The shooting occurred around 3:22 p.m. local time in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, a residential area in Bucha district, according to the Kyiv regional police.
Lawmakers urged the EU and its member states to step up efforts to hold Moscow accountable through international courts and support for Ukraine’s campaign to bring its children home.
The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sat down with author, historian, and Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland Andrej Lushnycky who sheds some light on the things Putin would rather you didn’t know about World War II.
Washington’s involvement may also help mitigate political opposition in Europe, while giving the U.S. strategic visibility over future Russian energy flows, sources told Reuters.
The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
Illustrative purposes only: A Russian FSB officer in assault gear. (Grigorenko/Getty Images)
Russia's network of spies has expanded in both size and influence since the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on March 3.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) faced disruption after intelligence reports underestimated Ukraine's defense capacity, with Russian President Vladimir Putin placing many top officials under house arrest. Europe also expelled hundreds of diplomats suspected of espionage.
Since then, WSJ reports, European security experts believe the FSB's foreign intelligence apparatus has been able to replenish its ranks and regain effectiveness.
European officials also say that Putin's decision to leave Russia's borders open following the February invasion allowed FSB spies to join the thousands of Russians who fled the country to avoid mobilization.
At the same time, the FSB's Third Directorate for Military Counterintelligence (DKVR) — which spies on the Russian military and prevents defections — has become the agency's largest division, security analysts say. Experts also say that Russia has become more aggressive about targeting dissenters in foreign countries.
Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine in August 2023, was killed in Spain on Feb. 13. He was reportedly shot six times, and his burned-out car was found nearby.
Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), commented on Kuzminov's death on Feb. 20, calling the pilot a "traitor" and "a moral corpse."
Russian security services expert Andrei Soldatov said that the FSB, SVR, and military intelligence (GRU) agencies are increasingly collaborating, blurring the boundaries between the different organizations.
"The services used to be very separate but now they are exchanging personnel and assets," Soldatov told WSJ.
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.
Katie Marie Davies
