President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting today in Anchorage, Alaska, triggering protests across multiple continents as activists warn against territorial concessions that could reward Russian aggression.

The bilateral summit—Putin’s first visit to US soil in nearly a decade—deliberately excludes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite the war being the primary agenda item. Trump has indicated any peace deal will involve “some swapping of territories,” prompting fears of a repeat of 1938’s Munich Agreement.

Global demonstrations reject Ukraine sellout

From Helsinki to Sydney, protesters gathered under banners reading “DON’T SELL OUT UKRAINE” as the Alaska meeting commenced. Finnish demonstrators in Helsinki highlighted the parallels to previous failed appeasement attempts, while crowds in Prague carried signs explicitly referencing “no new Munich.”

“Ahead of the US president’s meeting with war criminal Putin, we call for no new Munichs,” said Vlada Dumenko of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory (ICUV). “Any future peace agreement must comply with international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the prohibition of changing borders by force.”

The protests span continents, with demonstrations reported in:

• Helsinki, Finland
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Warsaw, Poland
• Munich, Germany
• Stuttgart, Germany
• Oslo, Norway
• Sydney, Australia

Stakes of the Alaska meeting

Today’s summit represents Trump’s most significant diplomatic gamble since taking office, coming after his August 8 deadline for Putin to agree to a ceasefire passed without Russian compliance. Instead of imposing the threatened “secondary sanctions,” Trump opted for direct talks in Alaska—a location that Kremlin officials called “quite logical” given its proximity to Russia.

Trump has described the meeting as a “feel-out” session to gauge Putin’s willingness to negotiate, but has already signaled openness to territorial exchanges. “We’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories,” Trump told reporters.

European leaders issued a joint statement over the weekend insisting “the path in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” signed by officials from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland, and the European Commission.

Ukrainian officials warn against concessions

Ukrainian activists fear the bilateral format gives Putin leverage to push for territorial gains while sidelining Ukrainian input. Any territorial concessions would violate Ukraine’s constitution and require parliamentary approval or a national referendum.

“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” emphasized Hanna Hopko, chair of the National Interests Advocacy Network ANTS. “If the West is unable to counter this growing threat, it will forfeit its position at the heart of the international security architecture and be replaced by the rising authoritarian powers.”

Hopko argued that rather than territorial concessions, the West already possesses the tools to defeat Russia: “With America providing weapons, Europe holding the $190 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets, and Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web—we already have the tools to defeat Russia and end this war. What’s needed now is the courage to use them.”

Historical parallels fuel opposition

The 1938 Munich Agreement, where Western leaders allowed Nazi Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia in exchange for promises of peace, has become a rallying cry for protesters opposing any Ukrainian territorial concessions to Russia.

“Any retreat from Donetsk or Luhansk is not compromise—it is a strategic disaster,” protesters in Prague declared. “It would give Russia a permanent launching pad for future attacks, just as the 1938 Munich Agreement gave Hitler the green light to devour Europe.”

The Ukraine war, now in its fourth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, has evolved into what officials describe as a broader contest between democratic and authoritarian powers, with North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces and Iranian drones striking Ukrainian cities.

What happens next

White House officials describe today’s meeting as exploratory, with Trump stating he will know “probably in the first two minutes” whether a deal is possible. The president has indicated that successful talks could lead to a follow-up trilateral meeting including Zelenskyy.

However, Putin has shown little willingness to make genuine concessions. Russian forces continue their advance in eastern Ukraine, and Moscow failed to attend previous peace talks in Türkiye despite Ukrainian participation.

As one protester’s sign in Helsinki read: “Today’s leaders must remember that history judges not just intentions, but consequences.”

The summit in Anchorage is expected to conclude this evening, with both leaders potentially making public statements about next steps.

Four years ago, most of these women fighters had never fired fired a gun or held a weapon in combat. By the time they died, they were operating some of Ukraine’s most sophisticated military equipment.

All of them were killed while serving in frontline combat roles when Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Their ages ranged from 22 to 52. Their deaths span the full spectrum of modern warfare: drone operators, combat medics, reconnaissance scouts, evacuation specialists. Some were career soldiers; others learned military skills after February 2022.

