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.
People leave flowers outside the Russian Embassy in London on Feb. 16, 2024, following the news of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. (Daniel Leal/ AFP)
The funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be held on March 1 in Moscow's Borisov cemetery, Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh announced on Feb. 28.
The funeral will take place at 2 p.m., but Yarmysh advised those who wanted to come to arrive earlier. Yarmysh said on Feb. 27 that almost all funeral agencies and funeral venues in Moscow had refused to host a public farewell for Navalny.
"Some of them say the place is fully booked. Some refuse when we mention the surname Navalny. In one place, we were told that the funeral agencies were forbidden to work with us," Yarmysh said.
Navalny, Putin's main political opponent, died on Feb. 16 in a penal colony in the town of Kharp, Yamal Nenets Autonomous District. He had been convicted in several fabricated criminal cases as part of the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent.
Leaders around the world pointed at Russian President Vladimir Putin as to blame for Navalny's death. It remains unclear whether the harsh prison conditions caused his death or if he was intentionally murdered.
Maria Pevchikh, the chair of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on Feb. 26 that Navalny had been killed in prison to prevent his exchange with Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian hitman sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany.
Navalny's body was released to his mother on Feb. 24, shortly after Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnayacalled out Russian PresidentVladimir Putin in a video due to the refusal of the prison authorities to release his remains to his mother, nearly nine days after his death.
Navalny's mother said on Feb. 22 that the authorities threatened that they would only transfer the body to her if she agreed to a secret funeral, as opposed to a public one.
"This is not even hatred - this is some kind of Satanism, paganism. What are you planning to do with his body? How far will you go to mock the man you killed?" Navalnaya said.
"We do not know if the authorities will interfere to carry it out as the family wants and as Alexei deserves," Yarmysh said later on Feb. 24.
Ivan Zhdanov, the head of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, told Russian independent media outlet Meduza on Feb. 28 that the authorities were actively trying to prevent a public funeral.
"They are again blackmailing relatives and saying: Either hold a quiet family funeral, or nothing will really work out for you," Zhdanov said.
Navalny's team found a church near the cemetery that has agreed to hold a public funeral service, Zhdanov said.
"There are no problems with this yet, but theoretically, of course, they could arise, the Federal Security Service (FSB) officers could put pressure on the clergy. Then we will have a farewell either in the cemetery or in another church," Zhdanov told Meduza.
Oleg Sukhov
