Canada to provide $1.8 billion in economic aid to Ukraine

Earlier in December, Ukrainian news site Zn.ua reported, citing its sources, that NABU had wiretapped the office of Yuriy Kisel, a lawmaker for the Servant of the People party, and the head of the Parliamentary Transport Committee. The investigation concerned cash allegedly handed out to the ruling party lawmakers at the office.

Canada will provide Ukraine with $2.5 billion Canadian dollars ($1.8 billion) in economic aid to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Dec. 27.

Elections have been floated as part of a peace or ceasefire deal that Ukraine has been discussing with the U.S., but voting in the occupied territories complicates the process.

Several waves of explosions were heard across the capital, according to Kyiv Independent reporters on the ground, as well as in Kyiv Oblast, where power outages were reported in the town of Brovary and surrounding areas following the strikes.

Without security guarantees, Ukraine cannot take any steps towards peace or hold presidential elections, which Trump's administration has pressured Zelensky to implement.

Russia launched nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles overnight on Dec. 26-27, largely targeting Kyiv’s energy and civilian infrastructure.

Denis Kapustin, also known by his nom de guerre "White Rex," led the right-wing Russian Volunteer Corps until he was killed by an FPV drone on the southern front, according to preliminary reports. More details are expected later.

The number includes 1,240 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

"I think they want to do it now, and I think that Russia wants to do it. But every time one wants to do it, the other doesn’t," Trump told the New York Post in a Dec. 26 phone call.

Timur Mindich, a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky and suspect in a major corruption investigation, gave his first media interview since leaving Ukraine in November, speaking with Ukrainska Pravda in an interview published Dec. 26.

Russia is continuing to systematically recruit foreign nationals for its war against Ukraine, said Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, on Dec. 26.

Kharkiv Oblast was struck with with three KAB guided bombs, one of which targeted the city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.