Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal (R) met Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren on June 10, 2024, in Kyiv to discuss further cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands. (Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal/Facebook)
The Dutch government will provide 60 million euros ($64.4 million) to bolster Ukraine's aerial and naval drone purchasing and production, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced on June 11.
A total of 17.5 million euros ($18.8 million) will be allocated towards the purchase of naval drones, while the remaining 42.5 million euros ($45.6 million) will go towards bilateral drone deliveries through the international drone coalition - including at least 20 million euros for the purchase of first-person view (FPV) drones.
The drone coalition was established in January to bolster Ukraine's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles. Nine countries have joined the alliance, including Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, and Denmark. The coalition was founded and co-led by the U.K. and Latvia.
In April, Denmark and the Netherlands announced a joint procurement of drones worth 400 million euros ($535 million), making the largest contribution to the coalition.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds announced on April 16 that Ukraine would soon receive the first batch of drones within the coalition's framework.Ukraine is also working to scale up domestic production, aiming to produce at least 1 million drones in 2024.
Ollongren made the announcement following a visit to Kyiv, where she had meetings with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
The officials discussed Ukraine-Netherlands joint defense production, the exchange of technologies, the upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland, and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Martin Fornusek
