub. That didn’t sit well with the rest of the college football world. Neither did the news that Notre Dame, according to Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, negotiated a deal for preferential playoff access starting next season. In fact, according to Dan Wolken, also of Yahoo, it has led athletic directors in other leagues to threaten to freeze Notre Dame out in the future. We’ll see if anyone actually follows through on that threat — I have my doubts — but it does seemingly give USC an upper hand when it comes to getting a deal done soon … if it wants one. It’s probably no coincidence that athletic director Pete Bevacqua now appears optimistic about getting a deal done quickly, after blaming USC for the hold-up. Bevacqua told The Echoes podcast last week that he thought the two schools would come to an agreement on a short-term extension, potentially with a gap in the series after that. That’s the deal that USC has been trying to sell Notre Dame on since August.
—USC did add a non-conference matchup to its 2026 slate. Louisiana will come to the Coliseum on Sept. 12, 2026, to face USC for the first time in program history. USC will pay the Ragin’ Cajuns $1.3 million for the rights to what should be an easy non-conference victory. The Trojans now have 11 of 12 games scheduled for 2026, with one very glaring opening remaining.
—Chad Baker-Mazara is leading the Big Ten in scoring and exceeding all preseason expectations. The sixth-year senior came to USC in search of a bigger scoring role, and with Rodney Rice out, he’s made the most of his opportunity. Baker-Mazara is averaging 25 points per game over USC’s last four, in the wake of Rice’s injury, and shooting the lights out, hitting 53% of his shots during that stretch. Even beyond his offensive output, Baker-Mazara’s energy has been an important part of USC’s identity early on. If he can keep scoring efficiently when Rice and freshman Alijah Arenas return from injury, USC could be a legitimate threat come March.
—Nike did a cool thing to honor Gigi Bryant during what would’ve been her freshman year at Connecticut. During Saturday’s USC-UConn matchup, every player on the court wore a different pair of Kobe’s. Even players who didn’t play wore different pairs of Kobe’s. Nike says that’s the first time it has ever done that in a college basketball game.
—I’ve always appreciated Lindsay Gottlieb’s willingness to be vulnerable. And she showed that part of herself again Saturday, in response to a mass shooting at her alma mater, Brown. She addressed the shooting before talking about USC’s loss to UConn and was clearly shaken by the situation. She said a former teammate at Brown was waiting to hear from a kid who was hiding in the basement of a library. Gottlieb didn’t pull any punches: “It’s the guns,” she said. “We’re the only country who lives this way.”
Poll results
We asked, “Which of these five options would you put at the top of USC’s transfer portal wish list?”
After 402 votes, the results:
Reinforcements at linebacker, 40.7% A run stopper on the interior, 39.7% A shutdown cornerback, 10.1% A standout edge rusher, 7.9% A No. 1 wide receiver, 1.6%
Top 5 … restaurants in L.A.
In honor of one of my favorite things we do at The Times — our 101 best restaurants list — here’s my take on the five best fine dining establishments in L.A. …
5. Funke. Really, I could choose any of Evan Funke’s restaurants in this position. Mostly because the focaccia bread, so deliciously dripping with olive oil, requires recognition.
4. Bavel/Bestia. Cheating, I know, but I love both of these restaurants equally. The Peruvian scallop crudo at Bestia is one of the best appetizers I’ve ever had. Meanwhile anything involving lamb at Bavel is out of this world.
3. Republique. It’s the most breathtaking setting of any restaurant in L.A., built into an old church, and the pastries and bread are unforgettable. Any trip requires ordering pan drippings on a baguette, as strange as that may sound.
2. Providence. The ultimate special occasion spot. I still think about the 12-course meal I had there 10 years ago.
1. Dunsmoor. This is a new top restaurant for me within the last year, but I was absolutely blown away by Dunsmoor. The cornbread is an all-time dish for me, and there’s just something about eating your entire meal from a hearth that does it for me. It was so good that I had to mention it in a previous newsletter, and here I am, writing about it again.
It’s not often these days that a show delivers a story so unexpected that I have no idea where it’s headed. But “Pluribus” is one of those shows. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised given that Vince Gilligan, the writer and showrunner, is a master of storytelling.
The story follows Carol, played by Rhea Seehorn, whose world is turned upside down suddenly by a humanity-altering event that mysteriously does not affect her. Seehorn is terrific as always, and the story has been genuinely gripping so far.
Until next time …
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
These are the key developments from day 1,392 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 17 Dec 202517 Dec 2025
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Here is where things stand on Wednesday, December 17:
Fighting
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital and warned people to stay in shelters late on Tuesday night as air defences worked to repel a Russian attack.
Russian forces launched a “massive” drone attack on Ukraine’s Sumy region, targeting energy infrastructure and causing electricity blackouts, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Telegram late on Tuesday night.
Power outages were also reported in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Energy Mykola Kolisnyk said.
