Ukraine's underground storage facilities are currently using 19.4% of their capacity. Almost 32%, or 2.79 bcm, less gas is available in the storages than in the previous year, according to the estimates.
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14.
"He'd like me to be there, and that's a possibility. ... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Qatar, Reuters reported.
Trump has long demanded that NATO allies increase their military spending, previously calling for the alliance to raise its benchmark from 2% to 5% of GDP.
More than 1,000 Russian government entities and 1,200 private companies are involved in the economy of occupied Mariupol, a major southeastern city occupied by Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a research paper published on May 14.
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 government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
Soldiers drink coffee and east hotdogs between tasks in a petrol station near Sumy on Aug. 15, 2024, in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. (Ed Ram/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) #Kurskcounteroffensive
Russia's counterattack in Kursk Oblast aiming to retake Ukrainian-held territory has been stopped, a spokesperson of the Ukrainian military administration in the region told AFP on Sept. 18.
The statement comes a week after Moscow launched a counteroffensive against the western flank of Ukrainian troops in the Russian region.
"They tried to attack from the flanks, but they were stopped there," spokesperson Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi told AFP.
"The situation was stabilized and today everything is under control, they are not successful."
The spokesperson admitted only "some minor successes" by Russia.
"The Russians entered one of the settlements. They started fighting for another settlement, but that was it," he said. Russia claimed to have recaptured 10 settlements only on the first day of the counteroffensive, announcing further advances since then.
The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the claims.
Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in early Aug. 6, allegedly seizing around 100 settlements and over 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles).
Moscow's troops launched the counterattack last week in an effort to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their positions on Russian soil.
Russia has not yet commented on Dmytrashkivskyi's statement but did not mention any new settlements recaptured in its regular update on Sept. 17. Moscow claimed the same day it had repelled several fresh attempts by Ukraine to cross the border in Kursk Oblast west of the Ukrainian salient.
The estimated Russian and Ukrainian advances during the Kursk incursion as of Sept. 17, 2024. Source: Institute for the Study of War. (Nizar al-Rifai/The Kyiv Independent)
According to the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War, last week, Ukraine made cross-border advances west of its main positions in the Korenevsky and Sudzhansky districts, specifically in the Glushkovsky district near Novy Put in the south and Tetkino in the west.
Despite recent Ukrainian ground attacks, neither side achieved confirmed advances over the past day, the ISW said in its Sept. 17 report.
According to Dmytrashkivskyi, there are still "several thousand" Russian civilians in Ukraine-occupied territories of Kursk Oblast.
"In some settlements, there are more than 100 people, more than 200, more than 500," the spokesperson said.
Kyiv claimed that its conduct in occupied territories is in line with international humanitarian law and invited the U.N. and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to "join the humanitarian efforts."
The Kremlin has denounced the move as "pure provocation."
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Dinara Khalilova
