Ukraine war latest news: Kiev orders mass evacuations from front lines as Russia advances

Ukraine has ordered the evacuation of 3,000 children and their parents from frontline areas, saying the situation is no longer safe for them.

Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said that the orders were for the establishment of 44 frontline settlements in the Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions “due to the severe security situation in the Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk regions.”

Kiev said this brought the total number of Ukrainians evacuated from the front line since June 1 to 150,000, as Russia sent in large numbers of troops to seize more territory.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry told an Italian newspaper that Russian athletes would not be able to represent their country at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics even if a peace deal was reached with Ukraine.

Coventry told Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Friday that at this stage there would be no change in the committee’s decision to allow Russian athletes to represent themselves in the February competition in an individual capacity only.

The IOC ruled in September that Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in Cortina, Milan, would compete as individual athletes without a flag or anthem, after banning Russia and Belarus from participating following their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In other remarks, Coventry, the first female president of the International Olympic Committee, said hosting the Games in multiple cities like Italy would become the “new normal” and that the Milan-Cortina Games would provide useful guidance for the future.

The IOC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request to confirm Coventry’s comments.

The Milano Cortina competition will take place from February 6th to 22nd.

Finnish authorities have arrested two people in connection with damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland between the capitals of Finland and Estonia earlier this week, police said on Thursday.

Damage was discovered in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone earlier on Wednesday.

The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered critical underwater infrastructure.

Helsinki police have launched an investigation into aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and serious interference with telecommunications.

Helsinki police said in a statement on Thursday that officials had imposed travel bans on two more people as a result of the ongoing investigation.

It is unclear how the men are connected to the ship, and police would not reveal their nationalities or other details.

The ship is called the Fitberg and flies the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was flying from Russia to Israel. Fourteen crew members from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were detained by Finnish authorities.

Finnish National Police Chief Ilkka Koskimïki said earlier this week that the ship had been anchored for several hours when it was discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.

He noted that investigators were not speculating on whether state-level actors were behind the damage.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will have a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to discuss peace efforts between Ukraine and Russia and issues surrounding Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul on Friday, Erdogan also said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” group of countries supporting Ukraine in Paris in the coming days.

While Zelensky and Trump are optimistic about the ongoing “peace process,” Putin seems happy to continue waging war in Ukraine.

If a ceasefire is achieved in 2026 Kilgiles Q: How much does it cost?

A Russian attack on Kharkiv killed at least two people, including a three-year-old child, according to Ukrainian authorities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the missile attack injured at least 28 people and completely destroyed a multi-story residential complex.

“Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat lives and people – despite all the efforts of the world and especially the United States in the diplomatic process, they continue to kill,” Zelensky wrote on X, describing the “heinous” attack.

Russia has denied the reports, suggesting the blast was caused by detonating Ukrainian munitions.

In his first comments since being appointed as Vladimir Zelensky’s new chief of staff, General Kyrilo Budanov thanked the Ukrainian president for his trust.

“I continue to serve Ukraine,” he wrote on his Telegram page. “For me, it is both an honor and a responsibility to focus on vital issues of the country’s strategic security during this historic moment in Ukraine.”

Budanov is part of the delegation working with the U.S. negotiating team. He also had contact with Russia on issues such as coordinating prisoner exchanges. It is unclear what role, if any, he will play in the peace process in his new position.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has chosen General Kirilo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, as his new chief of staff.

Budanov has led the military intelligence agency (GUR) since 2020.

The 39-year-old was one of Ukraine’s best-known and most popular wartime figures, known for masterminding many successful operations against Russian military assets and for his independent and enigmatic personality.

Budanov was a career military intelligence officer who brought battlefield knowledge to his new position.

He rose through the ranks of the defense establishment after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. He also took part in special operations and intelligence missions related to the fighting against Moscow-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine and Crimea before a full-scale invasion in February 2022. He was reportedly injured during one such operation.

Since that invasion, Budanov has become a key figure in Kiev’s intelligence operations, appearing regularly in interviews and briefings that combine strategic signals with psychological pressure on Russia. He has frequently warned of Moscow’s long-term intentions toward Ukraine and the region, and has portrayed the war as an existential fight for the country’s statehood.

Under Budanov, the General Intelligence Service expanded its reach, coordinating intelligence, sabotage and special operations aimed at reducing Russia’s military capabilities beyond the front lines.

Officials credited military intelligence with operations targeting Russian command structures, logistics centers, energy infrastructure and naval assets, including strikes deep into Russian territory and occupied areas of Ukraine.

Budanov’s role and public standing made him a target. He reportedly survived multiple assassination attempts by Russian security services. In November 2023, his wife Marianna was hospitalized in Kiev due to heavy metal poisoning.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service as the new chief of staff.

Zelensky fired his former chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, after anti-corruption officials began investigating alleged corruption in the energy industry.

Announcing the appointment of General Kyrilo Budanov, Zelensky said Ukraine needed to focus on security issues, developing defense and security forces and peace negotiations – areas overseen by the presidential office.

The president sees Budanov’s appointment as part of a broader effort to increase focus on security, defense development and diplomacy.

“Kairillo has professional experience in these areas and is well positioned to deliver results,” Zelensky said.

Budanov, 39, said on Telegram that his new position was “both an honor and a responsibility to focus on vital issues of the country’s strategic security at this historic moment in Ukraine.”

Moscow says Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian-occupied village in Ukraine, killing toll Kherson The number of attacks in the region has risen to 27, but Kiev denies attacking civilian targets.

Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main criminal investigative agency, said the drone attack on a cafe and hotel in the village of Khorly, where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year’s Eve as of Thursday, killed 27 people, including two children, and hospitalized 31 others.

Kyiv denies attacking civilians. Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff, told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne that the Ukrainian army “obeys the norms of international humanitarian law” and “carries out strikes specifically against Russian military targets, installations of the Russian fuel and energy sector and other legitimate targets.”

Likhovy said that the Ukrainian army’s clear target list for the New Year’s Eve attack did not include attacks on occupied areas of the Kherson region.