Ukraine is considering moving away from the U.S. dollar and closer to the euro as a benchmark for the hryvnia, National Bank Governor Andrii Pyshnyi told Reuters.
The Atesh partisan group claims it disabled communication at several Russian military facilities when it allegedly destroyed equipment at a transformer substation in the village of Mogiltsy in Russia's Moscow Oblast.
"The Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much," U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on May 7, according to Politico.
EU ambassadors began talks this week on a 17th sanctions package that targets Russia’s military-industrial complex, Moscow’s shadow shipping fleet, and related support networks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the trip is currently being coordinated and emphasized that the European Union must do “everything possible” to help secure a lasting cessation of hostilities beyond the upcoming weekend.
Russia launched 187 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones and five Iskander-M ballistic missiles, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
Members of the Siberian Battalion prepare weapons during military exercises with the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2023. (Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In response to limited raids from Ukrainian territory into Russian border regions, the Kremlin may have to choose between paying a cost in resources or in reputation, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed in their daily report on March 14.
In recent days, multiple pro-Ukrainian military units comprised of Russian citizens have crossed into Belgorod and Kursk oblasts. The Freedom of Russia Legion and Siberian Battalion conducted combat operations, taking control of Tyotkino, in Russia's Kursk Oblast, and Lozovaya Rudka, in Belgorod Oblast.
Oleksii Baranovskyi, a fighter with the Freedom of Russia Legion, said on March 13 that fighting is still ongoing in five settlements near the Ukrainian border.
The ISW notes that these raids have played a role in heightened criticisms from Russian nationalists against the Kremlin, for failures to adequately protect Russian citizens living in border towns. As a result, the Kremlin may either respond to the criticism and allocate extra barricades and border security forces, or choose to keep the majority of military equipment and personnel in Ukraine to conserve resources.
Though the Kremlin's reputation is a factor, the ISW predicts the reputation damage will be much lower in 2024 than in 2023 due to increased censorship in Russia. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, many new laws have been introduced regarding war criticism of any manner, with arrests possible for up to 15 years for spreading "fake news" about the military or government.
Following Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion against Putin in June 2023, "the Kremlin has cracked down on the Russian information space's complaints against the (Russian Defense Ministry), actively censoring certain fringe and extreme milbloggers through arrests or other measures."
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Emmanuelle Chaze
