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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Firefighters extinguish a fire after a Russian strike on a residential building in Kryvyi Rih on Jan. 29, 2026. The attack killed one person and injured three others. (Ukraine’s State Emergency Service / Telegram)

Trump claims Putin agreed not to strike Kyiv, other Ukrainian cities ‘for a week.’ “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week,” Trump said. “And he agreed to do that.”

Ukraine repatriates bodies of 1,000 fallen soldiers. Russia confirmed that it had handed over 1,000 bodies to Ukraine under the Istanbul agreement in exchange for 38 bodies of fallen Russian soldiers, Kremlin-controlled news agency TASS reported on Jan. 29.

‘Without power, without heat’ — EU allocates over $170 million for Ukraine amid Russian attacks on energy. The funds will support protection assistance, shelter, food, cash aid, psychosocial services, and access to water and healthcare for Ukrainians affected by the attacks.

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Ukraine’s central bank cuts interest rate in first change in 10 months. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) voted on Jan. 29 to cut its benchmark interest rate to 15%, the first change since March last year, as inflation cools and a new aid package from Europe eased pressure on the country’s finances.

Defense Ministry working with SpaceX to solve Russian use of Starlink on drones. Ukraine says it is working with SpaceX to stop Russian drones from using Starlink, after reports that satellite-connected UAVs are extending their range to strike deeper into Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine distributes boilers from Italy to support heating for up to 90,000 homes. Ukraine has distributed industrial boiler equipment delivered by Italy among communities in 10 regions as part of a broader support program aimed at strengthening the country’s heating infrastructure, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Jan. 29.

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‘They don’t consider their work heroic’ — 4 energy workers die amid Kyiv repairs following Russian attacks

As Kyiv’s repair crews scramble to keep the lights and heat on after repeated Russian strikes, the work has become punishing — and, in recent weeks, deadly.

Photo: Oleksandr Magula / AFP via Getty Images

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Ukraine war latest: ‘The enemy is likely preparing an offensive’ — Ukrainian forces report more aerial strikes in Pokrovsk sector

Russian troops have stepped up aerial bomb attacks in the Pokrovsk sector of Donetsk Oblast, which could signal preparations for an offensive, Yuliia Stepaniuk, head of communications for the 117th Separate Mechanized Brigade, told Suspilne on Jan. 29.

Photo: Marharyta Fal/Frontliner/Getty Images

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International response

Germany’s Merz says Ukraine joining EU in 2027 ‘not possible.’ The comments come after President Volodymyr Zelensky set 2027 as the target date for Ukraine’s entry into the bloc.

Estonia warns Russian veterans could flood Europe after Ukraine war, urges EU entry ban. “We have close to 1 million combatants in Russia. They’re mainly criminals; they are very dangerous people,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. “We have information that most of them will come to Europe after the war.”

EU plans to impose 20th sanctions package against Russia on Feb. 24, Kallas says. The European Union aims to impose a 20th sanctions package against Russia on Feb. 24, the day marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters on Jan. 29.

China denies helping Russia produce Oreshnik missiles. The news comes after the Telegraph reported that China has sent Russia tools used to build Oreshnik warheads.

‘Repression cannot go unanswered’ — EU sanctions Iran over protest crackdown, Russia support. European foreign ministers also agreed to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s chief diplomat.

Lukoil agrees to sell most of its foreign assets to US investment group. The Carlyle deal does not include Lukoil’s assets in Kazakhstan and is still subject to approval by the U.S. Treasury Department, the Russian energy giant said.

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A fire-stricken book lies on the ruins at the Holy Dormition Monastery after s Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, on Jan. 28, 2026. (Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Russia says it’s ready for Zelensky-Putin meeting — but only if Ukraine’s president travels to Moscow. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Moscow is prepared to ensure President Volodymyr Zelensky’s security.

SBU releases greatest hits video of 2025 drone strikes on Russian aircraft. The accompanying video features first-person-view (FPV) drone footage showing $1 billion worth of Russian aircraft being targeted.

Casualties, damage to infrastructure reported as Russia launches missiles, drones at various regions of Ukraine. Russian forces launched missile and drone attacks on several Ukrainian regions, including Kyiv and surrounding areas, overnight on Jan. 28, local authorities reported.

