Kyiv’s wartime Christmas showcases city’s split reality Celebrations have nevertheless taken over the city despite the constant threat of Russian missiles and drones.

Since many of you ask me what life looks like in Kyiv, here’s a small story about Christmas celebrations and Kyiv’s split reality! Latest for @en.afp.com www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12...

Je conseille à toute le monde de s'abonner à la Déflagration, la newsletter (très pertinente) de @pierrealonso.com, ami et reporter en Ukraine. Sa dernière livraison parle justement d'une déflagration de drone Shahed dans sa cour à 100 mètres de son immeuble (1)

ladeflagration.substack.com/welcome

War-weary Ukrainians find solace by frontline lake Raisa Ustimenko barely looked up as a fighter jet swooped overhead, roaring over the lakeshore in Sloviansk towards the agonisingly close war front in eastern Ukraine.

“My husband said: if something flies over the lake, just dive,” said Mariana Rebets, resting a lakeshore near the eastern Ukrainian front, undeterred by drones, airstrikes, or Russian advances close by. Latest for @afp.com
www.france24.com/en/live-news...

'Back home': family who fled front buried after Kyiv strike College sweethearts Mykyta and Sofia Lamekhov had simple dreams: safety for their family and a fresh start at life, away from the war they thought they had left behind in east Ukraine.

College sweethearts Mykyta and Sofia Lamekhov had simple dreams: safety for their family and a fresh start at life, away from the war they thought they had left behind in east Ukraine. Latest for @afp.com
f24.my/BMLb

As Strikes Intensify, Kyiv Residents Spend Nights In Metro Maria Breston always used to shelter in the relative safety of her corridor at home during the Russian aerial attacks that have targeted Kyiv since the start of Moscow's invasion in 2022.

“You stop breathing. For a certain period of time, life around you just freezes. And you don't know what will happen after the explosion," said Yuliia Holovnina, describing Russian air attacks that forced her to shelter in the metro for the night. @afp.com www.barrons.com/news/as-stri...

En Ukraine, l'interminable attente des mères de soldats portés disparus Lioubov Brodovska n'avait qu'une chose en tête au moment d'aller à la rencontre de soldats ukrainiens tout juste libérés par la Russie: obtenir un signe de vie de son fils, dont elle n'a plus de nouve...

"If someone just said, 'I saw your son.' Just one word. I would carry them in my arms and kiss them," said Lyubov Brodovska, hoping Ukrainian soldiers freed in a prisoner exchange would give a sign of life of her son, who went missing in combat. @afp.com
www.france24.com/fr/info-en-c...

Ukraine's Frontline Newlyweds Have 'No Time' To Wait For Peace Gathered in a wedding hall in the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, near the front line, Anna and Pavlo Chornobai exchanged rings to the applause of a dozen of the groom's fellow soldiers.

The war has given a sense of urgency to military couples in Ukraine, many seeing no point in waiting for a  peace that seems little more than a mirage. Latest for @afpfr.bsky.social www.barrons.com/news/ukraine...

Ukrainian troops celebrate Easter as blasts punctuate Putin's truce Chaplain Volodymyr was in the middle of his Easter prayer near the front in Ukraine's Donetsk region when another explosion blasted out, piercing the air despite a 30-hour truce announced by Russia fo...

On Easter Sunday fighting continued between Russian and Ukrainian troops, officials and soldiers said -- though some told @afpnews.bsky.social the intensity of combat had temporarily decreased in some areas.
www.rfi.fr/en/internati...

No trust among Ukraine’s soldiers in Putin’s Easter ceasefire Even if Russia did hold off on attacks, it would only be for cynical reasons, said one. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

There is little faith among Ukraine's troops that the Kremlin leader would keep his word -- or that any brief pause in the fighting would lead to a wider ceasefire. In Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, for @afpnews.bsky.social www.straitstimes.com/world/europe...

