Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 04-24-2025

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he believes Russia and Ukraine “both want peace, despite hatred” and he called on the two sides to “get to the table.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – “There’s a lot of hatred there. There’s a lot of blood, a lot of disgust, but I hope we’re gonna get there for the sake of a lot of young people that are dying,” Trump said. He seized the moment in front of the world’s cameras, as he welcomed Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and finance minister Jens Stoltenberg, former secretary-general of NATO to the White House Cabinet Room.

Trump was joined by his Cabinet Secretaries Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, Scott Bessent as well as his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.  As he entered the White House with Støre, Trump was asked by a reporter if he thought Putin would listen to him. “Yes,” he replied.

Even while welcoming Zelensky to South Africa, Ramaphosa has maintained warm ties with Russia, a historical ally of the post-apartheid government.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his first visit to South Africa on Thursday for agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire in the war with Russia so that peace talks could begin.

Ramaphosa threw South Africa’s weight behind the push for an end to the more than three-year war, holding talks with Zelensky hours after agreeing in a call with US President Donald Trump that the war should be ended urgently.

Ukraine has been working on restructuring of the GDP warrants since 2024 Eurobond restructuring, but so far it has achieved no result despite communication between the government and hedge funds.

Ukraine’s government failed to agree on new GDP-warrants’ restructuring terms with their holders, which include Aurelius Capital Management LP and VR Capital Group, Bloomberg reported. 

GDP warrants, or value recovery instruments (VRI), are a type of sovereign financial instrument where creditors get interest based on the success of the economy (GDP growth). The GDP warrants were issued during Ukraine’s 2015 debt restructuring.

Kyiv Post reveals behind-the-scenes negotiations in one of the major obstacles to full Polish-Ukrainian cooperation: how to deal with the historical legacy of the Volhynia massacres.

The earth that has lain silent for decades finally began to speak today. On Thursday, April 24, the first exhumation works began in what was once the village of Puzhnyky, now in western Ukraine, though populated almost entirely by ethnic Poles in 1939.

Ukrainian-Polish talks, which began last year, about how to come to terms with the history of the Volhynia massacres are yielding tangible results in alleviating a dispute that has soured relations between the two countries and their societies.

Russia is using schools to promote nationalism and militarism, rewriting textbooks and adding pro-war content to foster youth support for its war in Ukraine.

World leaders condemn Russia’s deadly missile strike on Kyiv, calling it a major setback to peace efforts and urging stronger support for Ukraine amid escalating attacks on civilian targets.

Foreign officials and world leaders slammed Russia’s missile strike on Kyiv that killed at least nine and injured more than 60 on Thursday, April 24, calling it a brutal attack and a big blow to any hopes for peace.

United Kingdom: “A Vicious Attack”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the assault as “a vicious attack” and condemned it as incompatible with peace efforts.

Footage shows intense combat, first aid for a wounded Ukrainian, and the team’s withdrawal after completing the mission.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported that a platoon of North Korean (DPRK) soldiers was eliminated in close combat during an operation in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

The SSO shared video footage of the assault on Telegram Thursday, writing:

The head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service said he had a phone call with his US counterpart, calling the talk “constructive” and saying he does not rule out a meeting in the near future.

Sergey Naryshkin, the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), said he held a phone call with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and hinted at a forthcoming face-to-face meeting sometime soon.

Speaking to Russian state media TASS, Naryshkin said “I had a telephone conversation with my colleague, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]. It was a very constructive conversation. So I do not rule out the possibility of a meeting in the near future.”

Donald Trump has described one of Moscow’s largest attacks on Kyiv in recent months as “very bad timing.” The US president pleads with Putin to stop, but won’t criticize him.

US President Donald Trump has called Moscow’s Thursday attack on Kyiv “not necessary” but stopped short of criticizing the attack that killed at least eight and injured dozens more. 

In the early hours of Thursday, explosions rang across Kyiv as Moscow launched 215 missiles and drones across Ukraine in one of its largest attacks in recent months. 

