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 Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) spokesperson Andrii Yusov at the Presentation of the First Sociological Study of the Russian Prisoners of War, at the Military Media Center, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 4, 2023. (Kaniuka Ruslan / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Kyiv possesses drones capable of operating at a distance of up to 2,000 kilometers (roughly 1,243 miles), Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson Andrii Yusov said on Dec. 27.
While Ukraine does not always provide official comment on claims of drone strikes within Russia, Ukrainian drones have reportedly hit targets over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the front line.
"From what we can tell — it's no longer a secret — Ukrainian long-range unmanned aerial vehicles can hypothetically operate up to 2,000 kilometers," Yusov alleged in a television interview with the Ukrainian outlet News.LIVE.
"In most other cases, we neither confirm nor deny. I can only say that there is a reason for the explosions."
The Kyiv Independent could not verify Yusov's claims.
Ukraine has recently championed the development of long-range "missile-drones," upgraded UAVs with turbojet engines that can act as alternatives to cruise missiles. Kyiv unveiled its Palianytsia and Peklo hybrids in the second half of 2024.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine aims to produce at least 30,000 long-range drones next year.
Sources in HUR told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine was behind a drone attack against a Russian naval base in the Dagestan Republic on Nov. 6. The drone hit the port city of Kaspiysk, 1,000 kilometers from the front line.
In May, a Ukrainian long-range drone reportedly struck a Russian radar system in Orsk, covering a distance of 1,800 kilometers (around 1,200 miles).
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.
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