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.
A fragment of the tail part of Kh-101 missile at an exhibition showing remains of missiles and drones that Russia used to attack Kyiv on May 12, 2023. (Oleksii Samsonov /Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukrainian air defenses shot down eight missiles launched by Russia overnight and interrupted the trajectories of over 20 other weapons using electromagnetic countermeasures, the Air Force reported on Jan. 13.
According to the Air Force, Russia used 37 missiles, including six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, and three attack drones to target regions across Ukraine in a mass attack on the morning of Jan. 13. One person was reported injured in Sumy Oblast.
Air defense forces shot down seven Kh-101 cruise missiles and one Kh-59 guided cruise missile. The Air Force believes Russia launched as many as 12 Kh-101 missiles and four Kh-59 missiles.
More than 20 other weapons "did not reach their targets as a result of active countermeasures by means of electronic warfare," the Air Force said.
"The "unparalleled" Russian missiles are getting worse and worse and fly wildly," the Air Force said, but reiterated this does not mean they do not pose a threat.
Missiles were downed in regions across the country. In central Ukraine, a missile was shot down over Kremenchuk in Poltava Oblast, damaging a building, but no casualties were reported. The rocket had not exploded, Governor Filip Pronin said.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Governor Serhii Lysak reported that "two enemy missiles are now scrap metal" after two cruise missiles were downed over the district of Kryvyi Rih.
In Khmelnytskyi Oblast in the west of Ukraine, the local authorities said that a missile was downed above the region and that "critical infrastructure and the civilian population were not affected."
Chernihiv Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Chaus confirmed that air defense had been at work in the region and that Russia's attack had caused damage in an unspecified location.
Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independence. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was previously an intern at the Kyiv Post. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.
