Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
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.
Illustrative purposes only: The Ryazan Oil Refinery in Ryazan, Russia. (Wikipedia)
Editor's note: The article was updated after sources in Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) confirmed the attacks in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.
Drones operated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) attacked the Ryazan Oil Refinery and a refinery in Voronezh Oblast overnight on May 1, military intelligence sources confirmed for the Kyiv Independent.
Russian authorities reported on drone strikes against the two oblasts earlier on May 1, with claims being spread on the Russian Telegram channels that the Ryazan refinery was on fire.
Ukrainian media outlets subsequently reported that Ukraine's military intelligence agency was behind the attacks.
The first four explosions could be heard at the Ryazan refinery at around 2 a.m. local time, after which a large fire started on the facility's territory, the sources said.
The Voronezh Oblast refinery was also hit, the sources confirmed, without elaborating on the consequences.
According to Russian media, fragments of a downed drone also damaged buildings in Voronezh Oblast.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces downed six Ukrainian drones overnight: three over Voronezh Oblast, one over Ryazan Oblast, one over Belgorod Oblast, and one over Kursk Oblast.
Igor Kossov
