VOLODYMYR YURCHUK

In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov as he visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Ukraine loses a ceasefire bargaining chip as its troops cede ground in Russia
As momentum builds for a ceasefire with Russia, Ukraine has lost a valuable bargaining chip. The Ukrainian army stunned Russia in August by attacking across the border and taking control of more than 1,300 square kilometers of land.
 
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Ukraine presses attacks in Russia’s Kursk region
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will urge allies to boost his country’s air defenses at a meeting this week in Germany. Both Moscow and Kyiv said Ukrainian forces pressed new attacks Sunday in Russia’s Kursk region.
 
FILE - Ukrainian soldiers carry shells to fire at Russian positions on the front line, near the city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine’s forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia
Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia.
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, representatives of the military-industrial complex and developers of missile systems at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russia’s attack with new hypersonic missile
NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with a hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session Friday over the security threat.
 
FILE - A destroyed car is seen in front of a residential building which was heavily bombed by Russian forces, in the frontline city of Vuhledar, Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
The fall of Vuhledar is a microcosm of Ukraine’s wartime predicament
Ukrainian military officials and lawmakers say the front-line town of Vuhledar has fallen after more than two years of intense fighting.
 
FILE - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
Surprise Ukrainian resignations include the nation’s top diplomat
A spate of resignations from the Ukrainian government came with one major surprise: the departure of the highly regarded foreign minster. Dmytro Kuleba is the career diplomat who courted Western support for his country’s defense.
 
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
UN nuclear watchdog warns conditions ‘very fragile’ at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has described the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as “very fragile” following fresh attacks near the site in central Ukraine.
 
Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk Foma (Nikolay Mosolov), foreground, kisses an icon as Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, stands near after attending an Orthodox Christmas service with the families of military personnel who died during the special military operation in Ukraine in the Church of Our Savior Not Made by Hands at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
2 dead in Ukraine city of Kherson as Russian soldiers celebrate Orthodox Christmas on front line
Officials say the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson has been subjected to numerous shelling attacks from Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson region, across the Dnieper River.
 
A woman dressed in national costume stands near the nativity scene to celebrate Christmas in the village of Pirogovo, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Dec. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukraine celebrates Christmas on Dec. 25 for the first time, distancing itself from Russia
Christmas carries more than spiritual weight for many Ukrainians this year: for the first time, the country is observing it as a public holiday on Dec. 25, rather than the later date followed in Russia.