The convictions mark a significant development in Britain's efforts to counter Russian intelligence operations amid heightened tensions stemming from Moscow's war against Ukraine and repeated Kremlin threats toward Kyiv's allies.
According to the Verkhovna Rada's website, Ukraine completed the ratification of the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement on May 12. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal.
"I myself have heard relatives talking: our village is being attacked, let's roll the car out of the garage, maybe they will shell it — at least we will get money. The car is old, we can't sell it," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The new tranche brings total recent EU defense support for Ukraine to 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), marking a significant expansion of European efforts to boost Kyiv's defense industry.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Both men face charges related to terrorism and espionage. Daniil B. was detained in Lithuania, where he is in temporary custody, while Oleksandr V. remains at large in Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies discussed tougher sanctions against Russia's banking sector, central bank, and energy industry.
"We are ready for all options. But of course, we are separately waiting for a response on the ceasefire," a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Illustrative purposes only: A Russian FSB officer in assault gear in an undated photo. (Grigorenko/Getty Images)
A Belarusian man who was planning an "act of terrorism" was shot and killed by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Russian republic of Karelia on March 7, the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti claimed, citing the FSB's press service.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Ukrainian officials made no comment.
The FSB alleged that the man was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence and was previously affiliated with the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski regiment that has been fighting on the Ukrainian side against Russian forces.
According to the FSB, the man planned to blow up an administrative building in the town of Olonets on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence and had acquired a cache of weapons and explosives.
Olonets is located to the east of Lake Ladoga, some 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of the Finnish border.
The FSB alleged that the suspect opened fire on FSB agents during his attempted apprehension and was shot and killed.
RIA published a video showing FSB agents entering a building and ordering a man to come out before opening fire.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Martin Fornusek
