"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on July 18, 2023 at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
At the 14th Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on July 18, the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters and Ukraine's acute need for ammunition were the main topics of discussion.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that the countries leading the F-16 training coalition, Denmark and the Netherlands, are progressing on training plan for Ukrainian pilots.
Austin also mentioned the discussion of ammunition production. According to Austin, there are plans to increase "production at both the national level and the multinational level through the European Union's important initiative to produce more ammunition.”
CNN reported on July 18 that NATO countries are now struggling to supply enough ammunition Ukraine needs for its counteroffensive against Russia.
Discussing the ongoing counteroffensive, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said that it was "far from a failure."
The expectations of how fast Ukraine would advance in comparison with the current reality shows "the difference between war on paper and real war," he added.
Milley added that minefields pose a serious issue to Ukrainian forces and that Ukraine is currently "preserving their combat power, and they are slowly and deliberately and steadily working their way through all these minefields.”
The format, also known as Ramstein after the NATO base in Germany, coordinates the efforts of the U.S. and its allies to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Francis Farrell