In a package of 150 new trade measures against Russia, Britain said it would impose a full ban on video game controller exports that could be used to pilot drones on the frontline with Ukraine.

The UK on Thursday announced a ban on video game controllers exported to Russia that could be repurposed to pilot drones and condemned Moscow’s latest deadly strike on Kyiv.

In a package of 150 new trade measures against Russia, Britain said it would impose a full ban on video game controller exports that could be used to pilot drones on the frontline with Ukraine.

Short version, Kremlin talking points aren’t the same thing as battlefield reality.

General: On Wednesday, US President Donald J. Trump, using the platform Truth Social, attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for not agreeing to Russia’s invasion and takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and – according to Trump – irresponsibly impeding peace negotiations with Russia.

The US leader went on to make some of his most detailed comments yet on Crimea, its history, and strategic significance to Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine’s state-owned bank was awarded compensation after Russia illegally seized its assets from Crimea in 2018 and has been fighting to secure the cash since then.

Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank registered seizure of Russian assets in France worth approximately €87 million ($99 million) as a part of an award of damages against Russia for expropriating the bank’s assets in annexed Crimea. 

Oschadbank reported confirmation of the legal action the bank received on April 23, according to its press release. 

Zelensky called Ukraine’s willingness to negotiate with Russia “a big compromise,” as he addressed Thursday’s missile and drone attacks that killed civilians and injured more than 80.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine is fulfilling all proposals made by its international partners, while emphasizing that it “cannot do only what contradicts our Constitution.”

He revealed that all provisions of the so-called “mineral agreement” that conflicted with Ukraine’s Constitution had been removed, and the parties signed a memorandum that fully complies with Ukrainian law.

Last night’s strike on Ukraine was the largest single Russian attack since February 2022 and coincided with Donald Trump’s latest criticism of President Zelensky.

The FSB claims that it had killed two alleged saboteurs ordered by Ukraine to carry out a drone attack on a Russian petrochemical plant.

In Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, security forces killed two Central Asian nationals accused by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of planning a terrorist attack on a local petrochemical facility using first-person view (FPV) drones.

According to the claim, the suspects were allegedly acting on orders from Kyiv and intended to strike the facility with drones equipped with foreign-made explosives. The FSB said the men were in contact with a “Ukrainian handler” and were followers of an international terrorist organization banned in Russia, though it did not specify which one.

The Trump administration has been trying to broker a deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the three-year war, floating the idea of recognising Russian control of Crimea as part of a peace settlement.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it agreed with US President Donald Trump, who said on social media that Ukraine had “lost” the Crimean peninsula seized by Russia in 2014 “years ago”.

The Trump administration has been trying to broker a deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the three-year war, floating the idea of recognising Russian control of Crimea as part of a peace settlement.

The writer’s remains were transferred by Moscow during the recent prisoner exchange and positively identified through DNA testing.

The body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died while in Russian captivity, has been returned to Ukraine, Deputy Interior Minister Leonid Tymchenko confirmed in an interview published on Wednesday by Censor.NET.

Roshchyna’s remains were transferred during a recent prisoner exchange and identified through DNA testing, Tymchenko said.

In a wide-ranging interview with TASS, Sergei Shoigu takes aim at how Russia will react to “Western aggression,” including its right to use nuclear weapons.

Speaking to the state news agency TASS in a report published on Thursday, Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s former Defense Minister and now Secretary to its Security Council, seemed to heavily underscore Moscow’s “red lines” in its dealings with Ukraine, Europe, and NATO.

He reiterated Russia’s oft-repeated refrain that “we are ready for a ceasefire, a truce, and peace talks, but only if our interests and realities ‘on the ground’ are fully taken into account.”

As Kyiv recovers from a deadly missile attack, Trump criticized Zelensky, saying it’s been “harder to deal with him” than expected during peace deal talks – he even follows the Ukrainian constitution.