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Russian losses in Ukraine ‘more than any major power’ in any war since World War II, report says. The CSIS report, published Jan. 27, estimates that Russian forces have sustained nearly 1.2 million casualties — including troops killed, wounded or missing — since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022. As many as 325,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, the report found.

Ukraine targets oil depot in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, strikes several military facilities in occupied territories, General Staff says. Ukrainian forces struck the Khokholskaya oil depot, causing a fire at the facility that ignited stored petroleum products.

Pro-Ukrainian partisans sabotage substation in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, group claims. The Atesh partisan group sabotaged an electrical substation in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, disrupting power supply to the nearby “BUMMASH” military‑industrial plant, the group claimed in a Telegram post on Jan. 28.

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Exclusive: Trump envoy negotiating Ukraine’s fate displays ‘shocking’ lack of knowledge about war, politics

A senior U.S. envoy involved in efforts to end Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has displayed a lack of basic understanding of Ukraine’s political system and the war itself, the Kyiv Independent has learned.

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP via Getty Images

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As temperatures outside plunge, a Ukrainian pet shelter struggles to keep animals warm amid Russian attacks

Just over 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Kyiv, the Gostomel animal shelter in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast is trying to keep more than 700 cats and dogs alive and warm.

Photo: Anna Donets / The Kyiv Independent

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‘Impossible to ban grief’ — how Russia tries and fails to hide its casualties in Ukraine

Russia has tightened control over information about its battlefield losses in Ukraine, cutting off data and closing one public loophole after another. The effort has not stopped the evidence of the dead from surfacing.

Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

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Human costs of war

At least 15 killed, 37 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day. Russia launched one missile and 146 drones of various types at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force reported. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 103 drones, but one missile and 36 drones struck 2 locations across the country.

Why Colombian volunteers are joining war in Ukraine

International response

Spain escorts shadow fleet vessel sanctioned for carrying Russian oil, Reuters reports. The Chariot Tide, formerly known as Marabella Sun, was flying a Mozambique flag when its engine broke down on Jan. 22 in international waters within Spain’s search-and-rescue zone.

Kyiv hoping to convince IMF to delay key condition for $8.1 billion loan. Kyiv is pushing to delay a new tax on self-employed entrepreneurs until after the war has ended, as well as raise the threshold at which entrepreneurs would start paying the levy, a person in the Ukrainian government familiar with the talks told the Kyiv Independent.

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Yevheniia Yeremina, an 89-year-old pensioner, stands in her kitchen using a gas stove to warm her apartment, which has no electricity and heating, in Kyiv on Jan. 26, 2026, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Russia continues attempts at breakthrough near Pokrovsk, brings up reserves, Syrskyi says. Despite the brutal conditions, Russia has still continued to push out north of the city of Pokrovsk, making occasional incremental gains according to open-source mapping projects.

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UK shipping company helped Russia raise $3.2 billion in LNG trade revenue in 2025, campaigners say. Seapeak’s share of Yamal LNG’s trade in 2025 amounted to 37.3%, more than any other company, according to Urgewald’s analysis based on Kpler data.

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Opinions and insights

Ukraine war latest: Iranian missiles fail to take off on Ukrainian front

Iran gave hundreds of its missiles to Russia as a gift. So far, they’ve been plagued by failure. Ukrainian intelligence told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 26 that of the over 350 Fath-360 missiles that Iran has given Russia, none have come down on Ukraine.

Photo: Iranian Leader Press Office / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Exclusive: Russian negotiators soften hardline stance in private, US officials say. Ukrainians urge caution

U.S. officials leading the talks are convinced that Russian negotiators have taken a more pragmatic tone behind closed doors than Moscow’s public hardline rhetoric suggests, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Photo: Alexander Kazakov / Pool / AFP via Getty Images

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Russia tightens passport rules for children in occupied Ukraine, complicating escape, activists say

A new Russian law requires Ukrainian children in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to obtain Russian international passports to travel abroad; experts say the move complicates efforts to flee the occupation. A law that took effect Jan. 20 bars children under 14 from traveling abroad without a Russian international passport, Russian state media outlet TASS reported.

