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.
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
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.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
A general view of the Crimea Bridge which connects Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia's Krasnodar region on July 25, 2023. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russia has stopped using the Crimean Bridge to transport military equipment to the front lines and is instead using overland routes in occupied parts of eastern Ukraine, The Independent and investigative group Molfar reported on May 6.
The bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, connects the Russian mainland with the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula, and has long been a crucial supply route for the Russian military in Ukraine.
Construction on the 19-kilometer-long bridge began after the illegal 2014 annexation and occupation of Crimea, and was completed in 2018.
An analysis of satellite imagery by Molfar, shared with The Independent, shows that over a three-month period this year, only one military freight train carrying around 55 fuel cars crossed the bridge.
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War Notes
On March 25, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said Russia no longer uses the Crimean Bridge to supply weapons to the front after Ukrainian strikes damaged the crossing.
Before the bridge came under attack, "42 to 46 trains carrying weapons and ammunition passed there per day," Maliuk said at the time.
"Today there are four or five in a day," of which four are for passenger traffic, and one is for consumer goods, he added.
In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, targeting Russian military assets in and around the Black Sea.
A Russian proxy claimed on April 30 that air defenses had intercepted Ukrainian missiles over the cities of Dzhankoi and Simferopol overnight.
Most recently, Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over occupied Crimea on May 2, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.
Chris York is news operations editor at the Kyiv Independent. Before joining the team, he was head of news at the Kyiv Post. Previously, back in Britain, he spent nearly a decade working for HuffPost UK. He holds an MA in Conflict, Development, and Security from the University of Leeds.
Kateryna Hodunova
