President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Azerbaijan for talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, presidential spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov said on April 25.

Russia launched one of its largest aerial strikes on Ukraine overnight and during the day on April 25, killing at least seven people and injuring at least 45, officials reported.

The number includes 1,230 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The United States and the European Union on April 24 signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals as part of a broader effort to secure and diversify global supply chains.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on April 23 aimed at combating Russia's attack on religious freedom in Ukraine, according to an official announcement.

Key developments on April 24: * 193 Ukrainian prisoners of war return home from Russian captivity in latest exchange * 14th Brigade, 10th Corps commanders dismissed after shocking pictures of emaciated Ukrainian soldiers emerge * Russian overnight strikes on Odesa residential buildings kill married couple, injure 15 * Ukrainian Neptune missiles destroy Russian drone factory workshops in Rostov Oblast, General Staff confirms * Russia attacked Ukrainian rail infrastructure more than 1,000 ti

The German chancellor suggested a process to bring Kyiv and the EU closer together with the ultimate goal of full membership, for instance by allowing participation in the European Council sessions without voting rights.

A Western-funded classified program supported a "non-violent resistance" initiative inside Russian-occupied Ukraine for more than three years that encouraged civilians to engage in "suicidal" activities despite credible reports of the deaths, torture, and imprisonment of activists, the Kyiv Independent can reveal. Russian-occupied Ukraine is one of the most heavily surveilled and most repressive territories in the world, and some of the activities Yellow Ribbon and its sister initiative Zla Mav

Editor's note: This article is a shortened on-site version of KI Insights' public newsletter, The Week Ahead, covering events from April 27 - May 3. Sign up here to start your week with an agenda of Ukraine-related events delivered directly to your inbox every week. Audio version of The Week Ahead is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. The recently approved €90 billion loan for Ukraine is now moving toward disbursement, unlocked alongside the EU's 20th sanctions package afte

The move marks the eighth consecutive rate cut from record highs previously imposed to curb inflation driven by wartime spending.

The comment comes amid reports that the Pentagon is considering ways to punish NATO members that did not back the U.S.-Israeli war against Tehran.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said those brought back to Ukraine include individuals against whom Russian authorities have opened criminal cases, as well as wounded soldiers.

In the shadow of Albania’s Accursed Mountains, where the centuries-old laws of Kanun dictate people’s fate, Bekija publicly renounces her womanhood to live socially as a man after her father is shot dead in a blood feud and her younger brother flees home. This feverish dynamic is at the heart of Bulgarian author Rene Karabash’s novel “She Who Remains.” Now, thanks to Izidora Angel’s evocative and bold English translation — co-published by Sandorf Passage in the U.S. and Peirene in the U.K. and

Ukrainian forces attacked the factory involved in the full cycle of drone production — design, manufacturing, and testing — on April 19.

"Today, we are advancing our agreements with Saudi Arabia in the areas of security, energy, and infrastructure," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, Russian strikes damaged 209 locomotives, 239 passenger carriages, and 371 freight wagons, as well as 86 railway bridges and 50 stations, according to Ukrzaliznytsia.

The EU's 21st sanctions package should "finally shut down (Russia's) channels for using cryptocurrencies to circumvent restrictions," Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's top sanctions policy official, told Suspilne.

Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Brigade were reportedly fainting from hunger and forced to drink rainwater. The command, for its part, did not respond to the situation.

Moscow will confirm who will represent it at the event closer to the date, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told journalists at the U.N. Headquarters.

Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 107 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said, reporting that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 96.

Europe's "biggest, most important question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in our (NATO) treaties," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Financial Times.

The number includes 910 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

A Russian drone attack on several residential buildings in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa killed two and left another 15 injured overnight on April 24, authorities reported.

There are at least seven torture chambers holding staff of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Roman Koval, head of research at the Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds, said April 22.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Prince Harry "is not speaking for the U.K." after the British royal urged the United States to play a larger role in supporting Ukraine.

Ukraine has become the first country to scale the use of remotely operated interceptor drones capable of long-distance strikes, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said April 23.

Key developments on April 23: * 12 Russian FSB officers killed in drone strike on command post in occupied Donetsk, Ukraine's military says * 'A nightmare' — Russians in Tuapse in disbelief after Ukrainian drones bring the war home * Russian oil pumping station in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast hit by Ukrainian drones, SBU source says * Ukraine expands 'ePoints' system that rewards battlefield kills with weapons credits * Russia recruited Ukrainian teenagers to blow up schools, shoot classmates, S

"We are developing 'ePoints' as a foundation for troop motivation and the mathematics of war," Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov, said.

The more that Russia tries to kill Ukrainian culture, the harder it reemerges. In August 2025, Russian military forces struck the artist collective Nahirna22 in Kyiv, killing one civilian seeking shelter. The group, which includes a roster of incredible Gen-Z Ukrainian artists such as Lviv-born Yuriy Bolsa, rebuilt in under two months and reopened their studios to the public. They were hit again in November. Both attacks demonstrate systematic targeting by Russian military forces, not on dron

Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage Museum, is sanctioned for the museum’s role under his leadership in illegal archaelogical excavations and the destruction of protected Ukrainian heritage sites in Crimea.

A Ukrainian economic watchdog has urged the European Union to sanction exports of raw glycerin to Russia after a Kyiv Independent investigation found that European suppliers continued shipping the chemical, which can be used to produce explosives, to companies connected to Russia's military industrial complex. The recommendation was submitted on March 11 by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, or ESCU, an independent Kyiv-based organization that said it based its proposal on the Kyiv Indep

Ukrainian forces used FP-2 drones manufactured by the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point and designed for medium-range strikes, with a payload of 60 to 100 kilograms.