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.
A residential building damaged in a Russian airstrike against Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on April 22, 2025. (State Emergency Service)
Editor's note: The article was updated with the latest casualty figures.
Russia attacked the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia on April 22, killing at least one person and injuring 38, including five children, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.
Russian forces attacked the city at around 11:40 a.m. with two KAB bombs, with one hitting an infrastructure facility and another a multi-story residential building in Zaporizhzhia's residential neighborhood, Fedorov said.
The strike killed a 69-year-old woman and injured 38 people. Thirteen injured victims have been hospitalized, including five children.
Several nine-story residential buildings and an educational institution were damaged overall, and cars were set ablaze in the attack, the State Emergency Service said.
The air raid alarm sounded in Zaporizhzhia Oblast at 10:28 a.m. local time. About an hour later, Fedorov reported a fire in one of Zaporizhzhia's city districts as a result of the attack.
Zaporizhzhia, home to approximately 710,000 residents before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, is frequently targeted by Russian forces.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast is also home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022 and has featured prominently in recent peace talks between Ukraine and the U.S.
Russian strikes against Ukrainian cities come as Kyiv offered a 30-day pause on strikes against civilian areas. Moscow signaled it would take the proposal under consideration, but continued in its strikes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also declared a temporary truce over the Easter holidays, even as Kyiv accused Moscow of nearly 3,000 violations during that period.
Moscow previously rejected a full 30-day truce agreed upon by Kyiv and Washington on March 11 in Jeddah.
Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Andrea Januta
