Disconnecting Ukraine's nuclear power plants would take the crisis one step further — Ukrainians would be fully cut off from electricity and heating in subzero temperatures.

President Donald Trump has been fixated on controlling Greenland, suggesting that U.S. ownership of the island is crucial in blocking Russian and Chinese expansion. "If we don't go in, Russia's going to go in, and China's going to go in," Trump said. The White House reinforced that message on Jan. 14, posting an image on X that cast the island as facing a stark choice — alignment with the U.S. or with a Russia-China bloc. Greenlandic and Danish officials have rejected that premise outright, r

"Our country reminds the world before the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics that sport is not outside of politics. After all, the sanctioned individuals openly support aggression, war crimes, and occupation, thus destroying the principles and values ​​of the Olympic movement."

The delegation consists of the recently appointed President’s Office head Kyrylo Budanov, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, and the parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, David Arakhamia.

It’s hard to imagine Ukraine’s political scene without Yulia Tymoshenko. A veteran politician, Tymoshenko has held a variety of government posts, serving as the country’s prime minister twice, being defeated in a presidential runoff back in 2010, and leading the country's opposition at different times. On Jan. 14, Tymoshenko was charged with bribery — the third trial of her tumultuous 30-year political career. Tymoshenko, now the 65-year-old leader of the Batkivshchyna party represented by 25

Russian forces launched overnight attacks on Jan. 16-17 across Ukraine, hitting energy infrastructure, including substations, in Odesa and Kyiv oblasts, triggering emergency power outages, authorities reported

Foreign embassies based in Kyiv say they are not evacuating staff despite worsening power outages, damage to energy infrastructure, and forecasts of extreme cold, according to responses obtained by the Kyiv Independent. The statements come as Ukraine’s energy situation worsens amid repeated Russian mass strikes, with a state of emergency declared on Jan. 14 and weather forecasts warning that late January temperatures could drop below –20 degrees Celsius (–4 degrees Fahrenheit). Kyiv hosts the

Panic attacks have haunted Ukrainian serviceman Yaroslav since he returned home in the summer, leaving him gasping at night. Frustration with his commanders drove the 33-year-old to go absent without leave (AWOL), joining a growing number of Ukrainian soldiers who have left their units without permission. For Yaroslav, then a deputy platoon commander, it began with what he described as his leadership's "indifference" to soldiers' lives. Yaroslav said his command kept ordering missions that, in

The motorcade had been moving at a high speed before encountering an obstacle, leading to a mass accident and a number of victims.

The number includes 1,130 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Polish authorities have charged five men in an alleged Russia-orchestrated plot to send out parcels with explosives to various Western countries, Poland's National Prosecutor's Office announced on Jan. 16.

American officials have put forward the idea of expanding the Gaza 'Board of Peace' to include other countries affected by war and conflicts, including Ukraine and Venezuela, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Jan. 16.

Germany turned away a Russian-linked oil tanker from entering its territorial waters in the Baltic Sea this week, marking the first known instance of a European country blocking a vessel in Moscow's shadow fleet, Bloomberg reported Jan. 16.

Ukraine hopes to gain more clarity on "documents that we have actually drafted with the American side, and regarding Russia's response to all this diplomatic work," Zelensky said.

Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal agency responsible for monitoring mass media and telecommunications, has imposed new restrictions on the Telegram messaging app, Moscow 24 reported Jan. 16.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Jan. 16 that Russia is preparing a new wave of large-scale attacks on Ukraine as the country grapples with a deepening energy crisis.

Editor’s note: This is issue 43 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly "Ukraine Reforms Tracker" covering events from Jan. 1–Jan. 12, 2026. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. IMF benchmarks and soft commitments Ukraine moves forward in competition for customs head On Jan. 17, Ukraine will hold the first stage of an open competition to select the next head of the State Customs Service.

"I may put a tariff on countries if they don't go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that," Trump said.

The embassy said it would provide further updates on the resumption of activities and any additional measures.

Editor's note: This article is a shortened on-site version of KI Insights' public newsletter, The Week Ahead, covering events from January 19-25. Sign up here to start your week with an agenda of Ukraine-related events delivered directly to your inbox every week. The World Economic Forum in Davos will take place from January 19 to 23. The most anticipated moment for Ukraine will be a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the forum, alongside the signing of an $

In this exclusive interview, the Kyiv Independent’s Yuliia Taradiuk speaks with a Ukrainian Special Operations Forces' officer who helps organize resistance movements in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.

Around 55% of Ukrainians support holding a referendum on a potential peace deal to end Russia's war against Ukraine, while 32% oppose this idea, according to the poll.

China's electricity purchases from Russia were suspended on Jan. 1 due to higher export prices that now exceed domestic Chinese rates, Kommersant reported.

This is Kollen Post reporting from Kyiv on day 1,423 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story: Finland is sending Ukraine another 98 million euros worth of weaponry, the Finnish Defense Ministry announced on Friday. "We have built a package on an accelerated schedule that helps meet the most critical needs of the moment," the announcement said. The package falls outside of the regular schedule of Finnish aid, which has been among the most generous in the world relative t

Czech President Petr Pavel and President Volodymyr Zelensky will discuss ways "to advance our strategic partnership, defense cooperation, and peace efforts," said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

Ex-Prime Minister Yuliia Tymoshenko is also obliged to appear in court when summoned and cannot leave Kyiv Oblast.

The announcement confirming the damage to the facility's production capacity was posted by the Navy on Jan. 16, after the SBU first reported the strike three days earlier.

Putin said Russia is ready to serve as a mediator in the Middle East, an offer that follows signals that the U.S. might launch strikes against Iran amid a deadly crackdown on protests.

"In 2025 (...) growth was supported by domestic trade, construction, (...) the production of defense products and metallurgy," Oleksiy Sobolev, Ukraine's economy minister, said in a press release.

Ukraine is loosening curfew restrictions to allow citizens to reach humanitarian aid centers even at nighttime, Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

The change works to solve Kyiv's heavy dependence on the U.S. for military intelligence, which has been wielded as leverage against Ukraine by the Trump administration on several occasions.

"I think what we need is evidence that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin actually wants peace, and at the moment, I'm still not seeing that," U.K. Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper told Politico.