News from Ukraine, Eastern Europe

The move marks the eighth consecutive rate cut from record highs previously imposed to curb inflation driven by wartime spending.

The comment comes amid reports that the Pentagon is considering ways to punish NATO members that did not back the U.S.-Israeli war against Tehran.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said those brought back to Ukraine include individuals against whom Russian authorities have opened criminal cases, as well as wounded soldiers.

Ukrainian forces attacked the factory involved in the full cycle of drone production — design, manufacturing, and testing — on April 19.

"Today, we are advancing our agreements with Saudi Arabia in the areas of security, energy, and infrastructure," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, Russian strikes damaged 209 locomotives, 239 passenger carriages, and 371 freight wagons, as well as 86 railway bridges and 50 stations, according to Ukrzaliznytsia.

The EU's 21st sanctions package should "finally shut down (Russia's) channels for using cryptocurrencies to circumvent restrictions," Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's top sanctions policy official, told Suspilne.

Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Brigade were reportedly fainting from hunger and forced to drink rainwater. The command, for its part, did not respond to the situation.

Moscow will confirm who will represent it at the event closer to the date, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told journalists at the U.N. Headquarters.

Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 107 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said, reporting that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 96.

Europe's "biggest, most important question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in our (NATO) treaties," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Financial Times.

The number includes 910 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

A Russian drone attack on several residential buildings in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa killed two and left another 15 injured overnight on April 24, authorities reported.