US President Donald Trump told reporters it’s been “harder to deal with Zelensky” than expected and repeated his claim that up to 5,000 soldiers are dying each week in Russia’s war on Ukraine, without understanding that President Volodymyr Zelensky is obliged to follow the nation’s constitution which demands Crimea’s return.

“I was saying 2,500 and everyone was telling me that’s low. 5,000 soldiers are being killed every week approximately… They’re Russian and Ukrainian. They’re not Americans, but they’re people. And they’re human beings,” Trump said. [See editor’s note at the end.]

Zelensky arrived in Pretoria but announced on social media he would “return to Ukraine immediately after the meeting with the President of South Africa.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled part of his trip to South Africa on Thursday after Russia fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Kyiv, killing at least eight people in the deadliest attack on the capital in months.

Ukraine has been battered with aerial attacks throughout Russia’s three-year invasion but deadly strikes on Kyiv, better protected by air defences than other cities, are less common.

The Ukrainian president said he would cut short a visit to South Africa on Thursday to urgently return to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the Kremlin must halt its strikes “immediately and unconditionally,” after Russian forces launched a deadly missile and drone barrage at the capital Kyiv early in the morning on April 24.

“It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes... And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people,” he said in a post on social media. “The strikes must be stopped immediately and unconditionally.”

Five districts across the capital suffered damage, including fires in garages and administrative buildings that have been extinguished.

[Updated at 6:51 p.m.]: “As of 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), the death toll in Kyiv’s Sviatoshinsky district has risen to 12,” Ukraine’s state emergency service said on social media, adding that the number of wounded had risen to 90 people.

[Updated at 11:06 a.m.]: Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, speaking from the scene of the Russian missile strike in Kyiv, said that eight people had been officially confirmed dead.

Trump administration keeps up the pressure on Ukraine - demands conclusion of a minerals deal

US Treasury chief Scott Bessent told Ukraine’s prime minister during a meeting in Washington on Wednesday that the two countries should sign a key resource extraction deal “as soon as possible.”

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was on a visit to the United States aimed at sealing by Saturday a deal that would give the United States royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals.

“We should have moral clarity: Russia started this war and is solely at fault” – Don Bacon, a prominent GOP lawmaker on Armed Services Committee tells Kyiv Post, as Trump balks over Crimea red line.

WASHINGTON – US Congressman Don Bacon, a prominent Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, on Wednesday became the first GOP lawmaker to speak up against President Donald Trump’s proposed Russo-Ukrainian War peace plan, which entails recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea while barring Ukraine from joining NATO among other stipulations that are non-starters for Ukrainians.

“First, I’m very resistant to rewarding Russia for its barbaric invasion by giving it any Ukrainian land. Second, if Ukraine forfeits any land they should then be allowed into NATO to gain much needed security guarantees,” Congressman Bacon told Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent.

Sybiha says Russia’s latest deadly attack proves Putin has no intention of peace - calling for pressure on Moscow, not concessions.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned Russia’s latest overnight missile and drone attack on Kyiv and other cities, calling it further evidence that Moscow – not Kyiv – is blocking peace efforts.

“Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine, targeting civilians in Kyiv and other areas,” Sybiha wrote on X.

US Warns It May Walk Away if No Ukraine-Russia Agreement

US Vice-President JD Vance said his country would “walk away” unless Ukraine and Russia agree on a deal, echoing recent comments from US officials. His warning came after London talks between officials from the UK, France, Germany, Ukraine and the US aimed at securing a ceasefire were downgraded after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out. The US is focused on talks this week in Moscow, where Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time, as the pace of diplomacy to end the war quickens. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said he insisted on “an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire”. His remarks come as Vance told reporters during a visit to India that the US had issued a “very explicit proposal” to both the Russians and Ukrainians. “It’s time for them to either say yes or for the US to walk away from this process,” he added. “We’ve engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on the ground work.” Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Gen Keith Kellogg, is attending the talks in London instead of Witkoff and Rubio, who referred to Wednesday’s talks as “technical meetings”. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is hosting a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart also on Wednesday. There is growing speculation that Russia might be willing to halt its invasion along current front lines in return for significant concessions. However, there is little clarity about where the latest talks are heading or whether they will succeed. Vance on Wednesday said: “It’s now time, I think, to take, if not the final step, one of the final steps, which is, at a broad level, the party saying we’re going to stop the killing, we’re going to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today….Now, of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own,” he added. Zelensky has ruled out recognising occupied Crimea as Russian territory, after reports suggested this was being considered by the US and the Kremlin - BBC

