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.
"This is a historic decision, as weapons for Ukraine will be purchased at the expense of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets through the European Peace Fund," Denys Shmyhal said.
The approval marks a key step in international efforts to hold Moscow accountable for what is considered the gravest violation of international law committed against Ukraine.
Although Moscow declared on April 28 that it would halt all military actions from May 8 to midnight on May 11 to mark Victory Day, strikes on civilian areas have continued.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 1, 2024. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The U.S. supports the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation into Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian army, for war crimes against Ukraine, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on June 25.
Earlier in the day, Shoigu and Gerasimov were issued arrest warrants by the ICC for their role in conducting Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure between October 2022 and March 2023. Shoigu served as Russia's Defense Minister at the time of the alleged war crimes.
When asked about the U.S. reaction to the arrest warrants, Miller said, "We support a range of international investigations into Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, including the one conducted by the ICC."
"We have made clear that there have been atrocities committed by Russian forces in their illegal invasion of Ukraine and that there ought to be accountability for those atrocities."
Miller did not clarify if the U.S. was actively supporting the ICC's investigation or sharing any evidence, and did not specifically mention the arrest warrants. Neither the U.S. nor Russia are parties to the ICC.
As a result, the U.S. maintains a complicated relationship with the court.
President Joe Biden said he welcomed the ICC's March 2023 arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, for the forcible transfer of children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Biden has also reportedly ordered his administration to hand over evidence to the ICC in order to support investigations into Russian war crimes.
At the same time, the ICC's recent announcement that it was seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza prompted a swift reaction from Biden and other top U.S. officials.
Biden called Netanyahu's arrest warrant "outrageous" and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration was prepared to work with Congress to potentially sanction ICC officials in response.
Nate Ostiller
