The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
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.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
The EU plans to significantly increase tariffs on Ukrainian goods after the current duty-free deal lapses on June 6, the Financial Times reported on May 14, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
The entrance to the Russian penal colony IK-2 in the town of Yavas in central Russia, Nov. 19, 2022 (Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images)
Russian authorities have deported and detained thousands of Ukrainian civilians and have held them without charges, trials, or access to legal counsel, the BBC's Russia Service reported on Jan. 8.
Unlike prisoners of war (POWs), there is no mechanism for the release of these detained civilians. Without formal investigations, court proceedings, or release dates, it is impossible to track people in the Russian penal system.
The BBC gathered accounts from people living under Russian occupation who were arrested for failing to support what Russia calls its "special military operation" — the state's official euphemism for the war against Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry responded to inquiries by saying that civilian detainees are "held in accordance with the requirements of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War."
The Geneva Convention's protections for war prisoners apply mainly to military, not civilian captives. The Convention prohibits taking hostages, but does not otherwise discuss the possibility of civilian prisoners.
Current international norms stipulate that detainees must be charged with violating a law and receive a fair trial.
Polina Murygina, a lawyer who founded the Every Human Being project, an organization which searches for civilians in Russian prisons, said that Ukrainian detainees held in Russia or the occupied territories are seldom charged with a specific administrative or criminal offense.
"Since we are talking about detention, it means that either in the criminal code or in the administrative code there should be an article that 'countering the SVO' (special military operation) is an administrative offense or a criminal offense," she said.
"Then it would give proceduralization to the status of these people, and we as human rights defenders could send a lawyer. But to this I get the answer: 'No, we are not accusing or suspecting them of anything, they are just detained for opposing the SVO.'"
The lack of official designations for these detainees means that people disappear into the system, and it becomes impossible for their relatives to find them, let alone provide them with a lawyer.
Lawyer Maria Eismont said that people held without charges have virtually no access to defense counsel.
"Neither I nor other colleagues have been able to find such people and meet with them, despite the fact that relatives asked to go and there was information about where they were, and every detainee has the right to a lawyer," Eismont said.
The BBC's Russia Service reported that none of the lawyers interviewd throughout the investigation could give an example of a defense lawyer successfully being able to meet with a captured Ukrainain.
"In helping such captives, we faced a legal paradox: it's better if they think of you as a criminal," Murygina said.
Some former detainees reported brutal treatment at the hands of Russian authorities, including torture.
Politico reported in December that Russia deliberately uses Ukrainian POWs to foment unrest in Ukraine and encourage protests against Kyiv. In early January, 230 Ukrainian POWs returned home from captivity in the largest prisoner exchange since the start of Russia's full-scale war.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Elsa Court
