Alex McDonald

Marinka Hritsik has watched Ukraine’s dairy farming traditions change before her eyes. "There were eighteen (household-owned) cows in our village in 2022, but now there are seven," said the family farmer from near Chernihiv. "By winter, there probably won’t be any left." Hritsik's story reflects a national shift: Ukraine's smaller dairy farms are disappearing while the biggest keep growing. High costs and low prices, EU rules, and the war are pushing small producers out even as the government'

Editor's note: Some names in this story have been changed to protect the identities of the mothers, who spoke on condition of anonymity. As Russian forces advanced on a city in eastern Ukraine this spring, not everyone followed the evacuation orders. Mariia, mother of a two-year-old daughter, hesitated, wary of the uncertainty that comes with displacement. Mariia’s family had already fled once before in 2022 at the start of the full-scale invasion, only for a lack of support to drive her famil

"Drone! Drone! Drone!" — trainees shout as miniature helicopter blades buzz overhead. At a Safer Access security course near Kyiv in late February, aid workers are learning how to react when their mission comes under fire. Seconds later, they shout: "Attack! Attack! Attack!" The trainees throw themselves into the snow. There’s a flash of mottled green and iridescent purple: a grenade with propellers, dives toward them. It hits, explodes. They count to five, then scramble for cover. The course,

Last month was likely Ukraine’s coldest January since 2010, according to an analysis of preliminary Copernicus Climate Change Service weather data provided by Europe's EUMETSAT satellite agency. Temperatures in Ukraine last month reached reported lows of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit), rarely climbing above zero. Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that cut power, heating, and water across the country made people's homes dangerously cold. Pavements turned to ice-rink

"Warning! Mandatory Evacuation." Those words were posted just two weeks ago on the website of Mezhivska hromada in Ukraine's central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. By June, the small region of 15,000 found itself around 20 kilometers away from the front line, but in recent months, the fighting has edged closer. Back in the summer, the hromada's council communicated with residents about the risks and offered guidance on the various support pathways available. Now, the council says, everyone is

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. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) new Conflict Index reports around 78,000 people killed — including soldiers on both sides and civilians — in Ukraine this year, the highest of any conflict. Because troop casualty figures are state secrets in both Ukraine and Rus

A brutal year for Ukraine's farmers is driving up food prices, straining household budgets already hit hard by Russia's war. In just one year, extreme heat, freezing temperatures, drought, and heavy rains have devastated crops and delayed planting, creating harsh growing conditions. These challenges compound the already perilous reality for Ukrainian farmers, who are forced to contend with contaminated fields, unexploded ordnance, and the constant threat of Russian attack. In its latest monthl