Photo: Zuzana Gogova/Getty Images

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Fact-check: Russia’s ‘most successful disinformation campaign’ targets free speech in Europe

Moscow’s propaganda machine has been hard at work depicting Europe as a “digital gulag,” hellbent on suppressing free speech online.

The latest campaign has targeted efforts by the U.K. and the EU to regulate X (formerly Twitter), even as the platform remains blocked in Russia, alongside Facebook, Instagram, and others.

Photo: Contributor / Getty Images

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Exclusive: Iran gave Russia over 350 Fath-360 missiles. Ukraine has yet to see one launched

Russia has not carried out a single confirmed launch of an Iranian-made ballistic missile against Ukraine during the full-scale war, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 26.

Photo: Fars Media Corporation/Wikipedia

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International response

EU gives final approval to ban on Russian gas by 2027. A full ban on Russian LNG will take effect in early 2027, followed by pipeline gas imports in the autumn of that year.

Hungary, Slovakia to challenge EU Russian gas ban in court. Hungary and Slovakia plan to sue the European Union over its REPowerEU plan to phase out imports of Russian oil and gas, officials wrote on Jan. 26.

How Ukrainian soldiers cope with subzero temperatures | Ukraine This Week

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

First responders work at the site of a Russian drone attack in Kyiv in the early hours of Jan. 5. (State Emergency Service / Telegram)

Russia targets capital and Kyiv Oblast, killing at least 2, damaging medical center. A privately owned medical center in Kyiv’s Obolonskyi district was damaged in the attack, and at least two people were injured, according to Tymur Tkachenko, who heads the Kyiv City Military Administration.

‘We don’t believe that happened’ — Trump dismisses Putin’s claim of Ukrainian attack on his residence. Russia had publicly accused Ukraine of launching 91 drones toward a residence used by Putin — a claim Putin personally conveyed to Trump during the phone call.

Russian missile parts factory in flames after Ukrainian drone attack, media report. The Energia factory in Lipetsk Oblast produces components for Russian missiles and drones, including batteries for the Iskander ballistic missile system and cruise missiles.

Ukrainian drones target Moscow, trigger airport closures, Russia says. Russian air defense systems shot down 132 Ukrainian drones overnight on Jan. 3-4, including 11 intercepted over Moscow Oblast, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed.

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Ukraine prepared to continue fighting if diplomacy with Russia fails, Zelensky says. Kyiv is ready for “both options,” Zelensky said: the diplomatic track, or ongoing active defense against Russia. “Ukraine will never surrender,” he added.

Ukraine denies Russia’s claim of capturing town near Pokrovsk, maintains ‘control over key positions.’ “Control over key positions is maintained. The enemy is suffering significant losses in manpower and equipment,” Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces said.

Ukraine slaps sanctions on companies supplying Russia’s military industry. The new measures target 95 individuals and 70 entities, including manufacturers of communications, electronic warfare, and microelectronics for Russia’s military-industrial complex and security agencies.

Soldier injured in car explosion, classified as terror attack in Kyiv. The blast occurred as the soldier was opening the trunk of his car, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office said.

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**Ukraine war latest: Ukraine denies Russia’s claim of capturing town near Pokrovsk, maintains ‘control over key positions’
**

Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces refuted on Jan. 4 Russia’s reports about the capture of the town of Rodynske in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian soldiers continue to hold the defense inside Rodynske and its outskirts, the military said.

Photo: Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images

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Human cost of Russia’s war

Russian missile attack on Kharkiv kills 6 people, including 3-year-old-child, injures at least 31. The death toll has risen as rescue workers uncover the remains of more victims buried beneath the rubble of a destroyed apartment building.

Russian attacks kill 4, injure 5 in Ukraine over past day. Ukrainian forces downed 39 out of the 52 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Thirteen drones struck nine different locations, according to the statement.

General Staff: Russia has lost 1,211,530 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.

The number includes 900 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day, the General Staff said.

