Last news • War in Ukraine
Pentagon could downgrade standing of Ukrainian division – Protection Information
The division coping with problems with Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia can be transferred to the division of Europe and NATO. The change could point out a lower within the precedence of Ukraine for the Pentagon.
Ukraine's navy intelligence company (HUR) has documented greater than 150 circumstances of Ukrainian troopers being summarily executed after surrendering to Russian forces, the company stated on Might 24.
The company famous that this determine consists of these circumstances recorded by HUR, suggesting the precise complete could also be increased. The assertion got here as Kyiv and Moscow started their largest prisoner alternate of the full-scale battle.
There was a pointy rise in executions of Ukrainian prisoners of battle (POWs) by Russian forces since 2024.
Intelligence officers have cited a number of cases through which Russian troops obtained direct orders to kill prisoners of battle. In line with HUR, these acts aren’t remoted incidents however a part of a deliberate and systematic coverage of the Russian management.
This sample of battle crimes has additionally been confirmed by the U.N. Impartial Worldwide Fee of Inquiry on Ukraine. In a report launched on March 19, the fee discovered a rising variety of circumstances through which Russian forces intentionally killed or maimed Ukrainian troopers who had surrendered or tried to give up.
"A number of (Russian deserters) instructed the fee that they’d obtained orders to not take prisoners however kill them as an alternative," the U.N. report learn. One described a deputy brigade commander saying, "Prisoners aren’t wanted, shoot them on the spot."
In February, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine raised alarm over a pointy enhance in executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces, documenting 79 POW executions throughout 24 separate incidents since late August 2024, some involving group killings.
The U.N. findings, based mostly on witness testimony and verified media content material, describe Ukrainian POWs, together with unarmed or wounded troopers, being shot on the spot, typically in areas of energetic Russian navy operations. The mission additionally famous public calls by Russian figures and military-linked social media accounts for such killings.
The Kyiv IndependentMykolaj Suchy
The occupiers attacked the port infrastructure of Odesa area once more
On the evening of Could 24, Russian troops attacked the Odesa area with strike drones. The enemy focused the objects of the port infrastructure, the documentation of the battle crime is ongoing.
Editor's word: It is a growing story and is being up to date.
Russia fired two ballistic missiles at Ukraine's southern port metropolis of Odesa on Could 23, killing two individuals and injuring seven others, Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper stated.
4 of the wounded are in critical situation, he added.
The strike hit civilian infrastructure contained in the port, damaging the engine room, shattering home windows of close by buildings, and destroying a number of items of apparatus, based on Oleksiy Kuleba, minister for the event of communities, territories and infrastructure.
"It was a traditional working day in a traditional Ukrainian port," Kuleba wrote on Fb.
"There was not a single navy facility, solely civilian infrastructure. Russia has as soon as once more attacked a peaceable, strategically necessary facility that’s very important for the world's meals safety."
The assault comes amid ongoing Russian strikes throughout Ukraine, regardless of Kyiv's acceptance in March of a U.S.-proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire — a proposal Moscow has refused.
Odesa, a key Black Sea port close to the borders of Moldova and Romania, is crucial for international commerce and the export of Ukrainian grain.
Because the begin of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian ports have come below repeated fireplace, with Moscow concentrating on infrastructure important to Ukraine's maritime operations.
In response to Kuleba, almost 400 items of port infrastructure and greater than 30 ships have been broken or destroyed by Russian assaults since February 2022. A complete of 106 civilians have been injured in strikes in opposition to port services, he stated.
The Kyiv IndependentKyiv Independent
The Russian military misplaced one other 1130 of its troopers on the entrance in a day
Ukrainian defenders destroyed 1130 Russians, 11 tanks, 47 armored fight autos, 36 artillery programs, 5 MLRS and a pair of air protection programs over the previous day. The full losses of the enemy reached 979,830 folks.
Russian forces have executed two Ukrainian prisoners of warfare throughout an assault close to the village of Udachne, 12 kilometers (7 miles) west of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's Prosecutor Normal's Workplace reported on Might 23.
Based on the prosecutors, the incident occurred on Might 22 throughout an assault on Ukrainian positions in some of the energetic fight zones of the entrance line.
Russian troops reportedly took two of 4 Ukrainian troopers prisoner in the course of the assault and later shot them useless with computerized weapons in a close-by forest. The destiny of the opposite two troopers stays unknown.
"The deliberate killing of prisoners of warfare is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is certified as a severe worldwide crime," the Prosecutor Normal's Workplace stated in a press release.
Ukraine's army and legislation enforcement companies have launched an investigation to determine these accountable.
The execution of prisoners of warfare (POWs) follows a documented sample of warfare crimes dedicated by Russian forces. As of mid-December 2024, Ukrainian authorities recorded the execution of 177 Ukrainian troopers after seize.
Visible proof and forensic data have backed repeated claims by Kyiv that Moscow systematically violates worldwide humanitarian legislation by concentrating on unarmed troopers and civilians.
The Geneva Conventions classify abstract executions of detainees as grave breaches of worldwide humanitarian legislation.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova
Russia has deployed two missile carriers to the Black Sea – Ukrainian Navy
Two enemy ships armed with Kalibr cruise missiles with a complete salvo of as much as 12 missiles have been recorded within the Black Sea. There aren’t any Russian ships within the Sea of Azov.
Russia's weeklong delay in getting ready a proposal on a peace settlement is a "mockery of the entire world," President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned in his night handle on Might 23.
The remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin, throughout a cellphone name with U.S. President Donald Trump on Might 19, refused to assist a full ceasefire in Ukraine. As an alternative, the Kremlin proposed drafting a "memorandum" on a doable future peace settlement.
Zelensky mentioned that, whereas Ukraine and its companions are working towards a right away ceasefire, Russia is stalling.
"When it took the Russians per week to formulate the so-called 'memorandum' in response to the demand for a ceasefire, it’s positively a mockery of the entire world," Zelensky mentioned.
"We’d like a ceasefire. We’d like diplomatic steps towards actual peace. And it's positively time to place extra stress on Russia."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned on Might 20 that there was "no timeline" for finishing the doc, in accordance with Russian state media TASS.
Three days later, Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned Russia would solely submit the draft "settlement doc" after the continued prisoner trade is accomplished.
That trade, agreed throughout direct Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul on Might 16, noticed each side start returning 1,000 prisoners of struggle (POWs) on Might 23. It marks the most important such swap since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 and is the one concrete end result of the Istanbul talks up to now.
Zelensky mentioned Moscow continues to dam any significant progress past the prisoner swap.
"Day-after-day within the struggle is a lack of life. After all, in Russia, they don't rely folks. However the world should rely," he mentioned. "New sanctions towards Russia are wanted. I thank each certainly one of you who advocate and assist this."
The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko
The primary coaching on impartial upkeep and operation of HIMARS happened in Lithuania
Joint coaching with the US Military was held in Šiauliai, Lithuania, to help HIMARS administration expertise. Lithuanian and American troopers performed theoretical and sensible coaching.
The character, dimension, and political significance of prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia have advanced considerably over the three and a half years of the full-scale struggle, accelerating sharply in latest weeks.
Whereas ceasefire and peace negotiations have gone via intervals of halts and bursts, more and more institutionalized prisoner exchanges are one of many few enduring areas of direct cooperation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
On common, Ukraine and Russia exchanged 135 prisoners — largely navy, however with a large civilian element – every month from February 2022 via Could 2025 (excluding the deliberate 1,000 for 1,000 change that started on Could 23). However a deeper inspection of the info reveals plenty of significant developments.
Prisoner change numbers have surged — 277 people modified palms in April, and this weekend alone, 1,000 courageous Ukrainians will come house. The image is unrecognizable from final yr, when prisoners had been solely returned on particular events and holidays. Prisoner exchanges have been formed by competing (and generally mutually unique) priorities together with backchannel logistics, battlefield developments, and geopolitics. New knowledge collected by KI Insights, an analytical analysis unit backed by the Kyiv Impartial, offers a glance behind the scenes into the institutionalization of prisoner exchanges.
The total-scale invasion introduced two significant institutional modifications to prisoner exchanges. Firstly, Russia grew to become an official occasion to the battle, creating room to straight have interaction in negotiations. (Earlier than the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation denied its involvement in aggression in Ukraine, and negotiations had been achieved via Russian-backed proxies in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.)
Secondly, Ukraine created the Coordination Headquarters for the Remedy of Prisoners of Struggle, an interagency working group created by the Cupboard of Ministers in March of 2022, which is accountable for prisoner exchanges. Since its creation, the Coordination Headquarters has gone via significant modifications. Roles and obligations have modified palms, priorities have been outlined, and every company has a selected course of it’s accountable for. Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Coordination Headquarters (since June of 2022, taking on from Iryna Vereshchuk) and Ukraine’s chief of navy intelligence, has efficiently turned prisoner exchanges into an establishment.
Knowledge collected by KI Insights demonstrates the impression of institutionalization. The common variety of prisoners swapped per change has steadily elevated, rising by roughly 50% annually. The variety of swaps, nonetheless, has been inconsistent, with frequent breakdowns till late final yr. In 2022, a mean of fifty prisoners had been returned to Ukraine per change. In 2025, the quantity has risen to greater than 200, with this weekend’s exchanges driving the quantity increased.
The Istanbul negotiations failed to attain a ceasefire, proving as soon as once more, Russia doesn’t need peace. However for the prisoners who returned house, they had been significant. The change additionally underscores an fascinating dynamic of this struggle. There are traces of communication between Ukraine and Russia, and sufficient belief between officers to work collectively to return prisoners house. That’s important — the present frontline in Ukraine is greater than 1,200 kilometers lengthy, and any ceasefire would require important quantities of communication and belief between Ukrainian and Russian officers.
Russia has damaged off prisoner exchanges at key factors over the struggle, usually when Russia thinks it could possibly inflict most psychological injury. Following the siege of Mariupol and Ukraine’s unsuccessful counteroffensive, Russia froze prisoner exchanges. Russian troopers additionally tortured and killed Ukrainian prisoners of struggle at Olenivka Jail and on the battlefield. Refusing to return prisoners is a tactic Russia makes use of to use present divisions in Ukrainian society and exploit the ache of households of the imprisoned as a political useful resource.
For Russia, prisoners are assets — for psychological warfare and for bargaining. Whereas strain from the USA hasn’t introduced Russia to the desk for a ceasefire, it possible has brought about Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a present of reasonableness by agreeing to a prisoner change.
The most recent change is historic and might be a tipping level that helps U.S. President Donald Trump notice that U.S. strain on Russia makes a distinction. It might additionally solidify the shadowy infrastructure constructed between warring states and set the stage for an all-for-all prisoner change. Possibly it might, as Trump places it, “result in one thing massive???” Even when it doesn’t, it’s a battle received on the street to returning Ukrainians to Ukraine.
The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko