Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny takes part in a march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, Russia on Feb. 29, 2020. (AP Photo / Pavel Golovkin, File)

The stunning news — less than a month before an election that will give Putin another six years in power — brought renewed criticism and outrage directed at the Kremlin leader who has cracked down on all opposition at home.

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko speak with “Chicago Tonight” on Sept. 19, 2023. (WTTW News)

In an interview with WTTW News, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko gave an assessment of the challenges Ukraine faces as the war with Russia continues. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin is pictured near a tank. (CNN)

John Hewko, a Ukrainian-American, recently returned from a trip to Ukraine.  As a lawyer working in Ukraine in the early 1990s, he helped the working group drafting the country’s first post-Soviet constitution.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 1, 2022. (Yuri Kochetkov / Pool Photo via AP, File)

The International Criminal Court said Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.

President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Ukrainian presidential palace on February 20, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Office / Getty Images)

In conversations behind closed doors at the Mariinsky Palace on Monday, Biden sought to engage President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a detailed and urgent discussion about the next phase of the war, which US officials describe as having arrived at a critical juncture.

(CNN)

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, is co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and was appointed to the escort committee for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s joint address to Congress.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks as he meets with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)

In a brief remarks before reporters, President Joe Biden told Zelenskyy that “it’s an honor to be by your side” and he pledged continued financial, military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Biden also warned that Russia is “trying to use winter as a weapon” in the war.

An elderly man walks past a car shop that was destroyed after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. (AP Photo / Leo Correa)

Air raid warnings sounded throughout the country for a second straight morning as Ukrainian officials advised residents to conserve energy and stock up on water. Strikes in the capital and 12 other regions Monday caused power outages and pierced the relative calm that had returned to Kyiv and many other cities far from the war’s front lines.

Cars queue to cross the border from Russia to Finland at the Vaalimaa border check point in Virolahti, Finland, Friday Sept. 23, 2022. (Sasu Makinen / Lehtikuva via AP)

The lines of cars were so long at the border with Kazakhstan that some people abandoned their vehicles and proceeded on foot — just as some Ukrainians did after Russia invaded their country on Feb. 24.

A man rides his bike past flames and smoke rising from a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 25, 2022. (AP Photo / Felipe Dana, File)

Six months later, the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II has turned into a grinding war of attrition. The Russian offensive has largely bogged down as Ukrainian forces increasingly target key facilities far behind the front lines, including in Russia-occupied Crimea.

The International Space Station was photographed by one of the STS-98 crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis following separation of the Shuttle and Station on Feb. 16, 2001. (Credit: NASA)
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NASA said in February it intends to keep operating the International Space Station until the end of 2030, after which the ISS would be deorbited and crashed into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. Commercially operated space platforms would replace the ISS as a venue for collaboration and scientific research, NASA said.

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The trial of the Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist began last week amid a growing chorus of calls for Washington to do more to secure her freedom nearly five months after her arrest.

President Joe Biden walks to board Air Force One, Thursday, April 21, 2022, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Portland, Ore. (AP Photo / Gemunu Amarasinghe)

The new package includes $800 million in military aid for much-needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones for the escalating battle in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden previously approved.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after an airstrike hit a tire shop in Lviv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo / Mykola Tys)

Russia bombarded the western city of Lviv and numerous other targets across Ukraine on Monday in what appeared to be an intensified bid to grind down the country’s defenses while building up its own forces for a major ground offensive in the east.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks via remote feed during a meeting of the UN Security Council, Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo / John Minchillo)

Zelenskyy, appearing via video from Ukraine, told council members that civilians had been shot in the back of the head after being tortured, blown up with grenades in their apartments and crushed to death by tanks while in cars.

President Joe Biden speaks to the media at Fort Lesley J. McNair, Monday, April 4, 2022, as he returns to Washington and the White House after spending the weekend in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Joe Biden’s comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Zelenskyy called the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.