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.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
A house in Odesa Oblast damaged by the debris of a fallen Russian drone launched overnight on Dec. 26-27. (Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces/Telegram)
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed four people and injured at least 21 over the past day, regional authorities reported on Dec. 27.
Russian troops targeted Odesa with kamikaze drones overnight, killing one person and injuring at least three, including a 17-year-old teenager, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces wrote.
Air defenses in Odesa Oblast downed 12 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia, but debris from a drone fell and hit a house on Odesa's outskirts, causing a fire, according to the Southern Defense Forces.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko later revised the number to four injured after the debris fell, inlcuding a 6-year-old girl.
In Kherson Oblast, where Russian forces struck a railway station full of people late on Dec. 26, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said early on Dec. 27 that three people had been killed in the oblast over the past 24 hours, and another 16 injured.
He mentioned the attack on the railway station but did not clarify where the casualties occurred.
Russian attacks in Kharkiv Oblast injured a 46-year-old man in the town of Kozacha Lopan and damaged homes and energy infrastructure, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Russian attacks were also reported in Sumy, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, causing damage but no casualties.
Ukraine's Air Force reported on Dec. 27 that Russia had launched 46 drones at Ukraine overnight, 32 of which were shot down by air defenses.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
