World

One image dominates Ukrainian news sites this morning. The photograph of a dishevelled, handcuffed man in his 60s wearing army camouflage was posted on Instagram by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last night. His name is Viktor Medvedchuk, he’s a central character in the story of Ukraine’s recent political history and he’s never been seen like

US President Joe Biden has described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide” and says Vladimir Putin is trying to “wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”. In a speech to voters in Iowa about rising fuel prices, Mr Biden said: “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of

Russia is concentrating its firepower on the southeast of Ukraine in a new phase of the war that could see up to three times as many Russian troops in the Donbas region. Ukraine’s military, after defeating a Russian attempt to storm the capital Kyiv and forcing Russian soldiers to withdraw from across the north of

For the second time in her life Kristina Dubyna is a refugee in her own country. Only this time her fears and anxiety over the future for herself and four-year-old son Lev are being compounded by British bureaucracy. The 40-year-old English teacher and college administrator fled her home in Kyiv, along with her husband and

Ukrainian troops cheered and celebrated after reportedly shooting down a Russian drone with a British-made missile, new video shows. In footage shared online, a Ukrainian soldier is seen firing a laser-guided missile into the sky. After it seemingly hits the target – although this is not shown in the video – loud cheers are heard,

Pulling up outside a small house in a rural village near Kyiv, the police team stepped out of their van with another body bag. A young man was waiting at the front gate to usher them into the garden where, next to a shallow grave in a patch of mud, lay the body of his

French President Emmanuel Macron will face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the presidential elections after making it through the first round. According to the official Ipsos exit poll, the president secured 28.1% of the vote and his rival won 23.3%. French voters will go to the polls again on 24 April to decide whether

Ukraine is bracing itself for a “hard battle” to come as Russian forces continue amassing in the east of the country, with officials urging civilians to flee. While the threat to the capital Kyiv has receded, it is rising in the east, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned. “This will be a hard battle, we believe in

Poland has summoned the French ambassador after the country’s prime minister was called a “far-right anti-Semite” by Emmanuel Macron. The comments came after Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki compared the French president’s phone calls with Vladimir Putin to negotiating with Hitler. Mr Macron is a day away from France’s presidential election – where his main rival

A missile that exploded near a Ukrainian railway station, which officials claim killed at least 39 people, had the words ‘for’ and ‘children’ painted on it in Russian. Up to 4,000 people – believed to be largely women and children – were at Kramatorsk station on Friday morning when the blast hit. The grammar of

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded a “firm global response” as he blamed Russian forces for a missile strike near a railway station which killed at least 50 people, with the UK set to provide fresh military aid to his country. The UK will send armoured vehicles to Ukraine for the first time as part of

The situation in the Ukrainian town of Borodyanka is “significantly more dreadful” than in nearby Bucha, where Russian forces have been suspected of killing civilians, Ukraine’s president has said. More than 300 people have been killed by Russian forces in Bucha – 50 of whom were executed. Moscow has denied targeting civilians and said verified

Ukraine can “absolutely” win the war against Russia as Moscow continues to struggle to make key breakthroughs, the Pentagon has said. Russian leader Vladimir Putin “has achieved zero of his strategic goals” and is “really only taking control of a small number of population centres”, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. It comes as US officials

The situation in Luhansk will be the same or “even worse” than in places such as Mariupol and Bucha, the region’s governor has said. Russia has withdrawn troops from around Kyiv after failing to penetrate the city and is said to be focusing on the east, where it has long supported separatist fighters. Luhansk Governor

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia wants to turn Ukrainians into “silent slaves” as he told the UN Security Council that Vladimir Putin’s forces must be brought to justice. The Ukrainian president was addressing the United Nations Security Council and said that Russia is “pursuing its policy of destroying ethnic and religious diversity during its

Satellite pictures appear to show dead bodies lying for weeks on the streets of Bucha, where Russian soldiers are accused of committing “war crimes”. Russian forces are also said to be preparing to launch a fresh offensive in the south east of Ukraine after pulling back from around Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to

Wearing plastic gloves and a face mask, Serhij Matuyk has seen horror beyond description over the past month. His job is to retrieve and bury bodies in the Ukrainian town of Bucha where evidence has emerged of possible war crimes by Russian forces. “They are b******s,” he said, standing by a large white van, waiting

Russian soldiers have been accused of carrying out “genocide” in the Ukrainian town of Bucha amid harrowing evidence of mass graves, torture and bodies lying in the streets as Kremlin forces pull back from Kyiv. Ukraine officials say some victims were shot in the head with their hands tied behind their back and there has been

It started with a Russian artillery shell that brought the house down on top of them. “We were buried under rubble in the basement. My son, my wife, my mother,” Aleksey told Sky News. “I used a crowbar to break through a brick wall. It was a miracle we got out.” Aleksey and his family

The Russian military has dug up Chernobyl’s poisonous legacy and potentially dispersed it into Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, say Ukrainian officials. Russia occupied the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster early in their invasion with 1,500 troops and armoured vehicles. The soil is heavily contaminated but, despite that, Russian troops were ordered to dig defensive