Global sport reopens doors to Russia | Ukraine This Week

In other news

After US attack on Venezuela, Trump’s Greenland ambitions spark renewed alarm. “We do need Greenland, absolutely,” Trump told the Atlantic in an interview on Jan. 4, saying the island is “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”

Serbia’s Russian-owned oil refinery to resume operations in mid-January, Vucic says. NIS, one of the few remaining Russian energy assets operating in Europe, was sanctioned by Washington last January as part of broader efforts to restrict Russian energy exports.

Zelensky dismisses Deineko as head of State Border Guard, names First Deputy Vavryniuk interim chief. Deineko has been appointed as an adviser to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. A permanent replacement to lead the State Border Guard Service will be named shortly, Zelensky said.

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Polish President Karol Nawrocki and President Volodymyr Zelensky inspect the Polish Army Representative Regiment during the welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on December 19, 2025. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Russia attacks Odesa Oblast with ballistic missiles, at least 7 killed, 15 injured. Russian ballistic missiles “massively attacked” a port facility in the region, Governor Oleh Kiper said. Seven are dead and 15 injured victims have been hospitalized.

Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s shadow fleet tanker in Mediterranean Sea for the first time, source says. In “a new unprecedented special operation” in neutral waters more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine, Russia’s QENDIL tanker sustained “critical damage” and can no longer be used for its intended purpose, the source claimed.

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Ukraine says 1,003 bodies of fallen soldiers return home. Ukraine will conduct necessary examinations to identify the bodies, which Russia says belong to Ukrainian soldiers, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported.

Ukraine’s delegation meets American officials in US for new round of talks. “We agreed with our American partners on further steps and the continuation of our joint work in the near future,” delegation leader Rustem Umerov said after the meeting.

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Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s oil platform in the Caspian Sea and shadow fleet tanker in the Mediterranean

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) struck a Russian oil platform in the Caspian Sea with drones for a fourth time in recent weeks, a source in the agency said on Dec. 19. The SBU’s Alpha Special Operations Center’s drones hit an oil rig run by Russian oil giant Lukoil, the source said.

“The SBU continues to systematically reduce oil dollar revenues to the Russian war budget,” the Security Service source told the Kyiv Independent. “All facilities that provide funding for the aggression against Ukraine are absolutely legitimate targets.”

Image: Ukraine’s Security Service

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Investigation: Sick Ukrainian children exploited in fraudulent charity campaigns linked to US, Israel

When scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, one may come across ads showing a crying child in a hospital bed, accompanied by a heartbreaking plea for donations to treat the child’s cancer. The message is always urgent, stating that a child suffers from a severe form of cancer and needs treatment in the U.S.

The Kyiv Independent identified several children and their parents featured in these campaigns and found that they live in Ukraine with no plans to receive treatment in the U.S. Each family has received less than $2,000 out of the $600,000 to $700,000 intended to be raised.

Photo: Karolina Gulshani / The Kyiv Independent

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International response

‘Without independent Ukraine, Russia will come for Poland,’ Zelensky says as he meets Nawrocki. “There are sometimes difficult moments in our societies, but as presidents, we must define policies that keep us united. Without our independence, Moscow will inevitably push further into Europe and will come for Poland,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Warsaw.

Opinions and insights

Fact-check: Debunking Russian propaganda about ‘persecution of Christians’ in Ukraine

The supposed “persecution of Christians” in Ukraine ranks among the most popular tropes of Russian disinformation. Kremlin propaganda has sought to cast the state’s push to limit the influence of the Kremlin-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) — whose clergymen have aided Russia during the war — as an assault on Christians.

Image: Roman Pilipey / AFP / Getty Images

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Putin says Russia never attacked Ukraine, outlines conditions for war with Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin used his annual end-of-year press conference on Dec. 19 to reaffirm the Kremlin’s maximalist demands for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, rejecting territorial compromise while repeating false claims about the invasion. Opening the tightly choreographed event, Putin said Moscow remains willing to engage in peace talks only on the terms he first outlined last year.

Photo: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images

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In other news

US launches large-scale strike in Syria targeting ISIS. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X.

US ‘not concerned’ about Russia as it ramps up aggression against Venezuela, Rubio says. “We’re not concerned about an escalation with Russia, with regards to Venezuela … I think they have their hands full in Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Dec. 19.

