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.
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.
European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson speaks during a press conference on Energy Report 2024 in Brussels, Belgium on Sept. 11, 2024. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Europe is "fully committed" to phasing out Russian gas and is "ready to live without this Russian gas coming from the Ukrainian transit route," EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on Sept. 11, during a press conference on the EU Energy Report 2024.
Ukraine currently transits Russian gas to the EU as part of a deal signed in 2019, which is set to expire in December 2024. Europe and Ukraine are in talks with Azerbaijan to replace Russia as a supplier.
Ending the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine represents a first step toward "completing the phase-out of Russian gas," Simson said.
According to Simson, the EU "used to import 150 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia every year, and it is now less than 50 (billion)."
"Our dependency from Russia dropped from 45% in 2021 to 15% last year," Simson said.
Europeans have also decreased their consumption of gas by 18% between 2022 and 2024, Simson said.
News emerged over the summer that the EU and Kyiv have identified Azerbaijan as a potential replacement gas supplier.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sept. 6 that negotiations are underway with the EU, Moscow, and Kyiv to transit Azeri gas after Ukraine stops transiting Russian gas.
Gas supplies from Azerbaijan would have to first transit through southern Russia before reaching Ukraine.
"Russia, Ukraine, and European institutions have approached us in connection with the continuation of gas transit through the territory of Ukraine," Aliyev said. "For several months we have been making great efforts to come to a common denominator."
Elsa Court
