Almost a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout the east and south.
Putin's forces pulled out of key positions in November, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the southern port city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as wintersets in.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 18, 2023, 12:38 PM EST
Putin prepared for long war, Nato says
Russia is preparing for an extended war so NATO must get ready “for the long haul” and support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the alliance’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana told top European military chiefs Wednesday.
NATO nations must invest more in defense, ramp up military industrial manufacturing and harness new technologies to prepare for future wars, Geoana said, speaking at the opening of the military chiefs’ meeting in Brussels.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Jan 18, 2023, 9:40 AM EST
16 people dead in helicopter crash, including 3 children
Sixteen people, including Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, died in a helicopter crash near Kyiv, according to national police, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office and Ukraine's security service.
The site of deadly helicopter crash in the town of Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 18, 2023.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters
Monastyrsky is considered the most senior government official to die since the war started 11 months ago.
-ABC News' Yulia Drozd
Jan 18, 2023, 3:57 AM EST
Helicopter crash near Kyiv kills interior minister
Ukrainian officials were killed on Wednesday morning in a helicopter crash near Kyiv.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, deputy Evgeniy Yenin and the state secretary of the interior ministry, Yuriy Lunkovych, died when a helicopter crashed in Brovary, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, chief of the national police Igor Klymenko said on Facebook.
Emergency personnel work at the site of a helicopter crash, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 18, 2023.
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
The emergency services helicopter crashed near a kindergarten in a residential area, according to officials.
A military stands at the site where a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten outside the capital, Kyiv, on Jan. 18, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
According to the interior ministry, at least 18 people died, including 3 children. Another 22 people, including 10 children, were wounded, officials said.
Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky speaks to journalists during a press conference, June 24, 2022, in Kyiv.
Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
The cause of the crash is unclear for now.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Jan 17, 2023, 5:06 PM EST
Zelenskyy confirms Netherlands sending Patriot Missile System
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Netherlands will provide Ukrainian forces a Patriot Missile System.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces will now have three guaranteed Patriot batteries.