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky films an address near the entrance to the front line city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast on Dec.12, 2025, amid reports of successful Ukrainian counterattack in the region. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)

‘Reality speaks for itself’ — From war-torn Kupiansk, Zelensky praises troops after reports of successful Ukrainian counterattack. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised troops in the Kupiansk direction and said battlefield gains strengthen Ukraine’s diplomatic position, as the National Guard’s 2nd Khartiia Corps reported a counterattack north of the city.

Witkoff to meet Zelensky, European leaders over the weekend to discuss US peace plan, WSJ reports. The reported meeting involving Zelensky follows news that Kyiv and its European partners handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework, with territorial concessions dominating tensions between the parties.

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Ukraine confirms drone strike on major Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl. Russia’s Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl, one of the country’s five largest, is reportedly on fire after being struck in an overnight drone attack on Dec. 12, officials and local Telegram channels said.

Explosions reported at Russian oil refinery amid drone attack. Explosions were reported in Russia’s Saratov Oblast overnight on Dec. 13 as officials warned of a possible drone attack, with unverified local reports indicating the Saratov oil refinery had been targeted.

Ukraine strikes Russian oil facilities in Caspian Sea again, SBU source says. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) carried out a second drone strike this week on Russia’s Vladimir Filanovsky oil production platform in the Caspian Sea, also hitting the nearby Korchagin platform, an SBU source said Dec. 12.

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Ukraine war latest: ‘No military purpose’ — Russia strikes cargo ship in Odesa Oblast

Russian forces launched a missile strike on the civilian port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast, damaging a cargo ship, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 12.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine / DSNS

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Peace plan drama — Ukraine and Europe hand US revisions as Trump grows ‘sick of meetings’

Ukraine and its European partners have handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework aimed at ending Russia’s war, the Kyiv Independent has learned.

Photo: Roberto Schmidt / Henry Nicholls – WPA Pool / Getty Images / Collage by the Kyiv Independent

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Explainer: Why Russia’s nuclear industry has escaped major sanctions

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly threatened the use of atomic weapons, yet its much-prized nuclear industry has faced little in the way of meaningful sanctions.

Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

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EU indefinitely freezes Russian assets, moving closer to financial lifeline for Ukraine

The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank reserves, moving the bloc a step closer to securing a financial lifeline to Kyiv as the war heads into its fourth year.

Photo: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

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Opinions and insights

Ukraine world’s deadliest conflict in 2025 despite US-brokered peace talks, analysis finds

Russia’s war in Ukraine was the world’s deadliest conflict in 2025, according to a new report that tracks conflicts globally, despite U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the nearly four-year invasion.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

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15 Ukrainians are suing US tech factories over chips in Russia’s deadly weapons

Despite years of sanctions and export controls, U.S.-made electronic components — which have unique markings and cannot be copied — continue to appear in Russian cruise missiles and drones. Investigations have repeatedly found these chips inside weapons used in some of the war’s most devastating attacks.

Photo: Anya Korzun

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Russia’s air defenses have a Flamingo-sized weak spot, report suggests

Ukraine’s domestically produced cruise missiles could help deal a devastating blow to Russia’s air defense production, enabling increasingly effective long-range drone strikes against other targets inside Russia, a new report published on Dec. 12 says.

Photo: militarnyi.com

International response

Europe must prepare for war with Russia, NATO chief warns. “We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned.

Moscow files lawsuit against Euroclear as Russian assets debate continues. The Russian Central Bank said in a press release that it had sued Euroclear, the Belgian financial institution holding the vast majority of Europe’s frozen assets, in a Moscow court on Dec. 12.

In other news

SBU says it detained 3 suspected Russian agents over deadly Kyiv bombing that killed National Guard serviceman. Ukraine’s Security Service said Friday that it detained three men suspected of planting two homemade bombs that killed a National Guard serviceman and wounded four other people in Kyiv a day earlier.

‘I will come after each of you’ — Ukraine’s prosecutor general threatens critics after resignation rumors. “You don’t need to hide; I will come after each of you personally,” said Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, responding to a wave of anonymous posts alleging he had submitted a letter of resignation.

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