Explosion reported near Russian-occupied Simferopol

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Dec. 28 that he held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian troops opened artillery fire against the Kherson Thermal Power Plant (TPP), causing significant damage, head of Ukraine's Naftogaz said on Dec. 28.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi thanked "both sides" for agreeing to a temporary "window of silence," which is "part of ongoing efforts to prevent a nuclear accident during military conflict."

In this year-end wrap-up of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur looks back at the moments that defined 2025, the fourth year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — from stalled peace efforts and escalating Russian attacks to mass anti-corruption protests and political upheaval at home.

The refinery was attacked multiple times in the night, residents claimed. An electrical substation in Syzran was also hit, causing blackouts in the city.

Ukrainian and Russian troops have been publishing conflicting claims and videos about who controls the front-line town of Myrnohrad, located just northeast of the embattled town of Pokrovsk.

A source close to the Ukrainian delegation told the Kyiv Independent that they don't know how the meeting will unfold and are ready for "all scenarios."

Russia has lost around 1,204,510 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 28.

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

Myrnohrad in Donetsk Oblast and Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast are not under Russian control, Ukraine's General Staff said, dismissing the Kremlin's claims as "the weapon of disinformation."

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.

Russia has fulfilled its mobilization goals in 2025 and has set its mobilization target to recruit 409,000 Russian soldiers in 2026, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, told Suspilne in a year-end interview.