Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
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.
Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sit inside an F-16 fighter jet at the Skrydstrup airbase in Denmark on Aug. 20, 2023. (Office of the President of Ukraine)
Denmark is working to "expand and deepen" the "fighter jet coalition" of countries willing to provide Ukraine with F-16 aircraft, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Oct. 9, Reuters reported.
The prime minister also appealed to other NATO nations to expand the coalition of countries supplying the jets and providing the necessary training to the Ukrainian Air Force, The Guardian said.
In her address at the the NATO Parliamentary Assembly session in Copenhagen, Frederiksen warned against the war fatigue supposedly growing among Kyiv's allies.
The unity of the pro-Ukrainian alliance has recently encountered several challenges, as populist political forces are rising in Europe and the Ukraine aid is being contested in U.S. Congress.
"As long as the Ukrainians are ready to fight this war for our freedom, let us decide that war fatigue will not take place in our transatlantic community," Frederiksen said.
The prime minister called on NATO and the EU to improve their coordination of weapons and ammunition supplies to Ukraine within their respective frameworks.
Denmark and the Netherlands are leading the allied efforts to provide Ukraine with the fourth-generation F-16 jets. Copenhagen pledged to provide 19 of its aircraft to bolster the Ukrainian Air Force.
Norway also promised to send some of its F-16 jets to Ukraine.
The "fighter jet coalition" to provide training for Ukrainian pilots and technical staff was officially established in July by 11 founding allied countries.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
