5 key takeaways on how Ukraine’s counteroffensives reshaped the war
1. Ukrainian Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky suggested the Kharkiv counteroffensive when the General Staff asked for diversionary operations.
2. U.S. officials were not particularly involved in the planning for the Kharkiv counteroffensive. They were as surprised as the Ukrainians when the Russian lines collapsed.
3. In response to the Kharkiv rout, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Gen. Sergei Surovikin as his first overall commander for the Russian war effort.
4. The Americans were deeply involved in helping Ukraine plan for a counteroffensive in the south.
5. Frustration in Kyiv with a lack of progress prompted the Ukrainian government to replace the commander of the Kherson operation in late September. The decision was kept under wraps at the time so as not to provide Russia with any kind of propaganda victory.
Read more about the takeaways here.
1. Ukrainian Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky suggested the Kharkiv counteroffensive when the General Staff asked for diversionary operations.
2. U.S. officials were not particularly involved in the planning for the Kharkiv counteroffensive. They were as surprised as the Ukrainians when the Russian lines collapsed.
3. In response to the Kharkiv rout, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Gen. Sergei Surovikin as his first overall commander for the Russian war effort.
4. The Americans were deeply involved in helping Ukraine plan for a counteroffensive in the south.
5. Frustration in Kyiv with a lack of progress prompted the Ukrainian government to replace the commander of the Kherson operation in late September. The decision was kept under wraps at the time so as not to provide Russia with any kind of propaganda victory.
Read more about the takeaways here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia attacked Ukraine using air and sea-based cruise missiles on Thursday, Ukrainian military chief Valery Zaluzhny said on Telegram.
- Lviv’s mayor said most of the city near the Polish border was “without light.” Andriy Sadovyi also wrote that trams were not running in the city. Kyiv’s mayor said nearly 40 percent of the capital had lost electricity and that workers were trying to restore supply.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the attacks as “senseless barbarism,” writing on Twitter that there could be “no ‘neutrality’ in the face of such mass war crimes.”
- The Ukrainian army could enter Russia territory “if necessary to protect our country,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told the Kyiv Post Thursday.
More live updates here.
- Russia attacked Ukraine using air and sea-based cruise missiles on Thursday, Ukrainian military chief Valery Zaluzhny said on Telegram.
- Lviv’s mayor said most of the city near the Polish border was “without light.” Andriy Sadovyi also wrote that trams were not running in the city. Kyiv’s mayor said nearly 40 percent of the capital had lost electricity and that workers were trying to restore supply.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the attacks as “senseless barbarism,” writing on Twitter that there could be “no ‘neutrality’ in the face of such mass war crimes.”
- The Ukrainian army could enter Russia territory “if necessary to protect our country,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told the Kyiv Post Thursday.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually on Friday to discuss “the most pressing regional affairs,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
- Ukraine said that Russia fired 69 missiles and 23 attack drones on Thursday, most of which were intercepted by the country’s air defenses.
- Russia launched air- and sea-based cruise missiles at energy and civil infrastructure facilities across Ukraine on Thursday, the country’s Armed Forces said in a statement.
- Ukraine conducted counteroffensive operations in Kreminna, advancing 1.5 miles the past week, according to Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, the deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Ukrainian General Staff.
Follow our live updates here.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually on Friday to discuss “the most pressing regional affairs,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
- Ukraine said that Russia fired 69 missiles and 23 attack drones on Thursday, most of which were intercepted by the country’s air defenses.
- Russia launched air- and sea-based cruise missiles at energy and civil infrastructure facilities across Ukraine on Thursday, the country’s Armed Forces said in a statement.
- Ukraine conducted counteroffensive operations in Kreminna, advancing 1.5 miles the past week, according to Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, the deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Ukrainian General Staff.
Follow our live updates here.
Putin, unaccustomed to losing, is increasingly isolated as war falters
When Vladimir Putin visited Minsk last week to discuss deepening cooperation, a sarcastic joke by his host, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, seemed to ring all too true. “The two of us are co-aggressors, the most harmful and toxic people on this planet. We have only one dispute: Who is the bigger one? That’s all,” Lukashenko said.
