The Slovak truckers union UNAS will renew its blockade at the Uzhhorod-Vysne Nemecke border crossing between Slovakia and Ukraine on Monday, Dec. 11, local media reported citing the UNAS president.

Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) opened 24-hour access to the Unified State Register of Declarations of persons authorized to perform the functions of the state or local self-government. The Register reportedly allows Ukrainians to submit and review property declarations of public servants.

President Volodymyr Zelensky held a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of meetings in Brussels this week that will determine future aid to Kyiv as well as Ukraine's EU accession.

Key developments on Dec. 9-10: * Russian troops continue offensive operations along the eastern front line * Fewer Russian assault operations reported in the southeast * US senator accuses Republicans of 'holding aid to Ukraine hostage' * Scholz says Germany should be prepared to do more for Ukraine 'when others are faltering' * First lady

Ukraine has evacuated 315 people from Gaza, including 304 Ukrainian nationals, two Palestinians, and nine Moldovans, from the besieged Gaza Strip, the country's military intelligence agency (HUR) said on Dec. 10.

President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to the U.S. on Dec. 11, where he will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden the following day, the two leaders' offices announced, as U.S. funding for Ukraine is rapidly running out and further aid is being held up in Congress by Republican opposition.

Senator Chris Murphy, a democrat, told NBC News on Dec. 10 that he wished Republicans weren't holding further aid to Ukraine hostage to immigration reform as military assistance to both Kyiv and Israel continues to get held up in Congress.

Editor's Note: The Kyiv Independent agreed not to publish the names and/or last names of people who live or visit Avdiivka so as not to endanger them and their immediate family. The city of Avdiivka, in Donetsk Oblast, has been on the front line of Russia's war against Ukraine

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban's allies are reportedly set to meet with U.S. Republicans in Washington for a closed-door meeting to lobby for the end of military aid to Ukraine, the Guardian reported on Dec. 10.

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Argentina on Dec. 10 to attend the inauguration of the country's president-elect, Javier Milei. The trip was Zelensky's first official visit to Latin America during his presidency, including the time before Russia's full-scale invasion. In a video posted by the president's Telegram channel, Zelensky is

The situation in Ukraine’s east remains difficult as Russian troops continue conducting offensive operations along the entire front line, Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi reported on Dec. 10.

The worst situation caused by the Russian attacks was reported in Donetsk Oblast, where 121 settlements remain without power, the ministry said. Repairs are underway there.

Tarnavskyi said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces were holding on to Avdiivka despite Russia's endless attempts to encircle the embattled city.

In its intelligence bulletin on X, the Defense Ministry said that Russian forces had likely used Tu-95 planes to fire Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles on Dec. 7 – the first time they were used since Sept. 21.

The emergency measure, used by President Joe Biden's administration to bypass Congress, comes amid more reports that the U.S. could be running out of funds to help Ukraine.

The two women killed, aged 67 and 71, were in Kupiansk, a city located just 40 kilometers from the Russian border and liberated by Ukrainian troops in 2022.

Russian troops on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River targeted residential areas on the outskirts of Kherson and damaged an educational institution in the city, the governor said.

Lysak added that there were no casualties and said that civilians should seek shelter during air raid sirens even if air defense is working.

Russia has lost 338,820 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. 10.

WNBA star Brittney Griner on Dec. 8 commemorated one year since her release from Russia and called for more effort to free others currently detained overseas, highlighting the plight of wrongfully imprisoned Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, The Hill reported.

Yuri Malev, a dual national holding both United States and Russian Federation citizenship, was detained in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 9 for what officials allege were social media posts 'rehabilitating nazism' published in May 2022, RFE/RL reported.

Russian officials at the COP28 summit in Dubai said Moscow is studying whether some of its gold reserves, frozen by the West after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, could be used to help the Global South combat climate change.

Hungarian freight carriers starting on Dec. 11 will begin an official demonstration and block the Zahony-Chop checkpoint on the border with Ukraine, local media reported citing the Association of Hungarian Road Carriers.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, the newly appointed chief of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Freedom of Speech, questioned the effectiveness of Ukraine's TV marathon introduced after Russia's full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022, Interfax reports.

Ukraine is in "mortal danger" if it does not continue receiving financial aid from Western countries, First Lady Olena Zelenska told the BBC on Dec. 9, one day after a Ukraine aid bill failed to pass in Washington.

President Volodymyr Zelensky held his first-ever meeting with Cabo Verdean Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva while on his way to the inauguration of Argentina’s president-elect, Javier Milei.

Deputy Health Minister Ihor Kuzin warned that the country is suffering from peak coronavirus and flu numbers. The rising epidemic has seen 1.3 million citizens fall ill, 40% more than last year.

The day before, Moscow claimed occupied Crimea, and parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts would be included in the upcoming Russian elections on March 15-17, 2024.

An air raid siren sounded shortly before 6 p.m. in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts after the Air Force warned of aviation activity over the Azov Sea. No injuries or deaths were reported.

"The IOC plans to give the international sports arena to athletes who not only sympathize with the murders of Ukrainian women and children but are also probably directly involved in these terrible crimes," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry wrote on Dec. 9.

Editor’s Note: The names of the sex workers in this story have been changed to protect their identity out of concern for their safety and that of their families. Katerina was lightly dressed for winter in a mini-skirt and short fur jacket as she stood alongside the road of