"Only member states can take out loans within the 150 billion euros instrument, but they can use these funds for joint procurement with Ukraine," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.
"We agreed to pursue ambitious measures to reduce Russia's ability to wage war by limiting Kremlin revenues, disrupting the shadow fleet, tightening the Oil Price Cap, and reducing our remaining imports of Russian energy."
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.
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is transferred from a car to an ambulance as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on May 27, 2024. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russian forces are sending injured soldiers back to the front and using Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) as shields in "human wave" attacks, the Telegraph reported on July 14, citing front-line Ukrainian troops.
Human wave assaults are frontal attacks launched by infantry units without armored vehicles or other defensive shields. Russia has deployed such attacks in its full-scale war against Ukraine, notably in the battle to capture Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
Ukrainian soldiers have said that Russia often fails to evacuate injured troops and at times sends its own injured soldiers back to the battlefield as part of these formations.
Wounded Russian soldiers are "simply left in positions to die," a Ukrainian soldier identified by the call sign "Hunter" told the Telegraph.
"This is a common situation when wounded Russian soldiers are captured," Hunter said.
"According to them, they were left to their fate without food and water to die by their own comrades."
Hunter and other soldiers also reported witnessing Ukrainian POWs forced to walk in front of Russian units.
"Of course, I have seen PoWs, this is outrageous and tearing us apart from the inside, such an attitude towards prisoners of war is unacceptable and prohibited by conventions," said Yurii, a machine gunner.
According to leaked documents from the U.S. Defense Department, between 462,000 and 728,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, injured, or captured in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
These losses exceed the number of Russian troops who were preparing for the invasion in February 2022. The estimates also surpass Russia's cumulative casualties in military conflicts since World War II.
Russia continues to recruit 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month, the New York Times (NYT) reported in late June.
This allows the Russian army to replenish its troops in order to continue launching human wave-style attacks, the NYT said.
Asami Terajima
