Ukraine

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna says that the key opponents of Ukraine's invitation to NATO are the United States and Germany, which urge Kyiv not to spoil the "atmosphere" at the upcoming summit in Washington.

russia will try to re-launch the spacecraft that will deliver russian cosmonaut oleg novitsky, belarusian marina vasilevskaya and American Tracy Dyson to the International Space Station.

Ukraine expects to start accession talks with the EU in June 2023 on the basis of a gentlemen's agreement with most EU countries.

President Zelenskyy held a meeting dedicated exclusively to resolving the energy crisis caused by Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy system, making closed-door decisions to restore electricity, water, and heat supply, and prioritizing air defense systems from partners.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is establishing direct cooperation with Western arms manufacturers, such as Colt Canada Corporation, to supply small arms and meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under commercial contracts.

According to Serhiy Kovalenko, CEO of Yasno, the Russians have carried out one of the worst attacks on Ukraine's energy sector in the last two years, hitting both generation and distribution facilities.

President Zelenskyy met with Danish Defense Minister Lund Poulsen, thanking Denmark for its support and discussing strengthening Ukraine's air defense, joint weapons production, artillery and aviation coalitions, and training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.

President Zelenskyy discussed with representatives of the Council of Europe during their visit to Ukraine the creation of a Register of Damage from Russian Aggression, a special tribunal for the crime of aggression, and the return of illegally deported Ukrainian children.

Ukraine expects to start actual accession negotiations with the EU in the first half of 2024, with negotiations taking place simultaneously with sectoral integration and the expansion of the economic visa-free regime with the EU.

Vice Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna met with Admiral Robert Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, to discuss NATO's increased support for Ukraine in building military capabilities, increasing defense production, and preparing for the upcoming NATO Summit, which will discuss further assistance to Ukraine.

According to the IAEA Director General, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was left without the main power line for almost 5 hours, which emphasizes the constant risks to nuclear safety during the war.

The government allocates more than UAH 5 billion for a water pipeline construction project to overcome the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP.

Ukrainian freestylists Angelina Brykina and Maksym Kuznetsov won the overall European Acrobatics Cup in Airolo, Switzerland.

A russian military intelligence agent operating in Zhytomyr region was sentenced to 15 years in prison for high treason committed under martial law, including tracking the locations and movements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

9 Ukrainian children, including 4 children from orphanages aged 3 to 10 and a 12-year-old girl, were returned from Russia, where they had been forcibly taken and told that Ukraine did not exist.

Ukraine is considering the possibility of introducing a special tax on Russian resources, such as oil, gas and diamonds, after the victory to cover the damage caused by the aggressor, but no concrete decisions have been made yet, as the focus is currently on seizing Russian sovereign assets, gold and foreign exchange reserves.

Despite the Russian attacks on energy facilities, there is no capacity shortage in Ukraine's power grid, and power supply will be restored to all households within 24 hours.

The government approved a draft law to gradually increase excise tax rates on fuel and alcoholic beverages to the EU minimum levels, with an expected additional UAH 1. 6 billion per month from fuel sales and UAH 4.5 million per month from intermediate products in 2024, aimed at supporting the country's security and defense sector.

Kyiv will provide assistance to Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, the cities that suffered the most from a massive russian missile strike on March 22.

Germany and France have allowed tank manufacturer KNDS to establish a local subsidiary in Ukraine to produce spare parts and train local workers.

The number of Ukrainians registered in Germany increased by about 250,000 over the year, reaching about 1. 65 million as of March 12, according to German Interior Ministry data cited by Spiegel.

A 56-year-old native of Donetsk region faces up to 10 years in prison for cooperating with the russian occupation forces by voluntarily accepting a leadership position in an illegally created government body in the occupied territory.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, strongly condemned Russia's massive attack that has damaged critical civilian infrastructure across Ukraine, leaving major cities without electricity and water supplies.

Andriy Yermak, head of the President's Office, said that enemy propaganda is investing huge resources to spread panic news in the Ukrainian information space amid Russian strikes, and urged Ukrainians to stay strong.

Last night, the enemy launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine's energy system, which damaged facilities, including those of Naftogaz Group.

The EU imposed new sanctions on 33 individuals and 2 organizations involved in the death of ussian opposition leader alexei navalny in a maximum security prison.

Emergency power outages continue in Kharkiv, Odesa, Khmelnytsky and Dnipropetrovs'k regions of Ukraine after a massive attack by the Russian army, while power supply has been restored in Donetsk, Sumy and Poltava regions.

Belgium proposes to use bonds secured by frozen Russian assets to maximize funds for Ukraine, potentially generating much more than the current €3 billion from these assets.

Power supply in Ukraine's Donetsk, Sumy and Poltava regions has been restored and emergency shutdown schedules canceled after a Russian missile attack caused significant damage to the country's energy infrastructure.

Five civilians, including a child, were killed and 26 injured in a massive nighttime attack by Russian troops in several regions of Ukraine, damaging more than 100 buildings.