Vladimir Putin was dealt a blow with Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk oblast but his forces ended the year with momentum in the Donbas.

Lithuania’s national opera house had stopped showing Tchaikovsky’s 1892 masterpiece in solidarity with Ukraine over the war with Russia. Then a new minister expressed fondness for the Russian composer,

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday, Russian television presenter Pavel Zarubin said, as a contract allowing for Russian gas to transit through Ukraine nears its expiry date.

While Russia is mass-producing machinery at state-owned industries, Ukraine has spawned hundreds of entrepreneur-led defense startups by slashing regulation and cutting taxes.

The Ukrainian energy network has been so battered by Russian attacks that officials are seeking out new options to prevent a crisis, like renting floating power plants and scavenging scrapped ones from the region.

European Union leaders insist that no decisions can be taken about the future of Ukraine without its consent or behind their backs.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that European leaders must acknowledge the need to change their strategy regarding Ukraine.

The funds will help upgrade Ukraine's air defenses, while also equipping the country with additional CV90 armored combat vehicles.

France is drumming up support for a peacekeeping force. It may be Europe’s only option to prevent an even bloodier war.

Ukraine said on Friday that Colonel General Alexei Kim, a deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, ordered a missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine in August that killed Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans and wounded two of the agency's journalists.