"He does not love his people. He loves only his inner circle," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in response to U.S. podcaster Lex Fridman's suggestion that Putin is a "serious person who loves his country."
The protest follows a series of demonstrations by Polish farmers against Ukrainian agricultural imports after the EU lifted tariffs on goods from Ukraine in 2022.
Around 38% of Ukrainians are open to conceding some of the territories while preserving independence in order to end the war with Russia as fast as possible, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) survey published on Jan. 3.
The reason is Budapest granting political asylum to former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski, who is investigated at home for suspected misuse of funds.
Poland's Office for Foreigners, which the letter falsely attributes as the author, stressed that it did not issue the document and that its content is fake. Ukraine's Embassy in Warsaw also denied the document's authenticity.
The statement comes following a media investigation that claimed that soldiers of the unit, deployed near Pokrovsk, have suffered heavy losses and went AWOL in large numbers due to poor command and organization on Ukraine's side.
"I never thought it would have such a big impact on them because they were so influenced by the idea of 'invincible Russia,'" President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on Ukrainian television released on Jan. 2.
Ukraine will not hold elections under martial law even if Russia puts it forward as one of the pre-conditions for negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on Ukrainian television released on Jan. 2.
Key developments on Dec. 30: * Ukraine brings back 189 people from Russian captivity in prisoner swap * Biden announces $2.5 billion security assistance package for Ukraine * Russian military suffers 427,000 casualties in 2024, Syrskyi claims * Russia launched over 1,300 drone strikes, 250 missiles at Kyiv in 2024 Ukraine
The main suspect is 40-year-old Dieter S., a former member of Russian proxy forces in Ukraine who the prosecutors said took pictures of military facilities and planned railway sabotage.
Armenia's former defense minister, Major General Arshak Karapetyan, was detained in Moscow on Dec. 29 and later released, the Armenian Interior Ministry confirmed for the Novosti-Armenia news agency.
The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) called it one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
"Russia continues to carry out constant 'human wave' assaults, suffering record losses," Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Ukraine's Air Force on Dec. 29 denied claims spread by Russian media about a Ukrainian pilot surrendering to Russian forces in Kursk Oblast.
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane was rendered "uncontrollable" by electronic warfare, and its tail section was damaged by fire from the ground while flying over Russia before crashing, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told the media, the Trend News Agency reported on Dec. 29.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Dec. 28 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's apology over a deadly Azerbaijan Airline crash appears to acknowledge Moscow's responsibility for the disaster.
"What really worries me is that one of these attacks, as I say, will break through in a big way," Deputy Assistant Secretary General James Appathurai told Sky News.
Georgian anti-Western politician Mikheil Kavelashvili, an ally of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was inaugurated as the country's sixth president on Dec. 29 in a move seen as illegitimate by the opposition.
Azerbaijan will change the rules for the temporary stay of Russian citizens on its territory in the coming days after Russia announces stricter rules for the stay of foreigners, the Azerbaijan State News Agency reported on Dec. 28.
Zelensky called Fico's pro-Russian energy policy "a big security issue" for Slovakia and Europe, asking: "Why is this leader so dependent on Moscow? What is being paid to him, and what does he pay with?"
The funds come as already the sixth tranche disbursed to Ukraine under the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, raising the amount provided so far to $9.8 billion.
The press service of the Abkhaz energy company Chernomorenergo reported that a schedule from Nov. 1, under which electricity will be unavailable for four hours per day, is in effect.
The man, who identifies himself as 32-year-old Australian citizen Oscar Jenkins, is seen in military fatigues, apparently tied up, and violently interrogated in a video shared on Russian Telegram channels.
A large-scale fire broke out at a Shahed drone warehouse at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia's Tatarstan, destroying drone parts worth $16 million, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on Dec. 23.
Ukraine is already receiving U.S. funds under the framework of the G7's $50 billion loan covered by profits from frozen Russian assets, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Dec 20.
Ukraine attacked the Rostov Oblast's Kamensky Combine, one of the largest chemical plants in Russia, with six U.S.-made ATACMS and four British Storm Shadow missiles on Dec. 18, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Dec. 20.
Lithuania's new ministerial cabinet arrived in Kyiv on Dec. 20, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said mere hours after Russia's missile attack against the capital.
The Bulgarian parliament does not have enough votes to support the signing of Bulgaria's bilateral security treaty with Ukraine due to a shift in stance from the strongest party, Euractiv reported on Dec. 20.
Editor's note: The article was updated with the latest casualty figure. Russia launched five ballistic missiles against Ukraine's capital on the morning of Dec. 20, highlighting the stark contrast between the approaching holiday season and the realities of war. Though Ukraine's Air Force reported that all projectiles were downed, missile
"Commander-in-Chief (Oleksandr Syrskyi) decided to withdraw Defense Forces units from the said area to avoid encirclement," the Khortytsia group of forces said.
Orban "surprised" his fellow EU leaders by deciding to block the extension during a summit in Brussels on Dec. 19 in what is considered a "routine" step, Bloomberg wrote.
Russia attacked the capital with five ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M or the North Korean KN-23 model, the Air Force said. All five missiles were reportedly shot down, with debris falling in several districts of the city.