As Putin approaches New Year’s Eve, the 23d anniversary of his appointment in 1999 as acting Russian president, he appears more isolated than ever.
More than 300 days of brutal war against Ukraine have blown up decades of Russia’s carefully cultivated economic relations with the West, turning the country into a pariah, while Kremlin efforts to replace those ties with closer cooperation with India and China appear to be faltering the longer the war grinds on.
Read the full story here.
When Vladimir Putin visited Minsk last week to discuss deepening cooperation, a sarcastic joke by his host, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, seemed to ring all too true. “The two of us are co-aggressors, the most harmful and toxic people on this planet. We have only one dispute: Who is the bigger one? That’s all,” Lukashenko said.
As Putin approaches New Year’s Eve, the 23d anniversary of his appointment in 1999 as acting Russian president, he appears more isolated than ever.
More than 300 days of brutal war against Ukraine have blown up decades of Russia’s carefully cultivated economic relations with the West, turning the country into a pariah, while Kremlin efforts to replace those ties with closer cooperation with India and China appear to be faltering the longer the war grinds on.
Read the full story here.
Putin, Xi highlight Russia, China cooperation against backdrop of war
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met remotely via video link Friday — an indication of Moscow’s latest efforts to strengthen ties with Beijing as Russia’s international isolation grows in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin stressed the importance of Chinese-Russian relations on the world stage, calling them “a model of cooperation between major powers in the 21st century,” and said that Moscow hoped to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries.
Moscow has actively sought to boost economic cooperation with Beijing after sweeping Western sanctions.
Read the full story here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met remotely via video link Friday — an indication of Moscow’s latest efforts to strengthen ties with Beijing as Russia’s international isolation grows in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin stressed the importance of Chinese-Russian relations on the world stage, calling them “a model of cooperation between major powers in the 21st century,” and said that Moscow hoped to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries.
Moscow has actively sought to boost economic cooperation with Beijing after sweeping Western sanctions.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukraine’s air force said all 16 self-detonating drones that attacked the country were destroyed overnight.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow for a visit next year as the two leaders affirmed their ties at an online meeting Friday.
- The Ukrainian energy grid was restored to the same level as before the Thursday’s missile strikes, the national energy company said in a Telegram statement on Friday, but Ukrenergo said challenges continue in the southern and eastern regions.
- With two new laws signed Thursday, Putin continues a pattern of manipulating Russian law to suppress opposition, according to a new report from the Institute for the Study of War.
- Ukraine’s security services have placed the mayor of the city of Poltava, in central Ukraine, under suspicion for sharing information on troop deployment.
More live updates here.
- Ukraine’s air force said all 16 self-detonating drones that attacked the country were destroyed overnight.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow for a visit next year as the two leaders affirmed their ties at an online meeting Friday.
- The Ukrainian energy grid was restored to the same level as before the Thursday’s missile strikes, the national energy company said in a Telegram statement on Friday, but Ukrenergo said challenges continue in the southern and eastern regions.
- With two new laws signed Thursday, Putin continues a pattern of manipulating Russian law to suppress opposition, according to a new report from the Institute for the Study of War.
- Ukraine’s security services have placed the mayor of the city of Poltava, in central Ukraine, under suspicion for sharing information on troop deployment.
More live updates here.
As war drags on, young Ukrainians are rethinking their futures
KYIV, Ukraine — For at least one night, they thought, they would use the basement of the university building not as a bomb shelter but as a place to twirl and hop and stomp — to celebrate their Ukrainian heritage, to again relish being young.
“They have forgotten normal life,” said Valerii Valiiev, an 18-year-old who managed a molotov cocktail factory during Russia’s assault on the capital.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the country’s young people have been at the forefront of both its resistance and its trauma. Some fled their homes or were separated from their families. Others volunteered or deployed to the front line. Many lost relatives, friends or neighbors. All are grappling with how the war has forced them to grow up overnight, altered the direction of their lives, reordered their priorities, derailed their dreams.
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — For at least one night, they thought, they would use the basement of the university building not as a bomb shelter but as a place to twirl and hop and stomp — to celebrate their Ukrainian heritage, to again relish being young.
