Last news • War in Ukraine
"Shahed" strike on Izium: the enemy attacked the economic zone
On the morning of Might 30, a Russian UAV of the "Shahed" kind attacked Izium, Kharkiv area. The strike hit warehouse premises within the industrial zone, there have been no casualties reported preliminary.
Residents in Russian areas alongside the Ukrainian border complain the realm is more and more uninhabitable because of the authorities's actions amid Moscow's try to determine a "buffer zone," in keeping with a name intercepted by Ukraine's navy intelligence company (HUR) and posted Could 29.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Could 22 that he ordered the navy to start making a "safety buffer zone" alongside the border of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts.
Within the name, a resident of Russia's Belgorod Oblast claims that authorities have minimize off fuel alongside the border. The speaker predicts necessary evacuations will observe as residing situations worsen.
"Nicely, briefly, it's clear that they're going to kick everybody out of the border areas and create a grey zone," the unidentified particular person says.
"Grey zones" consult with areas alongside the border and entrance traces the place there’s contested or unclear management.
The resident talking on the decision anticipates that the realm will change into so closely militarized it will likely be partitioned from the remainder of the area.
"Allow them to make momentary settlements, zones, and that's it. They'll even fence it off with barbed wire," the resident says.
Russia's Belogorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, is often used as a staging space for Russian assaults on Ukrainian territory. Russian officers have additionally accused Kyiv of repeatedly launching strikes on the area and the town of Belgorod because the conflict started.
Ukraine launched a small-scale offensive in Belgorod Oblast in late March, marking Kyiv's second cross-border operation in Russian territory after the August 2024 Kursk incursion.
Russian forces are actually reportedly amassing alongside the border in preparation for a attainable offensive in opposition to Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, in keeping with the State Border Guard Service.
Moscow has repeatedly indicated plans to create a buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia within the space.
Escalated violence alongside the Sumy border has triggered mass civilian evacuations, with tens of 1000’s of Ukrainians ordered to depart their properties.
The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk
Russians attacked Kharkiv area with drones: 8 injured, together with kids
Because of drone strikes on the village of Vasyliv Khutir within the Kharkiv area, 8 folks have been injured, together with two 16-year-old kids. Russian troops proceed to terrorize the civilian inhabitants of the area.
The Kyiv Unbiased's investigative documentary, "He Got here Again," which exposes sexual violence dedicated by Russian troopers in Ukraine, has received the 2025 Ukrainian journalism award, "Honor of the Career."
The winners have been introduced throughout an award ceremony in Kyiv on Could 29.
The documentary, which identifies perpetrators of sexual violence in occupied Ukrainian territories, was acknowledged within the Finest Investigative Report class.
The movie was authored by journalist Olesia Bida, a member of the Kyiv Unbiased's Struggle Crimes Investigations Unit. The workforce additionally included modifying director Maksym Yakobchuk, researchers Kostiantyn Nechyporenko and Myroslava Chaiun, and editor Yevheniia Motorevska.
"Sexual violence in struggle is a struggle crime and a systemic technique utilized by Russian forces. "They face no penalties and proceed committing these crimes in occupied territories," Bida stated, following the award ceremony.
"It meant a lot to me that after this investigation was revealed, one of many troopers we recognized was formally charged by Ukrainian authorities. His case has already been despatched to courtroom. I hope at some point he’ll face an actual sentence."
Bida known as the piece "an important work of my total journalism profession," and expressed deep gratitude to the Kyiv Unbiased workforce for supporting her by 10 months of analysis and reporting.
"We’re endlessly impressed by your work," the Ukrainian competitors committee stated in an announcement, thanking each journalist who submitted work this yr. "You’re the witnesses and chroniclers of the nation's life and its individuals throughout probably the most troublesome interval of our fashionable historical past."
The movie beforehand received the Finest Movie award on the 2024 Press Play Prague movie pageant.
Since its basis in 2023, the Kyiv Unbiased's Struggle Crimes Investigations Unit has launched 9 documentary movies, exposing Russia's kidnapping of Ukrainian kids, torture of prisoners of struggle, repressions in occupied territories, and crackdown on non secular communities.
The "Honor of the Career" contest, organized yearly in Ukraine, celebrates excellence in classes together with finest interview, struggle reporting, analytical writing, and publicist essays. This yr's winners mirror the troublesome actuality and braveness of reporting in a rustic at struggle.
A particular nomination from the Supervisory Board of the competition "For dedication to the career beneath probably the most troublesome circumstances" was posthumously given to late Victoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity after disappearing in August 2023 whereas reporting from occupied territories.
Her physique, returned in February, confirmed indicators of torture, together with electrical shocks and doable strangulation. A forensic examination revealed lacking organs, suggesting an try to cover the reason for dying.
