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.
"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.
A civilian stands near the shopping mall targeted by a Russian missile strike in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, on June 28, 2022. (Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian troops targeted Kremenchuk on June 27 with the same missiles that hit local shopping mall Amstor exactly a year ago, according to Poltava Oblast Governor Dmytro Lunin. The Kremenchuk shopping mall attack killed more than 20 people and injured 59.
Today’s missile strike hit a dacha (country house) neighborhood in the Kremenchuk district, said Lunin. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
On June 27, 2022, a Russian Soviet-era Kh-22 missile carrying over 900 kilograms of explosives struck the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk.
At the moment of the attack, more than 1,000 people were inside the building, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its military struck warehouses with Western-provided weaponry next to the shopping mall and alleged detonation of ammunition purportedly caused a fire in the mall. Moscow also falsely claimed that the mall “was not working” then.
Zelensky said the strike was deliberate, calling it “one of the most daring terrorist acts in European history.”
Foreign leaders also condemned Russia’s shopping mall attack, emphasizing that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime.
Kremenchuk, home to 219,000 people, lies several hundred kilometers away from the frontlines and some 330 kilometers south of Kyiv.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Asami Terajima
