KATHMANDU, Nov 8: The cement factories run by the private sector in Nepal are profitable. They have even started exporting cement to foreign markets. However, the state-owned Udayapur Cement Factory is sinking deeper and deeper into crisis day by day.

KIVSHARIVKA, Ukraine, Oct 19: Nine-year-old Artem Panchenko helps his grandmother stoke a smoky fire in a makeshift outdoor kitchen beside their nearly abandoned apartment block. The light is falling fast and they need to eat before the setting sun plunges their home into cold and darkness.

KYIV/WASHINGTON, Oct 18: The United States will hold Russia accountable for "war crimes", the White House said on Monday, hours after Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with drones during morning rush hour, killing at least four people in an apartment building in Kyiv.

KYIV, Oct 17: Intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces was taking place around two towns in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Bakhmut and Soledar, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.

KYIV/BRUSSELS, Oct 13: The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned Russia's attempted annexation of four Ukrainian areas while Kyiv's allies committed more military aid after intense Russian missile strikes.

KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 12: Russian forces showered Ukraine with more missiles and munition-carrying drones Tuesday after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people in an attack the U.N. human rights office described as “particularly shocking” and amounting to potential war crimes.

KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 11: Russia retaliated Monday for an attack on a critical bridge by unleashing its most widespread strikes against Ukraine in months, a lethal barrage that smashed civilian targets, knocked out power and water, shattered buildings and killed at least 14 people.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine, Oct 10: A Russian missile barrage that crumbled apartment buildings and houses in Ukraine’s city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least dozen people, Ukrainian officials said Sunday as Moscow strained to enforce its takeover of illegally annexed territory.

KYIV, Ukraine, Oct 5: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed laws absorbing four Ukrainian regions into Russia, a move that finalizes the annexation carried out in defiance of international law.

BEIRUT, Oct 4: When the bulk cargo ship Laodicea docked in Lebanon last summer, Ukrainian diplomats said the vessel was carrying grain stolen by Russia and urged Lebanese officials to impound the ship.

IZIUM, Ukraine, Oct 3:  The first time the Russian soldiers caught him, they tossed him bound and blindfolded into a trench covered with wooden boards for days on end.

KYIV, Sept 27: The Kremlin refused to deny on Monday that Russia might close its borders to prevent an exodus of military-age men after President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilisation in an effort to regain the upper hand in the war in Ukraine.

KYIV, Sept 26: The United States warned on Sunday of "catastrophic consequences" if Moscow were to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, after Russia's foreign minister said regions holding widely-criticized referendums would get full protection if annexed by Moscow.

Sept 25: Shelling hit southern Ukraine late on Saturday while Russia sought to defend its seven-month old war at the United Nations even as it moves to escalate the conflict.

KYIV, Sept 23: Four areas of Ukraine controlled by Russia and pro-Moscow forces were preparing to hold referendums on Friday on joining Russia, a move widely condemned by the West as illegitimate and a precursor to illegal annexation.

KYIV, Sept 21: Moscow-installed leaders in occupied areas of four Ukrainian regions plan to hold referendums on joining Russia in coming days, a challenge to the West that could sharply escalate the war and which drew condemnation from Ukraine and its allies.

IZIUM, Ukraine, Sept 20: Ukraine said its troops have marched farther east into territory recently abandoned by Russia, paving the way for a potential assault on Moscow's occupation forces in the Donbas region as Kyiv seeks more Western arms.

IZIUM, Ukraine, Sept 15: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy heard firsthand what people in recaptured northeastern towns experienced under Russian forces while a major city struggled to contain damage to its water system from Russian missile attacks.

KYIV/KHARKIV, Ukraine, Sept 12: Ukraine accused Russian forces of attacking civilian infrastructure in response to a rapid weekend offensive by Ukrainian troops that drove Russia to abandon its main bastion in the Kharkiv region.

KYIV, Sept 5: European leaders on Sunday sought to ease the impact of high energy prices across the continent, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of a difficult winter, even as he reported progress in a counter-offensive against Russian troops.

KYIV, August 29: Russian artillery fired at Ukrainian towns across the river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant overnight, local officials said on Sunday, adding to residents' anguish as reports of shelling around the plant fuelled fears of a radiation disaster.

August 21: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday warned Ukrainians to be vigilant in the coming week as they prepare to celebrate their Independence Day, as fresh blasts hit Crimea and a missile wounded 12 civilians near a nuclear power plant.

KYIV, August 18: Ukrainian forces said on Thursday they had beaten back a Russian attack in the southern region of Kherson, while shelling by Kremlin forces in Kharkiv in Ukraine's north killed seven people as the near six-month war grinds on with no let up in fighting.

KYIV, August 17: Russia blamed sabotage for explosions at one of its military bases in Moscow-annexed Crimea while Kyiv hinted it was responsible as Ukrainian officials said their strategy was to destroy supply lines supporting Russia's invasion.

