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.
The Kherson Oblast sign is seen on Nov. 13, 2022, after Russia's retreat from Kherson. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian troops struck energy infrastructure in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast as a "provocation," leaving residents of the Russian-held city of Kakhovka without gas, electricity, and water supply, said Yurii Sobolevskyi, the first deputy head of the Kherson Oblast Council, on March 21.
Kakhovka is a port city located on the east bank of the Dnipro River, which was home to around 34,750 citizens before the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russian troops have occupied Kakhovka since the all-out war started. Russian forces regularly shell Ukrainian cities and villages from the occupied part of Kherson Oblast.
Sobolevskyi called the latest Russian attack "a provocation," as Russian proxies alleged that Ukraine's Armed Forces conducted the strike.
"Ukrainian army strikes only military targets. And leaving people without the necessary living conditions – this is namely the Russian army's habit," Sobolevskyi wroteon Facebook.
After Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank in 2022, Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories, regularly resulting in civilian deaths as well as large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure.
As of the morning of March 21, two people were killed and four injured due to Russian attacks over the past day in Kherson Oblast. Russian troops struck 12 cities and villages, including the regional center of Kherson.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Nate Ostiller
