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."
The EU plans to significantly increase tariffs on Ukrainian goods after the current duty-free deal lapses on June 6, the Financial Times reported on May 14, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
The blockade ended at 10:30 p.m. local time. Truck traffic in both directions is now moving as usual, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard's statement.
Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intelligence officials.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks alongside U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (L) and FBI Director Christopher Wray (R) during a press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice on December 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The U.S. Justice Department has charged four Russian soldiers over the unlawful detainment and torture of a U.S. citizen residing in Ukraine in a historic case, the department's Office of Public Affairs announced on Dec. 6.
Kyiv and the international community have accused Russia and its troops of numerous atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine. This is the first time the U.S. has charged Russian combatants for war crimes against a U.S. citizen.
"As the world has witnessed the horrors of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, so has the United States Department of Justice," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
"That is why the Justice Department has filed the first ever charges under the U.S. war crimes statute against four Russia- affiliated military personnel for heinous crimes against an American citizen."
The listed suspects are Suren Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, officers in the Russian military or Russian proxy forces in Donetsk Oblast, and two low-ranking soldiers named Valerii and Nazar, whose last names are unknown.
According to the charges, the Russian soldiers kidnapped the U.S. national from his home in Mylove, Kherson Oblast, in April last year. The settlement had been occupied by Russia since March 2022 but was liberated in Ukraine's fall counteroffensive.
The suspects allegedly held the victim for at least 10 days, stripping him naked, beating him, and performing a mock execution, the Justice Department said.
The U.S. national was also subjected to at least two interrogation sessions, during which he was tortured by the four soldiers and other unnamed persons.
The defendants were charged with three war crimes – unlawful confinement, torture, and inhuman treatment – and one count of conspiracy to commit war crimes.
Although facing life in prison if convicted, Russia does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S., and multiple reports accused Moscow of carrying out war crimes intentionally.
According to an investigation into deliberate killings of children in Ukraine by the Kyiv Independent's war crimes unit, published in September, Mkrtchyan was a lieutenant colonel in a unit based in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast. Witness accounts provided to the Kyiv Independent point at Mkrtchyan, who at the time oversaw an area in Kherson Oblast, as the one responsible for the murder of 15-year-old Mykhailo Ustianivsky in April 2022.
Mkrtchyan was allegedly detained by Russian occupying forces for sexual violence.
According to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin, Ukraine has collected evidence of 109,000 Russian war crimes as of Nov. 18.
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.
Daria Shulzhenko
