Lawmakers urged the EU and its member states to step up efforts to hold Moscow accountable through international courts and support for Ukraine’s campaign to bring its children home.
The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sat down with author, historian, and Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland Andrej Lushnycky who sheds some light on the things Putin would rather you didn’t know about World War II.
Washington’s involvement may also help mitigate political opposition in Europe, while giving the U.S. strategic visibility over future Russian energy flows, sources told Reuters.
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.
Remains of a Shahed 136/131 drone are displayed at an exhibition featuring missiles and drones used by Russia in attacks on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 12, 2023. (Oleksii Samsonov /Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine has recorded eight confirmed hits against its energy facilities by Russian forces since March 18, when the Kremlin claimed to have ordered a pause on such attacks, presidential advisor Dmytro Lytvyn said on March 25.
"Moscow is a city built on lies, no surprise to anyone in Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky's aide said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 18 that he had ordered a 30-day halt on strikes against energy facilities after rejecting a full truce on all military operations in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Moscow claimed that the Black Sea ceasefire would take effect only after some Western sanctions were lifted, while alleging that the energy truce had been in effect since March 18.
"But the reality is – since March 18, they’ve been hitting our energy sites with bombs, attack drones, and FPV drones," Lytvyn commented.
"We’re not going into all the details, but there have already been eight confirmed hits on energy facilities."
The official did not specify which facilities were hit or when. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
DTEK, Ukraine's largest energy company, told the Kyiv Independent that their facilities recorded no hits between March 18 and 25, despite being regularly targeted before that.
Lytvyn also noted that Ukrainian air defenses have shot down hundreds of Russian drones every night since March 18, claiming that "many of those drones were likely targeting other energy facilities."
Dominic Culverwell contributed to the reporting for this article.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Dominic Culverwell
