"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.
Soldier of 12th Special Forces Brigade “Azov” walks in the trench in Serebryansky Forest on October 12, 2023 in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine (Elizabeth Servatynska/Аzov Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Azov Brigade has pushed Russian troops from positions in the Serebryansky forest in Luhansk Oblast, advancing 1 kilometer, the unit reported on June 16.
Russian forces have spent much of the full-scale war trying to seize control of the Serebryansky forest, viewed as the gateway to the city of Lyman, an important but destroyed train hub.
Ukraine liberated Lyman one day after Russia said it is annexing it with four Ukrainian regions on Sept 30, 2022.
In a Telegram post on June 16, Azov announced that together with the 1st Operational Brigade "Bureviy" of the National Guard of Ukraine, troops had advanced 1 kilometer, adding the gains were across a 2 kilometer front.
In a comment to the Kyiv Independent on June 17, the brigade said further results of the operation, which began on April 21, could not be reported at this time to protect the "safety and success of operations."
The reports come a few days after Azov deputy commander, Sviatoslav Palamar, complained in a post on Facebook that earlier media reports of Russian troops leaving their positions in Serebryansky forest failed to credit Azov with forcing them out.
Appealing to journalists to "write honestly," Palamar suggested they were deliberately not naming the brigade despite them "knocking out (Russian troops) every day, every hour for months."
Elsewhere, Azov also released a video on YouTube showing the work of soldiers in charge of what they describe as "the nastiest weapon" – the SPG-9.
The SPG-9 is a tripod-mounted 73 millimeter caliber recoilless gun, operated by a crew of two.
It fires rocket-assisted projectiles that are effective against armored vehicles and utterly devastating against human targets.
"No matter who you ask, this is the nastiest weapon," one of the Azov soldiers says.
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
Francis Farrell
