A man rides a bicycle in front of residential buildings in Chernihiv, a regional capital in northern Ukraine, damaged by Russian fire, on March 3, 2022. Fourty-seven people died when Russian forces hit Chernihiv's residential areas, including a school and high-rise apartment buildings. (AFP/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called "a special military operation" against Ukraine on Feb. 24, de facto declaring war on the country.
Putin claimed to have “no ill intentions towards neighboring countries” and denied firing missiles on civil infrastructure during what he called a campaign to “disarm and de-Nazify” Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian troops have shelled civilians in residential areas, burned houses, schools, and kindergartens all over Ukraine.
Ten days after Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine began, hundreds of Ukrainians are dead, thousands are injured, and over a million are displaced.
The Kyiv Independent publishes photographs of Ukrainian cities, destroyed by the Kremlin.
People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv, on March 4, 2022. (Getty Images)A view of the central square of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on March 1, 2022, soon after being shelled. (AFP/Getty Images)Ukrainian servicemen assist a civilian, while people cross a destroyed bridge, as they evacuate residents of Irpin, a city northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Children are being evacuated from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)An injured woman stands in front of a damaged apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. (Getty Images)Destroyed Russian armored vehicles in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv, on March 4, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze at a damaged residential building at Koshytsia Street, in one of Kyiv's residential neighborhoods, on Feb. 25, 2022. (Getty Images)A man clears debris at a damaged residential building at Koshytsia Street in Kyiv's Pozniaky neighborhood on Feb. 25, 2022. (Getty Images)A child looks on as residents are being evacuated from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)The building of the Vasylkiv Professional College destroyed by Russian rocket fire, Vasylkiv, Kyiv Oblast, on March 1, 2022. (Getty Images)Police officers cover the bodies of people killed in an airstrike that targeted Kyiv's TV tower on March 1, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A photograph of Constitution Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, after being shelled by Russia on March 2, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A damaged apartment seen after being hit by an early morning missile strike on Feb. 25, 2022 in Kyiv. (Getty Images)A view of a damaged building following the shelling of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on March 3, 2022. (AFP/ Getty Images)The view on the damaged building in Kyiv hit by a Russian missile on Feb. 26, 2022. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
A survey by the Rating Group, conducted on Aug. 21-23, 2025, found that the majority of Ukrainians polled want peace and are open to certain concessions, but only on the condition that their country receives international security guarantees.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an interview on Aug. 31 that he expects Russia's war in Ukraine to last a long time, as most wars end in military defeat or economic collapse — a scenario he does not foresee for Russia or Ukraine.
"The only 100% verified result achieved by Russia since the beginning of 2025 is its own losses — over 291,000 soldiers killed and wounded," Ukraine's General Staff said on Aug. 31.
U.S.-Ukraine peace talks, Russia’s massive missile strike on Kyiv that killed 25 civilians, and Moscow’s first reported occupation of villages in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Also, Ukraine’s escalating drone attacks on Russian oil refineries.
The positions previously allowed Russian troops to control the road leading into Kupiansk, approximately 104 kilometers (65 miles) east of Kharkiv, the regional capital.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV described China-Russia relations as at their "best in history," calling them "the most stable, mature and strategically significant among major countries."
