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.
European foreign ministers approved the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine during a meeting in Lviv on May 9. The tribunal, which will operate under the auspices of the Council of Europe, aims to prosecute Russia's top political and military leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine expects the tribunal to start work in 2026. The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova spoke with Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel about the future tribunal and its role in bringing justice for Ukraine.
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.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently using 19.4% of their capacity. Almost 32%, or 2.79 bcm, less gas is available in the storages than in the previous year, according to the estimates.
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.
Illustrative purposes only: Belarusian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jets on May 1, 2010. (Dmitriy Pichugin/Wikipedia)
Editor's note: Belarus' military later confirmed downing a drone that had violated Belarusian airspace on Sept. 5, but did not describe the drone as Russian.
The Belarusian Air Force downed two Russian attack drones on Sept. 5 near the Belarusian city of Homel, the monitoring group Belarusian Hajun claimed.
If confirmed, this would be the first confirmation of a successful interception of Russian drones by Belarusian forces over the country's airspace.
Previously, a Belarusian fighter jet attempted to down a Russian Shahed-type drone that flew into the country's airspace on Aug. 29 - although there was no confirmation that Belarus was successful in downing the drone.
The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the claims made by the monitoring group.
Subscribe to newsletter
Belarus Weekly
While Russian attack drones have reportedly veered off course toward Belarus during air raids on Ukraine on multiple occasions, this would be the first known case of a Belarusian Air Force plane successfully shooting down one of them.
Russia launched another large-scale drone attack on Ukraine overnight on Sept. 5, targeting multiple regions of the country, Ukraine's Air Force said.
Multiple Belarusian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the drones near the city of Gomel around 1:30 a.m. local time, Belaruski Hajun claimed. The city lies within about 30 km of the Ukraine-Belarus border.
A third Russian attack drone allegedly entered Belarusian airspace around 2:30 a.m., although no additional information was provided on its status.
Purported videos of falling drone debris over the skies of Gomel could be seen on social media.
0:00
/
A purported video of a falling Russian attack drone downed over the Belarusian city of Gomel overnight on Sept. 5, 2024. (Belaruski Hajun/Telegram)
The incident marks the second time in the past week that Belarusian fighter jets were scrambled to protect the country's airspace.
During Russia's large-scale attack on Ukraine on Sept. 4, one Russian drone veered off course into Belarus. On Aug. 26, at least six Russian drones reportedly entered the Belarusian airspace during another mass attack on Ukraine.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry has not commented on the alleged incident.
Minsk has never publicly raised objections to Moscow – its key ally – over the reported drone incursions into its territory.
Instead, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko alleged that his country's forces downed several Ukrainian drones over its airspace, a claim denied by Belarusian Hajun.
The statement came amid surging tensions between Belarus and Ukraine as the Belarusian military moved a significant force to the border, allegedly for exercises.
While supporting Russian aggression against Kyiv, the Belarusian Armed Forces have not taken a direct part in the war.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Oleg Sukhov