A Russian attack on electrical substations and other energy infrastructure left 280,000 households in Ukraine’s Odesa region without power, Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.
Electricity was later restored to 220,000 homes, Kiper said, but extensive work was still needed to repair damaged networks.
The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is currently receiving electricity through only one of two external power lines, the facility’s Russian management said, after the other line was disconnected due to military activity.
Russian forces shot down 180 Ukrainian drones in one day, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
The ambassador-at-large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rodion Miroshnik, told TASS that Ukrainian attacks had killed 14 Russian civilians and injured nearly 70, including in the Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine, over the past week.
Ceasefire talks
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shared details about a potential European-led multinational force being considered as part of discussions on security guarantees for Ukraine.
“We would secure a demilitarised zone between the warring parties and, to be very specific, we would also act against corresponding Russian incursions and attacks,” Merz told ZDF public television, adding that the talks “we’re not there yet”.
Regional security
Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden said in a joint statement on Tuesday that “Russia is the most significant, direct and long-term threat to our security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area”.
After the Eastern Flank Summit in Helsinki, Finland, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the grouping of European countries discussed an “anti-drone wall” that would require “billions in expenditure here”.
Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defence said that it ended the deployment to Poland of its Patriot systems and soldiers from its Air and Missile Defence Task Force, after the mission concluded as planned.
UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said the United Kingdom is spending 600 million pounds (more than $800 million) to buy “thousands of air defence systems, missiles, and automated turrets to shoot down drones” for Ukraine, during a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, according to the Kyiv Independent news outlet.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told the same meeting that Germany would “transfer a significant number of AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles” to Ukraine next year.
Reparations
The leaders of 34 European countries signed an agreement in The Hague to create an International Claims Commission for Ukraine to seek compensation for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russian attacks.
“Every Russian war crime must have consequences for those who committed them,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said before signing the agreement.
“The goal is to have validated claims that will ultimately be paid by Russia. It will really have to be paid by Russia,” Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs David van Weel said.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year is back for 2025, celebrating a phenomenal 12 months of sporting drama and triumph.
It has been a year to remember in sport, including England winning the Women’s Euros and Women’s Rugby World Cup, Team Europe winning the Ryder Cup, Liverpool’s Premier League title, Arsenal’s Women’s Champions League success, and the Lions’ series win in Australia.
There were also record-breaking moments in cricket, athletics, golf, tennis, rugby league and many more.
These are the key developments from day 1,391 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 16 Dec 202516 Dec 2025
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Here is where things stand on Tuesday, December 16:
Fighting
A Russian drone attack killed a 62-year-old Ukrainian man as he was riding a bicycle in the Velyka Pysarivka community of Ukraine’s Sumy region, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian forces launched 850 attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region in a single day, injuring 14 people and damaging houses, cars and infrastructure, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Russian forces injured five people in attacks on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, and six people in the Kherson region in the past day, local officials said, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
In Dnipropetrovsk, those injured included a firefighter and factory worker, hurt after Russian forces launched a second attack on a factory in the Synelnykivskyi district, as rescuers tried to respond to a fire caused by an earlier Russian attack, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported on its website.
Russian attacks caused power outages in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as well as the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the Ukrainian energy company NPC Ukrenergo said on Facebook.
Ukraine claimed that underwater drones had, for the first time in the war, struck a Russian submarine docked in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
The head of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet press service, Aleksei Rulyov, denied that the underwater drone attack was successful. “Not a single ship or submarine of the Black Sea Fleet located at the base in Novorossiysk Bay was damaged,” he said. “The enemy’s attempt at sabotage through underwater drones failed to achieve its aims.”
Ceasefire talks
US President Donald Trump said a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine was “closer than ever” after American, Ukrainian, European and NATO leaders met in Berlin for hours of talks on a potential settlement, hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
European leaders issued a joint statement after the talks, saying that any decisions on potential Ukrainian territorial concessions to Russia can only be made by the people of Ukraine, and once robust security guarantees are in place for Kyiv.
They also said that US and European leaders had agreed to “work together to provide robust security guarantees”, including a European-led “multinational force” made up of nations willing to assist “in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine”.
Speaking at a news conference after the talks, Merz said that the US had offered “considerable” security guarantees, and that although there is now a “chance for a real peace process”, “territorial settlement remains a key question”.
Regional security
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov called “the EU’s aggressive actions the main threat in the world at the moment”, and claimed that the US is trying to put Europe “in its place”, in an interview with Iranian state television.
Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, suffered a major email outage. Officials told UK newspaper The Financial Times that they suspect it was a cyberattack, while the Ukraine ceasefire talks were taking place in Berlin.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the new head of the UK’s armed forces, has called for “national resilience” in the face of a “growing” risk from Russia. “It means more people being ready to fight for their country,” Knighton said of the threat from Moscow, while also referring to recent comments from his French counterpart, Fabien Mandon, who said France must be ready to “lose its children”.
