The Latest Breaking News from Kyiv

As the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, held his carefully stage-managed annual phone-in and press conference to answer questions from journalists and ordinary Russians, EU leaders were hosting Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels at their final meeting of the year. Unsurprisingly, the war in Ukraine loomed large at both events.

John Healey has said Britain needs to ‘make the training a better fit for what the Ukrainians need’ and left the door open to it taking place in the war-torn country

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual end-of-year press conference Thursday, almost three years into his Ukraine offensive and two days after a Kyiv-orchestrated killing of a general on the streets of Moscow.

UK says it is providing ‘battle-winning capabilities’ to Kyiv including drones and munitions

John Healey told LBC that Vladimir Putin is ‘showing signs of weakness’.

Penny Wong says Australia will reopen its embassy in Ukraine after closing it in 2022 due to the war with Russia, and Fatima Payman is putting out the call for candidates for her Australia’s Voice Party.

The killing of a senior Russian general in a bombing outside his apartment building in Moscow was the boldest assassination yet of a top military officer and it again brought the war in Ukraine to the streets of the capital

In today’s newsletter: Kyiv assassinated Igor Kirillov inside enemy territory, in its most audacious operation since the war began – how will Russia respond?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Wednesday with NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels to discuss "next steps" on Russia's war as Donald Trump prepares to take office in the United States.

Editorial: Kyiv’s targeted killings expose the reach of its intelligence services, challenging the Kremlin’s war machine while sticking to the laws of war

Ukrainian security services sources say Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was a completely legitimate target as the head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defence forces