The defense minister met with his Norwegian counterpart on the sidelines of the Ramstein summit on Jan. 9. According to Umerov, the 2025 assistance to Ukraine will mark the largest military aid package in Norway's history.
Russia has endured over 700,000 casualties since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022—more than in all of Moscow’s conflicts since World War II combined, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Jan. 9.
The announcement includes $138 million (CAD $200 million) allocated to Czechia’s initiative for procuring and delivering large-calibre ammunition to Ukraine.
"The whole [Trump] team is obsessed with strength and looking strong, so they’re recalibrating the Ukraine approach," one European official told the Financial Times.
Editor’s note: This story contains scenes and images that some readers might find disturbing. In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. KUPIANSK AREA, Kharkiv Oblast – Snow, sleet, fog, the lot; when the weather
Ukraine’s decision to end the gas transit deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom has been hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as one of Moscow’s biggest defeats. "When (Russian President) Vladimir Putin was handed power in Russia over 25 years ago, the annual gas pumping through Ukraine to Europe
Editor’s note: This is issue 8 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly "Ukraine Reforms Tracker" covering events from Jan. 1–5, 2025. This newsletter was until recently titled “Ukrainian Economy in Brief." The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial
Zelensky made this statement at the opening of the 25th Ramstein summit, which was dedicated to strengthening Ukraine's defenses, particularly its air defense.
Denmark has reserved 135 million euros ($139 million) for further purchases under the "Danish model," buying arms for Ukraine directly from Ukrainian arms manufacturers. Norway is expected to contribute another 43 million euros ($44 million) to this initiative.
Russia deployed "a huge number of soldiers," with Ukrainian forces killing 45 troops and injuring 53, Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade claimed.
Ukraine's president will travel to Italy on Jan. 9 following the Ramstein summit in Germany.
The situation in the town is "very difficult," Andrii Besedin, head of the Kupiansk town military administration, said.
The package is expected to be the final U.S. defense tranche provided by the Biden administration before Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings during the summit, which could be the group's last meeting in the current format.
Russian forces dropped guided aerial bombs on the city of Kherson on Jan. 9, injuring at least six people, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
The newly detained suspects, a 33-year-old soldier who went AWOL (absent without leave) and his 25-year-old wife, were looking for "easy money" and were recruited via the Telegram messenger by Russian intelligence services, the SBU said.
A Californian court sentenced former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who falsely accused the Biden family of taking a bribe from a Ukrainian business, to six years in prison, CNN reported on Jan. 8.
The oil spilled into the Black Sea by two Russian tankers last month could soon reach Ukraine's southern coast in the Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on air on Jan. 9.
Ukraine's move will deprive Russia of about $6.5 billion in annual revenue from gas sales to Europe, according to U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
This number includes 1,430 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
North Korea "is significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology, and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbors," the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said on Jan. 8.
"We are supporting Ukraine's NATO membership further down the line and hopefully not in (the) too-distant future," Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Jan. 8.
"There's a thought that Russia has the ultimate hand here and it has every advantage," outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Bloomberg News. "It has some advantages, but it doesn't completely dominate this equation here."
"An important task now is to help Moldova overcome its energy challenges and prevent Moscow from stirring up social tensions. ... We are ready to help," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 8.
"People need to understand, he's not trying to give something to Putin or to the Russians, he's actually trying to save Ukraine and save their sovereignty," Trump's peace envoy Keith Kellogg said on Jan. 8.
Key developments on Jan. 8: * Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot supplying fuel to Engels-2 airbase, military confirms * Ukraine strikes Russian command post in Donetsk Oblast, military reports * Russian airstrike on Zaporizhzhia industrial site kills 13, injures at least 63 * French-trained brigade had 'systematic shortcomings,' Ukraine's top general reports to
President-elect Donald Trump, on Jan. 7, blamed the outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden for Russia's all-out war against Ukraine. Trump said Biden's support of Ukraine's NATO membership had led to Russia's war against the country. "I could understand their feelings," he said, referring to the country that launched the
Despite previous commitments to exhaust the remaining PDA funds, approximately $3.8 billion will remain unused, according to the Pentagon, leaving the funds at the disposal of the incoming administration.
Ukraine had already decided not to renew its gas transit deal with Russia beyond Dec. 31, 2024, but continues to allow Russian oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline under a contract valid until the end of 2029.
The Russian opposition is an odd bunch. While not supporting Russia's brutal all-out war against Ukraine and its people, the leaders of the so-called opposition don't want their country to lose. A number of those who oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime have petitioned for the West to
The Ukrainian president argued that the absence of NATO membership and concrete security guarantees contributed to Russia’s decision to launch the full-scale invasion.
Russian losses in Ukraine are helping fuel a demographic timebomb that could see the country’s population reduced by half by the end of the century, experts have told the Kyiv Independent. “The impact on Russian society is devastating,” said Harley Balzer, emeritus professor of government and international affairs at
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