About the author: Margus Tsahkna is Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. If Europe truly wants to be a real player in the geopolitical arena and to shape its own security and future, it must match strong words with decisive action. Europe has one powerful lever in its hands right now: Russia’s frozen assets. It’s time to use them. Around 210 billion euros ($246 billion) in Russian central bank assets are sitting frozen in Europe for one reason: Russia chose a full-scale war of aggression. An

President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Berlin, as talks continue to finalize a peace plan to end Russia's full-scale war.

Russian forces attacked a supermarket in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Dec. 14, injuring at least 14 people, including a six-year-old child, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed solidarity with Australia following a terrorist attack in eastern Sydney on Dec. 14, which targeted the Jewish community, killing at least 12 people and injuring 29 others.

"I don't think we'll be delaying anything. It is very important for us to maintain the relationship between us and Poland," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on renewed calls for Ukraine to hold wartime elections after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Kyiv used Russia’s war to avoid a vote, echoing a Kremlin narrative.

Zelensky said Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) chief Kyrylo Budanov informed him Belarus preferred this option over releasing the prisoners via "this or that EU country."

The U.S. lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash in exchange for the release of over 100 political prisoners in Belarus, many of whom were transferred to Ukraine.

Ukraine's "Achilles" drone regiment described the pipeline as a "critically important logistical channel" for Russian forces. The route was discovered during reconnaissance and destroyed in a joint operation with other Ukrainian units.

The Afipsky Oil Refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, the Uryupinsk oil depot in Vologograd Oblast, and two fuel depots in Crimea were struck, the Ukrainian military reported.

Ukrainian forces downed 110 out of the 138 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported. Russia also launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile.

The number includes 710 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Russia’s oil and gas revenue in December is expected to be nearly half compared to the previous year, down to about 410 billion rubles ($5.17 billion), Reuters reported on Dec. 12.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Dec. 13 that Ukraine’s sanctions against nearly 700 vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet had entered into force.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 13 announced he will meet "with envoys" of U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days as discussions on the U.S.-proposed peace framework aimed at ending Russia's war continue.

A Russian airstrike on Odesa on Dec. 12 damaged infrastructure and left parts of the city without electricity and water, the head of the Odesa Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak, reported.

About the author: Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. It was all pomp and circumstance when Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in India. Putin made his first state visit to India 25 years ago, shortly after assuming power in Moscow, and has visited ten times since, although this is his first since the 2022 all-out invasion of Ukraine. “India is not neutral, India is on the side of peace,” Prime Mi

As Russian drones test Europe's skies, European governments are turning to the one nation that knows this battle best. Ukraine’s state power company, Ukrenergo — which as the chief transporter of the country's electricity has borne the brunt of Russia’s drone and missile attack campaign on the energy system — has been advising and training counterparts in Germany, Poland, and Lithuania since the summer. If Russia’s drone incursions into Europe escalate, "there could be sabotage or hybrid attac

On Nov. 28, a Russian attack lasting more than 10 hours struck Ukrainian cities, with Kyiv as the main target. The Kyiv Independent’s Nick Allard and Tania Myronyshena spent the night with a Kyiv family sheltering in a parking garage with their three children.

Russian missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts disrupted electricity supplies.

Ukrainian troops continue to employ "active defense tactics," seeking to improve positions and dislodge Russian forces in some areas, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

The number includes 1,300 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Explosions were reported in Russia's Saratov Oblast overnight on Dec. 13 as officials warned of a possible drone attack, with unverified local reports indicating the Saratov oil refinery had been targeted.

Ukraine and its European partners have handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework aimed at ending Russia's war, the Kyiv Independent has learned. The move comes amid growing U.S. pressure to advance negotiations and fresh accusations from U.S. President Donald Trump that President Volodymyr Zelensky is the one refusing to agree to the American plan. The next round of discussions is expected on Dec. 13, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt signaled imp

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) carried out a second drone strike this week on Russia's Vladimir Filanovsky oil production platform in the Caspian Sea, also hitting the nearby Korchagin platform, an SBU source said Dec. 12.

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly threatened the use of atomic weapons, yet its much-prized nuclear industry has faced little in the way of meaningful sanctions. Russia's state atomic corporation, Rosatom, is a key part of the country's military-industrial complex — and is increasingly expanding its reach beyond nuclear weapons. By far the world's largest exporter of reactors and enriched uranium, it is a major player in the global civil nuclear indust

Hello, this is Tania Myronyshena reporting from Kyiv on day 1,388 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story: Russian forces launched a missile strike on the civilian port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast, damaging a cargo ship, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 12. "Today’s Russian strike, like many others, had no military purpose. It proves once again that Russians are not taking diplomacy seriously and are continuing their war — a war aimed at destroying

The European Union has agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank reserves, moving the bloc a step closer to securing a financial lifeline to Kyiv as the war heads into its fourth year. "I welcome the decision of the council on our proposal to continue the immobilization of Russian Sovereign Assets," President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter on Dec. 12. The move means that roughly 210 billion euros ($245 billion) in Russian assets will now remain blocke

Russia’s Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl, one of the country’s five largest, is reportedly on fire after being struck in an overnight drone attack on Dec. 12, officials and local Telegram channels said.

"You don't need to hide; I will come after each of you personally," said Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, responding to a wave of anonymous posts alleging he had submitted a letter of resignation.

The Russian Central Bank said in a press release that it had sued Euroclear, the Belgian financial institution holding the vast majority of Europe's frozen assets, in a Moscow court on Dec. 12.

Russia’s war in Ukraine was the world’s deadliest conflict in 2025, according to a new report that tracks conflicts globally, despite U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the nearly four-year invasion. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) new Conflict Index reports around 78,000 people killed — including soldiers on both sides and civilians — in Ukraine this year, the highest of any conflict. Because troop casualty figures are state secrets in both Ukraine and Rus