The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
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.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
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.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
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.
U.K. businessman David Crisp, former CEO of the "Boadicea The Victorious" perfume company, at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 17, 2015. Illustrative purposes. (Robert Oswald Alfiler/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
U.K. businessman David Crisp will not face criminal charges after he was caught on camera admitting to selling luxury perfume in Russia despite government sanctions, the BBC reported on Nov. 24.
Crisp was arrested in 2023 by the U.K. agency responsible for sanctions enforcement, but the investigation was dropped earlier in 2024. There have been no criminal convictions in the U.K. for violating sanctions against Russia since the launch of the full-scale invasion, according to the BBC.
A private investigator filmed Crisp confessing that he knowingly ignored trade sanctions in order to sell high-end perfume in Russia. The video, previously only shown in court, was obtained by the BBC.
The investigator, posing as a Las Vegas businessman, asked Crisp about his dealings in Russia during a conversation in Dallas in July 2023.
"Don't tell anyone," Crisp said. "We're doing really well. ... We ignore government edicts. They said we shouldn't, weren't allowed to trade there."
Crisp told the agent that sales in Russia in 2023 were the same as in previous years, but that getting products to Russia — including bottles of perfume worth over $1,200 — was becoming increasingly challenging.
The U.K. imposed sanctions against Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The restricitions specifically include bans on luxury perfume products.
Crisp's former business partner, David Garofalo, hired the undercover investigator after he became suspicious that Crisp was continuing to sell to Russian customers in violation of sanctions.
Garofolo described Crisp's statements in the video as "sickening."
"He had actually gone out of his way to disguise the fact that he’d continued selling to Russia," Garofalo told the BBC.
"He had deceived our in-house lawyer and misled our auditors."
After Crisp's arrest, Garofolo took over full control of the company and halted all sales to Russia.
Despite the evidence against Crisp, which also included company paperwork and international shipping data, the investigation against him was dropped in July 2024. The U.K.'s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) agency said it would take no further action against Crisp.
Crisp is alleged to have hidden over $2.1 million in illegal sales to Russia.
U.K. lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith criticized the government's track record on sanctions enforcement.
"In terms of prosecution and seriously pursuing people over sanctions, the U.K. is very poor indeed," Smith said.
"If we don't prosecute, who the hell is deterred from breaching sanctions?"
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Martin Fornusek
