Scarred by war, Ukrainian children carry on after losing parents, homes and innocence
US sending $325 million in more military aid to Ukraine
April 19, 2023 GMTSTOCKHOLM (AP) — The U.S. is sending Ukraine about $325 million in additional military aid, including an enormous amount of artillery rounds and ammunition as the launch of the spring offensive against Russian forces approaches, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Putin, Zelenskyy rally troops with war poised for new phase
April 18, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited command posts of his forces fighting in Ukraine for the second time in two months, officials said Tuesday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his latest trip near the front line.
In Ukrainian village, a family lives under cloud of shelling
April 10, 2023 GMTBOHOYAVLENKA, Ukraine (AP) — In a small village in eastern Ukraine the sounds of war echo in the distance while 10-year old Khrystyna Ksenofontova plays. She pets the neighborhood cats, paints and, like everyone else here, hopes the fighting will end soon.
Russia hits illegally annexed Ukraine areas from ground, air
April 7, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces used ground- and air-fired missiles, rocket launchers and weaponized drones to bombard the provinces of Ukraine it has illegally annexed but doesn't fully control, causing casualties, building damage and power outages Friday.
BAKHMUT, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian troops on Wednesday defended positions in Bakhmut in eastern Ukrain e amid a relentless push by Russian forces to capture a city that has been turned into a wasteland by seven months of fighting.
Russian advance stalls in Ukraine’s Bakhmut, think tank says
March 12, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s advance seems to have stalled in Moscow's campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a leading think tank said in an assessment of the longest ground battle of the war.
UK: Russian advance in Bakhmut could come with heavy losses
March 11, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces have made progress in their campaign to capture the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the focus of the war's longest ground battle, but their assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses, British military officials said Saturday.
Ukrainian firefighters on risky mission to save lives, homes
March 11, 2023 GMTKOSTIANTYNIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Thick grey smoke pours from the roof as the firefighters arrive at the brick house, one of several homes hit by Russian shelling in a residential neighborhood of Kostiantynivka.
Why Bakhmut has taken center stage in war in Ukraine
March 8, 2023 GMTThe six-month battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been the longest and bloodiest fight of the war so far.
The flowers of war: Ukraine smith turns guns, ammo into art
March 8, 2023 GMTA blacksmith in the Russian-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk is practically beating swords into ploughshares, and turning one man’s trash into treasures. Viktor Mikhalev takes weapons and ammunition and produces what he calls the flowers of war.
Ukraine plant builds 6-person bunkers for war’s front lines
March 6, 2023 GMTKRYVYI RIH, Ukraine (AP) — The pops of welding torches and the piercing whine of angle grinders fill the spacious production floor at a steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, the city in central Ukraine that is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ’s hometown.
Russian shelling hits Ukrainian town; Bakhmut battle rages
March 5, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling destroyed homes and killed one person in northern Ukraine's Kharkiv province, the region's governor said Sunday, while fighting raged in the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut.
International journalists federation suspends Russian union
February 22, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The International Federation of Journalists has suspended with immediate effect the Russian Union of Journalists over its action since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its role in annexed Ukrainian territories.
Russia claims minor Ukraine progress; Kyiv readies offensive
February 15, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces claimed some battlefield success Wednesday as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine labored to gain momentum almost a year after it began, while Ukraine said it needs another few months to stage its own offensive.
Hilltop coal-mining town a tactical prize in Ukraine war
February 11, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a small coal-mining town on Ukraine’s eastern front line, a fight for strategic superiority is being waged in a battlefield steeped with symbolism as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears.
Ukraine defense minister expects help from West on warplanes
February 5, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's defense minister expressed confidence Sunday that Western allies would agree to the country's latest weapons request — warplanes to fight off Russian forces that invaded nearly a year ago.
Ukraine: ‘Fast-track’ talks underway for missiles, planes
January 28, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in “fast-track” talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday.
Brutality of Russia’s Wagner gives it lead in Ukraine war
January 27, 2023 GMTFierce battles in eastern Ukraine have thrown a new spotlight on Russia's Wagner Group, a private military company led by a rogue millionaire with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine forces pull back from Donbas town after onslaught
January 25, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces have conducted an organized retreat from a town in the eastern region of the Donbas, an official said Wednesday, in what amounted to a rare but modest battlefield triumph for Russia after a series of setbacks in its invasion that began almost 11 months ago.
Ukrainian civilians vanish and languish in Russian-run jails
January 17, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Alina Kapatsyna often dreams about getting a phone call from her mother. In those visions, her mother tells her that she’s coming home.
Men in military uniforms took 45-year-old Vita Hannych away from her house in eastern Ukraine in April.
