Ukraine news on the war, society, politics and consequences for Germany, Europe and the Ukrainian diaspora.
A Ukrainian drone strike on a student dormitory in the Russian-occupied city of Starobilsk in Luhansk has killed at least ten people, according to Russian occupation authorities. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin condemned the attack and ordered a military response.
Ukrainian forces have stepped up strikes on Russian supply lines in occupied territories, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports. The attacks target the occupiers' logistics and slow their advance.
Ukrainian forces attacked an oil depot in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk overnight, causing a fire that spread to port buildings. In Russian-occupied Luhansk, the death toll from a Ukrainian strike rose to 11 after more bodies were pulled from a student dormitory.
The Kyiv Post spent a day with the Lava brigade of Ukraine's Khartiia Korps in the Kharkiv region, where soldiers launch Leleka and Bulava reconnaissance drones near the Russian border.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson has spoken out in favor of Ukraine joining NATO. According to Politico Europe, Jonson said in Prague on Saturday that the country's battle-tested armed forces and growing defense industry would strengthen the alliance.
Russia convened an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss a Ukrainian strike on an occupiers' headquarters in Starobilsk, falsely presenting it as an attack on a student dormitory. Denmark's UN representative Kristina Marcus Lassen strongly rebutted the Russian claims.
Ukrainian drones attacked an industrial facility in Russia's Perm region on May 23, according to local authorities and Ukrainian outlet Exilenova+.
In spring 2022, a few thousand Ukrainian soldiers held the city of Mariupol for nearly three months against an overwhelming Russian force. They were defeated but never broken – the siege proved to Ukrainians that Putin could be defied.
Ukraine's SBU security service has broken up an agent network of Russia's FSB intelligence service that was gathering information for missile strikes on Kyiv and Odesa. The suspects face life imprisonment with asset confiscation.
According to 24tv, Putin held a meeting with representatives of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff. The generals assured him that Russia could fully capture the Donbas by fall 2026.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after a video call with German Friedrich Merz (CDU), British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron that the allies see Ukraine strengthened in the war. Zelenskyy announced this via social networks, as reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Defense Ministry to prepare retaliatory measures for an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk. The Ukrainian General Staff rejected the account, stating the target was a Russian military base.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and his Hungarian counterpart Anita Orbán have met in person for the first time. According to the BBC, Sybiha described the conversation as open and constructive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has discussed efforts to end Russia's war of aggression with French Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Friedrich Merz. According to Ukrainska Pravda, the leaders agreed to a meeting of their national security advisors soon.
Ukrainian farmers who fled Russian occupation in 2022 are trying to revive their farms near the front line. Besides the war's aftermath, they are battling banks that are collecting old debts, as agricultural expert Denys Marchuk told 24 Kanal.
Ukraine attacked a student dormitory in the Russian-occupied city of Starobilsk in Luhansk with drones, killing four people and injuring at least 35, according to Euronews.
Mid-level Kremlin officials see no future for President Vladimir Putin's political system, according to a report by the independent Russian outlet Verstka.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has put a figure on Russian army losses in the war of aggression against Ukraine since the beginning of the year. According to Ukrinform, 145,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since January 1.
Ukrainians with a Group II disability have received higher payments in 2026, following the pension indexation that took effect on March 1, reports 24tv.
Oleksandr Usyk met Ukrainian war veterans who now repair the destroyed power grid ahead of his title fight on May 23 in Cairo. Usyk called them 'champions of light'.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has officially recorded more than 13,300 cases of chemical munitions use by Russian forces. The intensity of attacks has surged sharply since 2024, according to Ukraine's Defense Ministry.
Ukraine will use its public warning systems to announce the daily national minute of silence at 9 a.m., Yuliia Svyrydenko announced on Friday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Ukrainian long-range drones struck a Russian oil refinery in Yaroslavl on the night of May 22. The target lies about 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
Ukraine recaptured about 400 square kilometers of territory after thousands of Starlink terminals were blocked for Russian troops, according to a US military intelligence report.
Ukrainian drone attacks have expanded into Russian territory, bypassing Russian air defenses. According to Tagesspiegel, the attacks reveal a geographic problem that Putin cannot solve.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have killed 880 Russian soldiers in the past 24 hours, according to 24tv. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues to inflict heavy losses on the aggressor.
Robert Fico has rejected German Friedrich Merz's proposal to grant Ukraine an associate EU status without voting rights while accession talks continue. Fico argued the EU should prioritize other candidate countries.
Ukrainian industry, transport businesses and sectoral associations are demanding an urgent revision of the state policy limiting the service life of freight cars. According to UNIAN, the current age-based write-off practice threatens Ukraine with the loss of roughly a third of its freight car fleet.
Ukraine is developing affordable interceptor missiles to counter Russian Shahed drones, the Kyivpost reports, citing Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Several systems are already in the testing phase.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed a strike on an oil refinery in the Russian city of Syzran. According to 24tv, the attack occurred on May 21 in Oblast.
The case around Andriy Yermak has become a political problem for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and could complicate Ukraine’s EU path.
A Russian drone attack triggered an explosion in Dnipro early Thursday, following a deadly strike that killed two people on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has published the rights and duties of citizens during general mobilization. According to 24tv, military service is at the center.
Unmanned Systems Forces and the SBU security service say they struck a Russian drone training and production facility in occupied Donetsk, destroying equipment, vehicles, and ammunition, and killing dozens of soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed hope that peace talks with Russia could resume in the coming weeks, citing "good contacts" with the US administration as a basis, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russian territory are intended to show Moscow that Kyiv can escalate the war, says political scientist Gustav Gressel. The attacks aim to weaken Russia's economy and military production.
Peter Magyar has reaffirmed his hope to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in early June in Berehove, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Magyar tied Budapest's consent to opening the first negotiation chapter in EU accession talks with Kyiv to a condition.
Russia launched a massive drone attack on western and central Ukraine on May 20, the BBC reported, citing the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Ukrainian Air Force shot down 75 of 84 Russian drones on May 20, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. Six drones hit their targets.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned Russia of 'devastating consequences' if it uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine during joint exercises with Belarus. Rutte made the statement at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.