KYIV/NEW YORK, August 12: Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling Europe's biggest nuclear power plant as the U.N. chief proposed a demilitarised zone at the site amid fears of a catastrophe.

KYIV, Ukraine, August 11: Ukraine said Wednesday that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in a deadly string of explosions at an air base in Crimea that appeared to be the result of a Ukrainian attack, which would represent a significant escalation in the war.

August 10: A senior Ukrainian official suggested a series of explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea could have been the work of partisan saboteurs, as Kyiv denied any responsibility for the incident deep inside Russian-occupied territory.

KYIV, August 9: Kyiv and Moscow traded blame on Monday for the weekend shelling of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex amid international alarm that their battle for control of the plant could trigger catastrophe.

KYIV, August 1: Russian missiles pounded the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, killing the owner of a major grain exporter, while a drone strike on Russia's Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol was launched from within the city in a "terrorist attack," a Russian lawmaker said.

KYIV, July 31: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday his government was ordering the mandatory evacuation of people in the eastern Donetsk region, scene of fierce fighting with Russia.

July 29: Ukraine stepped up its drive to retake Russian-controlled southern Ukraine by trying to bomb and isolate Russian troops in hard-to-resupply areas.

KYIV, July 26: Russia will cut gas supplies to Europe once again in a blow to countries that have supported Ukraine, just as there was hope that economic pressures could ease this week with the resumption of Black Sea grain exports.

July 24: Ukraine's defence ministry on Saturday urged citizens in a key area seized by Russia to reveal where Moscow's troops were living and who among the local population was collaborating with the occupying authorities.

KYIV, Ukraine, July 19: As Russia kept up its relentless shelling across the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expanded the shakeup of his security services on Monday by suspending 28 more officials, a day after he dismissed two senior officials over allegations that their agencies harbored “collaborators and traitors.”

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine, July 15: Russian missiles struck a city in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others far from the front lines, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine’s president accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in locations without military value.

ISTANBUL/UNITED NATIONS, New York, July 14: Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey hailed progress at talks in Istanbul that aim to resume Black Sea grain exports blocked by Russia and ease the risk of starvation faced by millions, but an end to the war remained far off as heavy shelling continued.

KYIV, Ukraine, July 10: At least 15 people were killed when a Russian rocket hit an apartment building in the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar and more than 20 people may still be trapped in the rubble, officials said Sunday.

July 5: Ukraine is holding talks with Turkey and the United Nations to secure guarantees for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.

KYIV, July 4: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday acknowledged Kyiv's forces had withdrawn from Lysychansk in the eastern Donbas region after a grinding Russian assault, but vowed to regain control over the area with the help of long-range Western weapons.

KYIV/KONSTYANTYNIVKA, Ukraine, July 3: Fighting intensified at the weekend for Lysychansk, Ukraine's last big bastion in the strategic eastern province of Luhansk, and an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy conceded the city could fall.

KYIV, July 1: Russian forces abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island on Thursday in a victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia's blockade on Ukrainian ports.

MADRID/KYIV, June 30: Russia pressed on with its offensive in eastern Ukraine on Thursday after NATO branded Moscow the biggest "direct threat" to Western security and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv's beleaguered armed forces.

June 29: Russia-installed officials in Ukraine's Kherson region said their security forces had detained Kherson city mayor Ihor Kolykhayev on Tuesday after he refused to follow Moscow's orders, while a Kherson local official said the mayor was abducted.

KYIV/POKROVSK, Ukraine, June 27: Russian forces were fighting to achieve one of their strategic objectives in Ukraine on Monday as Moscow-backed separatists said they were pushing into Lysychansk, the last major city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province.

KYIV, Ukraine, June 26: Russian forces were seeking to swallow up the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Luhansk region, pressing their momentum after taking full control Saturday of the charred ruins of Sievierodonetsk and the chemical plant where hundreds of Ukrainian troops and civilians had been holed up.

KYIV, June 20: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy predicted Russia will escalate its attacks this week as European Union leaders consider whether to back Kyiv's bid to join the bloc and Moscow presses its campaign to win control of the country's east.

KYIV, June 19: With a blessing for its European Union ambitions and a pledge of unwavering support from Britain, Ukraine vowed on Saturday to prevail against Moscow as its troops battled the Russian assault near a pivotal eastern city and communities were pounded by more heavy shelling.

KYIV/IRPIN, Ukraine, June 17: The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia's invasion.

June 16: The head of Ukraine's military on Wednesday said Russia had concentrated its main strike forces in the north of Luhansk region and were trying to attack simultaneously in nine directions.

KYIV, June 15: Russia told Ukrainian forces holed up in a chemical plant in embattled Sievierodonetsk to lay down their arms by early Wednesday as it fights to maintain momentum in its battle for control of eastern Ukraine.