Hello, this is Chris York reporting from Kyiv on day 1,415 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top story:
An oil tanker en-route to the Russian port of Novorossiysk was struck by a drone on Jan.8, Reuters reported citing a notice by Lloyd's List Intelligence
The Palau-flagged Elbus "experienced an unmanned marine-vehicle and drone attack" in the Black Sea after departing from Singapore. None of the 25 crew were reported injured and the vessel made its way to the Turkish port o
More than 1 million people in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast remained without water and heating as of the morning of Jan. 8, Communities and Territories Development Minister Oleksii Kuleba said.
Anka Feldhusen, the German ambassador from 2019-2023, replaces Canadian Roman Washchuk, who led the Business Ombudsman Council from December 2021-2025.
The European-U.S. alliance, already buckling under the Trump administration's aggressive foreign policy, faces its most daunting challenge yet — Greenland.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently reiterated his dubious claim on Denmark's autonomous island, fanning fears about the fragility of transatlantic unity at the worst possible moment.
European leaders must now balance between standing up to Washington's expansionism and their reliance on the U.S. backing in the face of Russian aggression i
The new round of peace negotiations felt different. Not because of the substance of the talks, rather due to the people leading them.
In early January, President Volodymyr Zelensky conducted a major reshuffle of Ukraine's leadership, signaling a new approach to governing the country going forward.
For key positions, Zelensky picked popular officials and military figures, many of whom had previously been sidelined by former President’s Office Head Andriy Yermak.
The negotiations team now featu
Behind closed doors, Ukraine and its allies are discussing the war-torn country’s economic recovery alongside a potential peace deal.
At the heart of these conversations is the new so-called Economic Prosperity Plan — a package "for economic recovery, restoring jobs, and bringing life back to Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Dec. 30.
Ukrainian officials say rebuilding the country and jump-starting long-term growth will require as much as $800 billion over 10 years — rou
"We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The loan will help state-owned Ukrhydroenergo purchase stockpiles of critical supplies, replacements for equipment damaged by Russian attacks, as well as to refurbish and modernize old equipment.
U.S. President Donald Trump has approved moving forward with a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, opening the door for a potential Senate vote as early as next week, according to Senator Lindsey Graham.
"The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation's sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
"This will allow us to build the 'Dream Military' that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us safe and secure, regardless of foe," Donald Trump said on Truth Social.
As Ukraine enters 2026, mobilization has emerged as one of the most decisive challenges shaping the country’s military resilience, political stability, and negotiating position. Where is the mobilization system under the greatest strain, how will recent personnel changes at the top of Ukraine’s security apparatus impact policy, and what can mobilization realistically deliver in the year ahead?
Join KI Insights for our January monthly briefing, focused on Ukraine’s mobilization challenge. The di
Russia appealed to the U.S. to halt the pursuit and reportedly dispatched a submarine and other vessels to escort the tanker before it was boarded by U.S. forces.
The report follows an agreement reached in December 2025 by EU countries to ban Russian gas imports beginning Jan. 1, 2028, with LNG imports set to be prohibited at the start of 2027.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged additional pressure from the United States on Jan. 7 to help achieve a peace deal in Ukraine in the coming months, jokingly evoking calls for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to suffer the same fate as captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Hello, this is Asami Terajima reporting from Kyiv on day 1,414 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top story:
Editor's note: The top story was corrected to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to attend an Orthodox Christmas service at a military base church, replacing the earlier version that stated he marked Orthodox Christmas there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have attended an Orthodox Christmas service at a church in a military base, the Russi
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 7 that he believes Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine could be brought to an end in the first half of 2026.
Amid a major government reshuffle that saw ministers trade portfolios and several senior security officials change posts in recent days, one notable absence stood out.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, long criticized as ineffective and subservient to the president, has seemingly kept his job.
In mid-December, Kravchenko publicly threatened to go after his opponents who demanded his resignation.
"I know everyone who is now working against me and against the Prosecutor General's Office as
In a grandly-staged, and much publicized meeting on Jan. 6, Ukraine and its Western allies celebrated a deal that would pave the way for French and British peacekeeping troops to deploy in Ukraine — once the war is over, of course.
French President Emmanuel Macron said "considerable progress" had been made. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said work on agreeing security protocols was "largely finished." And President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was a "huge step forward."
But there were several
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) on Jan. 7 launched an online portal for applicants to submit projects to a U.S.-Ukraine reconstruction fund, saying the first investments could be made in the months ahead.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Cyprus to meet his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, and top EU officials, presidential spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov said on Jan. 7.
Rustem Umerov said the talks centered on the peace framework and "further contacts at the leaders' level involving Ukraine, European partners, and the United States."
Authorities in Russia's Kamchatka Krai announced on Jan. 7 that they had restricted mobile internet access, citing the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks — despite the region being located over 9,000 kilometers from Ukraine's border.
The Kyiv Independent’s Jared Goyette speaks with foreign policy analyst Ivan Fechko about Venezuela’s political crisis following the U.S. attack and kidnapping of dictator Nicolás Maduro — and why it marks a major strategic setback for Russia in Latin America and globally.
Foreign fighters in Ukraine's International Legion say they have been left in limbo and face growing uncertainty due to an overhaul of how the unit is structured, which they have described as its effective destruction.
The move, implemented by Ukraine's Ground Forces and first reported by the Kyiv Independent in November 2025, is ending the International Legion as a standalone unit, transferring its combat battalions into assault regiments.
But despite being told the changes would take effect
As Russia’s missile and drone attacks continue to hit Ukrainian cities and towns, the burden of keeping services running and helping communities recover has increasingly fallen on civil society organizations alongside the state and local authorities.
A new nationwide study shows that 76% of these groups remain active despite insufficient financial resources, working alongside communities to help people recover from strikes, access basic services, and rebuild a sense of normalcy amid the war.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Jan. 5 derided Russia-supplied air defenses that failed to stop the American raid and subsequent arrest of Venezuela's longtime dictator Nicolas Maduro.
A fire broke out at the Stary Oskol oil depot in Russia's Belgorod Oblast after it was hit by Ukrainian drones, Governor Vyacheslov Gladkov said. "As a result of the detonation, several tanks caught fire on the site," he claimed.
The interceptor features advanced hit-to-kill technology, enabling it to destroy high-speed missiles, such as Russia's Kinzhal and Zircon, with precision.
In a private message sent late December, Leonid Volkov welcomed the news of the apparent death of Denis Kapustin, the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a right-wing militia made up of ethnic Russians fighting on Ukraine's side. It was later revealed that Kapustin was alive and his death was faked by Ukraine.
