Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions are facing their most consequential test since the full-scale invasion. What began in November 2025 as NABU's Operation Midas, a sprawling $100 million kickback scheme at state nuclear energy company Energoatom, has since evolved into Ukraine's largest corruption scandal of the wartime period, drawing in former ministers, the ex-chief of staff to President Zelensky, and now the current Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. NABU wiretap tr

In response, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accused Moscow of intentionally redirecting Ukrainian drones into NATO territory. "We apologize to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.

The attacks came as Russia continued large-scale aerial strikes across Ukraine and intensified attacks on energy infrastructure.

Russia launched 209 drones overnight, Ukraine's Air Force said on the morning of May 19, most of them Shahed-type deep-strike drones.

The number includes 1 140 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

More than four years into a full-scale war Russia started but has no clear plan to win or even stop, the balance of power in the drone war has taken a significant shift in favor of Ukraine. Ukrainian drone programs at every level have begun to outperform Russia’s, and in a war that is increasingly defined by these unmanned platforms, this shift has started to produce tangible results not only on the battlefield, but also now in the skies above Russia. "Moscow from now on never sleeps," Robert

Explosions were reported in the Russian city of Yaroslavl on the morning of May 19, according to local Russian media and officials, following a reported drone attack.

Russia launched overnight strikes across southern and eastern Ukraine early on May 19, hitting infrastructure and residential areas in Odesa Oblast and Kharkiv, according to local authorities.

The organization's Executive Committee has "decided to lift all restrictions applicable to Russian and Belarusian athletes since February 2022, with immediate effect."

Key developments on May 18: * 'Hide-and-seek with death' — Ukraine details grim situation in Pokrovsk * Ukraine claims control of Stepnohirsk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, military intelligence says * Belarus starts nuclear drills with Russia days after Zelensky warns of attacks on Ukraine, NATO * Ukraine develops 1st domestically produced guided glide bomb, ready for combat use * Russia calls for Ukraine peace talks to resume after months of downplaying them * At least 2 killed, 51 injured in

The Ukrainian advance was confirmed by footage of Ukrainian troop movements released by HUR, which shows soldiers from the "Artan" special unit of Ukrainian military intelligence engaging Russian forces in Stepnohirsk.

When 23-year-old Russian student Valery Averin signed a military contract in January after being recruited into Russia’s drone forces campaign targeting students, he was told he would train as a drone operator. Three months later, he was dead near Luhansk after reportedly being sent into an assault unit despite having no military experience. His case, reported by the BBC Russian Service, appears to be the first known death linked to Russia’s growing campaign to recruit university and college st

The latest extension is the second time the Trump administration has renewed the sanctions relief despite earlier public statements indicating it would not do so.

"I believe we sometimes missed opportunities to listen," Emmanuel Macron told an Eastern European audience at the GLOBSEC Forum held in Bratislava in June 2023, in a speech that sought to bridge the gap between "old" and "new" members of the EU. Quite ironically, Macron's words would be as relevant today as it was back then. Three years on, Europe's "conceptual and strategic awakening," announced by the French president, has yet to materialize. For Europe, habituated to America's security umbre

Natus Vincere — known as NAVI — took home their second championship trophy of the year as well as $125,000 in prize money after beating German team GamerLegion 2-1 in the popular first-person shooter video game.

The exercises have added significance as they come amid growing warnings from Kyiv that Russia is trying to draw Belarus deeper into its war against Ukraine, while also expanding military infrastructure that could support future Russian operations against Ukraine or NATO's eastern flank.

Russia is grappling with brewing internal pressure due to battlefield failures in Ukraine and domestic economic difficulties, Kaupo Rosin, head of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, told the Kyiv Independent.

The statement offers a stark picture of the deteriorating situation north of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian troops say Russian drone superiority has made troop rotations, evacuations, and resupply missions nearly impossible.

A secretive luxury residential compound allegedly built for Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle could become the corruption scandal that defines his presidency. The prosecution alleges that within four years, nearly $9 million was laundered through the construction of a cottage complex — four expensive houses near Kyiv, each roughly 1,000 square meters in size. According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), the h

"Importantly, this is specifically a Russian internal assessment — one they are trying to conceal both from the world and from their own domestic audience," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The development is significant because glide bombs are a primitive yet highly destructive weapon widely used against front-line areas. Russia has continuously modified the bombs to increase their range and destructive power, turning them into one of the biggest threats to both Ukrainian troop positions and civilians near the front line.

High oil prices driven by the U.S. operation against Iran are not sufficient to save the Russian economy, according to estimates from the Free Russia Foundation shared with the Kyiv Independent. The U.S. operation disrupted traditional supply routes and triggered a sharp rise in global oil prices, prompting Washington to issue sanctions waivers on Russian oil in an effort to stabilize the market. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged on May 13 that higher oil prices had effectively

The bail funds were reportedly scraped from multiple sources, including contributions from Serhii Rebrov, the former Ukraine national football team coach.

Ukraine's Navy said the bulk carrier KSL DEYANG, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargoes such as grains or coal, was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands and is owned by a Chinese company, with a crew of Chinese nationals on board.

"We expect our American colleagues to continue their peacemaking efforts," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Russia launched 524 drones and 22 missiles, including 14 ballistic ones, Ukraine's Air Force said. Of them, 503 drones and 4 missiles were shot down. Direct hits by 18 missiles and 16 drones were recorded at 34 locations.

The number includes 1,220 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Russian forces launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine's central and southern regions overnight on May 18, injuring at least 20 people, including two children, officials reported.

The alleged figures, which the Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify, follow Kyiv's largest attack on Moscow in over a year on May 17 in which Kyiv reportedly launched 1,054 Ukrainian drones at Russia, as well as eight guided aerial bombs, and two newly developed Ukrainian missiles.

President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the Ukrainian military's efforts in delivering "significant" long-range strikes on Moscow overnight on May 16-17, describing them as part of a broader shift in momentum in Kyiv’s favor.

"When we think about those types of technologies being that close, and a range of bad actors from terror groups to drug cartels to Iranians to the Russians, it's concerning," a senior U.S. official said.

After four years of brutal, all-out war in Ukraine, the Council of Europe met on May 15 to establish a long-awaited pillar of accountability: the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (The Tribunal). The Tribunal fills an important gap. The International Criminal Court lacks jurisdiction for aggression — what judges at Nuremberg called the "supreme international crime." It seeks to hold the architects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, most senior Russian officials, account