President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 23 that about 80% of Ukraine lacks protection against Russian ballistic missiles, renewing calls for additional air defense systems, including Patriots.

KHARKIV, KHARKIV OBLAST — A blonde-haired woman walks through a slim pathway between corpses lying against walls and autopsy tables inside Ukraine's oldest morgue. The main autopsy room, connected with two additional rooms and equipped with an elevator to lift the corpses from the basement, is busy with forensic experts like her going through three bodies on the table. One belongs to a Ukrainian soldier, while the other two are civilians — an elderly lady and a middle-aged man. "It's most lik

On the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, Moscow accused France and the U.K. of seeking to provide Ukraine with nuclear arms. Offering no evidence, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed on Feb. 24 that the "British and French elite" are helping Kyiv acquire nuclear weapons technology and delivery systems to secure "more favorable terms" in peace talks. Experts and officials who spoke to the Kyiv Independent dismissed the claims, framing them as an attempt to dive

President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian strike on a Ukrainian defense manufacturing facility temporarily delayed the rollout of Ukraine's domestically produced long-range Flamingo cruise missiles. Speaking in a Feb. 23 interview with German broadcaster Tagesschau, Zelensky confirmed that a Ukrainian factory producing the missiles had been hit. "There was a delay in production. Later, production resumed, and a certain number of missiles were built," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine expect

The Druzhba pipeline, a major route supplying Russian crude through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, has become the focus of a dispute between Kyiv and the two EU countries.

As Churchill said of another war, Ukraine and the West must have "victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be." As the fifth year of Russia's war against Ukraine is poised to begin, the end still seems nowhere in sight. It is a time to reflect, and not just for Ukrainians. The West, too, and especially NATO, should finally acknowledge a truth that too many still deny — that Russia's war against Ukraine is also a war against us, against our way of life and our

"We demand Budapest stop dragging Ukraine into Hungary's domestic politics," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

Medvedev's threats follow claims by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) that Paris and London are working to provide Ukraine with nuclear arms to "secure more favorable terms" in negotiations.

The last confirmed use of ATACMS by Ukrainian forces was reported on Nov. 18.

"Our benchmark is more than 200 eliminated occupiers per square kilometer," he said.

Political competition in Ukraine is back with a vengeance. After a gradual thawing over the past 18 months, the events of the first two months of 2026 have confirmed that the relatively long-lasting freeze at the beginning of the full-scale invasion is over. Despite this resumption of political competition, elections seem perpetually three-six months ahead as peace negotiations prove unsuccessful. Join our Senior Political Analyst, Anatoliy Oktysiuk, and Director, Jakub Parusinski, as we discus

Moscow has previously cited alleged Ukrainian sabotage or attacks as grounds for escalating tensions.

After years of bravery and sacrifice for freedom, democracy, and the European way of life, there can be no question that Ukraine is European. Raising this question is no longer a valid contribution to any debate on Ukraine's future, it is merely deliberate and hypocritical sabotage of millions of people's struggle to achieve what we in the rest of Europe take for granted. By any measure, Ukraine is the world's leading advocate for justice and lasting peace based on the European values that we,

Russian officials, propagandists, and some Western intelligence assessments initially predicted that Ukraine could fall within days or weeks.

The case comes amid Ukrainian efforts to restrict Russian access to Starlink satellite communications.

"Here I spoke with President Biden, and it was right here that I heard: Volodymyr, there is a threat. You need to leave Ukraine urgently," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Editor's note: Klaas Knot and Olaf Sleijpen visited Ukraine as part of a Dutch delegation invited by the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pishnyy. The gloom and doom on Europe's future is overblown, says the frontrunner to succeed Christine Lagarde as head of the European Central Bank — but still, says Klaas Knot, the continent has unfinished business if it wants to reach its potential. Speaking in Kyiv at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in a double interview with the curren

Russia launched 133 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said.

The year is 2030. With spring around the corner, Ukraine has just endured the toughest winter of the war yet. It was Russia’s eighth winter campaign against the country’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s air defenses have improved. Its grid has grown more resilient. But Russia’s weapons are deadlier, its drone swarms larger, its tactics more adaptive — inflicting severe damage and forcing millions to live in darkness. Another U.S. administration has come and gone after promising to end the war

The visits coincide with gatherings of the Coalition of the Willing and the Ukraine–Nordic–Baltic summit.

The number includes 920 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

We’re entering the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale, unprovoked war against Ukraine. The war has grown more technologically sophisticated and lethal. Russian missiles and drones strike Ukrainian cities every night. Russia is weaponizing the coldest winter of the decade. Yet Russia’s war is failing. The Kremlin has not achieved its battlefield objectives. Contrary to its propaganda, its economy is collapsing, losses are immense, and advances remain minimal. According to the CSIS, Russian force

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 23 in an interview with Belarusian independent outlet Dzerkalo that Russia has deployed Shahed drone repeaters in Belarus to help coordinate attacks on Ukraine.

An explosion occurred at a Ukrainian school in the city of Dnipro on Feb. 23 during a classroom demonstration of ammunition, injuring two children, according to regional police.

An explosion at Moscow's Savyolovsky railway station square killed one traffic police officer and wounded two others late on Feb. 23, according to Russia’s Interior Ministry and Investigative Committee.

"This is a setback and a message we didn't want to send today," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

"The enemy is deliberately trying to kill Ukrainian police officers who stand guard every day to protect the people and the state," the chief of Ukraine's National Police, Ivan Vyhivsky, said.

The plant, legally owned by Energoatom, once employed 159 licensed specialists — the only people authorized to directly operate the plant’s six nuclear reactors, which, prewar, provided over a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity.

While no casualties were reported in the Dnipro incident, the blast caused significant damage to the building's interior, office equipment, and a nearby vehicle.

"We can't allow Ukraine's president or those authorized by him to conclude an agreement that would threaten the territorial integrity of our state," the statement read.

However, Ukraine's state grid operator, Ukrenergo, said it received a notice from Slovakia's energy regulator about new flexible price conditions for emergency imports, Vitaliy Zaichenko, Ukrenergo's CEO, told the Kyiv Independent.

Key developments on Feb. 23: * Ukrainian drones strike 'critical' Druzhba oil pipeline hub in Russia's Tatarstan, SBU source confirms * Ukraine strikes logistics warehouse, ammunition depot, other military targets in Russian-occupied territories, General Staff says * Ukraine has liberated 400 square kilometers, 8 settlements on southern front since January, Syrskyi says * 'No coincidence' — Explosion in Mykolaiv injures 7 police officers, day after fatal terrorist attack in Lviv * Ukraine