“They have forgotten normal life,” said Valerii Valiiev, an 18-year-old who managed a molotov cocktail factory during Russia’s assault on the capital.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the country’s young people have been at the forefront of both its resistance and its trauma. Some fled their homes or were separated from their families. Others volunteered or deployed to the front line. Many lost relatives, friends or neighbors. All are grappling with how the war has forced them to grow up overnight, altered the direction of their lives, reordered their priorities, derailed their dreams.
Read the full story here.
Missiles rain down on Ukraine as Putin gives combative New Year speech
KYIV, Ukraine — As Moscow launched a fresh barrage of strikes against Ukraine on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an unusually aggressive prerecorded address, which was broadcast as Russians in the Far East began their New Year’s celebrations.
In the address, which was broadcast at midnight on Russian state television, Putin said Russia was fighting in Ukraine to protect its “motherland” and called 2022 “a year of hard, necessary decisions” and “fateful events” that had laid the foundation of Russia’s future and independence.
Set against a backdrop of Russian military service members, instead of the typical wintry vista of the Kremlin, Putin’s speech marked a significant shift in tone, more combative and nationalistic, instead of festive and celebratory.
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — As Moscow launched a fresh barrage of strikes against Ukraine on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an unusually aggressive prerecorded address, which was broadcast as Russians in the Far East began their New Year’s celebrations.
In the address, which was broadcast at midnight on Russian state television, Putin said Russia was fighting in Ukraine to protect its “motherland” and called 2022 “a year of hard, necessary decisions” and “fateful events” that had laid the foundation of Russia’s future and independence.
Set against a backdrop of Russian military service members, instead of the typical wintry vista of the Kremlin, Putin’s speech marked a significant shift in tone, more combative and nationalistic, instead of festive and celebratory.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Ukrainian forces shot down 45 drones on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his first nightly address of the new year. He said “drones, missiles, anything else will not help” Russia win the war.
- Several waves of drones targeted infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region on Sunday evening and into Monday, said Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional governor.
- At least four civilians were killed and dozens injured during attacks throughout Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, officials said.
- Sweden, which took the reins of the E.U. Council presidency on Sunday, has pledged to support Ukraine through its six-month term.
Follow our live updates here.
- Ukrainian forces shot down 45 drones on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his first nightly address of the new year. He said “drones, missiles, anything else will not help” Russia win the war.
- Several waves of drones targeted infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region on Sunday evening and into Monday, said Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional governor.
- At least four civilians were killed and dozens injured during attacks throughout Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, officials said.
- Sweden, which took the reins of the E.U. Council presidency on Sunday, has pledged to support Ukraine through its six-month term.
Follow our live updates here.
Dozens of Russian soldiers killed in massive Donetsk missile strike
Dozens of Russian soldiers were killed in a massive missile strike early on New Year’s Day in the country’s Donetsk region, Moscow said.
Without claiming responsibility for the attack, Kyiv’s military command said at least 400 soldiers were killed in the attack in Makiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine under Russian occupation, and at least 300 soldiers were injured. Russia’s defense ministry put the death toll at 63.
In a statement posted to Telegram, the Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provided little detail, suggesting sarcastically that the incident was the result of “the careless handling of heating devices, neglect of security measures and smoking.”
Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Moscow-backed official for the region, wrote on Telegram that just after midnight on New Year’s Day a Ukrainian missile had struck a vocational school in Makiivka that housed soldiers.
Read the full story here.
Dozens of Russian soldiers were killed in a massive missile strike early on New Year’s Day in the country’s Donetsk region, Moscow said.
Without claiming responsibility for the attack, Kyiv’s military command said at least 400 soldiers were killed in the attack in Makiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine under Russian occupation, and at least 300 soldiers were injured. Russia’s defense ministry put the death toll at 63.
In a statement posted to Telegram, the Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine provided little detail, suggesting sarcastically that the incident was the result of “the careless handling of heating devices, neglect of security measures and smoking.”
Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Moscow-backed official for the region, wrote on Telegram that just after midnight on New Year’s Day a Ukrainian missile had struck a vocational school in Makiivka that housed soldiers.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia is preparing a prolonged air campaign using Iranian-made drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that more than 80 of the drones have been shot down in Ukraine since the start of the new year.
