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.
The headquarters of Ukraine's Finance Ministry in Kyiv on March 17, 2012. (Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Ukraine received $42.5 billion in external financing last year, of which $11.6 billion were non-refundable grants, the Finance Ministry announced on Feb. 19.
Foreign aid is crucial for Ukraine as the economic pressure caused by the full-scale Russian invasion grows. Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said previously that the country would need at least the same sum in external financing in 2024 as last year.
The largest grant assistance in 2023 was provided by the U.S. ($11 billion), followed by Japan ($230.5 million), Norway ($190 million), Germany ($105 million), Spain ($50 million), Finland ($36 million), Switzerland ($30 million), Ireland ($21 million), Belgium ($3 million), and Iceland ($2 million).
As part of the overall financing last year, Ukraine also received $30.9 billion in long-term loans, including $19.5 billion from the EU, $4.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), $3.4 billion from Japan, $1.8 billion from Canada, $1 billion from the U.K., $660 million from the World Bank, and $50 million from Spain.
As of Dec. 31, 2023, Ukraine's state and state-guaranteed debt amounted to Hr 5.5 trillion ($145 billion).
Ukraine has long faced uncertainty about whether it could secure external financing for 2024 as well. After long delays, the EU approved on Feb. 1 the four-year support of 50 billion euros ($54 billion).
In turn, $60 billion from the U.S., of which roughly $10 billion is allocated to support Ukraine's non-military spending and private sector, remains stalled by disputes in Congress.
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.
Nate Ostiller
