Author: RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was set to hold a virtual meeting on May 25 of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), which consists of dozens of countries that have supported Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s illegal invasion, amid calls by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for allies to speed delivery of promised F-16 fighter jets...

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Reznikov, during a surprise visit to Kyiv on May 24, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called in a video address for allies to speed up delivery of promised F-16 fighter jets. The visit came a day ahead of a virtual...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelen-skyy returned to Ukraine following a European tour that generated more pledges of military backing from allies in Rome, Berlin, Paris and London. Mr. Zelenskyy said on May 15 in a video recorded on the train as he traveled back to Kyiv that he was returning with new defense packages, including “more...

Russia launched multiple missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, officials said on May 18, adding that the air defenses of the capital had managed to shoot down all incoming projectiles. It was the ninth air attack on Kyiv since the start of the month. In the southern Black Sea port...

More than 40 nations have agreed to set up a system to tally the damage Russia has inflicted on Ukraine in the hope of getting reparations, adding to the international legal challenges the Kremlin is facing. The register of damages, which will allow Ukrainian victims of war to catalog the harm they have suffered, found...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelens-kyy said he and visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 9 discussed Ukraine’s progress toward integration into the European Union, European ammunition deliveries for the Ukrainian military and fresh Russia sanctions. Ms. von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv after Russia overnight on May 9 launched another missile attack...

In a speech at the International War Crimes Tribunal (ICC) in The Hague on May 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a special court to try Russian war crimes in Ukraine and for the prosecution of President Vladimir Putin for his “criminal actions.” “We all want to see a different Vladimir...

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his first conversation on April 26 with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “long and meaningful.” The call came as Russia increased pressure on the Ukrainian defenders of Bakhmut – the site of the most intense, ongoing battle for the eastern Donetsk region....

Expectations rise of Kyiv counteroffensive after unconfirmed reports of Dnipro crossing A Russian missile strike on a museum in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupyansk killed at least one person and wounded 10 others, an attack that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as “barbaric,” as heavy fighting for control of Bakhmut intensified over a period of...

Military aid from allies and partners has substantially improved Ukraine’s prospects to liberate territories occupied by Russia since the start of its unprovoked invasion, North Atlantic Treaty Organi­zation (NATO) chief Jens Stolten­berg said on April 27, as Kyiv reported that heavy fighting continued for control of Bakhmut, the eastern city that has been at the...

As death toll in Slovyansk strike climbs to 11 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv for the first time since Russia launched is full-scale invasion last year, telling Ukrainians that their country’s future belongs in the alliance as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proclaimed that “it is time” an invitation was extended...

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded a “long and emotional day” in the city of Poltava in eastern Ukraine on April 18 after visiting Ukrainian forces near the front line in the Donetsk region where heavy fighting has been under way. Mr. Zelenskyy said in his evening video message that he visited soldiers who have been “restraining...