Russian attacks kill 6, injure 23 in Ukraine over past day
The Ukrainian Air Force reported intercepting 101 of the 127 drones launched by Russia overnight.
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Luca Léry Moffat
Economics reporterLuca is the economics reporter for the Kyiv Independent. He was previously a research analyst at Bruegel, a Brussels-based economics think tank, where he worked on Russia and Ukraine, trade, industrial policy, and environmental policy. Luca also worked as a data analyst at Work-in-Data, a Geneva-based research center focused on global inequality, and as a research assistant at the Economic Policy Research Center in Kampala, Uganda. He holds a BA honors degree in economics and Russian from McGill University.
Articles
Ukraine could forfeit $4.2B in EU funds after missing reform conditions
Kyiv failed to implement nine indicators in the last three months of 2025, the highest number missed in any quarter since the Ukraine Facility began in 2024, according to a Dec. 29 assessment by RRR4U.
Chart of the week: What did Ukrainians search online in 2025?
This year saw Donald Trump's return to the presidency, a shouting match with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, and the famed U.S.-Ukraine "minerals deal."
There were talks in Istanbul, Alaska, Miami, Geneva — almost Budapest — and peace plans of all shapes and sizes.
Meanwhile, Russian troops steadily advanced westwards, encircled Pokrovsk, hunted civilians with drones in a "human safari," and claimed to have taken the front-line city Kupiansk as the year came to a close — only
A dark Christmas looms in Odesa Oblast as Russia hammers energy facilities, bridges, ports
Russian attacks have plunged Odesa Oblast into darkness and cold just days before Christmas, cutting power to more than 120,000 residents after strikes on three energy facilities on Dec. 22.
Russia has stepped up attacks in Odesa Oblast this December, targeting ports, roads, energy infrastructure, and homes. Frequent strikes have caused widespread power outages and delayed repairs, leaving some residents without electricity and entire areas cut off due to disrupted transportation networks.
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EU leaders agree on $105 billion loan to buffer Ukraine’s finances, fail on Russian assets plan
European leaders have approved an interest-free loan for Ukraine, providing a financial lifeline and securing a large portion of the cash-strapped country's financing needs for the next two years.
US, Ukraine minerals deal will finally go live in 2026
The fund's board of directors reached final consensus on several administrative steps on Dec. 18, paving the way for the fund to accept investments starting in early 2026.
UK tells Abramovich to give Chelsea money to Ukrainian cause or face legal action
"The clock is ticking on Roman Abramovich to honor the commitment he made when Chelsea FC was sold and transfer the 2.5 billion pounds to a humanitarian cause for Ukraine," Starmer said on Dec. 17.
Ukraine warns of ‘catastrophe for every single European’ if Russian frozen asset plan fails
"The lesson will be that European solidarity ends where fear of action begins, even in self-defense,” Iryna Mudra, Zelensky’s top legal advisor, told the Kyiv Independent.
Talks on reparations loan for Ukraine continue as key summit approaches
European leaders will decide on Dec. 18–19 whether to proceed with a "reparations loan," a plan to lend up to 210 billion euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
Chart of the week: Every month, tens of thousands of Ukrainians flee danger
"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
EU indefinitely freezes Russian assets, moving closer to financial lifeline for Ukraine
The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank reserves, moving the bloc a step closer to securing a financial lifeline to Kyiv as the war heads into its fourth year.
"I welcome the decision of the council on our proposal to continue the immobilization of Russian Sovereign Assets," President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter on Dec. 12.
The move means that roughly 210 billion euros ($245 billion) in Russian assets will now remain blocke
Moscow files lawsuit against Euroclear as Russian assets debate continues
The Russian Central Bank said in a press release that it had sued Euroclear, the Belgian financial institution holding the vast majority of Europe's frozen assets, in a Moscow court on Dec. 12.
Ukraine's central bank holds rate steady despite falling inflation
The National Bank of Ukraine voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 15.5%, amid steep uncertainty over the country's financing next year.
Chart of the week: Can Ukraine's nuclear sector move past its Russian heritage?
Nuclear power has always been the bedrock of Ukraine's energy system, consistently providing roughly half of the country's power both before and after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
But beneath this veneer of stability is a sector in flux.
The biggest corruption scandal of Zelensky's tenure, weak governance, and the relentless barrage of drones and missiles targeting the distribution network are just some of the recent woes engulfing the country's state-owned nuclear monopoly, Ener
Seven EU leaders voice support for loan to Ukraine backed by Russian assets
The leaders of Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden said that they "strongly support" the so-called reparations loan.