Shakhtar owner pledges $25M to Ukrainian soldiers, families
January 16, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Shakhtar Donetsk owner Rinat Akhmetov pledged Monday to give $25 million to help the families of soldiers who defended the city of Mariupol when it was attacked by the Russian military.
‘What madness looks like’: Russia intensifies Bakhmut attack
January 10, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscow's wider war.
Ukraine: Doctors from occupied city open hospital in Kyiv
December 13, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A nurse wounded by a Russian sniper was spirited out wrapped in sheets. Another, sickened by the thought of working for the people who destroyed his home, sneaked out a side door and walked out through Mariupol’s shattered streets.
Shells hit near nuclear plant; Blackouts roll across Ukraine
November 20, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Powerful explosions from shelling shook Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the global nuclear watchdog said Sunday, calling for “urgent measures to help prevent a nuclear accident” in the Russian-occupied facility.
Russia’s hope for Ukraine win revealed in battle for Bakhmut
October 28, 2022 GMTBAKHMUT, Ukraine (AP) — Russian soldiers pummeling a city in eastern Ukraine with artillery are slowly edging closer in their attempt to seize Bakhmut, which has remained in Ukrainian hands during the eight-month war despite Moscow's goal of capturing the entire Donbas region bordering Russia.
Live updates | Russia-Ukraine War
October 24, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s president said Monday that Kyiv has been able to defend the independence of the country in the eight months of the war waged by Russia.
In his nightly address, Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the eight-month anniversary of the invasion and noted that the Ukrainian forces are advancing in the partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions and also intend to retake the Zaporizhzhia region and the annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian woman’s quest to retrieve body of prisoner of war
October 23, 2022 GMTCHUBYNSKE, Ukraine (AP) — In the last, brief conversations Viktoria Skliar had with her detained boyfriend, the Ukrainian prisoner of war was making tentative plans for life after his release in an upcoming exchange with Russia.
Russian, Ukrainian troops gird for major battle in Kherson
October 21, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian and Ukrainian troops appeared Thursday to be girding for a major battle over the strategic southern industrial port city of Kherson, in a region which Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed and subjected to martial law.
Russian official says ‘practical’ issues delay visit to POWs
October 20, 2022 GMTGENEVA (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross has conducted at least five visits to Ukrainian prisoners of war since Russia invaded Ukraine, a Russian diplomat said Thursday while insisting that “practical arrangements” were holding up a trip to a prison where dozens of POWs died.
Putin tightens grip on Ukraine and Russia with martial law
October 19, 2022 GMTUkraine: Rockets strike mayor’s office in occupied Donetsk
October 16, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Kremlin officials on Sunday blamed Ukraine for a rocket attack that struck the mayor’s office in Donetsk, a city controlled by the separatists, while Ukrainian officials said Russian rocket strikes hit a town across from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, among other targets.
Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine-War
October 14, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations chief has reiterated his appeal to Russia to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross “full access” to all prisoners of war.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday this is required under international humanitarian law, including the Third Geneva Convention, according to U.N.
Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War
October 11, 2022 GMTLYMAN, Ukraine — Covered head-to-toe in protective suits, forensic workers pulled several bodies wrapped in black plastic from a mass grave Tuesday in Ukraine’s devastated city of Lyman.
It was part of an arduous effort to piece together evidence of what happened under more than four months of Russian occupation.
Bodies exhumed from mass grave in Ukraine’s liberated Lyman
October 11, 2022 GMTLYMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Covered head-to-toe in protective suits, forensic workers pulled several bodies wrapped in black plastic from a mass grave Tuesday in Ukraine's devastated city of Lyman, part of an arduous effort to piece together evidence of what happened under more than four months of Russian occupation.
Ukrainian authorities take stock of ruins in liberated Lyman
October 8, 2022 GMTLYMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities are just beginning to sift through the wreckage of the devastated city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine as they assess the humanitarian toll, and possibility of war crimes, from a months-long Russian occupation.
Putin signs annexation of Ukrainian regions as losses mount
October 5, 2022 GMTLive Updates: Russia-Ukraine War
October 5, 2022 GMTRussian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russia is taking ownership of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest.
Putin signed a decree Wednesday ordering the creation of a state company to manage the facility and said all workers now need Russian permission to work there.
Russia withdraws troops after Ukraine encircles key city
October 1, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After being encircled by Ukrainian forces, Russia pulled troops out Saturday from an eastern Ukrainian city that it had been using as a front-line hub. It was the latest victory for the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has humiliated and angered the Kremlin.
Russia blindfolds, detains Ukraine nuclear plant chief
October 1, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Ukraine’s nuclear power provider said Saturday, reigniting long-simmering fears over the plant's security.
