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 President Salome Zurabishvili attends an opposition rally to protest results of the parliamentary elections that showed a win for the ruling Georgian Dream party outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 28, 2024. (Giorgi Arjevanidze / AFP via Getty Images)
Georgia’s Prosecutor's Office announced on Oct. 30 it had launched an investigation into alleged vote rigging in the recent parliamentary elections. President Salome Zourabichvili, who was summoned for questioning as part of the probe, has refused to appear at the Prosecutor's Office.
The Prosecution Service of Georgiaannounced on Oct. 30 it would carry out all necessary investigative and procedural steps to examine the issues highlighted by the Central Election Commission, the president, various political parties, and election observation groups.
In response to the allegations, the Election Commission said it would recount votes at several randomly selected polling stations.
During a press conference in Tbilisi, President Zourabichvili presented footage purportedly showing ballot violations. "It is not the President's responsibility to provide evidence that already exists within society," she said, adding that that non-governmental organizations, observers, and citizens have consistently provided substantial evidence, revealing extensive and systematic election rigging.
The investigation followed the opposition’s denunciation of the parliamentary elections as illegitimate. The ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory with 54% of the votes, despite protests from the pro-Western opposition, which described the election as a "constitutional coup."
President Zourabichvili also noted that her summons to the prosecutor’s office suspiciously coincided with recent remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, former President of Russia and current Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council. Medvedev had previously called for Zourabichvili’s "removal from office and arrest."
The European Union expressed concerns about "irregularities" observed during the voting process and suspended Georgia's EU accession process as of Oct. 30. U.S. President Joe Biden said he was "deeply alarmed" by democratic backsliding in the country.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Oleg Sukhov
