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
Ten months after barely surviving the Russian bombing of a theater in Mariupol, Viktoria Dubovitska is keeping a close eye on her seven-year-old son. Artem remembers “almost everything” about what he saw in the March tragedy, the mother said. He tries not to talk about it, but unwanted memories keep
Key developments on Jan. 26: * Commander: Ukraine downs 47 out of 55 Russian missiles during the morning attack * Emergency service: 11 killed, 11 wounded during Russia's airstrike on Jan. 26 * Energy Minister: Russian forces hit some energy facilities across Ukraine * German Minister: Leopard tanks to arrive in Ukraine by early
Key developments on Jan. 25: * Germany to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine, green light for other countries to deliver * US announces decision to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine * Zelensky thanks US for ‘important step on the path to victory’; Germany for ‘important and timely’ decision * Ukraine confirms
Germany confirmed on Jan. 25 that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after months of delay, and allow other countries, such as Poland, to send their own stocks. The long-awaited tanks will be delivered from the stocks of Bundeswehr armed forces, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Bloomberg in
Key developments on Jan. 24: * Kyiv warns Belarus against directly getting involved in Russia's war * ABC News: 12 countries ready to give about 100 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if Germany approves * CNN: West encourages Ukraine to shift focus from destroyed Bakhmut to counteroffensive in south * Finnish President visits Kyiv,
Key developments on Jan. 23: * Ukraine's intelligence: Russia to intensify Donbas offensive in February-March * Poland says it will seek Germany's approval to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but ready to do so regardless of Berlin's will * Germany says it hasn't received Poland's request to send Leopards yet * Estonia, Latvia tell
Key developments on Jan. 22: * Russian-controlled militants claim successful advance toward 2 towns in Zaporizhzhia Oblast * Ukraine's General Staff: All Russian advances repelled * Ukraine's military creates new units to equip with Western military hardware * Polish PM: Ukraine, Europe to win the war 'with Germany or without' Chairman of the House
Key developments on Jan. 20: * Germany: No decision yet on Leopard tanks for Ukraine * Germany announces 1 billion euro spring military aid package for Ukraine * US: Ukraine would have opportunity for counteroffensive in spring * Der Spiegel: German intelligence concerned about Ukraine’s casualties near Bakhmut * Washington to designate Wagner Group
Fighting off pressure from allies, Berlin made no decision to provide the long-anticipated Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. "I'm very sure there will be a decision in the short term, but I don't know how the decision will look," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at the U.S.
Key developments on Jan. 19: * Zelensky pressures allies to send heavy tanks to Ukraine ahead of Ramstein * Poland says it could supply German-made Leopard tanks regardless of Berlin's approval * European Council President Charles Michel visits Kyiv, meets Zelensky * European Parliament seeks to create special tribunal court to prosecute for Russian
DNIPRO – Rushing to the hospital shortly after a Russian missile hit an apartment building in Dnipro on Jan. 14, Mykyta Pavlovskyi prayed that his mother's injury wasn't fatal. "We drove to the hospital hoping that everything will be alright with my mom," the 23-year-old graduate student told the Kyiv Independent.
Key developments on Jan. 18: * Emergency service: At least 14 killed, including Interior Minister, in helicopter crash near Kyiv * PM: Special task force to oversee investigation into helicopter crash that killed minister, child * Putin claims he has 'no doubt' that Russia will win war against Ukraine A helicopter carrying state
DNIPRO – Standing outside a hospital morgue in Dnipro, Yevhen Frantsev, 61, waited for his son to confirm that his missing daughter and grandchildren were killed by Russia. Frantsev's daughter Oksana, 39, was at home with her two daughters – Mykhailyna and Leila, aged three and 13 – when a Russian missile slammed
Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent does not publish the last names of all interviewees to protect their identity. DNIPRO – With dark purple bruises around her eyes, 81-year-old Lidiia packed whatever she could fit into a plastic shopping bag and left home in a hurry on Jan. 15. A day
Russia launched a missile strike targeting Kyiv early on Jan. 14, the third attack on the capital in 2023. Authorities say the Russian attack damaged "infrastructure" in the capital and a residential building in Kyiv Oblast. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported that Russia was targeting Ukraine's
Key developments on Jan. 11: * Zelensky denies Russia captured Soledar, says fighting ‘ongoing’ and front line ‘holding * ’Moscow says Soledar blocked from north and south; Wagner Group founder boasts capturing the town * Poland to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine; Lithuania vows to send more air defense systems * Russia’s Defense
Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko claimed that the fight was unfolding in the western and northern parts of the town, including inside the salt mine. No evacuation or humanitarian aid convoys have been allowed to enter Soledar since Jan. 6 for safety reasons, Kyrylenko said. Some 550 civilians currently remain in Soledar without heating in subzero weather, according to him.
