It's a reference to the Soviet tradition: 12 cities of the Soviet Union were awarded the title following the WWII.
"Moscow is disappointed and upset that it didn’t work out with Trump… But whatever expectations Putin might have had for a good relationship with Trump, it was always going to come second to his maximalist goals in Ukraine. For Putin, the invasion of Ukraine is existential," a former high-ranking Kremlin official said.
The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft and is now in stable condition, according to Ukraine's Air Force. A special commission has been appointed to investigate the incident.
President Volodymyr Zelensky approved the law on July 22 despite large-scale protests against the law, which critics say undermines years of pro-democracy reforms.
Demonstrators gathered in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa to oppose the legislation, which grants sweeping new powers to the prosecutor general over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
Soldiers of Ukraine's 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade recorded the shooting and their subsequent retaliation against the three Russian soldiers involved in the murder.
Moscow has launched its most ambitious weapons program since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said.
"I think they need to be called out for their subsidizing this killing that is happening on the battlefields in Ukraine," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said.
The announcement comes as pro-Western President Maia Sandu, who narrowly secured reelection last year, seeks to preserve her parliamentary majority and advance Moldova's bid for EU accession.
The breach reportedly prompted an urgent response from Ukrainian units to prevent the situation "from spiraling into disaster."
