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Many Ukraine-based humanitarian projects are in limbo after Donald Trump ordered an immediate freeze on all US aid.
Ukraine has been providing for the humanitarian needs of millions through foreign aid, with the US contributing the largest chunk.
The aid freeze is impacting organisations supporting veterans, removing land mines, providing healthcare and aiding the recovery of injured soldiers. Maria Vorotylo, a soldier’s wife who had been receiving help from Veteran Hub, wrote on Facebook that its closure was “a very severe blow”.
On the battlefield, North Korean troops have withdrawn from the frontline in part of Russia’s Kursk region after suffering heavy losses, a Ukrainian commander said.
Another commander, codenamed “Puls”, told Sky News the North Koreans were likely either learning lessons from mistakes made during their first fierce clashes or waiting for reinforcements.
And Volodymyr Zelensky has defended the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fighting in the war against Russia, stating that if half his army is disbanded then Vladimir Putin “will kill us all”.
In pictures: Kyiv hit by Russian drones
Russian drones have damaged a vintage car museum in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, pictures have shown.
Tom Watling28 January 2025 08:31
Russia fired 100 drones in overnight attack, says Kyiv
Russia fired 100 drones at targets across Ukraine overnight, Kyiv has reported, damaging apartment blocks and residential homes in three major Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine’s air force says they shot down 65 Russian drones, while 28 failed to reach their targets.
Damage has been reported in the capital of Kyiv, the city of Kharkiv in the northeast of Ukraine and in the southern city of Odesa.
Further damage was recorded in Sumy, Poltava, Cherkasy and Chernihiv.
Tom Watling28 January 2025 08:15
NATO is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect vital cables. Here’s why and how
Tom Watling28 January 2025 07:51
Four injured in Russian aerial attack on Odesa
At least four people have been injured after a Russian drone and missile attack hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of the wider region, said four residential high-rise buildings and five summer houses were hit by fragments of downed Russian drones. A 91-year-old man was among the hospitalised.
Ukraine’s state emergency services said that one person was rescued from a blocked apartment on the 19th floor of one of the buildings.
They added that 15 people were receiving psychological assistance.
Tom Watling28 January 2025 07:27
Russian air attacks injure several in Kharkiv, Ukraine officials say
An overnight Russian air attack injured four people, set a private business on fire and damaged several houses in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said today.
A 62-year-old woman was hospitalised and a 66-year-old man was injured when debris from a destroyed Russian drone fell, damaging several houses in the Kharkiv district that includes and surrounds the city of Kharkiv, the regional governor said.
Emergency services were called soon after midnight to a private business that caught fire in Kharkiv in result of a Russian drone attack, mayor Ihor Terekhov said on his Telegram channel.
Ukraine’s state emergency service said the fire engulfed production facilities. At least two people suffered acute stress reactions, including a child, the emergency service said.
It was not immediately clear what facility was burning. Video footage showed massive flames coming from what looked like an industrial building.
Arpan Rai28 January 2025 06:44
Photos: Daily life for Ukrainians in Dnipro amid backdrop of war
Arpan Rai28 January 2025 06:30
Why peace talks between Ukraine and Russia are not as simple as Trump makes out
Arpan Rai28 January 2025 06:10
North Korea partially withdraws forces from Kursk frontline – report
North Korean troops have withdrawn from the frontline in part of Russia’s Kursk region after suffering heavy losses, a Ukrainian commander said.
The North Korean troops, who have been fighting alongside Russia, have temporarily withdrawn from one of the axes of Kursk oblast where Ukraine’s 73rd Special Operation Forces (SOF) centre is deployed, colonel Oleksandr Kindratenko, an SOF spokesperson, told the Kyiv Independent.
His comments came after another commander, with codename “Puls”, told Sky News that the North Korean troops were likely either learning lessons from mistakes made during their first fierce battlefield clashes with Ukrainian soldiers or waiting for reinforcements.
Arpan Rai28 January 2025 05:45
Special report: The fatal lengths North Korean soldiers will go to to avoid capture by Ukraine
The North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Vladimir Putin’s military have shown ferocious commitment, brutality – and a determination to kill themselves rather than face capture, The Independent has been told.
A Ukrainian military source with direct knowledge of these troops has disclosed in brutal detail the extraordinary lengths to which they will go to prevent being caught.
The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley reports from Sumy:
Arpan Rai28 January 2025 05:45