Russian torture chambers have been found in all occupied territories liberated by Ukrainian forces. In Kherson Oblast alone, thousands of Ukrainians were put through physical and mental abuse in such facilities, according to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. Two survivors spoke to the Kyiv Independent about what they had endured.
Iryna Matviyishyn is a video reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a freelance journalist with various international media. She was also an analyst, a video producer, and a project coordinator at UkraineWorld. Iryna studied journalism in Lviv and holds a master’s degree in human rights and democratization from the Global Campus of Human Rights in Europe.Read more
"Nobody is asking (President Volodymyr) Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory, but if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" U.S. President Donald Trump wrote.
"I believe that we were attacked, our territories were occupied. Tens of thousands of people were killed, many children and adults were buried alive. And the fact that Ukraine is ready to sit down at the negotiating table after a full ceasefire with the terrorists who organized all this on our land is a big compromise," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ivan Popov, a disgraced ex-commander of Russia's 58th Army fighting in Ukraine, was sentenced by a Russian military court to five years imprisonment over a large-scale fraud, Interfax reported on April 24.
"Today’s measures will also cut Russia's war machine off from innovative British tech, world-leading software, and close loopholes exploited by (President Vladimir) Putin's cronies," the U.K. Foreign Ministry said.
This is the first such exhumation since 2017, when Ukraine imposed a moratorium in response to the destruction of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) memorials in Poland.
An unnamed senior European official told the FT that the Trump administration had already been informed that European capitals would not recognize Crimea as Russian.
Ukrainian officials confirmed Roshchyna's death on Oct. 10, 2024, but said that the circumstances were still under investigation. Russia did not hand over her body for about five months.
Syrian authorities requested Russia to extradite ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad, but were turned down, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with the New York Times published on April 23.
"We count on South Africa’s meaningful participation in the International Coalition for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. We will also certainly strengthen our cultural and educational ties," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukrainian forces downed 64 out of the 145 Shahed-type and other drones, as well as 48 out of the 70 missiles, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for their fourth meeting on April 25, has reportedly promoted the idea. It has "not found much traction in the White House," and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has opposed it, Politico reported.
According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the parties also discussed "important political aspects" of the long-debated future minerals deal between Kyiv and Washington.
The post seems to refer to the U.S. reportedly proposing de jure recognition of Russian control over the southern Ukrainian peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014.
"I just want to see the war end, I don’t care," Trump told reporters. "If they’re both happy, they both sign an agreement, I have no favorites. I don’t want to have any favorites. I want to have a deal done."
Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump and Putin have yet to have direct contact, communicating only through their officials. Trump's last in-person encounter with his Russian counterpart was during the 2018 Helsinki Summit during the U.S. president's first term.