The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers wait to pay their respects before the statues of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong II in Pyongyang on July 8, 2019 (Kim Won Jin / AFP)
North Korea transferred around 3,000 additional soldiers to Russia in January and February to compensate for battlefield losses sustained fighting Ukrainian forces, AP reported on March 27, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that North Korean forces fighting for Russia had suffered around 4,000 casualties, with two-thirds killed.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, attributed their high losses to North Korea's lack of combat experience and reliance on human wave attacks with limited equipment.
According to the agency, Pyongyang has also supplied Moscow with short-range ballistic missiles, 170 mm self-propelled howitzers, and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers.
North Korea has become a crucial military partner for Russia, providing artillery shells, missiles, and troops in exchange for oil products and advanced rocket technology.
Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to help Russian forces push back a Ukrainian incursion that began in August 2024.
Ukrainian troops initially seized 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory before Russian forces, reinforced by North Korean units, launched a counteroffensive earlier this month, recapturing significant ground, including the town of Sudzha.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Martin Fornusek
