Key developments on Dec. 14-15: * North Korean troops joining Russian assaults in Kursk, Zelensky says * Ukraine destroys Russian train with 40 fuel tanks in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, source claims * 292 front-line clashes recorded over the past day, General Staff reports * Two Russian oil tankers reportedly sink in Kerch Strait * North Korean
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Russian forces continue their assaults employing diverse weaponry and tactics to strike Ukrainian positions, with a concentrated focus on Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
Two people were injured and an infrastructure facility was damaged in the city of Mykolaiv amid Russia’s overnight drone and missile attack, Governor Vitalii Kim reported on Dec. 15.
This number includes 1,280 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has emphasized the importance of inflicting "maximum pain" on Russian President Vladimir Putin through additional sanctions and enhanced military support for Ukraine.
Ukraine has criticized FIFA for an "unacceptable error" after a map displayed during the 2026 World Cup draw appeared to exclude Crimea from the country's territory.
Russian troops are closing in on Pokrovsk from the east and south. After the capture of Shevchenko village just south of the city, Russian forces are less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from this key logistics hub sitting on the western edge of Donetsk Oblast. "The fighting is extremely
"We are ready to help Syria prevent a food crisis ... I have instructed the government to organize food deliveries in cooperation with international organizations and partners willing to help."
Ukrainian authorities twice delayed signing the agreement, officials on both sides of the negotiations said. The delays offer the opportunity for Trump to claim an early victory at the start of his term.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has classified the incident as a terrorist attack and detained a 37-year-old resident suspected of acting on instructions from Russian special services.
North Korean units have sustained "noticeable losses" alongside Russian troops in Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 14.
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.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), one of Germany’s leading political parties, has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine as part of its platform in the upcoming German parliament elections, European Pravda reported on Dec. 14.
Defense Minister Serhii Boiev held talks with representatives of the foreign ministries of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden to outline plans for military and financial assistance to Ukraine in 2025, the Defense Ministry reported on its website on Nov. 14.
Russia’s focus on the war in Ukraine has significantly reduced its ability to support Syria’s Assad regime, increasing the risk of losing key military assets in the region, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Dec. 13 via X.
Ukrainian air defense intercepted 58 drones out of 132 launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported on its Telegram channel on Dec. 14.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been hospitalized with chemical poisoning, and three have died, Ukrainian Colonel Artem Vlasiuk said during a Dec. 13 press briefing.
Norway will continue training Ukrainian F-16 pilots as part of its support for Ukraine’s defense and will relocate its training base from Denmark to Portugal, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram announced in a Dec. 13 press release.
Russia has lost 761,160 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 14.
Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, announced on Dec. 13 that it had blocked access to the Viber messaging app.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to raise the possibility of deploying European soldiers to Ukraine at the upcoming EU leaders' summit on Dec. 18-19, if a ceasefire deal is eventually reached between Russia and Ukraine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Dec. 13, citing EU diplomats.
Ukrainian drones reportedly struck an oil depot in the city of Oryol overnight on Dec. 14, causing a large fire. Governor Andrey Klychkov later said that 11 drones were downed over the Oryol region.
Members of President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration have held discussions with White House officials as part of the incoming administration's ongoing effort to establish a ceasefire once Trump is inaugurated in January, NBC News reported on Dec. 13, citing sources familiar with the talks.
"I truly believe this will be resolved in the next few months," Kellogg said in an interview on Fox Business. "The only person who can do this is President Donald Trump, and he will do it. They're tired of killing each other out there. This is time," Kellogg added.
Key developments on Dec. 13: * Russia launches one of the largest aerial attacks on Ukraine's energy grid * Ukraine resisting Russian encirclement attempts at 4 Donetsk Oblast villages, military says * Ukraine's new Ground Forces chief announces reforms focused on personnel, tech * Russia mulls attacking Ukraine with Oreshnik nuclear-capable missile this weekend,
Brussels will host a two-day European Summit in the EU Council buildings on Dec. 18-19.
Kostin submitted his resignation on Oct. 22 following a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) meeting headed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The unnamed official said that Russia wanted to use the weapon to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters, but the Oreshnik "does not change the rules of the game on the battlefield."
French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Premier Donald Tusk met on Dec. 12 in Warsaw. High on the agenda was how to support Ukraine in the “new Transatlantic context.” On the sidelines of the visit, the Élysée emphasized that “France’s position is that it is necessary to support Ukraine
After a decade-long civil war, Bashar al-Assad was firmly ensconced in Damascus — a far cry from the summer of 2012 and again in 2015, when policymakers, analysts, and pundits alike believed his rule was on the brink of collapse. The intervention of the Russian Air Force in the fall of
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko sign a security pact, announcing the potential deployment of Russian Oreshnik missiles in Belarus. Lukashenko frees 29 more political prisoners amid an ongoing pre-election civil society clampdown. Exiled Belarusian activists to face a record 17 in absentia charges for aiding
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