When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Iryna Simakina was in Enerhodar, a city in southern Ukraine, home to Europe's largest nuclear power plant. As Russian forces advanced on the city, staying became increasingly dangerous. Simakina, who uses a wheelchair because of a disability, eventually left her home behind, uncertain whether she would ever return. Simakina found refuge in Zhytomyr, northwestern Ukraine, in 2023, where she initially stayed with a friend. In Decembe

Artem Koval suffered severe injuries in the drone strike and was taken to hospital. Despite a week of efforts to save him, doctors were unable to overcome his life-threatening injuries, the Vodolaha Village Council said.

A fire broke out on the territory of the Energia plant following the attack, the General Staff said, without specifying the extent of the damage.

"We should (have) some sympathy for the poor Russian conscripts too. Those kids have no choice but to fight and die in drone strikes." For anyone watching and understanding Ukraine's years-long struggle for survival, the words of SpaceX founder and world's richest man Elon Musk ring with deep moral bankruptcy. But more importantly, Musk's post on Oct. 25 — made in the middle of a hurricane scandal around the near-trillionaire's throttling of Starlink internet terminals used by the Ukrainian mi

"The worst thing would be if the whole world came to believe that everyone had been evacuated from Oleshky, whilst (people) were still there. And (they) would simply be forgotten," evacuation volunteer Kseniia Arkhipova said.

In the midst of Donald Trump's attempt to turn Russian diesel into a political asset to help him avoid disaster in November's midterm elections, the internet went out on the front lines. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces have relied on Starlink to communicate, and essentially to manage the battlefield of the 21st century. When its service was cut to Ukraine this October, there were big questions about who was responsible for pulling that particular lever. The Wal

"The agreement opens the way for an exchange of experience," Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said.

While 55% pointed to genuine efforts to tackle corruption, 41% said Ukraine was "hopelessly corrupt," a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's planned Oct. 26 trip to Brussels descended into a diplomatic guessing game, with conflicting signals from his own team leaving EU and NATO officials scrambling to establish whether he was coming — and who was supposed to meet him. At the center of the confusion was a proposed four-way meeting between Ukraine, the U.S., the EU, and NATO on efforts to end Russia’s war. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to join the talks and brief European off

In May 2026, Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps launched a secret counteroffensive now known as Operation Vivaldi, aiming to strengthen Ukraine’s defensive positions in the Lyman and Sviatohirsk sectors and disrupt Russia’s plans to encircle Ukraine’s key strongholds – the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The Resolute Reforger 2026 exercises, scheduled from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, will involve about 3,000 soldiers and 1,000 units of equipment, moving on roads and railways, according to the Latvian army.

"Russia is building the military-industrial capacity to continue waging wars even after the war in Ukraine ends. These are not the actions of a country preparing for lasting peace," Oleksandr Danylyuk, chairman of the Center for Defense Reforms and former chief adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told the Kyiv Independent.

For almost two years, student-led demonstrations in Serbia rallied against Vucic's right-wing incumbent Serbian Progressive Party. Protesting against alleged corruption in the government, the movement was triggered when a train station canopy in the city of Novi Sad collapsed in 2024, killing 16 people.

A senior Ukrainian official previously told the Kyiv Independent that the batch awaiting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's approval was "significant."

Voronezh Oblast Governor Aleksandr Gusev claimed that Russia had downed 113 Ukrainian drones over Voronezh and several districts of the region overnight and this morning, with over 70 of them heading toward the regional capital.

The draft resolution, published by the Economy Ministry, would establish an annual list of in-demand professions and standardize the assessment of foreign applicants’ qualifications.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine with a Kh-31P anti-radar missile, three Kh-59/69 guided air-to-ground (air-to-surface) missiles, and 140 attack drones overnight, the Air Force said.

Existing data centers should be protected by reducing their visibility from the air, and through layered defense systems including reinforced structures, electronic warfare measures, and drone defense systems.

The number includes 1,990 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

In a cornfield north of Kyiv, pieces of blackened metal are scattered among rows of dried stalks. They are all that remains of a Russian Geran attack drone, shot down by Ukrainian fighter jets as it flew toward the capital during one of Russia's mass aerial assaults. "Last year we had so many of them," says Halyna Prykhodko, deputy director of the Branytsia division of the agricultural company Zemlya i Volya. "We found three, four, even five in the fields." Above Prykhodko's land is one of the

Reports mentioned numerous explosions across the city and thick smoke rising from several locations. Some residents told ASTRA that they had not heard air raid sirens despite the ongoing attack.

Lula had expressed the view in 2024 that Brazil should remain neutral and not interfere in Russia's war against Ukraine, but in the years that followed had been engaging in diplomacy, including efforts to position Brazil as a potential mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.

Before a meeting between Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and U.S. President Donald Trump can take place, technical talks among the three countries' negotiating teams must be held first, said Zelensky.

Key developments on Oct. 24-25: * Starshield operations restored to normal speed, Zelensky confirms as Elon Musk claims Ukraine violated Starlink terms * Russian attacks kill 8, injure 51 across Ukraine over past day as drone strikes residential building in Vinnytsia * Moscow ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine, US after Nov. 4, Kremlin aide says * In less than 24 hours, Russia hits 4 hypermarkets belonging to one of Ukraine's largest retail chains * Massive Ukrainian drone attac

The International Weightlifting Federation will be the first Olympic organization to hold a competition in Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The defensive perimeter extends to the Khotilovo military base, which serves as an alternate landing site, and a secret biological laboratory on Lisiy Island, according to RFE/RL.

Russian attacks damaged or destroyed facilities in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and Poltava on Oct. 24-25, according to a statement.

This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the ever-tightening control of information imposed by the Kremlin. Key news as of Oct. 25: * Oleshky native warns residents may not survive winter as evacuation hopes rise * Russian-occupied Crimea imposes power and water restrictions after drone attack * Russia sentences 77-year-old Crimean activist to 18 years over alleged plot against Moscow's proxy * At

Perm Krai Governor Dmitry Makhonin said at around 11 a.m. local time that 11 drones had been downed during a Ukrainian attack on the region.

"The next deadline is now Nov. 4, our major holiday. After that, we will be ready to resume negotiations," Yuri Ushakov said.

"Certainly, we'll do business with Ukraine and with Russia after this war ends, I would think," U.S. President Donald Trump.

Alongside attacks on Vinnytsia, Russia launched 153 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine overnight on Oct. 25, including 92 jet-powered drones, as well as low-cost Banderol cruise missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said.