Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swipe for next article
Ukraine said its forces ‘adhere to international law’
Removed from bookmarks
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Russian missiles struck a multi-storey apartment building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, killing at least two people and injuring about 25 more.
However, Russia has denied the attack took place on Friday, suggesting that an explosion at the site was caused by Ukrainian ammunition.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said two ballistic missiles had struck the area and “nearly destroyed a five-storey dwelling”. “Rescue teams are on site,” he said. “They are primarily clearing rubble and searching for people underneath.”
It comes after Kyiv denied Russian claims that Ukrainian drones deliberately struck a cafe and hotel in the occupied village of Khorly in Kherson, killing at least 27 people.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman of Russia‘s Investigative Committee, had claimed in a statement that the strike targeted a hotel where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year’s Eve overnight into Thursday. A total of 31, including five minors, were hospitalised with injuries.
A spokesman for Ukraine‘s General Staff, Dmytro Lykhovii, denied attacking civilians.
More than half (53%) of Ukrainians are categorically opposed to any territorial concessions, a new poll has found.
The survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that a third (33%) of Ukrainians were generally willing to accept certain territorial losses, with 14% unable to decide.
But nearly one in four (39%) are prepared to freeze the front line without officially recognising any occupied territories as part of Russia.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says he will hold a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday to discuss peace efforts between Ukraine and Russia, as well as issues surrounding Gaza.
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul on Friday, Erdogan also said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” in Paris in the coming days.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process.”
The U.S. efforts has faced a new obstacle earlier this week, when Moscow said it would toughen its negotiating stand after what it said was a long-range drone attack against a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in northwestern Russia early Monday.
Kyiv has denied attacking Putin’s residence, saying the Russian claim was a ruse to derail the negotiations.
In his New Year’s address, Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “90% ready” but warned that the remaining 10% — believed to include key sticking points such as territory — would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live.”
Russian athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will not be able to represent their country even if a peace deal is reached with Ukraine, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said in an Italian newspaper interview.
At this stage nothing would change the Committee’s decision allowing Russian athletes to take part in the February games only as individuals representing themselves, Coventry told Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Friday.
The IOC banned Russia and Belarus following the former’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the IOC ruled in September that Russians and Belarusians competing at Milano Cortina would do so as individual athletes, without a national flag or anthem.
In other remarks, Coventry – the IOC’s first woman president – said holding the Olympics in multiple cities, as Italy is doing, would become “the new normality” and the Milano Cortina games would provide useful guidance for the future.
During an August meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Donald Trump reportedly interrupted discussions to make remarks about “beautiful” women from Ukraine and then arranged for former Miss Ukraine to speak with the Zelensky over the phone, according to a new report.
Read more:
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine’s new defence minister.
He praised his abilities in developing the drones and digitalisation needed for the country’s defence.
Fedorov also served as minister of digital transformation and his appointment must be approved by parliament. But he could be replacing Denys Shmyhal.
“Mykhailo is deeply engaged in the ‘drone line’ initiative and works very effectively on the digitalisation of state services and processes,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
“Together with all our military personnel, military command, national weapons manufacturers and Ukraine’s partners, we must implement changes in the defence sector that will truly help.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has said he has “begun a substantial overhaul” to his team to make Ukraine more “resilient”.
In a post on X he defended the modifications and said: “Today, we have begun a substantial overhaul – internal changes to make Ukraine more resilient.
“Last year, there were good results from state institutions that need to be scaled up, as well as problems that should not carry over into the new year.
“Therefore, a wave of personnel changes is underway, and more decisions will follow regarding institutions. Tomorrow, we will continue the changes.”
Russian missiles have struck a multi-storey apartment building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, killing at least two people and injuring about 25.
But Russia has denied the attack even took place and said that an explosion at the site was caused by Ukrainian ammunition.
Photographs and videos posted online showed smoke rising from the area, with emergency crews making their way through rubble and large chunks of building materials, Reuters reported.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on Telegram, said that according to preliminary information the bodies of a woman and her son were found under rubble.
Speaking earlier on Ukrainian television, Syniehubov said two ballistic missiles had struck the area and “nearly destroyed a five-storey dwelling”. “Rescue teams are on site,” he said. “They are primarily clearing rubble and searching for people underneath.”
A cargo vessel sailing from Russia has been seized by Finnish police on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland.
’Fitburg’ was en route from the Russian port of St Petersburg to Israel at the time of the incident, Finland‘s Border Guard authority said on Wednesday.
“At the moment we suspect aggravated disruption of telecommunications and also aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage,” Helsinki Chief of Police Jari Liukku said.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in