Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"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.
Illustrative purposes only: A Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet flying over the sky in the rebel-held town of Arbin in Syria, on Feb. 20, 2018. (Abdulmonam Eassa/AFP)
Russian air activity over Ukraine has reduced over the past week after the Russian military suffered significant aircraft losses, Yuri Ihnat, the Air Force's spokesperson, confirmed in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda on March 3.
Official reports indicate that 13 Russian warplanes were downed in February, with three Su-34 attack planes reportedly shot down on Feb. 29 alone.
The downed aircraft in February include 10 Su-34 fighter bombers, two Su-35 fighter jets, and one rare A-50 military spy plane.
Russia also lost two A-50 spy planes in January and February. After the second loss, Russia has likely halted flying such aircraft in support of military operations in Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote in its March 2 report.
Yet another Su-34 was downed on March 2 while reportedly trying to attack Ukrainian positions on the eastern front with guided aerial bombs, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
Ihnat attributed this success to air defense systems supplied by Ukraine's allies.
"The means of resistance provided to Ukraine by Western partners demonstrate their effectiveness. This is evidenced by the number of enemy aircraft shot down in February," Ihnat told Ukrainska Pravda.
"The current task is to secure the front-line territories from the enemy's use of guided aerial bombs."
Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk also wrote on his official Telegram channel on March 2 that although Russian drones remained active in the south the airspace over eastern Ukraine was clear.
Russia's total aircraft losses since the start of the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022 include 347 aircraft and 325 helicopters, according to the March 3 update from the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
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Kateryna Denisova