Their stories reveal how Ukraine’s war has quietly revolutionized military service. Civilians became drone pilots. University students became battlefield medics. Mothers learned reconnaissance. They died performing jobs that placed them in the most dangerous areas of combat – from evacuation routes under artillery fire to reconnaissance missions in contested territory. Their call signs and nicknames became known to their units not as curiosities, but as soldiers who had mastered their roles and died performing them.

The medic fighter who refused to leave

Two days into Russia’s invasion, Inna Derusova could have stayed home. The 52-year-old senior sergeant had just returned from vacation when the bombs started falling. Instead, she reported to her medical unit near Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast and began treating wounded soldiers under artillery fire.

On 26 February 2022, just two days after the full-scale invasion, Russian shells hit her aid post. Derusova had already saved more than ten soldiers that day. She died treating the wounded, becoming the first woman to receive Ukraine’s highest honor – Hero of Ukraine – posthumously awarded by President Zelenskyy.

Her career began in 2015, long before anyone imagined this full-scale war. By 2022, she headed a medical unit and trained frontline medics. The invasion found her exactly where she chose to be: holding the line.

From university to the trenches

Anastasiia Marianchuk was studying Japanese at Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko University when Russia invaded. The 22-year-old took a sabbatical in 2022 – not to flee, but to volunteer as a combat medic.

Her call sign “Troia” became known throughout the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade’s first rifle battalion. She served around Kyiv, then moved to the Donetsk front. On 18 March 2024, she was evacuating wounded soldiers under heavy fire near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast when enemy shells hit her vehicle.

Marianchuk had planned to teach Ukrainian in Japan after the war. Instead, her classmates held an art exhibition of her drawings after her funeral. She was 22 when she died – old enough to choose the fight, young enough to dream of what could come after.

The mother who learned to fly drones

Liudmyla Shkurenko spent the early months of the war as a volunteer, like thousands of Ukrainian civilians. But the 43-year-old mother of two from Kyiv Oblast wanted to do more than pack humanitarian aid.

She learned to operate UAV systems, then formally enlisted in the Ukrainian Army in May 2024. Assigned to a mechanized battalion as a reconnaissance scout and gunner, she deployed to the Kupiansk area in Kharkiv Oblast.

On 29 May 2024, Shkurenko texted her husband before a night mission, promising to stay safe. It was the last message he received. Enemy shelling struck her unit during the operation, and she died from the wounds.

Her funeral in Ukrainka, Kyiv Oblast drew neighbors who remembered her as a devoted mother; her unit remembered her as a soldier who had mastered new skills to fight more effectively.

To win in a war of attrition, Ukraine should mobilize women, report argues

The IT recruiter turned battlefield angel

Yana “Yara” Rykhlitska worked in civilian IT recruitment before February 2022. After the invasion, the 29-year-old began volunteering with medics and refugees. By late 2022, she had formally joined the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Mechanized Brigade and served at a first-aid post during the Battle of Bakhmut.

Her colleagues called her the “Angel of the Fighters” for her work treating the wounded. On 3 March 2023, she was evacuating injured soldiers in a clearly marked medical vehicle when Russian artillery struck near Bakhmut. The shells killed her during the evacuation.

At her funeral in Vinnytsia, her parents asked mourners to donate to military medics rather than the family – a final reflection of Rykhlitska’s priorities.

The decorated veteran

Some of these women were career soldiers. Mariia Vlasiuk had served since 2016, long before the full-scale invasion. The college-trained nurse from Rivne Oblast deployed with the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade to multiple regions during 2022 – Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv.

In April 2022, Ukraine awarded her the Order For Courage (3rd class) for evacuating dozens of wounded soldiers under fire. She had saved hundreds of lives by the time she deployed to Luhansk Oblast for what would be her final rotation.

On 24 May 2022, Vlasiuk was traveling to pick up injured comrades near Bilohorivka when Russian forces hit the evacuation convoy. Shrapnel from the artillery barrage killed the 27-year-old medic instantly.

