Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
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.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during the governmental consultations with the Ukrainian delegation in Michalovce, Slovakia, on April 11, 2024. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on July 5 made his first public appearance since being seriously injured in an assassination attempt in May.
Fico, 59, was shot in an assassination attempt as he walked out of a government meeting in the town of Handlova on May 15. The attack left the prime minister in serious condition, and he has since undergone two surgeries.
During his speech, Fico criticized what he referred to as liberal and progressive political ideologies and expressed praise for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Orban arrived in Moscow on July 5 for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, days after his first wartime visit to Kyiv.
During the Kyiv visit, Orban urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider a ceasefire, a suggestion Zelensky rejected.
Fico, a pro-Russian populist, assumed power in September 2023. His government halted military aid to Ukraine in a stark reversal of Slovak foreign policy.
"I don't want Slovakia to be among the countries that make a caricature of Western civilization," Fico said during his speech on July 5.
Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said on June 30 that Fico is "gradually getting closer" to being able to fully resume the job duties of prime minister.
Fico was shot by Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old writer and political activist.
According to court documents cited by the Slovak news outlet Pravda, Cintula said he had no intention of murdering Fico but instead wanted to "harm his health."
Cintula reportedly told authorities that shot Fico because he disagreed with "certain policies" of the current government.
Francis Farrell
