Key developments on Dec. 19: * Zelensky blasts Putin’s Oreshnik threats, calling him ‘dumbass’ * Zelensky dismisses ceasefire as Putin’s ploy to regroup, seeks coordinated peace plan * Ukraine strikes 'only oil refinery operating' in Russia's Rostov Oblast, military says * Putin acknowledges sanctions have impact on Russia's economy * Ukraine’s Special
Discussions reportedly include lowering the current $60-per-barrel cap to approximately $40 or even implementing a complete ban on Russian oil supplies.
As the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden rushes to provide last-minute aid to Ukraine before Donald Trump takes office in January, the State Department has recently announced a $266 million maintenance sales package for Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets. Trump has made no public comments about the Ukrainian
Two Belarusians and one Ukrainian were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 11 to 25 years by Belarusian authorities for their alleged involvement in preparing terrorist acts, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported on Dec. 19.
Warning: This article contains descriptions of graphic scenes. For a moment, Oksana Latanska could not believe her eyes when she looked down at a cold, little body, gray from dust and ashes. It hardly resembled the little boy that she knew so well and whom she saw almost every weekend
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces reported on Dec. 19 that they had killed 12 North Korean soldiers and injured 20 others, preventing their advance in Russia's Kursk Oblast.
“We will not engage in extending the transit of Russian gas. We will not give (Russia) the opportunity to earn additional billions on our blood,” Zelensky said.
North Korean troops fighting in Kursk Oblast are especially vulnerable to drones but still managed to help Moscow advance a few kilometers in the partially Ukrainian-occupied region in southwest Russia, according to Western military experts analyzing open-source data. The assessment of drone vulnerability differs from an on-the-ground testimony obtained by
“We need coordinated work for a lasting peace, not just the suspension of hostilities that Putin seeks in order to buy time,” Zelensky said.
The announcement comes amid intensified Russian attacks against Ukraine, including one of the largest aerial strikes on Dec. 13, which targeted energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
At a press conference in Brussels on Dec. 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent threats of using the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile against Kyiv to test Western air defense systems in what he called a "high-tech duel" with the West.
A court in Ternopil took into custody Colonel Oleh Poberezhniuk, commander of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade, suspected of abuse of power, the Prosecutor General's Office reported.
Ukraine's economy has adapted itself well to the realities of the full-scale war while Russia's economy faces increasingly unfavorable forecasts, The Economist wrote on Dec. 19.
Starting Jan. 1, Ukraine will introduce new expert commissions in major hospitals for assessing people's medical status based on a new, "modern system," MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
Moscow has already built a 40-kilometer-long segment between the Russian city of Taganrog and occupied Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We simply have no right to limit the strength of our army in any case," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"The Ukrainian defense forces in heavy battles did not allow the Russians to breach the defense and achieve operational success on any of the directions," Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 45 of the 85 Shahed-type drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles launched overnight, the Air Force reported. Forty drones were reportedly lost across Ukraine thanks to electronic warfare countermeasures.
"(The visit to Ukraine) will take place in early January. We are waiting for Mr. Kellogg, and then we will talk about what he had meant," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Brussels.
Jonah Leff said that the researchers from his group examined remnants of four North Korean missiles recovered in Ukraine in July and August. One of them had marks showing it was procured in 2024, according to the researcher.
This number includes 1,530 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
According to media reports, the package includes over 92 million pound ($115 million) in equipment to support Ukraine's navy, including small boats as well as reconnaissance drones. A further 39 million pounds ($49 million) will be used to supply over 1,000 counter-drone electronic warfare systems.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Brussels on Dec. 18 for talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as Ukraine seeks to secure more air defense as well effective security guarantees from its Western allies.
Ukraine is "discussing ideas with European leaders" on the potential deployment of European peacekeeping forces to the embattled country, President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters during a press briefing on Dec. 18.
"We continued to work on the initiative of President Macron regarding the presence in Ukraine of forces that can contribute to stabilization on the path to peace," Zelensky said after meeting with the French President on Dec. 18.
The funding includes a $1 billion grant from the new $20 billion U.S. loan backed by frozen Russian assets. Another $1.05 billion is supported by the U.K. and Japan.
Key developments on Dec. 18: * 'Couple hundred' North Korean troops lost fighting for Russia against Ukraine, AP reports * Sweden 'does not exclude' more direct physical presence in Ukraine to bolster defense * Russia detains two suspects over assassination of General Igor Kirillov, Kremlin media reports * Peace talks with Russia only possible
U.S. General Keith Kellogg, nominated as Ukraine peace envoy by President-elect Donald Trump, criticized the recent assassination of Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov during an interview with Fox News on Dec. 18.
“It was at the start of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ military operation in Kursk Oblast. I believe the Kursk operation provided strong arguments in favor of Ukraine,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
Two European Union accession clusters for Ukraine are expected to open during the first half of 2025 under Poland’s presidency of the EU Council, a high-ranking EU official told The Kyiv Independent on Dec. 18.
The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers discreetly dethroned the former czar of drone purchases — Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov — as the result of a one-sided power struggle from the Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, allege observers. A new decree shifted a key office in the drone purchasing process
In response to a question over whether Sweden would potentially take part in a more direct physical presence in Ukraine amid talks of potentially deploying peacekeepers to monitor a possible ceasefire, Jonson said he doesn't "exclude that possibility."
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