The veteran medic from Transcarpathia

Nataliia “Babochka” Bokoch had worked as a paramedic and emergency medical technician for over two decades before the war. The 46-year-old mother of two from Khust in Zakarpattia Oblast even trained with the Red Cross in Britain. She was fondly known as “Babochka” (Granny) among her comrades-in-arms.

In 2023, she returned from Hungary and enlisted in the Ukrainian Army as a military medic. Regional media in Transcarpathia reported that she “tragically died on the front line” in early 2024 while serving with a medical evacuation unit, though military officials did not release specific details about her death during combat operations.

The blue-haired drone ace with the cat’s ears

Kateryna “Meow” Troian’s call sign suited her personality, but her skill made her legendary. The 32-year-old had flown over a thousand successful combat missions for Ukraine’s 82nd Separate Air Assault Brigade. But Russian forces killed her on 8 June 2025 near Pokrovsk.

Troian joined Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces in 2023, when FPV drone warfare was still evolving from hobby technology into a decisive battlefield tool. She learned to pilot first-person-view drones – small, agile aircraft that operators control through video feeds, often flying them directly into enemy targets.

Her distinctive blue hair made her stand out among the paratroopers, but her flight record made her invaluable. Over a thousand successful missions meant she had engaged Russian positions more times than most soldiers fire their rifles. Fellow drone operators considered her among the best FPV pilots in the brigade.

Troian’s service took her from Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region to combat operations in Russia’s Kursk area. On 8 June 2025, she was conducting a mission near Pokrovsk when her unit came under heavy artillery fire. She died of her wounds at Mechnikov Hospital after her evacuation ambulance took direct hits.

What their deaths reveal

The deaths of these women fighters weren’t mere anomalies. Ukraine’s military has has integrated women into combat units, artillery, reconnaissance, and medical corps in growing numbers since February 2022. Official casualty reports list hundreds of servicemembers killed in action – a toll that includes an increasing number of women serving in frontline roles.

The war found some of them in uniform already. Others chose to join the fight, learning skills from drone piloting to battlefield medicine. All seven died doing jobs that required them to operate in the most dangerous areas of the battlefield – from evacuation routes under artillery fire to reconnaissance missions in contested territory.

Their call signs and nicknames – “Meow,” “Troia,” “Yara,” “Babochka” – became known to their units not as curiosities, but as soldiers who had mastered their roles and died performing them.

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When Ukrainian Gen Z hit the streets to defend anti-corruption agencies, they turned protest signs into an art form. Armed with cardboard, markers, and three years of war-induced gray hair, they created what might be the most literate protest movement in recent memory.

These weren’t your typical angry slogans. Protesters quoted Taras Shevchenko alongside modern poets, mixed classical Ukrainian literature with creative profanity, and crafted messages that read like Twitter threads gone beautifully offline. “Do cattle low when NABU is whole?” riffed on 19th-century novels. “Nations don’t die of heart attacks—first their NABU and SAPO are taken away” played with national poetry. And yes, plenty of signs just said “fuck” in various creative arrangements.

Political experts later explained why the profanity worked so well: it desacralizes power and connects educated protesters with ordinary voters. Basically, when you tell authorities “you’re wrong,” you stay polite. When you say “you’ve lost your fucking minds,” you’re questioning whether they deserve power at all. Guess which one scares politicians more.

The result? President Zelenskyy backed down in 72 hours. Turns out democracy responds better to cardboard signs and literary references than most people expected.

Law 12414 would have transferred control of Ukraine’s main anti-corruption bodies—NABU and SAPO—to a presidentially-appointed prosecutor general. These agencies were created after the 2014 Revolution of Dignity as independent watchdogs. For protesters, many of whom had relatives who died creating these institutions, the law felt like betrayal from within.

After three days of protests, Zelenskyy announced he would submit new legislation preserving the agencies’ independence. Sometimes the pen—or marker—really is mightier than the sword.

More about the Gen Z that nobody expected

They came. They cussed. They won.

Confused about the law? We’ve got you:

Explained: why Ukraine nuked its own anti-corruption agencies