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.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter) Elon Musk gestures as he attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center on June 16, 2023, in Paris, France. (Chesnot/Getty Images)
Elon Musk's suggestion that a ceasefire in Ukraine on terms favorable to Russia would prevent further war is a "catastrophic mistake," said advisor to Ukraine's Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak on Oct. 24.
Musk had suggested earlier on Oct. 24 in a discussion on Twitter spaces that the U.S. was "sleepwalking" into World War III and that it should seek to normalize relations with Russia, which he suggested could happen if the U.S. pressures Ukraine into a ceasefire.
Later in the discussion, Musk was joined by U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who proposed giving away Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for peace.
Musk appeared to agree and also denied that a pro-Ukrainian insurgency was happening in Russian-speaking areas, implying that the current line of control might be a good permanent dividing line.
Podolyak posted a lengthy response refuting Musk's argument, writing that surrendering Ukraine to "mandatory large-scale genocide" from Russia will have far-reaching consequences.
Appeasement will only embolden other international aggressors, he said, and the "great war" that Musk predicted will be even more likely.
Podolyak has previously reacted strongly to Musk's controversial public statements about the war in Ukraine.
After Musk shared an insulting doctored meme of President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 2, insinuating that Zelensky asks for too much aid for Ukraine, Podolyak responded on Twitter.
"Any silence or irony towards Ukraine today is a direct encouragement of Russian propaganda that justifies mass violence and destruction," he said.
Musk has had an inconsistent track record in regards to supporting Ukraine. He received praise for providing Ukraine with the Starlink satellite internet system shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
However, he came under fire in September 2023 for allegedly instructing his engineers to secretly turn off Starlink satellite communications near Crimea to prevent a Ukrainian submarine drone attack against Russian military ships.
Musk denied the accusations, saying that Starlink satellite communications had not been active near Crimea in the first place.
Musk has also previously suggested that Ukraine should trade land for peace.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
