The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
A television news broadcast shows file footage of a North Korean missile test at a railway station in Seoul on March 9, 2023, after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile. (Anthony Wallace / AFP via Getty Images)
Russia's use of North Korean missiles during its offensive in Ukraine presents a unique opportunity for Pyongyang to assess its weaponry in actual combat scenarios, potentially gaining insights to enhance their effectiveness, according to a senior U.S. military official.
"I don’t believe that in my recent memory the North Korean military has had a battlefield laboratory quite like the Russians are affording them to have in Ukraine," General Charles Flynn, the U.S. Army Pacific’s commanding general said, Bloomberg reports.
North Korea is emerging as a primary weapons provider for Russia, allegedly furnishing Moscow with comprehensive military provisions, which encompass ballistic missiles and reportedly over 3 million artillery shells.
During a visit to the sprawling U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, located approximately 80 kilometers south of Seoul, Flynn emphasized on April 6 that the U.S. will be closely monitoring the unfolding situation. He expressed significant concern that North Korea could acquire insights into their weaponry through the war in Ukraine that they wouldn't have had access to otherwise.
The U.S., South Korea, and other nations have accused North Korea of dispatching its latest nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to Russia. These missiles are purportedly designed to be easily concealed, rapidly deployed, and difficult to intercept.
Images supplied by the U.S. suggest that these missiles are Hwasong-11s, a broad category of short-range ballistic missiles known for their ability to accurately strike targets with precision, Bloomberg reports, citing weapons experts.
There have been at least 10 instances of Russia employing North Korean missiles to attack Ukraine, Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for North Korea said in March.
Oleksandr Filchakov, the head of the Kharkiv Oblast prosecutor's office, said on March 14 that Russia had used almost 50 North Korean missiles in its assaults on Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. This number is five times higher than the count provided by Pak.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Martin Fornusek
