People walk through the Fomin Botanical Garden in Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Kyiv had its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20, with 13 centimeters of snow rapidly covering the capital.
Municipal workers clean the snow in the Taras Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Traffic ground to a halt across the city while the number of road accidents surged. For example, a tram derailed on Kyrylivska Street in the Podil neighborhood.
Traffic remained slow on Dec. 21 as Kyiv was dealing with the consequences of the season's first heavy snowfall. Mask wearing is mandatory on public transport in Kyiv, but passengers often pull their masks down during the ride. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The city authorities reported that they deployed 287 snow plows and 354 municipal workers to clean the snow off the streets.
A boy sleds down a hill in central Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the winter on Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The snowfall was accompanied by a cold snap: Temperature fell to -9 degrees Celsius on Dec. 21 and is expected to stay below zero for most of the week. Due to the cold weather, heating points have opened in Kyiv.
Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
On the bright side, Kyiv saw its first glimpse of sunlight in several weeks the day after the snowfall. Daily snowfalls are forecasted to begin again on Dec. 24.
Real winter came to Kyiv on Dec. 20-21, with the season's first heavy snowfall and the temperatures sliding to minus 9 Celsius. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Support independent journalism in Ukraine.
Join us in this fight.
Freedom can be costly. Both Ukraine and its journalists are paying a high price for their independence. Support independent journalism in its darkest hour. Support us for as little as $1, and it only takes a minute.
The president said Ukraine is moving towards "an important agreement with the U.S.," adding that the agreement could happen after Congress approves the $61 aid bill for Ukraine that awaits an upcoming vote on April 20.
At least 1,843 children have been killed or injured since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office reported on April 20.
Commander-in-Chief of the Danish Armed Forces Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard visited Kyiv and met his counterpart Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on April 20, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief wrote on Facebook.
Russia attacked the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast on April 20, killing two men, injuring another man and a woman, the regional Prosecutor's Office reported.
Ukrainian special services, together with the military, orchestrated a large-scale drone attack on Russia's energy infrastructure overnight on April 20, a military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed on April 20 a decree on counteracting the negative effects of online gambling, which proposes to ban it for the military until the end of martial law.
Ukrainian air defenses downed two missiles and three reconnaissance drones during a Russian attack overnight on April 20, reported Air Force commander Mykola Oleschuk.
Search and rescue operations at the sites of a Russian missile attack on Dnipro have concluded at around 8:40 a.m. local time on April 20, the State Emergency Service said.
Russian forces attacked five communities in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast, injuring four people, the regional administration reported on April 19. At least 33 explosions were recorded.
The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, issued a statement condemning the Russian military's April 19 attack on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Air defenses in Russia's Bryansk, Kaluga, and Smolensk Oblasts intercepted several drones overnight on April 20, which fell and started a fire at three separate energy facilities, according to regional officials.
More than half of the U.K.'s 900 million pound (over $1 billion) military fund for Ukraine remains unused due to bureaucratic delays in handing out contracts, the Guardian reports.
"When Ukraine appeals to partners for air defense systems that they have - in warehouses, in storage bases, but that are needed here, right here, to protect lives - we are talking about a true alliance," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
In an interview with C-SPAN, Don Bacon laid out the dire situation Ukraine finds itself in on the battlefield, saying if the bills don’t pass “the Russians will be in Kyiv.”
"From our intense work with both parties and committee approval of voting procedures today, I am cautiously optimistic this time," Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, told the Kyiv Independent on April 19.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on April 19 that Senate Democrats will support House Speaker Mike Johnson's series of bills that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other priorities if they pass the House.
The announcement followed comments earlier in the week from finance ministry official Lev Denisov, who said that the initial 2.3% estimate would be revised upwards due to the "strong growth of the economy" at the beginning of 2024.
In a post on Telegram, the head of the city's military administration, Roman Mrochko, said the victim was walking the streets when she was hit in an attack launched from the occupied east bank of Kherson.
