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.
European foreign ministers approved the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine during a meeting in Lviv on May 9. The tribunal, which will operate under the auspices of the Council of Europe, aims to prosecute Russia's top political and military leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine expects the tribunal to start work in 2026. The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova spoke with Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel about the future tribunal and its role in bringing justice for Ukraine.
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.
A serviceman from Ukraine's 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade is standing on the outskirts of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine, on Feb. 21, 2024. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Russian forces increased activity in the Orikhiv direction in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, attempting to cut off the Robotyne salient, said Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson of the Tavria group of forces, on March 7.
The village of Robotyne, lying some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Orikhiv and 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) southeast of Zaporizhzhia, was liberated by Ukraine during its counteroffensive in the summer of 2023 and has been on the front line since then.
Robotyne sits by the main road toward Russian-occupied Tokmak and further to occupied Melitopol, one of the key logistic hubs for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
"The Orikhiv sector is becoming an intense battleground," Lykhovii said on air.
"The enemy is trying to cut off the Robotyne salient in the area."
In the previous days or weeks, Russian forces launched at the most three to five attacks per day, sometimes carrying out no offensive action at all, Lykhovii said.
Russian activity surged over the past 24 hours, as Moscow's troops carried out 16 assaults west of Verbove and near Robotyne, according to the spokesperson. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that all the attacks were unsuccessful.
"The more enemy tries to attack, the more of his manpower we destroy," Lykhovii added.
Another surge of Russian attacks near Robotyne was recorded in mid-February, resulting in no confirmed changes to the front line, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote at the time.
Asami Terajima