Russia to annex more of Ukraine on Friday at the Kremlin
September 29, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia planned to annex more of Ukraine on Friday in an escalation of the seven-month war that was expected to isolate the Kremlin further, draw more international punishment and bring Ukraine extra military, political and economic support.
Ukraine’s president: No talks with Putin if its land annexed
September 28, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukraine’s president warned Tuesday that Russia’s just concluded “sham referendums” and attempts to annex Ukrainian territory rule out any talks with Moscow as long as Vladimir Putin remains president, and called for Russia’s “complete isolation” and tough new global sanctions.
Kremlin announces vote, paves way to annex part of Ukraine
September 27, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Kremlin paved the way Tuesday to annex more of Ukraine and escalate the war by claiming that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly supported joining with Russia in stage-managed referendums the U.S.
Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War
September 27, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine — Pro-Moscow officials say residents in one of the four occupied areas of Ukraine voted to join Russia in Kremlin-orchestrated referendums.
According to Russia-installed election officials in Zaporizhzhia, 93.11% of the ballots cast in the vote were in support of the annexation.
Ukrainians scared by Russia’s preordained referendums
September 26, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — After seven months of war, many Ukrainians fear even more suffering and political repression as referendums orchestrated by the Kremlin portend Russia’s imminent annexation of four occupied regions.
Occupied Ukraine holds Kremlin-staged vote on joining Russia
September 23, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Kremlin-orchestrated referendum got underway Friday in occupied regions of Ukraine that sought to make them part of Russia, with some officials carrying ballots to apartment blocks accompanied by gun-toting police.
Tears and hugs for Russians called up to fight in Ukraine
September 22, 2022 GMTZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Russia escalated its military and political campaign Thursday to capture Ukrainian territory, rounding up Russian army reservists to fight, preparing votes on annexing occupied areas and launching new deadly attacks.
EXPLAINER: What’s behind referendums in occupied Ukraine?
September 22, 2022 GMTFour occupied regions in Ukraine are set to start voting Friday in Kremlin-engineered referendums on whether to become part of Russia, setting the stage for Moscow to annex the areas in a sharp escalation of the nearly seven-month war.
4 Ukrainian regions schedule votes this week to join Russia
September 20, 2022 GMT‘Torment of hell’: Ukraine medic describes Russian torture
September 16, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A volunteer Ukrainian medic held captive three months by Russian forces in Ukraine's besieged port city of Mariupol told U.S.
Eastern Ukraine towns hit in overnight strikes
September 11, 2022 GMTPOKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Through the debris-strewn rooms of the bomb-blasted house, the incessant ringing of a phone punctuates the crunch of broken glass splintering underfoot as police lay out a body bag.
N. Korea may send workers to Russian-occupied east Ukraine
September 1, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As the war in Ukraine stretches into its seventh month, North Korea is hinting at its interest in sending construction workers to help rebuild Russian-occupied territories in the country's east.
On Ukraine’s front line, a fight to save premature babies
August 22, 2022 GMTPOKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Echoing down the corridors of eastern Ukraine's Pokrovsk Perinatal Hospital are the loud cries of tiny Veronika.
Born nearly two months prematurely weighing 1.5 kilograms (3 pounds, 4 ounces), the infant receives oxygen through a nasal tube to help her breathe while ultraviolet lamps inside an incubator treat her jaundice.
Fate of Ukrainian lands held by Russia still seems unclear
August 22, 2022 GMTTALLINN, Estonia (AP) — According to Russian state TV, the future of the Ukrainian regions captured by Moscow's forces is all but decided: Referendums on becoming part of Russia will soon take place there, and the joyful residents who were abandoned by Kyiv will be able to prosper in peace.
Donetsk leader calls for ‘beneficial’ ties with North Korea
August 17, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The head of Russian proxy forces in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region has sent a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calling for cooperation amid signs the North is considering sending laborers for restoration projects in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
Ukrainian military says it repelled more than dozen attacks
August 15, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian military said Monday that it had repelled more than a dozen Russian attacks in the country’s east and north, including attempts to advance on key cities in the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas.
Five Europeans go on trial in separatist-controlled Ukraine
August 15, 2022 GMTFive European citizens captured in eastern Ukraine went on trial Monday in a court administered by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk, Russian media reported.
The five — including Swede Matthias Gustafsson, Croat Vjekoslav Prebeg, and Britons John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy — all pleaded not guilty to charges of mercenarism and “undergoing training to seize power by force,” according to Russian media.
Russian shelling heavy in east; Ukraine strikes key bridge
August 13, 2022 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia's military pounded residential areas across Ukraine overnight, claiming gains, as Ukrainian forces pressed a counteroffensive to try to take back an occupied southern region, striking the last working bridge over a river in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday.