The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
Although Moscow declared on April 28 that it would halt all military actions from May 8 to midnight on May 11 to mark Victory Day, strikes on civilian areas have continued.
A woman passes by PrivatBank 's office in downtown Kyiv on Dec. 15, 2021. (Volodymyr Petrov)
A court in Israel has confirmed that PrivatBank has sufficient grounds for a fraud case against its former owners, Hennadii Boholiubov and the oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, the bank announcedin a press release on June 2.
However, the court also ruled that Israel is not the proper jurisdiction for the case, adding it should be considered in Ukraine.
The court ruled that "PrivatBank duly proved that during the time of ownership by Mr. Kolomoisky and Mr. Boholiubov, funds from it were withdrawn to Israel through a series of complex and carefully thought-out transfers," the press release said.
The bank claims that the two businessmen misappropriated at least $600 million from its funds in the period from 2007 to 2011.
The Israeli court criticized the former owners for not providing any factual data in their defense and not appearing for cross-examination. It has also rejected their claim of "persecution" by the Ukrainian authorities, saying it only weakens their case.
PrivatBank filed the lawsuit in Israel against its ex-owners on Dec. 18, 2019.
The financial and industrial group Privat, of which Kolomoisky and Boholiubov are the co-owners, operated the bank from its founding in 1992 until 2016.
In 2016, the National Bank of Ukraine declared PrivatBank insolvent due to its high capital losses and the government moved to nationalize the bank.
The former owners appealed to the Supreme Court against the government's decision but lost their case in July 2022.
Kolomoisky was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department in March 2021 for alleged corruption, and Ukraine's government reportedly stripped him of citizenship in July 2022.
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.
Alexander Query
