Russia has not only killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians and ruined much of the country's infrastructure since the start of the full-scale invasion. It aimed at destroying the core of Ukrainian identity — language, and culture — in the territories it occupied.
Olena Makarenko is a Kyiv-based journalist and documentary filmmaker. Since November 2015, Olena has been covering the events in Ukraine for foreign audiences. She has authored two short documentaries: “The Court” (2018) about establishing the Anti-Corruption Court in Ukraine and “Life-Long City” about an activist in Kryvyi Rih.Read more
According to the outlets' conclusions for the year, 2024 will likely mark the "war's deadliest year," with a current count of over 20,000 deaths confirmed over the past 12 months — although final conclusions cannot yet be made as data on casualties continues to emerge.
Ukrainian drones reportedly struck an oil depot in the suburbs of the Russian city of Oryol overnight on Dec. 22, causing a fire to break out, Oryol Oblast Governor Andrey Klychkov said.
Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk defeated U.K.-born Tyson Fury by unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Dec. 22 to retain his unified heavyweight championship title.
The oncology center, which has operated in a limited capacity since the start of the full-scale invasion, housed the only linear accelerator offering radiotherapy treatment in the city.
A Ukrainian woman is in serious condition after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on the evening of Dec. 20. The incident has claimed five lives and left over 200 people injured, many of them critically.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 21 that he met with CIA Director William Burns in Ukraine, marking a rare public acknowledgment of their discussions during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The Russian embassy in London criticized the U.K.'s plan to transfer more than two billion pounds ($2.5 billion) to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, calling it a "fraudulent scheme."
"To safeguard the democratic principles currently at stake in Georgia, it is imperative that the authorities urgently address all concerns," OSCE representative Eoghan Murphy said.
Over 12,340 civilians were killed and more than 27,836 were wounded in Ukraine between Feb. 24, 2022 and Nov. 30, 2024, according to the United Nations.
The IMF approved the $1.1 billion tranche after completing its sixth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), a plan to provide Ukraine with over $15 billion in budget support over four years.
Russian and Kazakh oil shipments to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Germany via the Druzhba pipeline have been halted since Dec. 19 due to technical issues at a Russian pumping station, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.
Tykhyi did not disclose the specific date of the visit for security reasons. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 19 that Kellogg would visit Ukraine before Trump's inauguration in January.
