Ukraine

The European Commission is announcing €153 million in emergency aid to Ukraine and refugee-hosting Moldova, as millions Ukrainians face freezing temperatures without power under sustained Russian bombardment of energy infrastructure.

[…] The Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), gathered its data from information from military personnel, intelligence agencies and various governments.

Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to resume negotiations in Abu Dhabi next week after two days of what officials said were "constructive" peace talks, even as the war shows no signs of easing.

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have cut heat, electricity and water to hundreds of thousands of civilians in freezing winter conditions, prompting the UN human rights chief to denounce the strikes as “cruel” and a clear violation of international law.

Amid ongoing and intensifying Russian attacks across Ukraine, the UN on Tuesday launched a $2.3 billion humanitarian appeal for 2026 to support 4.1 million of the country’s most vulnerable people. … According to media reports and official information from the Ukrainian authorities, over the past week alone, Russian forces launched nearly 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs and at least 50 missiles of various types

Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022, as casualties soared amid flaring hostilities along the front line and Russia’s expanded use of long-range weapons, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said. In a report published on Monday, the UN monitor said that “the total civilian casualties in Ukraine in 2025 reached at least 2,514 killed and 12,142 injured, which is a 31 percent increase compared to 2024 … and a 70 percent increase compared to 2023”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the “robust” guarantees would see the US lead a truce monitoring mechanism with European participation, alongside the deployment of a multinational European force. … Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a declaration of intent after the talks, setting out the framework for such a deployment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said he intended to replace his defence minister and had offered the position to his current minister of digital transformation. … Besides the turnover at the defence ministry, Zelenskyy also named Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov to head his presidential office.

Volodymyr Zelensky is urging European Union leaders gathered at a crunch summit in Brussels to loan billions of euros in frozen Russian money to fund Ukraine's military and economic needs.

[…] Today’s decision -which brings the total of designated vessels to almost 600- is closely linked to recent Council decisions to list nine shadow fleet enablers and adopt a declaration by the EU and its member states on making full use of the international law of the sea framework relating to threats from the 'shadow fleet' and to the protection of critical undersea infrastructure.