- Pro-Russian forces have probably increased the pace of infantry assaults against Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city at the center of the heaviest fighting in recent weeks, the British Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
- In 2022, more than 20,000 Ukrainian troops participated in training that took place in partner countries, according to figures released by Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the most senior uniformed official in the Ukrainian military.
- Zelensky’s office said he had urged the E.U. to provide 3 billion euros, or $3.2 billion, to Ukraine this month.
Follow our live updates here.
- Russia is preparing a prolonged air campaign using Iranian-made drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that more than 80 of the drones have been shot down in Ukraine since the start of the new year.
- Pro-Russian forces have probably increased the pace of infantry assaults against Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city at the center of the heaviest fighting in recent weeks, the British Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
- In 2022, more than 20,000 Ukrainian troops participated in training that took place in partner countries, according to figures released by Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the most senior uniformed official in the Ukrainian military.
- Zelensky’s office said he had urged the E.U. to provide 3 billion euros, or $3.2 billion, to Ukraine this month.
Follow our live updates here.
Europe prepares to take in more Ukrainians, with less support, in 2023
Last winter, Jaroslaw Olak, a Warsaw native, spent the early days of the Ukraine war handing out sweets with his young sons to refugees arriving in the Polish capital. Soon after, he was hosting Ukrainian families rent-free in his apartment downtown.
“One would have to be made out of stone” not to help in the face of such suffering, he said. But now for volunteer hosts such as Olak, the financial burden of helping Ukrainian refugees has grown, and the broader future of assistance is increasingly unclear.
In Poland and across Europe, energy and housing costs have soared, while some governments are poised to reduce funding as the war grinds forward. It has left humanitarian groups and volunteers grappling with the difficult question of how to sustain aid to Ukrainian refugees in the year ahead, with new hardships as winter sets in again.
Read the full story here.
Last winter, Jaroslaw Olak, a Warsaw native, spent the early days of the Ukraine war handing out sweets with his young sons to refugees arriving in the Polish capital. Soon after, he was hosting Ukrainian families rent-free in his apartment downtown.
“One would have to be made out of stone” not to help in the face of such suffering, he said. But now for volunteer hosts such as Olak, the financial burden of helping Ukrainian refugees has grown, and the broader future of assistance is increasingly unclear.
In Poland and across Europe, energy and housing costs have soared, while some governments are poised to reduce funding as the war grinds forward. It has left humanitarian groups and volunteers grappling with the difficult question of how to sustain aid to Ukrainian refugees in the year ahead, with new hardships as winter sets in again.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said 63 service members were killed in the strike in Donetsk shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.
- Moscow’s acknowledgment of the attack has “generated criticism towards the Russian military command,” the Institute for the Study of War think tank reported.
- Satellite images shared by Planet, a company that has provided hundreds of images of Russian military activities in Ukraine, appear to show the building that was targeted in the Makiivka strike intact on Dec. 20, 2022, and destroyed as of Tuesday.
- The relatively warm and sunny winter weather in Ukraine has led to reduced daytime demand on the country’s beleaguered electricity grid, the national energy company said Tuesday.
- Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office said at least 452 children have been killed and 876 injured during the war.
More live updates here.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said 63 service members were killed in the strike in Donetsk shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.
- Moscow’s acknowledgment of the attack has “generated criticism towards the Russian military command,” the Institute for the Study of War think tank reported.
- Satellite images shared by Planet, a company that has provided hundreds of images of Russian military activities in Ukraine, appear to show the building that was targeted in the Makiivka strike intact on Dec. 20, 2022, and destroyed as of Tuesday.
- The relatively warm and sunny winter weather in Ukraine has led to reduced daytime demand on the country’s beleaguered electricity grid, the national energy company said Tuesday.
- Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office said at least 452 children have been killed and 876 injured during the war.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- The fallout from a deadly attack in the occupied city of Makiivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region has led to finger-pointing by Russian officials. The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday said the attack was a result of illicit cellphone use among Russian soldiers, in what some observers see as an attempt to shift culpability from Moscow.
- On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Turkish news agency NTV. Afterward, Erdogan will speak with President Zelensky, Kalin said.
- The U.S. has had direct conversations with Russian officials about Paul Whelan, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday. He was responding to a question about efforts to free Whelan since the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner.
