Territorial Defense Force - The Kyiv Independent

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Ukrainian film actor Yakiv Tkachenko killed in action

by Martina Sapio December 14, 2024

Yakiv Tkachenko, a theater and film actor from Dnipro, was killed in action while serving on the front line with Ukraine's 128th Territorial Defense Brigade.

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Lack of support from 41st Brigade led to Russian advances in Niu-York, battalion claims

by Abbey Fenbert July 6, 2024

A platoon leader said that the shortage of people in the 206th Battalion and lack of instruction from the 41st Brigade contributed to the loss of Niu-York's southern territory.

Field report

Trained in the heat of battle: The journey of Kharkiv Oblast’s Territorial Defense

by Francis Farrell May 3, 2023

Editor’s Note: Some of the soldiers interviewed in this piece declined to give their last names for security reasons or because they had relatives in occupied territory, and are identified by first names and callsigns instead. KHARKIV OBLAST – At an undisclosed part of the front line in Ukraine’s

Ukraine

Government to create 150 Territorial Defense battalions

by Max Hunder January 19, 2022

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 18 that it was speeding up the formation of 25 Territorial Defense Force brigades, which will be made up of over 150 battalions in total. The announcement was made in a statement summarizing a meeting held between Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and the

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11:11 PM

Ukrainian drone hits large oil refinery in Russia’s Tatarstan, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation confirms.

A drone strike reportedly hit the Taneko oil refinery in Tatarstan, Russian Telegram channel ASTRA reported on Jan. 11.

9:04 PM

Fico accuses Zelensky of 'begging' and 'blackmailing' European leaders for support.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called Ukraine an unreliable partner and accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of blackmailing European leaders for support at a parliamentary meeting on Jan. 10.

8:18 PM

Taliban-led Afghanistan became leading purchaser of Russian flour in 2024.

Afghanistan became the largest importer of Russian flour in 2024, Russia's state agricultural export agency Agroexport reported on Jan. 10.

5:58 PM

41-year-old Latvian volunteer soldier killed in Luhansk Oblast on Christmas

Platonov was fighting in the areas near the village of Novoiehorivka in the largely Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast as part of the Ukrainian military's International Legion, composed of mostly foreign volunteers who came to fight, according to the Latvian Armed Forces.

5:46 PM

West must show Putin that 'Russia is no longer an empire,' Boris Johnson says.

Russian President Vladimir Putin must come to understand that Russia is no longer an empire, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in an online interview with Delfi released on Jan. 10, calling the Russian leader a "f***ing idiot."

2:11 PM

(Updated: January 11, 2025 4:42 pm)

'Irrefutable evidence of North Korea's involvement' — Ukraine says it captured 2 North Korean POWs in Kursk Oblast.

The two wounded soldiers received necessary medical care and are in custody in Kyiv, according to Zelensky.

3:59 PM

Ukraine mulls buying Italian air defenses with frozen Russian assets' proceeds.

Kyiv and Rome are discussing the possibility of purchasing Italian-made air defense systems and ammunition using profits from immobilized Russian assets, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Jan. 11.

2:01 PM

Putin to push for barring Ukraine's NATO accession in expected talks with Trump, FT reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's main goals in any peace negotiations include prohibiting Ukraine from ever entering NATO and reducing allied military presence in the eastern flank, the Financial Times reported on Jan. 10, citing a former Kremlin official and a source who discussed the matter with Putin.

1:30 PM

Germany towing disabled tanker from Russia's 'shadow fleet' in Baltic Sea.

"The towing convoy is moving eastwards to a position northeast of Cape Arkona (Rügen)," Germany's Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) said, referring to the German island in the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea.

12:49 PM

Police dismantle almost 50 illegal border crossing schemes in massive crackdown.

Sixty suspects were charged in schemes that included crossing the borders outside of checkpoints, forging health documents, and entering falsified entries into an electronic information system, the police said.

11:12 AM

Ukraine's Legion in Poland has received 1,300 applications; first women join the unit.

The ministry announced on Jan. 10 that the second group of volunteers had already signed contracts in Lublin to join the unit. For the first time, the recruits included women who applied for medical and communications roles.

10:46 AM

Russia claims it downed 85 Ukrainian drones; 2 apartment buildings reportedly damaged.

In one of the regions that Moscow claimed it successfully countered a Ukrainian drone attack, the local authorities said that a drone crashed into two five-floor apartment buildings in the town of Kotovsk in western Russia.

10:24 AM

US Congress should ensure that Ukraine aid continues even under Trump, Biden says.

Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden said on Jan. 10 he did all he could to help Ukraine and voiced hope that U.S. support will continue even after he leaves office.

9:36 AM

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 2, injure 12 over past day.

Russia launched 74 Shahed-type attack drones and dummy drones against Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported. Forty-seven drones were shot down over 11 oblasts, while 27 dummy drones were lost in the airspace, according to the statement.

9:30 AM

General Staff: Russia has lost 806,500 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.

This number includes 1,570 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

7:53 AM

NATO won't endorse Trump's 5% spending target, but ready for increase, Reuters reports.

NATO allies are unlikely to meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed spending target of 5% of GDP but are open to an increase from the current 2%, Reuters reported on Jan. 10, citing comments from officials and analysts from various NATO countries.

7:16 AM

Ukraine's inflation accelerated to 12% in 2024, exceeding government forecasts.

The accelerated rate surpassed forecasts made by Ukraine's National Bank in November, which estimated that Ukraine would end 2024 at an annualized 9.7% inflation rate.

5:25 AM

Ukraine 'will do everything' it can to obtain security guarantees, end war in 2025, Zelensky says.

"It is our dream to obtain these (security) guarantees this year and to end the war this year. We will do everything to achieve this," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Italian broadcaster RaiNews24 on Jan. 10.

2:14 AM

Pro-Russian Bulgarian politician demands return of 'historically Bulgarian' Southern Bessarabia region of Ukraine.

Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian Revival party, has fueled Kremlin narratives by claiming that Southern Bessarabia, part of Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast, should be returned to Bulgaria.

12:15 AM

Ukraine and Russia not prepared for peace talks, White House says.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that neither Russia nor Ukraine is currently prepared for negotiations to end the war, according to his comments at a briefing on Jan. 10.

10:07 PM

War update

Field report

As Russia cuts Transnistria from gas, stranded locals search for someone to blame

7:57 PM

'Breakthrough' — Poland, Ukraine reach agreement on Volyn tragedy exhumations, PM Tusk says.

"I would like to thank the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine for their good cooperation. We are waiting for further decisions," Donald Tusk wrote in a post on X.

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