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 measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The government has approved "reform roadmaps in the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions, as well as Ukraine’s negotiation position," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
The statement did not name the ex-official by name, but details of the case indicate it relates to Oleh Hladkovsky, a former deputy secretary of Ukraine's top security body who has been wanted since mid-April.
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.
"Trump needs to believe that Putin actually lies," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv. "And we should do our part. Sensibly approach this issue, to show that it’s not us that is slowing down the process."
Ukrainian engineers dismantle the aftermath of a Russian missile strike on a Ukrenergo energy facility, some 200 kilometers west of Kyiv. (Alexander Khrebet/The Kyiv Independent)
Russia’s campaign of mass strikes against Ukraine’s energy system damaged around 70 large facilities last fall and winter, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine's state grid operator Ukrenergo, told Voice of America (VOA).
“Many smaller facilities were damaged in front-line areas by artillery strikes, small transformer points, or regional substations. There are probably hundreds, thousands of them,” Kudrytskyi said in the interview.
According to Kudrytskyi, every large thermal and hydroelectric power plant on Ukraine-controlled territory sustained significant damages in the Russian campaign that crippled half of the country’s energy system.
When asked how Ukraine is preparing for a potential uptick in Russian strikes against the energy grid in winter, the official said that except for strengthened air defense, the country is building unique structures to protect its critical facilities.
“Such solutions for protection against missiles and Shahed-type drones simply didn’t exist in the world, they had to be invented.”
According to the U.K. Defense Ministry, Russia is trying to replenish its stockpile of Kh-101 missiles to use them against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this winter.
Ukrainian Air Force warned on Oct. 8 that Russia will likely launch a record number of Shahed kamikaze drones against the country in the coming months.
Moscow has admitted that Ukraine's energy system is one of its primary targets. According to the Geneva Convention, attacking vital public infrastructure constitutes a war crime.
Alexander Query