More live updates here.
- The fallout from a deadly attack in the occupied city of Makiivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region has led to finger-pointing by Russian officials. The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday said the attack was a result of illicit cellphone use among Russian soldiers, in what some observers see as an attempt to shift culpability from Moscow.
- On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Turkish news agency NTV. Afterward, Erdogan will speak with President Zelensky, Kalin said.
- The U.S. has had direct conversations with Russian officials about Paul Whelan, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday. He was responding to a question about efforts to free Whelan since the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner.
More live updates here.
Russian commanders blamed for heavy losses in New Year’s Day strike
RIGA, Latvia — The deaths of scores of Russian troops in a devastating strike on New Year’s Day has set off a blame game among Russian officials now facing criticism for allegedly packing hundreds of soldiers into a barracks and storing ammunition in the same building — all within Ukrainian firing range.
In a rare admission of heavy losses, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that 89 soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, died after Ukrainian forces hit their garrison in a missile strike.
In a statement, the ministry blamed the attack in part on the “massive use ... by personnel of mobile phones.” The signals alerted the Ukrainians to the garrison’s location, the statement said, adding that a commission is working to investigate the incident.
But war commentators and ordinary Russians cast the casualty estimate as a gross undercount, and some said the true death toll numbered in the hundreds.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — The deaths of scores of Russian troops in a devastating strike on New Year’s Day has set off a blame game among Russian officials now facing criticism for allegedly packing hundreds of soldiers into a barracks and storing ammunition in the same building — all within Ukrainian firing range.
In a rare admission of heavy losses, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that 89 soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, died after Ukrainian forces hit their garrison in a missile strike.
In a statement, the ministry blamed the attack in part on the “massive use ... by personnel of mobile phones.” The signals alerted the Ukrainians to the garrison’s location, the statement said, adding that a commission is working to investigate the incident.
But war commentators and ordinary Russians cast the casualty estimate as a gross undercount, and some said the true death toll numbered in the hundreds.
Read the full story here.
Tinder in the trenches: How war has changed love and sex in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — With his strong build, black hair and easy smile, Vlad had little problem finding about 200 matches on Tinder in Kharkiv ahead of his military unit’s break in the eastern Ukrainian city.
It was admittedly a lower number than his halcyon prewar days in Kyiv, when Vlad said he once compiled a record 1,238 Tinder matches. But after nine months in the army, he was excited nonetheless by the prospect of a quick hookup.
When he met his dates at a cafe in Kharkiv, however, Vlad found his normal charm had abandoned him. The death and destruction in his daily life weighed on him, and he found himself incapable of the kind of talk that is often the prerequisite for intimacy.
“I did not have the energy to carry a conversation beyond, ‘How are you?,’” said Vlad, 30. “We start, ‘Hello; how are you?’ — and nothing goes after that."
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — With his strong build, black hair and easy smile, Vlad had little problem finding about 200 matches on Tinder in Kharkiv ahead of his military unit’s break in the eastern Ukrainian city.
It was admittedly a lower number than his halcyon prewar days in Kyiv, when Vlad said he once compiled a record 1,238 Tinder matches. But after nine months in the army, he was excited nonetheless by the prospect of a quick hookup.
When he met his dates at a cafe in Kharkiv, however, Vlad found his normal charm had abandoned him. The death and destruction in his daily life weighed on him, and he found himself incapable of the kind of talk that is often the prerequisite for intimacy.
“I did not have the energy to carry a conversation beyond, ‘How are you?,’” said Vlad, 30. “We start, ‘Hello; how are you?’ — and nothing goes after that."
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Russia’s Defense Ministry blamed on-site cellphone communication by soldiers in a Makiivka building for the deadly strike, saying it allowed Ukrainian forces to locate the target.
- The ministry raised the Russian death toll to 89 in a statement early Wednesday — a rare acknowledgment of a significant loss. Ukraine did not directly confirm its involvement in the attack but has claimed that at least 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the strike. The Post could not independently verify the figures.
- Since the attack, Russian military leaders have faced scrutiny for squeezing soldiers into high-density barracks in the same buildings used to store ammunition.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to hold a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, told Turkish news agency NTV. Afterward, Erdogan will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kalin said.
