The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
Ukraine is considering moving away from the U.S. dollar and closer to the euro as a benchmark for the hryvnia, National Bank Governor Andrii Pyshnyi told Reuters.
The Atesh partisan group claims it disabled communication at several Russian military facilities when it allegedly destroyed equipment at a transformer substation in the village of Mogiltsy in Russia's Moscow Oblast.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting regarding the situation in the Kursk region, in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, on August 12, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 12 accused Ukraine of trying to "destabilize" his country, and vowed a "worthy riposte" to Kyiv's ongoing incursion into Kursk Oblast.
"One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord, strife, intimidate people, destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society," Putin said during a televised meeting with government officials.
"The main task is, of course, for the defense ministry to dislodge the enemy from our territories."
The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time.
During the same meeting, Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk Oblast, described the current situation as "difficult," and told Putin that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements, adding the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40 kilometer front.
Putin said in response to the incursion, there had been an increase in the number of men signing up to fight.
"The enemy will receive a worthy riposte," he said.
Although reinforcements sent by Moscow have begun to arrive on the battlefield, Ukraine has reportedly continued to advance farther into Kursk Oblast.
Ukrainian forces control about 1,000 square kilometers in Russia's Kursk Oblast as of Aug. 12, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Until now, Kyiv has so far maintained a policy of silence on the incursion, despite the ongoing fighting and Ukraine advancing deeper into Russian territory.
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The Kyiv Independent news desk
