The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.
Peter Szijjarto's announcement came after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) allegedly dismantled a Hungarian military intelligence network operating in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Moscow and Washington discuss the potential resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, among other issues related to the peaceful settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to the Russian state-run Interfax news agency.
Georgia's jailed ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, appears on a screen via video link from a clinic during a court hearing in the case of the violent dispersal of anti-government mass protests in 2007 in Tbilisi on Oct. 27, 2023. (Irakli Gedenidze / Getty Images)
A court in Georgia has sentenced former President Mikheil Saakashvili to an additional four and a half years in prison on illegal border crossing charges, Georgian TV channel Mtavari reported on March 17.
The ruling follows a prison sentence issued last week on state funds embezzlement charges, meaning that Saakashvili was ultimately sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison, the court ruled.
The border crossing case concerns Saakashvili's secret return from Ukraine to Georgia on Sept. 29, 2021, despite being wanted by Georgian authorities. He was arrested on Oct. 1, 2021.
Four others were charged in separate proceedings over Saakashvili's illegal entry and released on bail.
Saakashvili, who served as Georgia's president from 2004-2007 and to 2008-2013, sought to align the country with the West but lost elections to the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party years after a defeat in the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
Considering the time he had already served, Saakashvili is expected to remain in prison until April 1, 2034.
A longtime critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saakashvili has accused billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream, of orchestrating his prosecution on Moscow's orders.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled last May that there were no grounds to believe that Saakashvili's criminal proceedings were unfair.
Saakashvili, who holds Ukrainian citizenship and previously served as the governor of Odesa Oblast, has faced worsening health conditions during his custody.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February 2023 that the "Georgian government is killing" Saakashvili after images surfaced showing his significant weight loss.
The ruling follows mass protests in Tbilisi over Georgia's disputed October elections, which saw the Kremlin-friendly Georgian Dream party retain power.
The crisis deepened after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia's EU integration could be delayed until 2028.
Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
