The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
Viktoria Roshchyna, 27, disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from Ukraine's Russian-occupied territories. Moscow admitted she was in Russian detention the following year.
European foreign ministers approved the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine during a meeting in Lviv on May 9. The tribunal, which will operate under the auspices of the Council of Europe, aims to prosecute Russia's top political and military leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine expects the tribunal to start work in 2026. The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova spoke with Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel about the future tribunal and its role in bringing justice for Ukraine.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg that while they don't expect Trump to visit Istanbul, they are not ruling it out, and preparations for any scenario are underway.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with the activities of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was co-founded by Golos's legal predecessor, the Golos association.
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.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, United States, April 1, 2024. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The U.S. will make more announcements on military aid to Ukraine "in the next few weeks," U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on May 9.
After six months of political infighting and delays, the U.S. recently passed a long-awaited $61 billion military aid package.
"What we can do as a partner of Ukraine is to continue to support them militarily and to continue to support their economy, and most of all, to do what we can to help to get them to a place where they can stand on their own two feet," Miller told reporters.
Miller also said during a press briefing on May 8 that the U.S. is working on additional funding packages for Ukraine.
"I think you can expect to see us get back to the kind of tempo that we were at before we had this break in funding," Miller told reporters.
During the six-month break in funding, Ukraine lost the key front-line city of Avdiivka in February amid a severe ammunition shortage.
Russia has since continued its advance toward Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, an elevated town that potentially opens the way to further advances into the region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 9 that Ukraine will be able to blunt Russia's ongoing offensive if its allies increase weapons supplies.
