From: Transform Ukraine By Douglas Landro / May 24, 2025
As Russia Executes More POWs and Rejects Vatican Peace Venue, Ukraine Strikes Weapons Factory While Massive Drone Swarms Target Kyiv in Nighttime Terror
Summary of the Day – May 23, 2025
In a day that laid bare Russia’s vision for Ukraine’s future, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded any peace agreement include provisions preventing the election of pro-Western governments in Kyiv—essentially calling for perpetual Russian control over Ukraine’s political destiny. This imperial decree came as 390 Ukrainian prisoners returned home in the first phase of a historic 1,000-for-1,000 exchange, their gaunt faces and trembling hands telling stories of years in captivity. Meanwhile, Russian forces executed two more Ukrainian POWs near Pokrovsk, adding to the mounting evidence of systematic war crimes. As Ukraine struck a critical Russian weapons factory producing components for Iskander missiles, Moscow unleashed 175 drones and ballistic missiles against Ukrainian cities, turning Kyiv’s night sky into a battlefield of explosions and falling debris that left at least 15 civilians injured.
The Imperial Edict: Lavrov Demands Eternal Russian Veto Over Ukraine’s Democracy
Sergei Lavrov unveiled Russia’s vision for Ukraine’s future on May 23: a nation forever barred from choosing its own path. Any peace agreement, he insisted, must include conditions preventing the “repetition of what brought putschists to power through a bloody revolution”—his twisted description of Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan protests that ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.
The demand represents an explicit call for regime change wrapped in the language of prevention. Lavrov reiterated Putin’s claim that Zelensky lacks legitimacy, suggesting Russia could negotiate with Ukraine’s parliament instead—deliberately misreading Ukraine’s constitution, which prohibits elections during martial law imposed by external aggression.
Voice of Ukraine 