Editor's note: The Kyiv Independent is not revealing the soldiers' full names or the exact location of their deployment due to security concerns amid the ongoing war. Donetsk Oblast – Just a few dozen kilometers from Bakhmut, Ukrainian infantry train to ready themselves for brutal days ahead. Nearly 20 soldiers from
Editor's note: The Kyiv Independent is not revealing the soldiers' surnames or the exact location of their deployment due to security concerns amid the ongoing war. Some military personnel spoke without the authorization of their commanders or a press officer. DONETSK OBLAST – Just days before heading back to fight in
Key developments on March 14: * Zaluzhnyi: Bakhmut defense ‘key in stability of entire front’ * Prigozhin claims his Wagner mercenaries crossed river, took ‘full control’ of plant in northwestern Bakhmut * Russian fighter jet crashes into US drone over the Black Sea Ukraine vowed on March 14 that it would hold on
Key developments on March 13: * Commander: ‘Fierce’ fighting rages over central Bakhmut as Russia’s Wagner mercenaries storm into the ruined city * Media: Chinese leader Xi Jinping expected to visit Russia next week, speak to Zelensky afterward * Russian attack on village in Sumy Oblast kills 1, injures 4 * Russian forces
Key developments on March 12: * Security Service names the Ukrainian POW executed by Russians in a video that left the nation shocked after it circulated earlier this month * Zelensky awards the Hero of Ukraine title to the executed soldier * Police: Russia launches 48 attacks against civilians in Donetsk Oblast over
Key developments on March 10: * Russia continues its assaults on Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast * At least 8 wounded in Russian attack of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk Oblast * Norway says it will send Ukraine 2 NASAMS air defense systems * Finland's Prime Minister visits Kyiv, meets Zelensky Ukraine's Defense Ministry acknowledged on March 10 that
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent is not revealing the soldiers’ full names or the exact location of their deployment due to security concerns amid the ongoing war. DONETSK OBLAST – At a cottage-turned-base some two kilometers from the front lines in Donetsk Oblast, soldiers from Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade lay
Key developments on March 6: * Military: Russia throws more Wagner mercenaries on Bakhmut, fierce battle rages on * Bild: Zelensky, Zaluzhnyi have conflicting views on Bakhmut * Local authorities: Russia attacks Avdiivka with 6 guided air missiles Kh-59 over the past day * Air Force: 13 out of 15 Russian drones downed by
Key developments on March 5: * Military Intelligence Chief: Russia likely to run out of 'military tools' by end of spring * Air Force: Modern fighter jets needed to counter new Russian gliding bomb * Two people still missing after Zaporizhzhia missile strike * Couple killed in a car due to Russian artillery attack
Key developments on March 2: * Military says withdrawal from Bakhmut considered, but only if it is 'absolutely necessary' * Governor: About 5,000 people, including 37 children, remain in Bakhmut * Prosecutors: 4 killed, 8 wounded, 5 missing after Russian overnight missile strike on Zaporizhzhia * Russia uses drones to attack civilians lining
Key developments on Feb. 26: * Ukrainian intelligence: Ukraine could strike airfields and military infrastructure in Russia as part of spring counteroffensive * Zelensky reinstates pledge to return Crimea on 9 year-anniversary of Russian occupation of the peninsula * Ukraine says it shot down 1 Russian aircraft near Avdiivka * Saudi foreign minister meets
Key developments on Feb. 24: * Shmyhal: Poland delivers 4 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine * Polish PM visits Kyiv, meets Zelensky, Shmyhal * Germany says it will provide 4 more Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine * Ukrainian intelligence: Spring-summer campaign expected to be very difficult on the battlefield As Ukraine marks the one-year
Key developments on Feb. 23: * Ukrainian General Staff: Russia likely set goal to seize Donbas before Summer * Stoltenberg: West's supply of ammunition 'not sustainable' for Ukraine as 'consumption much higher' * Zelensky says Ukraine open to holding meetings with Beijing amid growing Russia-China relations * State Border Guard: Ukraine repels 3 Russian
Key developments on Feb. 19: * Local authorities: 3 killed, 8 wounded in Russian shelling of Kherson Oblast * Blinken: US concerned China may provide Russia with weapons * Russia's Rostec says it is stepping up production of hypersonic missiles * Borrell: 'Ukrainians receive a lot of applause, but not enough ammunition.' As
Key developments on Feb. 12: * Russia's Wagner Group claims it captured Krasna Hora, 6 kilometers north of Bakhmut * UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely suffering highest casualties since March * Ukraine imposes sanctions against 200 individuals Russia's Wagner Group claimed on Feb. 12 that its mercenaries captured the village of Krasna Hora,
Key developments on Feb. 9: * Zelensky speaks at European Parliament, attends EU Summit * Zelensky: ‘Several’ European nations ready to provide Ukraine with fighter jets * Intensified fighting reported near Kreminna, Luhansk Oblast * Wagner Group claims to have stopped recruiting prisoners for war against Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 9
