Political news from Kyiv region, government decisions and Ukraine politics
Baiba Braze laid out Moscow's demands in specific points: from the status of the Russian Orthodox Church to Ukraine's neutrality. And Kyiv cannot accept any of them, nor can the West ignore them.
Over several years, an official approved the issuance of local loan bonds despite the capital's budget revenues exceeding expenditures. The city paid over 581 million hryvnias in interest — and this money will not be recovered.
Austria and Portugal have secured seats as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, positions that Berlin considered its own. This is Germany's first defeat in such elections throughout its entire history of UN participation — and the vote revealed how many Global South countries are already operating within the coordinates being established by Moscow and Beijing.
Satellite imagery from Vantor has confirmed damage to the missile carrier "Boyky" at the dock of the Kronshtadt Naval Plant. Defense Express believes that recovery could take years — or prove economically unfeasible.
Kyiv's Shevchenko District Court acquitted NABU detective Viktor Husarov of criminal charges. While the court acknowledged the fact of information transfer, the crime was committed more than ten years ago. The treason charge remained unproven.
Two SBU employees were detained on May 28 on bribery charges — one demanded $15,000 for non-prosecution, the other took $2,000 for a license. Now the question is not whether to conduct an audit, but who exactly and with what authority will carry it out.
On May 5, 2026, instead of hearing testimony from an independent oncologist, the court in the Odrex doctors case went into procedural tangents again. The defense demanded a change of judges — and succeeded. Now the proceedings, which operate under a three-year statute of limitations, are essentially starting over.
Budapest and Kyiv have agreed to expand language, educational, and cultural rights for the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. The agreement opens the first negotiation cluster of the EU, but Kyiv has not yet publicly confirmed its content.
Shevchenko District Court has released Viktor Husarov from liability: the treason charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence, and the only proven leak became time-barred under the statute of limitations. Criminal liability has been removed, but he has not been acquitted.
# Romanian Pilots Had Orders to Shoot Down and Technical Capability — But "Shahed-2" Still Crashed into a Nine-Story Building in Galati. This Failure Forces the Alliance to Reconsider Not So Much Hardware, but the Legal Architecture of Response.
GUR confirms: Russia is mass-producing "Geran-4" and "Geran-5" and plans to increase their share to half of its entire attack drone fleet. Ukrainian interceptors have already demonstrated that shooting down such targets is possible, but the reaction window has narrowed to just minutes.
The U.S. Secretary of State presented two incompatible theses to Congress simultaneously: peace "does not appear close" because Moscow is not making concessions — but after the war, Washington is ready for better relations with the Kremlin.
# Commander of Latvia's Armed Forces Kaspars Pudans Explains to Financial Times Why Russia Outmatches NATO in Drone Scale, Not Quality — and Why 2028 Is the Critical Threshold The Commander of the Latvian Armed Forces, Kaspars Pudans, has explained to Financial Times why Russia surpasses NATO not through superior quality but through the sheer scale of drone deployment — and why 2028 represents a critical turning point.
Lithuania's defense minister confirmed secret negotiations with Washington regarding the placement of American nuclear warheads. A constitutional ban currently stands in the way — amending it requires 94 parliamentary votes twice, with a three-month interval between votes.
Presidential envoy confirms: London preparing new restrictions following criticism over weakened oil price cap. Whether control mechanism will be implemented remains key question.
# Blocking Logistics in Occupied Crimea is Not the Goal of Azov's Strikes on the Sea of Azov, But a Possible Side Effect. A Corps Officer Explained Where the Real Boundary of the Task Lies.
# Kateryna Maternova Does Not Leave Kyiv. Foreign Ministry Calls Russian Threats Blackmail. What Lies Behind the Latest Escalation of Rhetoric — and Why It Matters.
On May 25, American forces destroyed missile launch installations and Iranian boats attempting to lay mines — an hour before Trump's latest statements about negotiations. CENTCOM called this "deterrence during a ceasefire."
Poland's Foreign Ministry responded to Russian threats of strikes on Kyiv using Moscow's own logic: if this is not a war, but a "special operation" exclusively against military facilities—then any strike on the embassy is a deliberate attack on Poland.
# US State Secretary Reveals Mechanics of Lavrov Call: Putin's Personal Message to Trump About Embassy Threat, Not Direct Evacuation Demand The U.S. State Secretary disclosed the mechanics of the conversation with Lavrov, clarifying that it was a personal message from Putin to Trump regarding threats to the embassy, rather than a direct evacuation demand. The distinction is fundamental.
Bihus.Info revealed that while Bohdan Andriiiv has failed to declare his wife's income for years, the family business is constructing residential complexes in the city where he oversees permits. The partners in these projects are people from structures linked to Hennadii Korban.
After the most massive attack on Kyiv in terms of number of damaged locations, Zakharova threatened... new attacks on Kyiv. Tykhy publicly asked: what does this even indicate — and did not rule out alcoholism.
Zelensky admits that for a long time negotiations with the United States on expanding the production of anti-ballistic systems yielded no results. Now efforts are focused on Europe — where there is already a specific project with an interception cost of up to $1 million.
The President admitted the possibility of ending active combat operations this year — if Ukraine receives security guarantees. For an economy growing at only 2% with 57% of the budget allocated to defense, the difference between "possibly" and "certainly" means years of reconstruction.
# Russia Bans Civil Aircraft Below 5,100 Meters in Moscow Airspace Starting June From June, Russia is prohibiting civil aircraft from flying below 5,100 meters in the Moscow airspace zone — spanning from the Belarusian border to Samara and Yekaterinburg. No official reason has been provided, but the timeline points to a crash near Kolomna, where air defense shot down its own light aircraft.
Washington has once again appealed to Ukraine to help ease European restrictions on Belarusian fertilizers. Sybiga responded: there will be no illusions.
# Foreigners Already Visiting Tank Graveyards in Kyiv Region While State Still Formulating Approaches. Key Question — Who and How Will Determine the Line Between Memory and Spectacle.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister has called Finland's president an authoritative diplomat capable of conducting negotiations with Russia. However, neither the mandate nor the conditions for Europe's participation in the peace process have been determined so far.
# Russia announces new "consecutive" strikes after one of largest attacks on capital, calls for diplomat evacuation A day after one of the largest attacks on the Russian capital, Russia officially announced new "consecutive" strikes and called for diplomats to evacuate. Andriy Kovalenko from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the NSDC explained why now and for what purpose.
Lithuanian drone detection system Sky Fortress undergoes first real-world tests a week after an actual Shahed-type unmanned aircraft entered Lithuanian airspace and went missing for five days.