DONETSK OBLAST – Sixteen months have passed since Halyna Nikiforova's husband went missing on Ukraine's eastern front line. But the 40-year-old Sloviansk native still texts him daily stories about their children. "They were everything to him," Nikiforova said of their 13 and 15-year-old sons. "They've grown up so much this year
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on July 15 that a 33-year-old man was killed and another was wounded in a village near the Russian border.
According to the military, a U.S.-provided HIMARS was used to strike the Russian target.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Kyiv for the first time on July 15 to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian forces have launched drone attacks and shelled front-line towns and villages in southern Ukraine over the past day, leaving at least one civilian injured, local authorities reported on July 15.
Key developments on July 10: * Stoltenberg: 'No final decision' made regarding Ukraine's NATO bid * Kuleba: NATO allies agree on simplified procedure for Ukraine's accession * Kremlin spokesman: Putin and Prigozhin met after rebellion * Defense Ministry: Ukraine controls 'key commanding heights' around Bakhmut * Rheinmetall to build, repair tanks in Ukraine NATO Secretary
Key developments on July 2: * Maliar: Ukraine 'creating conditions for a speedy advance' in Berdiansk, Melitopol directions * Ukraine advances on southern flank of Bakhmut; Russia deployed two air force regiments on the northern flank * Russia launches offensive near Avdiivka, Marinka, Lyman * Southern Forces report engaging in heavy combat near Antonivsky
President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 1 signed a decree imposing sanctions against 189 Russian nationals, two Belarusians, and Tamaz Gaiashvili, the founder of privately-owned Georgian Airways that is now flying to Russia.
Ukraine has "almost certainly" restarted deploying personnel to the east bank of the Dnipro River since around June 23 in what could be preparations for an offensive near the ruined Kakhovka Dam, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on July 1.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Kyiv early on July 1 to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky on the first day of Madrid's presidency at the EU Council.
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent spent a day with soldiers from the 80th Separate Assault Brigade in June, and the story is comprised of interviews with them about their experience near Bakhmut. The soldiers are identified by their names or callsigns, and their deployment locations are not revealed for
Key developments on June 28: * Reznikov: 'Main event' of counteroffensive yet to come, reserves still not deployed * General: 'Partial success' over past day on the southeastern front * State Emergency Service: 11 killed, 56 wounded in Russia's June 27 missile strike on Kramatorsk * Polish and Lithuanian presidents visit Kyiv, meet Zelensky
Russian troops killed two 16-year-olds, Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov, in a shootout in the occupied Berdiansk, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 25. His office later informed the Kyiv Independent that they are still trying to confirm this information.
Alexander Gusev, the governor of Russia's southern Voronezh Oblast, said on June 25 that Wagner militants were leaving the region a day after the group dropped its armed rebellion heading toward Moscow.
Two more bodies were found under the rubble of an apartment building a day after it was hit by missile debris during a Russian strike on Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on June 25.
Ukrainian forces have refined tactics in the first two weeks of their counteroffensive in preparation for deeper assaults into Russian-held positions, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on June 25.
Germany will supply Ukraine with 45 more Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns by the end of the year, with 15 of them expected to arrive in the coming weeks, German Brigadier General Christian Freuding said in an interview published on June 25.
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent interviewed a few dozen soldiers deployed near Bakhmut and visited their positions in late May and early June. The soldiers are identified by their first names or call signs for security reasons amid the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. NEAR IVANIVSKE VILLAGE, Donetsk Oblast
At least 240 Ukrainian children have been taken away from their families in EU countries due to guardianship law, Iryna Suslova, a representative of Ukraine's children's ombudsman, said in an interview released on June 18.
Sixty-five hectares of the Snihurivka forestry in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast remain flooded after Russia's June 6 destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the local branch of a state forestry enterprise said on June 18.
Fire erupted at a construction site of a military hospital being built in the Russian city of Bryansk, roughly 150 kilometers north of Ukraine, Kremlin-run news agency TASS reported on June 18.
Russia appears to be transferring equipment and troops from Kherson Oblast to the southeastern Zaporizhzhia front where a Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway, Ivan Fedorov, an exiled mayor of Melitopol, said on June 18.
Ukrainian forces took control of the village of Piatykhatky in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russia's local occupation administration claimed on June 18, as Kyiv continues to take the initiative on the battlefield.
The Black Sea in the southern Odesa Oblast is turning into a "garbage dump and an animal cemetery" as house fragments, furniture, as well as mines and ammunition are floating in the water after Russia's blow-up of the major dam, the State Border Guard said on June 10.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv on June 10, where he paid respect to fallen Ukrainian soldiers and laid a wreath at a memorial site at St. Michael's Cathedral.
Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1.4 kilometers in "different sections" of the Bakhmut front over the past day, Serhii Cherevaty, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of Ukraine's Armed Forces, said on June 10.
NATO members will agree on a "certain procedure" for Ukraine's potential accession into the 31-nation alliance at the July summit in Vilnius, Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov said on June 10.
Two volunteers, aged 25 and 50, were wounded during a Russian artillery strike on flood-hit Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on June 10.
Russia is only evacuating Russian passport-holders from the flooded areas in the occupied parts of the southern Kherson Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on June 10.
Ukraine also shot down 20 of the 35 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones launched by Russian forces overnight, the Air Force said on June 10.
Russian forces launched an intense airstrike targeting Myrhorod military airfield in Poltava Oblast, with the facility's infrastructure and equipment suffering "some damage," Governor Dmytro Lunin reported on June 10.
Editor’s Note: Soldiers in the story are introduced by their first names for security reasons amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. DONETSK OBLAST – Soldiers from Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade listened closely to the instructors as they practiced assault tactics before using them on the battlefield for the first