Sumy buries mother and daughter victims of Russian double strike More than 100 people gathered around the chestnut-coloured coffins in the Ukrainian city of Sumy of a mother and daughter killed in a double Russian missile attack that has unleashed international con...

"They did not drive by, they did not flee -- but they stopped to help the people who were hit by a first missile. The second one took their lives," the priest said at the funeral of Maryna Chudesa and Liudmyla Sergiyenko in Sumy. Latest for @AFP
www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Recent recruits from the Da Vinci Wolves battalion did not believe Trump's promises of a quick peace, and its commander told AFP "if no one helps us, we are ready to fight with sticks". Recent work for @afpfr.bsky.social www.kyivpost.com/post/48487

En gelant l’aide militaire à l’Ukraine, les Etats-Unis offrent un nouveau cadeau inespéré à Moscou. Ils cessent de traiter ce pays, victime de l’invasion russe, comme un allié, préférant l’humilier et le rendre plus vulnérable encore.

Live updates: Trump administration to pause deliveries of military assistance to Ukraine, officials say The latest news on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the new Congress.

Breaking news: President Donald Trump has decided to pause all future deliveries of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine in an extraordinary move aimed at pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table with Russia.

Donald Trump. Hero of the Russian Federation.

"The most immediate beneficiary of the move is President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia."

« Méprisée » par Trump, l’Ukraine ne baisse ni les yeux ni les bras Le sermon plein de morgue infligé au président Zelensky par son homologue américain révolte le pays agressé, ulcéré que Washington confonde bourreau et victime. Même les voix critiques du chef de l’É…

L’Ukraine ne baisse ni les yeux ni les bras. Le sermon infligé à Zelensky par Trump révolte le pays agressé, ulcéré que Washington confonde bourreau et victime. Même les voix critiques du chef de l’État le soutiennent. De Kyiv @pierrealonso.com pour @mediapart.fr
www.mediapart.fr/journal/inte...

Outraged by Trump, Ukrainians praise Zelensky Ordinary Ukrainians were dumbfounded by Friday's raised-voice confrontation between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the White House.

Ukrainians in the streets of Kyiv didn’t mince their words after the Trump-Zelensky altercation, including one resident who said the US was « kissing the feet » of dictators like Putin. My latest for @afpfr.bsky.social www.france24.com/en/live-news...

“If they close the mine, the region will die,” said a miner in the eastern Donetsk region, where advances from Russian troops have forced many facilities to shut down. For @afpfr.bsky.social
www.kyivpost.com/post/46309

'A bad dream': Russian troops threaten Dnipropetrovsk Svitlana Rudokvas once took solace in the fact that fighting between the Ukrainian army and Russian forces was raging at a safe distance in the eastern Donetsk region neighbouring her own.

"Some people still have this idea of a psychological border, they think that Russians won't cross. We thought so too before gliding bombs hit us," said a resident of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, which fears a first Russian breakthrough. For @afpfr.bsky.social www.france24.com/en/live-news...

'No matter the faith': east Ukraine marks Epiphany despite war divide Military medic Natalya carried a jug of water blessed by priests at the Sviatogirsk monastery in east Ukraine as she celebrated Orthodox Epiphany in a Russian-affiliated church, despite the war.

Many Orthodox Ukrainians moved to a new religious calendar in a break with Moscow-linked traditions. But some still celebrate the Epiphany on January 19, including near the front where @AFP spoke to locals and to the acting head of the Sviatogirsk church www.rfi.fr/en/internati...

Soldiers From Occupied Ukraine 'Torn' By Trump's Peace Vows Ukrainian serviceman Volodya was conflicted about the prospect of a truce between Ukraine and Russia, which would leave his hometown and his mother, under Russian occupation.

“I’m torn because I want the guys to stop dying, but I want to see my mum again,” said Volodya, looking at Trump’s vows of a truce between Ukraine and Russia that would leave his hometown and his mother in Russian occupation. For @afpnews.bsky.social www.barrons.com/news/soldier...