The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Polish truckers plan to restrict freight traffic at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's State Border Guard said on May 12.
"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Ivan Lubysh-Kirdey. Photo: his wife's Facebook page
Reuters camera operator Ivan Lubysh-Kirdey, who was severely injured during a Russian strike on a hotel in Kramatorsk on Aug. 24, has regained consciousness and started speaking, according to his wife, Mariia Semenchenko.
Lubysh-Kirdey now recognizes everyone, can answer simple questions, and remembers many things, Semenchenko wrote on Facebook.
However, he still finds it difficult to speak due to a broken jaw and the medications he is taking.
Last week, Semenchenko mentioned that Lubysh-Kirdey had come out of a coma and was taken off the ventilator, but at that time, he had not yet fully regained consciousness.
Lubysh-Kirdey is an experienced camera operator who covered the EuroMaidan Revolution as well as the Battle of Ilovaisk in 2014, when Ukrainian soldiers who had been promised safe passage by Russian-backed proxies through a pre-agreed corridor came under attack.
The strike on the Safir (Sapphire) Hotel in Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast killed British national Ryan Evans, a security adviser for Reuters, and injured six others, including two local female residents.
As well as Lubysh-Kirdey, one other journalist for Reuters was among the injured. In a statement, Reuters said a six-person team had been staying at the hotel when it was hit.
The city of Kramatorsk is currently located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the front line.
Sonya Bandouil is a North American news editor for The Kyiv Independent. She previously worked in the fields of cybersecurity and translating, and she also edited for various journals in NYC.
Sonya has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from New York University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Houston, in Texas.
Kateryna Hodunova
