Political news from Kyiv region, government decisions and Ukraine politics
Britain quietly issued an indefinite license for importing diesel and aviation fuel from Russian oil processed in India or Turkey. Brussels learned about it from the news — just days after the G7 agreed to tighten sanctions.
Russia cannot capture Donbas, but is already presenting the demand for Ukraine's neutral status as its own victory. Budanov explained the mechanics of this transformation.
A naval drone near Lefkada — reportedly aimed at attacking a Russian "shadow fleet" vessel — is now prompting demands for official apologies from Kyiv by a country that itself was arranging to produce these same drones at its own shipyards.
Record tourism collection in 2025 is not so much about more tourists, but rather about more payers: the unified transaction registry is pulling out of the shadows those who have not paid anything for years.
Fedorov promises tender purchases of drones by summer — but the same tool that saved 16% on artillery poses a separate challenge for unmanned systems: drones become obsolete faster than a procurement process is completed.
Private air defense in Ukraine has moved beyond the pilot stage: one group is already shooting down drones, 13 more are being formed. But the state is not funding this — the businesses themselves are financing it.
In April, Russia lost 179 video-confirmed troops per square kilometer of advance — 21 soldiers fewer than the strategic threshold at which an offensive becomes unsustainable according to the Defense Ministry's calculations.
The former NATO secretary-general proposes not merely a new alliance, but an architecture of four parallel blocs — ranging from defense to technology — where the United States would remain only a "potential associated member."
Israel's National Security Minister himself published footage of the humiliation of detained participants in the Global Sumud flotilla — and in doing so, turned a routine interception into a diplomatic crisis for his own government.
On May 20th — Cuba's Independence Day — SOUTHCOM announced the arrival of USS Nimitz simultaneously with a federal indictment against Raul Castro. Coincidence or coordinated pressure — the White House does not distinguish.
An American Marine aboard the M/T Celestial Sea marks the 91st case of a forced vessel turnaround since the blockade began. Over 38 days, the United States has cut off Iran's oil revenue by $4.8 billion.
# On Poltava Region, TCK Alert Groups Will Be Formed Exclusively from Veterans with Combat Experience. What Changes in Practice — and Whether There Are Enough Such People. The Territorial Defense Centers (TCC) in Poltava region will recruit members of alert groups only from veterans who have combat experience. This decision aims to improve the efficiency and professionalism of notification units responsible for mobilizing citizens for military service. The change is intended to address previous issues where alert groups lacked proper training and understanding of military protocols. Veterans with actual combat experience are expected to bring practical knowledge and credibility to these operations. However, questions remain about the feasibility of this approach. The availability of combat-experienced veterans willing and able to work in alert groups may be limited, potentially creating staffing challenges. Local authorities will need to assess whether the pool of suitable candidates is sufficient to fully implement this policy across the region without disrupting the mobilization process.
Hungary's new Prime Minister Peter Magyar chooses Poland for his first state visit — and proposes expanding the Visegrad Group into a format where partners engage depending on the topic. This is more than just rebranding: over Viktor Orbán's 16 years, the V4 has effectively dissolved.
Yusuf Mameshev was persecuted for testimony that undermined the SBU's version against a NABU detective. The court found no crime — and this raises an uncomfortable question about the investigation itself.
More than 700 servicemen of Azov remain in Russian captivity. 250 of them have been sentenced for "war crimes" — a status that Russia uses as a legal barrier against their exchange.
The SBU disclosed details of the operation: Russia considers the scandals surrounding the former head of the Presidential Office and the former spokesperson of Zelensky as "displaced" by international events and plans to revive them using fake documents and artificially created "character symbols."
After a meeting of the Presidential Staff, the president revealed intelligence data about Moscow's plans: a new wave of mobilization, a possible offensive from Belarusian territory, and the expansion of Ukraine's long-range strikes — as a response.
EU foreign ministers are gathering in Cyprus to choose a face for contacts with Russia. Each of the candidates has a problem that makes him unsuitable — either for the Kremlin or for Brussels.
The Pentagon plans to officially notify its allies that it is allocating fewer forces to defend Europe in the event of a conflict. The mechanism through which this is done — the NATO Force Model — is unknown to most people, but it is precisely this that determines who and how many troops each nation deploys in response to an attack on an ally.
The May 17 strike on Moscow was not a random breakthrough, but the result of months of systematic destruction of Russian air defense systems. A participant in the attack from the "Raid" regiment revealed the logic of the operation and the role of new weapons.
The first full-fledged Ukrainian-Hungarian consultations in years have begun not as a result of diplomatic progress, but due to the change of power in Budapest — and the unblocking of European integration depends on whether the new Foreign Ministry's promises will be fulfilled.
The SBU detected elevated radiation levels on fragments of an R-60M missile that Russia mounted on a Shahed-2 drone and used against the Chernihiv region. The use of depleted uranium in the warhead is not a new technology, but represents a new context of application.
The U.S. Senate on May 19 advanced a resolution on war powers against Iran — for the first time after the 60-day limit expired, which allows the president to act without Congressional approval. The chances of it becoming law are minimal, but the signal to the White House is quite real.
A leaked 14-point plan from Tehran has sparked diplomatic confusion: Blinken denies the scheme that, according to Al Arabiya, Iran itself proposed, but which Washington never considered.
Finance ministers of the G7 announced unity in pressuring Russia, but ahead of the second day of talks, the United States unilaterally extended an exemption from sanctions on Russian oil. Leclerc described the discussions as "frank and difficult."
At a UN Security Council meeting on May 19, Ukraine's Permanent Representative Andriy Melnyk broke diplomatic protocol: instead of declarations, he gave a direct response to Nebenzia, stating that attacks on the Moscow region are a consequence, not a cause of the war.
A driver managed to control a damaged armored vehicle and drove it to shelter — this gave the group several seconds to organize a defense in Rodynske. These seconds determined the outcome of the evacuation.
The Pentagon cancelled the rotation of 4,000 soldiers to Poland after some of them had already arrived in Europe. Hrynkevych assured that NATO would hold — but Congress cast doubt on this.
New Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar traveled to Poland to reset relations frozen by Orban: on the agenda are Ukraine support, energy, and a new format for Central European cooperation. But declarations of a change in course and the actual mechanisms for implementing them are different things.
The United States has blocked oil supplies to Cuba, the island has exhausted its fuel reserves, and the Pentagon is quietly developing strike plans. Havana responds to warnings of "bloodshed with unpredictable consequences."