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.
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.
Aftermath of a drone strike on Kyiv's Solomianskyi district overnight on Dec. 22. (Kyiv City Military Administration)
Russian attacks across Ukraine, including a drone attack on Kyiv, killed one person and injured at least four overnight on Dec. 21, regional authorities reported.
Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv overnight on Dec. 21, wounding two people, one of whom was hospitalized, Kyiv City Military Administration head Serhii Popko reported.
A drone damaged a high-rise apartment in the capital's Solomianskyi district, causing a fire on the building's upper floors and injuring two people.
Debris from intercepted drones reportedly fell on a home in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, causing another fire but no casualties.
There were also reports of debris falling in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, although no damage or casualties were reported.
According to the Air Force, Russia attacked Ukraine with 28 Shahed drones, which were launched from Russia's Kursk Oblast, Krasnodar Krai region, and Russian-occupied Crimea.
Ukraine reportedly shot down 24 of Russia's drones over its Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Khmelnytskyi regions.
Russian attacks in Kherson Oblast killed one person and injured two, said Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Over 60 attacks were recorded in the city of Kherson.
Attacks were reported in other oblasts that caused damage but no casualties.
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.
Oleg Sukhov
