People walk through the Fomin Botanical Garden in Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Kyiv had its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20, with 13 centimeters of snow rapidly covering the capital.
Municipal workers clean the snow in the Taras Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Traffic ground to a halt across the city while the number of road accidents surged. For example, a tram derailed on Kyrylivska Street in the Podil neighborhood.
Traffic remained slow on Dec. 21 as Kyiv was dealing with the consequences of the season's first heavy snowfall. Mask wearing is mandatory on public transport in Kyiv, but passengers often pull their masks down during the ride. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The city authorities reported that they deployed 287 snow plows and 354 municipal workers to clean the snow off the streets.
A boy sleds down a hill in central Kyiv on Dec. 21. Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the winter on Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
The snowfall was accompanied by a cold snap: Temperature fell to -9 degrees Celsius on Dec. 21 and is expected to stay below zero for most of the week. Due to the cold weather, heating points have opened in Kyiv.
Kyiv saw its first heavy snowfall of the season on the evening of Dec. 20. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
On the bright side, Kyiv saw its first glimpse of sunlight in several weeks the day after the snowfall. Daily snowfalls are forecasted to begin again on Dec. 24.
Real winter came to Kyiv on Dec. 20-21, with the season's first heavy snowfall and the temperatures sliding to minus 9 Celsius. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Ukraine's Air Force struck the Pogar border checkpoint in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on March 27, destroying its military infrastructure and killing dozens of Russian troops, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on March 28.
Russia launched 172 attack and decoy drones against Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 94 drones, while 69 disappeared from radars without causing damage, according to the statement.
Since the media outlets' last update in mid-March, the names of 2,007 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties. The most recent update marks a grim milestone for the project, which began with the start of the full-scale war in February 2022.
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of $400 million in funds for Ukraine via the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF announced on March 28.
Ukraine is working to finalize agreements with European nations for additional military aid shipments as well as expanded intelligence sharing ahead of the next Ramstein summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 28.
The Financial Times reported on March 27 that the latest version of the agreement proposed by the U.S. includes terms that would grant Washington unprecedented control over Ukraine's natural resources through a joint investment fund.
The sharp decline is primarily attributed to Ukraine halting Russian gas transit through its territory on Jan. 1 after the expiration of a 2019 transit agreement.
The news came a day after a Paris summit where a number of European countries moved forward with plans to send soldiers to Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force" in case of the ceasefire with Russia.
Work on a new round of EU sanctions against Russia has started and is “at a very early stage,” one of the sources told EUobserver. The European Commission is expected to present its proposals in early summer, another diplomat told the media outlet.
Multiple Ukrainian media outlets reported, citing law enforcement sources, that the deceased was Oleksandr Plakhotnik, a member of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna (Fartherland) party and a former deputy mayor of Kamianske.
"The Russian side reserves the right, in case the Kyiv regime does not comply with this moratorium, of course, not to comply with it either," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell sits down with the former commander of Ukraine's Azov Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, to discuss the situation on the front line after three years of Russia's full-scale war, why he thinks Ukraine should change its culture of military leadership, why the U.S. army doctrine wouldn't work for Russia's war against Ukraine, and shares his takes on Russia's next steps after a potential ceasefire.
"Norway will continue to be a reliable donor to efforts to protect the civilian population and save lives," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.
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