The move follows Ukraine's ratification of the minerals agreement, deepening U.S.-Ukraine economic ties and signaling expanded U.S. involvement in Ukraine's long-term recovery.
"Ukraine has initiated a coordinated campaign to vilify Hungary in order to undermine our initiative to hold a poll on (Kyiv's) EU membership," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that further concessions from Ukraine during negotiations would be unreasonable if Russia continues to attack civilian targets.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will travel to Istanbul for possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on May 13, citing three undisclosed sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.
A captive named Umit allegedly agreed to serve in the Russian army in exchange for Russian citizenship and a monetary reward of 2 million rubles ($25,000).
Russia's Buryatia Republic declared a state of emergency on May 13 over massive forest fires that have engulfed multiple regions in the Russian Far East.
A cemetery in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, on Oct. 7, 2023. Bucha was the site of a massacre in March 2022, and the cemetery holds the graves of many civilians killed under Russian occupation. (Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The U.K. government announced on Dec. 10 a 3.7-million-pound ($4.6 million) package to support the documentation, investigation, and prosecution of war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has been accompanied by numerous war crimes and atrocities, with Ukrainian prosecutors recording more than 110,000 war crime cases to date.
The newly-announced funding aims to provide open-source intelligence skills to Ukrainian prosecutors and train them to prepare well-evidenced legal cases.
"Through our financial backing and legal expertise, the U.K. will continue to stand with Ukraine as they hold perpetrators to account and ensure that survivor-centered justice is served," said Tariq Ahmad, the minister of state for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Commonwealth, and United Nations.
The package includes 200,000 pounds ($251,000) to support the Warsaw-based Center for War Crimes Documentation run by the Ukrainian NGO Opora. This funding is a key part of the Trilateral Partnership on War Crimes Documentation involving the U.K., Poland, and Ukraine.
"Unpunished evil is only growing, therefore, the investigation of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine is an integral component of comprehensive security in Europe," Opora chair Olha Aivazovska commented.
The newly announced $4.6-million package builds on the previously pledged 2.5 million pounds ($3.1 million).
The U.K. government said it has also provided training to over 300 Ukrainian judges and prosecutors, 78 police officers, and 227 civil society organizations in regard to war crimes investigation, prosecution, and victim assistance.
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.