Vladimir Putin has offered to halt his invasion of Ukraine at the current front line as part of efforts to reach a peace deal with US President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. The Russian president told Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, during a meeting in St Petersburg this month that Moscow could relinquish its claims to areas of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions that remain under Kyiv’s control, three of the people said. The US has since floated ideas for a possible settlement that includes Washington recognising Russian ownership of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, the people added, as well as at least acknowledging the Kremlin’s de facto control over the parts of the four regions it currently holds. The proposal is the first formal indication Putin has given since the war’s early months three years ago that Russia could step back from its maximalist demands to end the invasion. But European officials briefed on US efforts to end the war cautioned that Putin would probably use the apparent concession as bait to lure Trump into accepting Russia’s other demands and forcing them on Ukraine as a fait accompli. “There is a lot of pressure on Kyiv right now to give up on things so Trump can claim victory,” one official said. Putin’s foreign policy adviser said on Tuesday that Witkoff would visit Moscow this week, according to Russian newswires. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, told the FT: “Tense work is under way. We are talking to the Americans. The work is difficult and takes a lot of time, so it is difficult to expect immediate results, and the work cannot be done in public.” - FT

Lithuania’s State Security Department reported that since 2023, Russian and Belarusian operatives have been conducting covert actions targeting the Belarusian community in the country.

Russia and Belarus have been plotting attacks against the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania since 2023, aiming to stoke ethnic tensions and disrupt the exiled Belarusian opposition, the country’s intelligence agency said.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians fled their country in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, which handed the Moscow-allied Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office despite widespread allegations of vote fraud.  

South Africa said that Zelensky would visit the country in April to meet with his counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in South Africa to meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to Ukrinform, Zelensky announced this in his Telegram.

The capital was attacked “by enemy missiles” in the early hours, with flights of drones heard across the city by Kyiv Post and AFP journalists as residents hid in bomb shelters.

Russia launched a missile attack Thursday on Kyiv, killing at least nine and wounding dozens, hours after US President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to accept Moscow’s occupation of Crimea as a peace deal unilateral concession to the aggressors who invaded.

The Ukrainian capital was attacked “by enemy missiles” in the early hours, with flights of drones heard across the city by AFP and Kyiv Post journalists as residents hid in bomb shelters. 

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The United States reportedly recently presented Ukraine with a seven-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine in which the United States would recognize Crimea as part of Russia and allow Russian forces to continue to occupy significant parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. Available reporting about the contents of the US proposal suggests that it marks a sudden and substantial change in the Trump administration’s strategy for ending the war in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian officials reiterated Ukraine’s continued commitment to the United States’ March 2025 proposal for a full ceasefire as part of efforts to achieve a lasting peace.
• Russian officials rejected aspects of Trump’s reported peace plan.
• Senior US, Ukrainian, and European officials held bilateral and multilateral talks about support for Ukraine and ending the war in London on April 23, but officials cancelled the scheduled multilateral talks at the foreign minister level.
• The US and Ukraine continue to take steps toward signing a joint mineral deal.
• Ukrainian forces likely conducted a drone strike against the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Republic of Tatarstan, where Russia assembles Iranian-provided Shahed drones.
• Russia continues to use chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces and civilians in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), of which Russia is a signatory.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Borova and Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Kurakhove.