Putin vows revenge after oil tanker blown up in Mediterranean & EU plugs Kyiv’s €90bn budget black hole

Day 1,394.


Today, as the dust settles on the critical overnight deal in
Brussels to loan €90 billion to Ukraine, we report on another
strike against a vessel in Russia’s shadow fleet – this time in
the Mediterranean Sea. And later, we offer clear answers to the
hardy perennial questions you’re likely to hear at Christmas
parties from those who haven’t been following the war, before
opening our podcast Secret Santa presents.


Contributors


Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls
on X.


Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley
on X.


Joe Barnes (Brussels Correspondent). @Barnes_Joe on X.


Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer).
@adeliepjz on X.


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CONTENT REFERENCED:


EU agrees €90bn loan for Ukraine – but won’t use frozen Russian
assets (The Telegraph):


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/19/european-union-agrees-loan-ukraine/


Russia won’t get back frozen $300bn assets under latest peace
plan (The Telegraph):


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/18/russia-wont-get-frozen-300bn-assets-latest-peace-ukraine/ 


Ukrainian drones blow up Russian oil tanker in Mediterranean (The
Telegraph):


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/19/ukraine-strikes-russian-oil-tanker-in-mediterranean/


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