Ukraine insists on the participation of the USA and the EU in negotiations with Russia: Yermak spoke with Witcoff
Andriy Yermak emphasised the significance of the presence of representatives of the USA and the EU at negotiations with Russia. Ukraine is ready for a doc from the Russian Federation concerning the ceasefire.
Russia and North Korea have engaged in "illegal army cooperation," together with arms transfers of as much as 9 million shells and "a minimum of 100 ballistic missiles" in 2024, in accordance with a report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Workforce (MSMT) printed Might 29.
The MSMT is made up of 11 United Nations member states and was fashioned in October 2024 to observe and report on the implementation of UN sanctions in opposition to North Korea in gentle of deepening army ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.
The watchdog's first report presents proof that North Korea and Russia violated United Nations Safety Council resolutions (UNSCRs) and engaged in unlawful actions all through 2024.
Violations embody deliveries of weapons and army gear, Russian coaching of North Korean troops for deployment in direct fight in opposition to Ukrainian forces, provide of refined petroleum merchandise to North Korea above UN-mandated caps, and correspondent banking between the 2 international locations.
In 2024 alone, North Korea despatched Russia a minimum of 100 ballistic missiles, an MSMT taking part state discovered. These missiles "had been subsequently launched into Ukraine to destroy civilian infrastructure and terrorize populated areas comparable to Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia," the report stated.
The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post
Russian-flagged vessels delivered "as many as 9 million rounds of combined artillery and a number of rocket launcher ammunition" from North Korea to Russia in 49 shipments from January to December 2024, an MSMT taking part state discovered. The cargo was despatched from Russia's far-eastern ports to ammunition depots in southwestern Russia to be used within the full-scale warfare in opposition to Ukraine.
Open-source information reviewed by the Open Supply Centre (OSC) signifies that Russian vessels delivered between 4.2 and 5.8 million rounds of 122 mm and 152 mm ammunition between August 2023 and March 2025.
The report additionally confirmed that North Korea deployed over 11,000 troopers to Russia's Kursk Oblast for coaching and fight operations in opposition to Ukrainian troops.
In line with the MSMT, "these types of illegal cooperation … contributed to Moscow's capability to extend its missile assaults in opposition to Ukrainian cities together with focused strikes in opposition to important civilian infrastructure."
The MSMT additionally documented transfers of arms from Russia to North Korea. Moscow is believed to have despatched Pyongyong short-range air protection programs, superior digital warfare programs, and a minimum of one Pantsir-class fight car, the report stated.
Russia supplied further help to North Korea's ballistic missile growth program, resulting in enhancements in missile steering efficiency, and MSMT taking part state stated.
The documented arms transfers violate longstanding UN embargoes on materials shipments between UN member states and North Korea.
North Korea reportedly started supplying Russia with weapons in 2023. Pyongyang's involvement within the warfare escalated in fall 2024, when 1000’s of North Korean troops had been dispatched to Russia's western border. The deployment got here a number of months after the 2 nations signed a protection treatyin June, requiring both state to render army assist to the opposite within the occasion of an assault.
Regardless of this, North Korea solely publicly admitted its involvement in Russia's warfare in opposition to Ukraine in late April 2025. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un stated in Might that his nation's participation within the warfare was a part of a "sacred mission."
Current days have additionally seen a surge in Russian aerial assaults in opposition to Ukraine. For 3 nights in a row, Moscow barraged cities throughout Ukraine with drones and missiles, together with ballistics. The MSMT report confirmed that Russia has attacked Ukraine with North Korean-made ballistic missiles — and that these weapons comprise overseas components supplied by third-party distributors.
The Kyiv IndependentAndrea Januta
Head of the Presidential Workplace mentioned preparations for negotiations with the Russian Federation with advisors to EU leaders: particulars
Andriy Yermak had a dialog with advisors to the leaders of Nice Britain, Germany, France and Italy. He emphasised the significance of the presence of the US and Europe on the negotiating desk.
There may be at the moment no indication that Russia is getting ready to restart operations on the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Energy Plant in Ukraine, an official from the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA) stated on Could 29, regardless of considerations over current experiences of latest Russian infrastructure across the facility, Reuters reported.
"Our groups proceed to substantiate there isn’t any indication in the intervening time that there shall be any lively preparations for a restart of the plant now," an IAEA official advised Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity.
The remark follows Ukraine's protest to the IAEA over what it known as an unlawful Russian try to attach the ability to its personal vitality grid. Yurii Vitrenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the IAEA, stated any such transfer can be a gross violation of worldwide legislation and Ukrainian sovereignty.
Satellite tv for pc imagery reviewed in a current Greenpeace report and cited by the New York Instances exhibits Russia has constructed greater than 80 kilometers (49 miles) of high-voltage traces between the occupied cities of Mariupol and Berdiansk since February.
