Key developments on April 21: * Stoltenberg ‘confident’ that Ukraine now ready to liberate more territories * Zelensky: Ukraine ‘actively preparing’ new brigades and units for counteroffensive * Austin: Allies deliver over 230 tanks to Ukraine over past few months * Berlin, Warsaw, and Kyiv agree to open maintenance hub for Leopard 2 tanks
Key developments on April 20: * Stoltenberg meets Zelensky in Kyiv, says ‘Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO’ * Zelensky demands to know timeframe, ‘concrete steps’ needed for NATO membership * Southern military command: Russia received new batch of Iranian Shahed drones * Air Force: Ukraine experiencing shortage of air defense missiles due
Editor's note: This story contains graphic images that some readers may find uncomfortable. Key developments on April 14: * UK Defense Ministry: Russia 're-energized' assault on Bakhmut as the Kremlin and Wagner improve cooperation * Ukrainian army rejects Russia's claim of being surrounded in Bakhmut, says fierce fighting continues on the streets
Key developments on April 11: * Wagner boss claims capturing 80% of Bakhmut; Ukraine denies it * Wagner boss: Flanks of Russian offensive on Bakhmut 'handed over' to defense ministry * Denmark says West could decide on transfer of fighter jets ‘before summer’ * Canada announces new small arms package for Ukraine The chief
Editor's Note: This is episode 1 of "Ukraine's True History," a video and story series by the Kyiv Independent. The series is funded by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting within the program “Ukraine Forward: Amplifying Analysis.” The program is financed by the MATRA Programme of the Embassy of
BRUSSELS – Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has again exposed Russia's far-reaching influence over Bulgaria. The Bulgarian energy sector is dominated by Russia. The defense minister was dismissed in March 2022 for echoing the Kremlin's war propaganda. The country has denied Ukraine's official requests for military aid in fear of pro-Russian
Key developments on April 10: * Ukraine’s top commander visits Bakhmut, discusses how to further defend ‘the fortress’ * Russian proxy leader in Donetsk Oblast claims he visited Bakhmut, met Wagner mercenaries * 100 Ukrainian POWs freed in prisoner exchange * UK Defense Ministry: Russia increases armored assaults around Marinka, Donetsk Oblast. Ukraine’
Key developments on April 9: * Overnight Russian missile strike on Zaporizhzhia kills 2, including a child * A civilian in Kharkiv Oblast hospitalized in critical condition after Russian shelling * Macron says ‘time is not for negotiations,’ calls on China to deal with Russia’s nuclear threats * Ukraine’s Air Force: Patriot
BRUSSELS – Behind the curtains of Estonia's substantial support for Ukraine lies the struggle of pushing allies to do more. In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Independent, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu admitted that he is not satisfied with either the quantity or pace of the allies' arms support "because
Key developments on April 6: * Russia’s Wagner Group admits Ukrainian strongholds remain in Bakhmut * Lithuania to send $44 million worth of military aid to Ukraine * Ukraine, Poland to co-produce 125 mm tank shells * Reuters: China ready to work with France on Ukraine peace * EU chief says China’s Xi
Brussels – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg vowed on April 3 that the alliance would continue supporting Ukraine despite Russia's "dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric." He added that Kyiv can win the war and become a full-fledged NATO member one day. Responding to the Kyiv Independent at a news conference, Stoltenberg
Editor’s note: In this story, the Kyiv Independent is not disclosing the Ukrainian soldiers’ full names or their deployed positions due to security concerns amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Donetsk Oblast – At an abandoned building about 20 minutes drive from Bakhmut, wounded Ukrainian soldiers pour in from the
Key developments on March 21: * Japanese PM Kishida visits Bucha, meets Zelensky in Kyiv * U.S. to speed up delivery of Patriot air defense systems and Abrams tanks * Putin holds talks with Xi at a summit in Moscow, says China-Russia relations at all-time high * Ukraine claims Russia's offensive potential declining
Key developments on March 20: * Xi visits Moscow for the first time since 2019, meets Putin * Blinken: Xi's visit 'diplomatic cover' for Russia's war crimes * Ukraine's military: Avdiivka may soon become 'second Bakhmut' * EU to send 1 million artillery rounds for Ukraine over next 12 months * US approves additional military
Key developments on March 18-19: * Russian state media: Putin visits occupied Crimea, Mariupol over the weekend * Germany says it will have to arrest Putin if he enters its territory over ICC order * Governor: At least 3 civilians killed, 18 wounded in Donetsk Oblast * Ukrainian-Russian grain deal kicks off after third
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
