31 January – Russia and Ukraine conduct a prisoner exchange on the border with 195 soldiers being returned to Russia, and 207 military personnel and civilians being returned to Ukraine, respectively. The deal is facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.[6]
February
1 February – The European Union formally approves a €50 billion financial support package for Ukraine after Hungary withdraws its veto. The package is expected to help the Ukrainian government pay pensions, salaries and other costs over the next four years with the first funds being released in March.[7]
10 May – Scope Ratings – the European rating agency – downgrades Ukraine’s long-term issuer rating in foreign currency from "CC" to just one level above a default rating at "C", maintaining a “Negative” Outlook. Scope is the first rating agency to cut Ukraine to this level.[22]
23 May – Russia returns six children displaced by the war back to Ukraine, in a deal brokered by Qatar.[23]
24 May – The European Union makes a decision allowing Ukraine to use interest funds from frozen Russian bank accounts, totaling €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) per year.[24]
13 June – Leaders of the G7 agree to loan Ukraine US$50 billion and use interest from Russia's frozen central bank assets as collateral for the loan.[30]
16 June – Norway announces it will give Ukraine 1.1 billion kroner (US$103 million) to help repair its energy infrastructure and secure the country's electricity supply before winter.[35]
20 June – Ukraine is moved to the top of the US list in receiving ordered deliveries of Patriot missile systems.[36]
21 June – Israel and Ukraine mutually impose travel restrictions to each others' citizens, preventing reciprocal visa-free travel without an authorization permit.[37]
3 July – NATO nations agree to grant Ukraine €40 billion ($43 billion) in military aid in 2025.[45]
6 July – Fourteen people are killed and one survivor is critically injured after an oil tanker collides with a minibus near Verkhiv, Rivne Oblast.[46]
8 July – President Zelenskyy says Poland can shoot down Russian missiles inside Ukrainian airspace following the signing of a security agreement in Warsaw.[47]
9 July – NATO announces that it will establish a senior representative to Kyiv to coordinate with Ukrainian officials and strengthen Ukraine's ties with the bloc.[48]
25 July – Fitch Ratings downgrades Ukraine’s credit rating from "CC" to "C" due to its need to restructure US$20 billion in international bonds to foreign investors, increasing the nation's risk of default.[55]
26 July – The European Union sends its first transfer of €1.5 billion (US$1.63 billion) in proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for military and infrastructure support. The Kremlin denounces the transfer as "illegal" under international law and pledges legal retaliation.[57]
Ukraine demands that Russia explain the death of Ukrainian POW Oleksandr Ishchenko in Russian captivity, who was being tried with 21 other captured Ukrainian troops for being part of the Azov Brigade that Russian prosecutors allege is far-right affiliated.[59]
3 August – S&P Global downgrades Ukraine's credit rating to "SD" for 'selective' default after being unable to pay a US$34 million international bond payment, while stating that Ukraine's credit rating would fall to "D" representing a complete default following restructuring of Ukraine's debt.[61]
4 August:
President Zelenskyy confirms the arrival and deployment of the first batch of F-16 fighter jets pledged by Western countries in Ukraine and their usage by the Ukrainian Air Force.[62]
Mali breaks diplomatic relations with Ukraine following reports of the latter's involvement in an attack on Malian and Wagner Group forces by Tuareg separatists in July.[63]
10 August – President Zelenskyy confirms ordering a major cross-border operation inside Russia's Kursk Oblast.[68]
14 August – Ukraine announces that it will create a strategic buffer zone on the Russia–Ukraine border that is "designed to protect our border communities from daily enemy attacks".[69]
15 August –
Ukraine denies its involvement in explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and accuses Russia of causing the explosions, following Germany issuing its first arrest warrant on the case towards a Ukrainian man.[70]
The United Kingdom says that Ukraine can use British weaponry, including Challenger 2 tanks, for its military operations inside Russia.[73]
Scope Ratings downgrades Ukraine’s long-term issuer rating in foreign currency to selective default (SD), based on the moratorium on payment of Eurobonds and an associated missed bond payment after 1 August 2024.[74]
Ternopil residents are urged to remain indoors after Russian drone strikes an industrial facility, causing a large fire and an increased concentration of chlorine in the air.[78]
The Verkhovna Rada passes a bill banning the activities of all Russia-associated religious groups across Ukraine, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), following arrests of dozens of the church's clerics on treason charges for alleged involvement in Russian espionage and the transfer of a cleric to Russia in a prisoner swap.[79] The bill is signed into law by President Zelenskyy on 24 August.[80]
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declares that Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory in Kursk Oblast is legitimate under Ukraine's right to self-defense.[94]
Five ministers resign from their positions, including Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna and foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, resulting in a vacancy in more than a third of the cabinet.[96]
9 September – Ukraine begins the implementation of "dragon drones" that spray molten thermite on forest cover to reveal and help destroy Russian military units and equipment.[97]
10 September – The Netherlands lifts all its weapon restrictions on military equipment it granted to Ukraine, allowing its army to target Russia with deep strikes while urging other nations to lift their weapon restrictions as well.[98]
12 September – President Zelenskyy denounces a Brazilian–Chinese peace initiative, stating that both nations are effectively siding with Russia for allowing the Russian army to take Ukrainian territory as a means to "de-escalate" the war instead of assisting Ukraine in resisting the invasion.[99]
13 September – The U.S.Central Intelligence Agency reports that due to the ongoing war, Ukraine's death rate is now the highest in the world at 18.6 per thousand people, while its birth rate is the lowest at six children born per thousand people.[100]
Ukrainian officials publicly distance themselves from the suspect in the Trump International Golf Club shooting carried out against Donald Trump and warn that Russia will use the situation for anti-Ukrainian propaganda, following reports of the suspect protesting for the Azov Brigade and regularly calling for international support and troops for Ukraine.[103]
22 September – President of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen announces a loan of up to €35 billion (US$39 billion) for Ukraine in military and energy support following President Zelenskyy's drafting of a new victory plan against Russia.[104]
25 September –
President Zelenskyy accuses Brazil and China of using their proposed peace plan for ending the Russo–Ukrainian War to boost their geopolitical power "at Ukraine's expense" by urging developing nations to agree to it.[105]
13 October – President Zelenskyy accuses North Korea of sending soldiers to participate in the Russian invasion.[109]
22 October – Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin resigns after a number of scandals involving medical exemptions for men of military age to avoid being conscripted into the Ukrainian military.[110]
November
4 November – Ukraine announces its first combat engagements with North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast.[111]
8 November – Ukraine terminates its air service agreement with Iran that had been in place since 1993 amid the latter's support for the Russian invasion.[112]
