War in Ukraine

As Russia faces mounting military and political setbacks, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is increasingly leaning on nuclear threats—from “unlimited-range” missiles to doomsday torpedoes—to project strength that experts say the Kremlin can no longer guarantee.

Olha Kurtmallaieva has been waiting for her husband to return from Russian captivity for over three and a half years. How does she navigate her life, and what gives her the strength to continue fighting?

While Russia outmatches Ukraine in military size and industrial weight, Ukraine’s resistance has endured for nearly four years thanks to the ability to stay technologically one step ahead, building tools that replace soldiers in the most dangerous places. That edge is now being challenged as Russia adapts faster and scales wider. Which technologies may define Ukraine’s fight next year?

Hundreds of high-precision CNC machines from Chinese-German manufacturer PRIMINER have flowed into some of Russia’s most sensitive military-industrial plants—from drone makers to missile-system suppliers—even as sanctions were meant to shut those channels down, documents obtained through a UNITED24 Media investigation show.

Ukraine and France have signed a long-term defense cooperation pact, under which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Emmanuel Macron agreed to deepen military coordination for the next decade. Among the key elements of the agreement is the potential transfer of French Rafale multirole fighter jets—a type Ukraine has never operated before.

Ukraine’s nuclear power plants operate under constant threat from Russian missile and drone attacks. UNITED24 Media received rare access to the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant—one of only three Ukrainian nuclear facilities still under Kyiv’s control—to see how it is protecting itself and keeping the country supplied with electricity during the war.