The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
European foreign ministers approved the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine during a meeting in Lviv on May 9. The tribunal, which will operate under the auspices of the Council of Europe, aims to prosecute Russia's top political and military leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine expects the tribunal to start work in 2026. The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova spoke with Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel about the future tribunal and its role in bringing justice for Ukraine.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently using 19.4% of their capacity. Almost 32%, or 2.79 bcm, less gas is available in the storages than in the previous year, according to the estimates.
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa holds a speech at the National Dialogue Conference on February 25, 2025, in Damascus, Syria. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
Syrian authorities requested Russia to extradite ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad, but were turned down, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with the New York Times published on April 23.
Assad, a Moscow ally who had ruled Syria since 2000, was toppled in a surprise rebel offensive in December 2024 and subsequently was given refuge in Russia.
Al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda affiliate who led the offensive, was appointed interim president in January. The sudden leadership change cast doubt on Russia's military presence in Syria, namely the Tartus naval base and Khmeimim air base.
Speaking to the NYT, al-Sharaa alluded to the possibility of continued military cooperation with Moscow, stressing Syria's long-standing reliance on Russian arms.
"Until now, we have not had offers from other nations to replace Syrian arms," which are primarily Russian-made, the Syrian leader told the news outlet. He also underscored a number of past food and energy agreements between Moscow and Damascus.
At the same time, al-Sharaa acknowledged that Russia was asked to hand over Assad as a condition for Russia's continued military presence. This request was denied, he said, without elaborating on how this affects future bilateral ties.
Al-Sharaa took office after 23 years of brutal civil war, which left the country's economy ravaged and diplomatically isolated from the West and several major players in the Middle East. The new leader has sought to carefully foster new international ties, leading to the U.S. and the EU easing sanctions imposed on the country.
The Syrian government announced on April 20 that it had received its first shipment of 6,600 tons of wheat since Assad's fall. Reuters reported that the supplies came from Russia.
Ukraine has also opened dialogue with the new Syrian government. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visited Damascus in December 2024, saying at the time that Kyiv and Damascus share similar views on Russia's continued military presence.
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.
Kateryna Denisova