In a historic visit to Brussels on Feb. 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the European Parliament as the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches, saying that the EU and Ukraine are fighting together against the “biggest anti-European force of the modern world." Thanking EU leaders for their
Key developments on Feb. 8: * Zelensky visits UK, meets Sunak and King Charles III * Sunak: ‘Nothing is off the table’ concerning weapons for Ukraine, including fighter jets * Zelensky heads to Paris, Brussels after his London trip * Hague prosecutors say Putin approved transfer of missiles that shot down MH17 President Volodymyr
Key developments on Feb. 7: * UK Defense Ministry: Russia advancing 'several hundred meters' each week with heavy losses * Russian Defense Minister claims 'successful' operation near Bakhmut, Vuhledar * Germany's Defense Minister visits Kyiv, promises over 100 tanks * Parliament appoints Klymenko as Interior Minister, Maliuk as SBU head German Defense Minister Boris
Key developments on Feb. 6: * Ukrainian intelligence: Russia could be preparing to mobilize 300,000-500,000 troops for its offensive in spring-summer 2023 * Ukraine's General Staff: Russia forcing passports on civilians in Kreminna, other occupied areas * Reznikov to remain as Defense Minister this week, lawmaker says Ukraine's intelligence claimed on
Key developments on Feb. 5: * UK Defense Ministry: Bakhmut ‘increasingly isolated’ as Russia slowly advances * Russian missile strike on Kharkiv wounds 5, leaves university damaged * Intelligence Chief Budanov to replace Defense Minister Reznikov after upcoming reshuffle Bakhmut is becoming “increasingly isolated” as Russian forces are slowly progressing toward encircling the
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced by Defense Ministry's Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov, lawmaker David Arakhamia said on Feb. 5. "War dictates personnel policy. Time and circumstances call for strengthening and regrouping," Arakhamia, head of the governing Servant of the People faction and Ukraine's chief negotiator with Russia, said
Key developments on Feb. 3: * US announces new $2.17 billion security aid package for Ukraine, provides long-range GLSDB rockets * EU hails Ukraine’s ‘considerable efforts’ over past few months, no timeframe for accession talks * Zelensky: Ukraine ‘won’t hand over Bakhmut, we will fight as long as we can’
President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine "won't hand over Bakhmut." "We will fight as long as we can," he said during a joint press conference with European Union leadership. According to Zelensky, Russia will soon launch a major offensive in the east and northeast, targeting cities like Bakhmut and Lyman. The
Key developments on Feb. 2: * Ukrainian intelligence warns Russia building up troops to launch ‘massive offensive’ to capture Donbas by March * Zelensky: Russia concentrating troops to seek revenge on ‘free world’ * Governor: At least 3 killed, 8 wounded in Feb. 1 Russian missile strike of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast * Top EU
The European Union’s top officials arrived in Kyiv on Feb. 2, to meet their Ukrainian counterparts ahead of a historic wartime summit taking place nearly a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Upon arrival in the morning, the delegation of more than a dozen members from
Key developments on Feb. 1: * Ukraine, Russia issue conflicting claims over Russian gains near Bakhmut * Police: About 200 children left in Bakhmut * Ukraine's General Staff: Russia prepares offensives in several areas Russian-controlled proxies in Donetsk Oblast claimed on Feb. 1 that Russian forces were closing in on Bakhmut, a city
Law enforcement agencies on Feb. 1 searched the houses of several incumbent and former top officials and an oligarch in what appears to be the largest anti-corruption raid since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022. Among others, law enforcers raided powerful oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, scandalous former Interior Minister
Key developments on Jan. 31: * Russia claims control over Blahodatne, north of Bakhmut * UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely launching 'more concerted assault' around Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast * Russian shelling in Bakhmut kills 2, including a teenager * Foreign Ministry: 120-140 Western tanks to be delivered Moscow said on Jan. 31 that it
Key developments on Jan. 30: * Zelensky visits Mykolaiv Oblast with Danish Prime Minister * Ukrainian military: Russian forces unprepared for major combat operation in the south due to equipment shortage * State Border Guard: Around 9,000 Russian troops deployed in Belarus * Russian governor: Additional Russian troops, military equipment to arrive in
Key developments on Jan. 29: * Wagner Group claims to have captured Blahodatne; Ukraine denies Russian progress near Bakhmut * Ukrainian intelligence: Prigozhin doesn’t command Wagner Group’s military operations * At least 3 killed, 6 wounded in Russian shelling of Kherson Ukraine denied on Jan. 29 that Russian forces made gains
Key developments on Jan. 27: * Russia claims advance toward Vuhledar; Ukraine denies any breakthrough * Ukraine's military says Russia attacked Vuhledar area 322 times * Zelensky: ‘Ukraine needs 300 or 500 tanks now’ * White House: Abrams tanks delivery to Ukraine to take 'many months.' Kremlin proxies in Donetsk Oblast claimed on