The group stated this can be an effort to hyperlink the Zaporizhzhia plant to a substation close to Mariupol, signaling potential plans to restart the ability and totally combine it into Russia’s grid.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, situated within the Russian-occupied metropolis of Enerhodar, is Europe's largest nuclear facility and has been underneath Russian management since March 2022. All six of its reactors stay shut down because the battle continues, and the positioning has confronted repeated energy outages and security threats attributable to close by shelling.
Restarting any of the reactors would require a secure provide of water and exterior energy. The plant misplaced entry to its predominant cooling supply, the Kakhovka reservoir, when the dam was blown up by the Russian forces in June 2023. Wells now provide sufficient water for cooling throughout chilly shutdown, however not for full operations.
"The plant misplaced its predominant supply of cooling water, so the entire system can not work because it was initially designed," the IAEA official stated. "The consumption of water is orders of magnitude greater (when the plant is working) in comparison with chilly shutdown. We don't see any simple, fast repair for it."
In March, IAEA Director Basic Rafael Grossi advised Reuters that restarting the ability might be possible inside months of an enduring ceasefire — one thing that continues to be elusive. In the meantime, Ukraine and Russia are anticipated to fulfill in Istanbul for renewed peace talks on June 2.
Beforehand, the U.S. has reportedly proposed that management over the plant be returned to Ukraine earlier than transferring its administration to the U.S. to produce electrical energy to areas underneath each Ukrainian and Russian management. Moscow instantly rejected the suggestion, claiming it was in "excellent arms" underneath Russian management.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
The state of affairs in Sumy area: preventing continues in sure areas of the border, the enemy is working in small teams
Preventing continues within the Sumy area close to the Khotyn and Yunakiv communities, and the Russians are attempting to penetrate the villages. The authorities are calling for evacuation, and greater than 50 individuals have left within the final day.
Dmytro Bodyu, a U.S. citizen and the pastor of the "Phrase of Life" Pentecostal Church in Russian-occupied Melitopol, was detained by Russians in March 2022. Throughout his detention, he was accused of working for the CIA and obtained dying threats from the Russian army.
Solely an intervention by the U.S. State Division saved him.
"On the morning of March 19, a number of army automobiles and a few civilian automobiles stopped outdoors our house. Round 15 Russian troopers have been in full gear, sporting balaclavas and carrying shields… They handled me like a Mexican drug lord. They jumped over the fence, went by means of neighboring yards, and entered from all sides directly," Bodyu recollects in an in-depth interview for the Kyiv Impartial's new investigative documentary "No God However Theirs."
The pastor and his household have been warned by the U.S. Embassy and given recommendation to go away Melitopol one month earlier than the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. However Bodyu determined he couldn’t abandon his Church.
Throughout his detention, Russian particular companies repeatedly accused him of working for the CIA and demanded that he disclose his name signal and his "handler from Langley," he says.
"It felt like being in a psychiatric ward — you're a completely regular, wholesome individual, however they attempt to persuade you that you simply're a schizophrenic, you simply don't realize it, and that quickly you'll notice you're precisely the place you need to be," Bodyu recollects.
In the meantime, Russian troopers threatened to kill him.
They took no matter they needed. There are not any legal guidelines; nothing features within the occupied territories.
"The troopers mentioned: 'We now have orders to shoot you. Now, we’ll query you. We all know who you might be, what you might be. You're a CIA worker, a spy. You gave away our positions, our individuals died due to you. You led protests within the metropolis, you're giving cash to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, you lead the partisans right here' — issues like that," the pastor says.
After eight days, his time in detention was reduce quick.
The Kyiv IndependentDanylo Mokryk
"We had an interrogation (with an FSB operative) throughout the day, and within the night, he is available in and says, 'Effectively, that's it, you're going house.' And I'm like, 'What do you imply? That's surprising.' He says, 'It was surprising for us too, imagine me.' I ask, 'So who determined I ought to go house?' He says, 'They determined up prime.' I say, 'What do you imply? God determined?' He says, 'No, Moscow determined to launch you.'"
After his launch, Bodyu and his household left Melitopol.
They’re now dwelling close to Kyiv. In Melitopol, his Pentecostal Church "Phrase of Life" was formally banned by the Russian occupation authorities a day after Christmas — on Dec. 26, 2022. The Church's constructing is now occupied by a division of the Russian Ministry of Inner Affairs. Russian authorities additionally confiscated all of Bodyu's companies (he owned seven cafes and eating places in Melitopol).
"I name them pirates. That's what they’re — pirates. They took no matter they needed. There are not any legal guidelines; nothing features within the occupied territories." Bodyu says.
Within the investigative documentary "No God However Theirs," the Kyiv Impartial's journalists additionally recognized a number of officers implicated within the persecution of Ukrainian Christians in Melitopol.
Apart from Dmytro Bodyu's Church, the Russian-occupation authorities additionally banned a number of different Church buildings — Melitopol's largest Protestant Church "New Era," the Baptist Church "Grace" and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church subordinated to the Vatican.
They have been stripped of all property, and their buildings now housed totally different Russian establishments.