A man rides a bicycle in front of residential buildings in Chernihiv, a regional capital in northern Ukraine, damaged by Russian fire, on March 3, 2022. Fourty-seven people died when Russian forces hit Chernihiv's residential areas, including a school and high-rise apartment buildings. (AFP/Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called "a special military operation" against Ukraine on Feb. 24, de facto declaring war on the country.
Putin claimed to have “no ill intentions towards neighboring countries” and denied firing missiles on civil infrastructure during what he called a campaign to “disarm and de-Nazify” Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian troops have shelled civilians in residential areas, burned houses, schools, and kindergartens all over Ukraine.
Ten days after Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine began, hundreds of Ukrainians are dead, thousands are injured, and over a million are displaced.
The Kyiv Independent publishes photographs of Ukrainian cities, destroyed by the Kremlin.
People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv, on March 4, 2022. (Getty Images)A view of the central square of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on March 1, 2022, soon after being shelled. (AFP/Getty Images)Ukrainian servicemen assist a civilian, while people cross a destroyed bridge, as they evacuate residents of Irpin, a city northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Children are being evacuated from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)An injured woman stands in front of a damaged apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. (Getty Images)Destroyed Russian armored vehicles in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv, on March 4, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze at a damaged residential building at Koshytsia Street, in one of Kyiv's residential neighborhoods, on Feb. 25, 2022. (Getty Images)A man clears debris at a damaged residential building at Koshytsia Street in Kyiv's Pozniaky neighborhood on Feb. 25, 2022. (Getty Images)A child looks on as residents are being evacuated from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)The building of the Vasylkiv Professional College destroyed by Russian rocket fire, Vasylkiv, Kyiv Oblast, on March 1, 2022. (Getty Images)Police officers cover the bodies of people killed in an airstrike that targeted Kyiv's TV tower on March 1, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A photograph of Constitution Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, after being shelled by Russia on March 2, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A damaged apartment seen after being hit by an early morning missile strike on Feb. 25, 2022 in Kyiv. (Getty Images)A view of a damaged building following the shelling of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on March 3, 2022. (AFP/ Getty Images)The view on the damaged building in Kyiv hit by a Russian missile on Feb. 26, 2022. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
The document will not be published due to the "sensitivity of some of its findings," the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity under White House ground rules, told the Associated Press.
For the next year, Ukraine allocated 26.3% of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defense and security expenditures, including Hr 740 billion ($17.7 billion) for arms purchases and Hr 50 billion ($1.2 billion) on the production and purchase of drones.
Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk jailed nine Ukrainian soldiers captured after defending Mariupol to between 24 years and a life sentence, the city's exiled authorities reported on Dec. 11.
Moscow persuaded Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia with his family after realizing his regime was bound to lose to the opposition's rapid advance, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 11, citing its sources.
The region has recently faced energy restrictions aggravated by a growing spat with its Russian patrons. Moscow has cut almost all funding, including money crucial for the energy sector, after Abkhazia's local council voted against a controversial investment agreement with Russia.
"I believe that we have enough funds, enough weapons, missiles, and artillery shells to resist at least during the first half of 2025," Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump did not discuss details of a possible peace plan when they met in Paris, with Trump calling for an immediate ceasefire, Reuters reported on Dec. 11, citing five undisclosed sources.
"The actions of the defendants led to significant losses and the creation of an artificial shortage of tickets for the most popular routes on the market," the police’s statement read.
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least eight civilians and injured at least 57 over the past day, regional authorities reported early on Dec. 11.
A Ukrainian missile struck a boiler plant in Russia's Rostov Oblast overnight on Dec. 11, damaging critical infrastructure in the city of Taganrog, Russian officials claimed.
This comes as the first official confirmation of speculations that Assad and his family fled to Moscow following the collapse of the dictator's regime in Syria.
"In 2024 alone, we can confirm that Russian troops shot 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war," Lubinets said. Reports of murders, torture, and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war are received regularly by Ukrainian authorities.
Russia has made territorial gains in Eastern Ukraine, using brutal meat wave tactics to achieve minor tactical victories on the frontline at the cost of high casualties among its soldiers.
Russia will "definitely be prepared to consider" a prisoner exchange, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told NBC News, adding that a potential exchange could mark "a healthy step forward, especially at the beginning of the next (U.S.) administration."
Although no concrete decisions have been made on the potential sanctions, sources familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg that a number of avenues are being explored, including sanctions on Russia's so-called 'shadow fleet.'
The State Department approved a $266 million foreign military sales package for Ukraine on Dec. 10, enabling the sustainment of services as well as repairs necessary for the upkeep of the country's F-16 fighter jets.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has pledged to veto a proposal to impose EU sanctions on Georgian officials for their crackdown on anti-government protests, the First Channel of Georgia reported on Dec. 10.
On Dec. 10, a Russian drone struck and severely damaged an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) service vehicle on its way to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), President Volodymyr Zelensky reported.
(Updated: )
