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.
Illustrative purposes only: Bullet casings sit in packets before loading into belts for use in machine guns at Ukroboronprom's Mayak PJSC manufacturing plant in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 9, 2016. (Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg via Getty Images) // UEW
The U.S. may announce later on March 12 a military aid package for Ukraine worth as much as $400 million, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed American officials.
This would be the first package since last December, as U.S. funds for Kyiv have been blocked by disputes in Congress.
One of the sources told Reuters "that the funding for this package is from credits refunded to the Pentagon for recent purchases."
Politico reported, citing its sources, that the package should be worth $300 million and include cluster munitions-armed versions of ATACMS long-range missiles that can reach targets 160 kilometers (100 miles) away.
The U.S. provided a number of ATACMS missiles with a range of 160 kilometers last October. Newer variants, which can reach targets 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, have not been supplied to Ukraine.
The new tranche should also include 155 mm artillery shells and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), Politico wrote.
U.S. aid to Ukraine has been delayed since autumn 2023, as various versions of a foreign aid bill have been derailed due to border security disagreements.
Most recently, a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan passed in the Senate with bipartisan support, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives.
Johnson is reportedly allowing Republicans who support Ukrainian aid to work on an alternative bill, which is expected to be complete by late March or early April.
The delays led to Washington considering alternative ways of getting assistance to Ukraine, for example, by tapping into the U.S. Army's own funds.
Equipment and weapons shortages have led to recent Russian territorial advances, including the capturing of Avdiivka — a key city near occupied Donetsk — where heavy fighting took place for many months.
Sonya Bandouil
