News from Ukraine, Eastern Europe

Volodymyr Balukh, a political activist and former political prisoner, was reportedly beaten at a military recruitment center in Kyiv.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said the Alchevsk Metallurgical Plant in Russian-occupied Luhansk oblast was hit during overnight operations on March 20.

The U.S. has rejected the proposal, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the U.S.-Russia negotiations.

The latest strike brings the total number of Russian helicopters shot down by Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion to 350, according to the General Staff.

Russia is extensively militarizing Ukrainian children and youth in the occupied territories to "raise future soldiers" and involve them in the fight against their own people, Taya Avram, a lawyer within the Donbas SOS NGO, told the Kyiv Independent on March 20.

Russia’s takeover of Crimea did not begin in 2014. In the second part of "Crimea: The War Before the War," the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit examines how Moscow moved from early pressure to direct attempts to seize Ukrainian territory.

The proceeds from director Chloe Zhao's fundraiser will benefit Animal Rescue Kharkiv, a nonprofit organization (NGO).

"The war involving Iran will not deflect France from its support for Ukraine, where Russia’s war of aggression continues unabated," French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 20.

Yaroslav Lysenko allegedly ordered at least seven service members to leave their units beginning in September 2024 and assigned them to renovation and construction work, according to the State Investigation Bureau (DBR).

Filaret Denysenko co-founded the unrecognized Kyiv Patriarchate in 1992 and was the patriarch of Ukraine from 1995 to 2018.

Russian forces launched 156 drones against Ukraine overnight, of which over 90 were Shahed-type, the Air Force said, reporting that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 133.