The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The EU plans to significantly increase tariffs on Ukrainian goods after the current duty-free deal lapses on June 6, the Financial Times reported on May 14, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said that the new pontiff had a phone call with Zelensky on Monday, during which the pope expressed willingness to facilitate meetings between global leaders and vowed to support efforts for "a just and lasting peace."
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on May 13, Macron discussed new Russia sanctions and stationing French nuclear weapons in other European countries as a deterrent against Russia.
Performing their song "Bird of Pray," Ukrainian band Ziferblat passed the Eurovision semi-finals on May 13, qualifying Ukraine for the grand final on May 17.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
Photo for illustrative purposes. The Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery, operated by OAO Lukoil, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, on Dec. 4, 2014. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A Moscow court ordered Russia's most popular search engine Yandex to remove photos of an oil refinery in one of the Russian regions from online maps due to the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks, Russian state-controlled TASS news agency reported on Jan. 2, citing documents.
According to the court's decision, Yandex must "exclude information access" to the refinery's infrastructure.
Over the past year, Ukraine has launched a series of drone strikes targeting Russia's oil industry, which is a driver of Russia's economy and the main source of revenue for the Kremlin's war machine.
The lawsuit was filed by an unnamed "supervisory agency," which found information about all the refinery's facilities in the public domain. The facility's location was not disclosed.
This is the first court decision that obliged the Russian tech giant to remove from public access photos and maps of a strategically important facility for the defense industry, according to TASS.
The oil refinery plant "operates in an uninterrupted mode, providing the needs of the Russian army and navy" during the all-out war against Ukraine and was attacked four times by Ukrainian drones in 2024, resulting in damage to the company's infrastructure, the lawsuit said.
The court ruled that open access to maps and photos of the refinery "undermine the defense capability of the state" and "have a negative impact on the timely supply of materials" to the Russian army, TASS wrote.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Kateryna Denisova
