Lilia Podolyak
An armed man has taken four people hostage in a Starbucks cafe in Ulm, Germany. Police detained the man as he tried to leave the cafe with the hostages, using a firearm. None of the hostages were injured.
German Chancellor Scholz will visit Washington in early February to meet with President Biden and discuss additional assistance to Ukraine. The U.S. has exhausted existing congressional authorizations for Ukraine aid and is seeking to join forces with Germany, Kyiv's main arms and aid supplier, to increase support.
During Pashinyan's visit to Tbilisi, the prime ministers of Georgia and Armenia signed a memorandum of strategic partnership. This formalizes the historically strong alliance and friendship between the two neighboring countries.
Since the invasion, Taiwan has become the largest supplier of metalworking machines to Russia, delivering $29 million worth of equipment through Turkey, despite Taiwan's pro-Ukrainian stance. These machines are vital to Russia's military industry for the production of precision weapons, but sanctions do not restrict the export of most Taiwanese machines.
Lina Borozdina, a biochemist born in Odesa in 1969, made a suborbital flight to an altitude of 88 km aboard Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity space shuttle. She had been waiting for this flight for 18 years, having purchased a ticket worth $200,000.
Zelenskyy awarded 54 Ukrainian soldiers with state awards, 32 of them posthumously. The awards ranged from the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky to the Medal for Saved Life.
A jury has ordered former President Trump to pay author Elizabeth Jean Carroll $83. 3 million in damages and fines for defamatory comments about her rape allegations against him. Trump said he would appeal the "absolutely ridiculous" verdict.
A Houthi missile hit the Trafigura tanker carrying Russian fuel in the Red Sea, causing a fire on board. Warships were sent to help the vessel.
The Russian army shelled Sumy region 22 times, causing 100 explosions and damaging eight settlements, reports the Sumy Regional Military Administration. Mortars, small arms, artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, and mines were used during the attacks.
The United States plans to deploy nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years due to the growing threat from Russia, according to Pentagon documents. The move involves deploying warheads three times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the new RAF Lakenheath facility in Suffolk.
President of Ukraine Zelenskyy has launched the All-Ukrainian Economic Platform "Made in Ukraine" to establish a dialogue between the government and business, promote Ukrainian goods, and improve the investment climate in the country. The platform also aims to support the return of citizens displaced by armed aggression.
Ukraine and France have held another round of talks on a bilateral security agreement, the Office of the President of Ukraine reports. They began to detail the draft agreement and agreed to continue negotiations.
An apartment in a high-rise building in Brovary, Kyiv region, is on fire, and one victim, the owner of the apartment, is known. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, and firefighting efforts are ongoing.
Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov met with relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war who may have been on board the Russian Il-76M plane that recently crashed. He stated that there is currently no reliable information about the passengers of the plane, and that Russia's statement about the transportation of 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war for exchange requires further investigation.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has established the Council for Support of Entrepreneurship under Martial Law. The Council aims to consolidate the efforts of the state and business, develop entrepreneurial potential, ensure the right to do business under martial law, and promote effective interaction between the state and business entities.
The transfer scheme will speed up border procedures and aims to reduce border and road traffic while improving international transportation services.
The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has added 70 components of the Russian Granat-4 reconnaissance drone to its Unified Database of Foreign Arms Components, underscoring Russia's dependence on foreign-made parts for its military equipment. The database currently contains nearly 3,000 foreign parts used in Russian and Iranian weapons.
The DobroDiy Charity Exchange is a multidisciplinary organization. On the official website, every philanthropist can find a relevant project and support it with a donation.
MP Yuzhanina points out that Hetmantsev wants to squeeze business and does not care what the consequences are for the state.
A grant of UAH 1,000,000 from the Vadym Stolar Foundation will be distributed among the three organizations.
District hospital renovated in Lviv region.
Bribe-taking judges of 2023 who went down in history.
MP believes that an objective investigation into abuses at the National Bank will demonstrate the rule of law in Ukraine.
Russian terrorists have launched drone strikes on the Ukrainian city of Odesa, causing significant damage and injuring several people.
Ukrainian tennis player Diana Yastremska lost in the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open, but received support from the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, for her impressive dedication and strength of spirit.
Ban on Euro-3 and Euro-4 fuel. Is this a plus or a minus for motorists?
Doctors of the Kyiv Okhmatdyt examined young residents of Dnipropetrovs'k region.
Tax officials in Ukraine consider themselves "masters of life" who can create problems for businesses using tools provided by lawmakers, including Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's tax committee, says political expert Serhiy Gaidai.
According to Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, 50% of Ukraine's total passenger traffic passes through the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing point. Nevertheless, there are currently no queues at the border, and the previously blocked checkpoints have been unblocked.
Since the beginning of the invasion, more than 35,000 Ukrainian citizens have returned home through the crossing points on the border with Russia and Belarus, despite the fact that the crossing points are officially closed,.