"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
Maryna Bezrukova, the head of the Defense Procurement Agency, in the meeting room of her office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 19, 2024. (Danylo Pavlov / The Kyiv Independent)
The supervisory board of Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency advised the Defense Minister to extend its director’s work in a statement posted on Facebook on Jan. 20.
“The Supervisory Board submitted to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov a recommendation to extend the contract of the current director of the Defense Procurement Agency, Maryna Bezrukova, for one year,” the statement read.
Separate boards were set up for Ukraine’s lethal and non-lethal procurement agencies, complying with NATO standards, in the fall of 2024.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov planned to merge the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Logistics Operator (DOT) into one agency but changed his mind after a NATO statement said that the two agencies should be kept separate and two separate supervisory boards should be established.
Bezrukova, a former employee of Ukraine’s energy company Ukrenergo, was appointed to head the DPA.
“This decision is based on an assessment of her performance and the need to ensure stability and efficiency in procurement management in wartime,” the supervisory board statement read.
In a separate move, the supervisory board also announced initiating an independent audit by the International Board of Auditors of NATO (IBAN), the results of which will form a “center of excellence for Ukraine's military procurement,” the statement read.
Boldizsar is a former Reuters correspondent for Hungary, currently based in Kharkiv, reporting for the Kyiv Independent and various other outlets. He holds degrees in political science, philosophy, and development policy.
