Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and guided bombs during the night, targeting multiple regions after the May 12 deadline for an unconditional ceasefire expired.
"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
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.
Bodies of killed Israelis lie on the ground following the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in the city of Sderot in Israel. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The Palestinian militant group Hamas likely used North Korean weapons during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Oct. 19.
Hamas fighters attacked the Israeli settlements armed with North Korean F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the news agency said, citing South Korean officials, two experts on North Korean arms, and its own analysis of weapons captured by Israeli forces.
North Korean weaponry can also be seen in footage published by Hamas itself, the AP reported, citing arms expert Matt Schroeder.
Shoulder-fired F-7 is a popular weapon with guerrilla forces when fighting armored vehicles, and its use has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza.
It resembles the more widely used Soviet-made RPG-7 launcher but is distinguishable by a red stripe on its warhead. This feature can be seen both on Hamas' arms captured by Israelis and in the militant group's own footage, the AP noted.
"North Korea has long supported Palestinian militant groups, and North Korean arms have previously been documented amongst interdicted supplies," N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of the Armament Research Services consultancy, told the AP.
Pyongyang has recently also supplied arms to bolster Moscow's war against Ukraine. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Oct. 13 that North Korea had delivered more than a thousand containers of weapons and ammunition to Russia.
Ukraine's military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov noted that Hamas' advanced drone tactics, similar to those used by Russian forces in Ukraine, indicate that Moscow may have been involved in the training of Palestinian fighters.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Anastasiia Lapatina
