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)
Kyiv faces a defense gap of 19.6 billion euros ($23.1 billion) this year, even after accounting for funds already committed and the 90-billion-euro Ukraine Support Loan that's on its way.
"(President Volodymyr Zelensky's) position is clear: no 'ersatz membership' — we will not accept any of them. This is a firm position," Sybiha said at a closed-door meeting with journalists attended by the Kyiv Independent.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 21 that he was extending Washington's ceasefire with Iran until Tehran "can come up with a unified proposal" to bring an end to the war.
Ukrainian officials involved in recent peace talks reportedly suggested that part of the Donbas could be renamed "Donnyland" in honor of U.S. President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported April 21.
Italy summoned Russia's ambassador on April 21 to protest "extremely serious and offensive" remarks about Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by pro-Kremlin TV host Vladimir Solovyov.
"Ukraine has completed repair work on the section of the Druzhba oil pipeline that was damaged by a Russian strike," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukrainian billionaire and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov purchased a luxury apartment in Monaco valued at $550 million in one of the most expensive residential property deals in history, Bloomberg reported April 21.
Dombrovskis reminded that the EU’s Ukraine Support Loan is structured so that Ukraine only repays if Russia pays Ukraine reparations. “(This), of course, invites a question: what happens if Russia does not pay reparations?” he said.
"We are more concerned that money is increasing more rapidly than (weapons) production. It creates some kind of inflationary pressure," EU's Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius explained.
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