More live updates here.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry blamed on-site cellphone communication by soldiers in a Makiivka building for the deadly strike, saying it allowed Ukrainian forces to locate the target.
- The ministry raised the Russian death toll to 89 in a statement early Wednesday — a rare acknowledgment of a significant loss. Ukraine did not directly confirm its involvement in the attack but has claimed that at least 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the strike. The Post could not independently verify the figures.
- Since the attack, Russian military leaders have faced scrutiny for squeezing soldiers into high-density barracks in the same buildings used to store ammunition.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to hold a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, told Turkish news agency NTV. Afterward, Erdogan will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kalin said.
More live updates here.
Here's the latest from Ukraine.
- President Biden on Wednesday confirmed that the U.S. was considering sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine. France also said it would send light tanks for the first time, in a major shift after months of turning down such requests.
- Two people died in Russian attacks in eastern Donetsk region Wednesday, the area’s military administration head said. Russians targeted an industrial zone in Kostyantynivka, and in Bakhmut, a historic building in the city center was damaged.
- The war in Ukraine has led to the largest drop in the country’s GDP since it gained independence from the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s economy minister said Thursday. Ukraine’s GDP had fallen by an estimated 30.4 percent by the end of 2022, according to the Economy Ministry — although the figure is better than previously feared.
More live updates here.
- President Biden on Wednesday confirmed that the U.S. was considering sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine. France also said it would send light tanks for the first time, in a major shift after months of turning down such requests.
- Two people died in Russian attacks in eastern Donetsk region Wednesday, the area’s military administration head said. Russians targeted an industrial zone in Kostyantynivka, and in Bakhmut, a historic building in the city center was damaged.
- The war in Ukraine has led to the largest drop in the country’s GDP since it gained independence from the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s economy minister said Thursday. Ukraine’s GDP had fallen by an estimated 30.4 percent by the end of 2022, according to the Economy Ministry — although the figure is better than previously feared.
More live updates here.
U.S. edges closer to sending armored weaponry to Ukraine
After months of resisting Kyiv’s pleas for tanks to face increasingly dug-in Russian forces along the lengthy southern and eastern fronts, the United States and its allies are now poised to deliver a variety of armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine.
Asked Wednesday if U.S.-produced Bradley Fighting Vehicles were under consideration for transfer to Ukraine, President Biden replied in the affirmative. A senior administration official said that Bradleys could be included in a package of weapons to be announced as soon as this week.
Earlier Wednesday, France said it would provide Ukraine with an unspecified number of light tanks.
The first supply of Western mobile armor is another major milestone in the escalating provision of advanced weaponry to Ukrainian forces, including heavy artillery and long-range precision rocket launchers.
Read the full story here.
After months of resisting Kyiv’s pleas for tanks to face increasingly dug-in Russian forces along the lengthy southern and eastern fronts, the United States and its allies are now poised to deliver a variety of armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine.
Asked Wednesday if U.S.-produced Bradley Fighting Vehicles were under consideration for transfer to Ukraine, President Biden replied in the affirmative. A senior administration official said that Bradleys could be included in a package of weapons to be announced as soon as this week.
Earlier Wednesday, France said it would provide Ukraine with an unspecified number of light tanks.
The first supply of Western mobile armor is another major milestone in the escalating provision of advanced weaponry to Ukrainian forces, including heavy artillery and long-range precision rocket launchers.
Read the full story here.
Putin orders 36-hour unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Orthodox Christmas
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his invading forces to implement a unilateral cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas beginning at noon Friday “along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine” and continuing through Saturday, according to a Kremlin statement.
Putin said he was acting on an appeal from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and called on Ukraine to join the temporary truce. Russia carried out airstrikes on Ukraine on New Year’s Eve.
“Based on the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the combat areas, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ,” the statement said.
Read the full story here.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his invading forces to implement a unilateral cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas beginning at noon Friday “along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine” and continuing through Saturday, according to a Kremlin statement.
Putin said he was acting on an appeal from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and called on Ukraine to join the temporary truce. Russia carried out airstrikes on Ukraine on New Year’s Eve.
“Based on the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the combat areas, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ,” the statement said.
Read the full story here.