Zelensky on May 12 removed Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the top command and control body for all branches of Ukraine's defense apparatus.
Ukraine remains the most mined country in the world. Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory, approximately 174,000 square kilometers, had been mined since Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The phone call comes as Moscow once again rejected a 30-day ceasefire, with Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claiming that a ceasefire would give "Kyiv a break to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia."
Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport en-route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 17, 2014. Three hours into the flight, the Boeing-777 was shot down by Russian proxy forces using a Buk surface-to-air missile above Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
"I am grateful for the support and the readiness at the highest level to promote diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the phone conservation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We share the same view on the need for a ceasefire."
The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Grant Shapps, who visited Ukraine in August 2023 as U.K. Energy Secretary, in Kyiv ahead of Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 24, 2023. (Photo: Grant Shapps/Twitter).
The U.K. will provide Ukraine with tens of thousands more artillery shells in the coming months, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sept. 19 after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein, Germany.
"Today we've demonstrated the U.K.'s unwavering commitment to Ukraine and set out more military support, including pledging tens of thousands more artillery shells to enable Ukraine to defend itself," Shapps said, as cited by Reuters.
"We have also set out how the U.K. will go further in the coming months in our priority support areas, including air defense and long-range strike capabilities, and training."
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meets regularly to coordinate the allied support for Ukraine's struggle against Russian aggression.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Kyiv's partners to "dig deep" and provide Ukraine with more air defenses.
Ukrainian leaders have stressed the importance of both air defense systems to protect the population and infrastructure against Russian airstrikes, and artillery support to counter Russian advantage in heavy guns on the battlefield.
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
