The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." A Russian drone attack on Odesa Oblast on May 5 killed one and caused damage to local infrastructure "We appreciate that Germany plays a pivotal role in supporting Ukraine throughout the years of war Ukraine is also grateful for your personal commitment," President Volodymyr Zelensky said MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 Far-right Euroskeptic candidate George Simion head of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan placed second with 20.99% of the vote and the candidate from the ruling coalition "It requires the continuation of contacts between Moscow and Washington which have been launched and are now ongoing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said set to operate within the Council of Europe will focus on Russia's political and military leaders up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and their equipment destroyed The move represents an apparent violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests by Martin Fornusek, The Kyiv Independent news deskIllustrative purposes only: A chevron reading Ukraine is seen on a serviceman uniform during a celebration ceremony of the Independence Day at St (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated An explosion near a military enlistment office in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi in Khmelnytskyi Oblast on Feb 5 left at least one person dead and four injured Investigators are reportedly working on the scene. Further details on the cause of the explosion and its full consequences have not been provided at the time of publication The incident comes following several attacks against enlistment officers over the past few days including explosions at the draft offices in Rivne and Pavlohrad that injured several service members Another draft officer was shot dead in Poltava Oblast overnight on Jan Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi condemned the recent attacks calling for a full investigation and punishment of the perpetrators "We expect a full and comprehensive investigation of these crimes The perpetrators must be brought to justice," Syrskyi said Ukraine has faced significant challenges in mobilizing troops to compensate for losses and rotate soldiers who have been on the front lines since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Industrial parks are one of the factors driving economic growth and encouraging Ukrainians to return home This opinion was expressed by Vasyl Khmelnytskyi the initiator of the international forum "Industrial Evolution: Manufacturing Powers the Economy" and founder of the UFuture holding He emphasized that in order to bring people back from abroad it is essential to create competitive opportunities "An industrial park is precisely such a growth point for the economy and a magnet for innovation Support for industrial parks from the state and local communities is an investment we paid UAH 18 million in taxes to the local budget we are laying the groundwork for the next 15–20 years," said Vasyl Khmelnytskyi Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation and innovation must form the foundation of the country’s economic development He reminded that the WINWIN Strategy for Ukraine’s Digital Innovation Development until 2030 covers 14 areas—from defense tech to AI “We are already working on various tools to create the right conditions for innovation development in Ukraine: incentives and mechanisms for opening new markets,” he noted Khmelnytskyi is a progressive and far-sighted city that values public opinion and supports the spirit of entrepreneurship The city is one of Ukraine’s greenest and cleanest regional centers spread out on both sides of the Pivdennyi Bug River The city’s industrial complex includes approximately 1,000 enterprises producing a wide range of products Khmelnytskyi is known throughout Ukraine as a city of trade having used its history as a shopping center to become the main location for producing consumer goods and wholesale and retail trade It is home to one of Ukraine’s largest wholesale and retail markets To drive economic growth and technological advancement the city is developing the Khmelnytskyi Industrial Park This innovative entity is set to boost investment and production activities Khmelnytskyi has implemented thermal modernisation programmes The city is also at the forefront of waste management innovation actively participating in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Green Cities programme and implementing the Solid Waste Infrastructure Modernization Project funded by the EBRD Cultural vibrancy is at the heart of Khmelnytskyi the city hosted numerous major festivals annually the highest award given by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to individual cities for spreading European ideals Khmelnytskyi is a city with a strong sports culture where you are guaranteed to see groups of cyclists and young people practicing canoe paddling on the Southern Bug River To strengthen its international relations, the municipality launched an online platform to foster cooperation with sister and partner cities. This platform features panoramas providing a virtual tour of each city and showcasing ongoing partnerships As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its fourth year facing immense challenges with courage and a vision for the future We are a community of more than 200 European cities Your e-mail address is only used to send you our newsletter and information about the activities of Eurocities You can always use the unsubscribe link included in the newsletter According to Ukrinform, Serhiy Tiurin, the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration, shared details on Facebook. "Currently, nine private households, windows and doors in five apartments of an apartment building, one garage, four cars, and one motorcycle have been damaged," Tiurin reported. He also mentioned that a list of required construction materials is being prepared. These materials will be sourced from reserve funds and donor contributions. During the air raid, the Air Defense Forces successfully intercepted three Russian Shahed UAVs and four missiles. As reported by Ukrinform, two people were injured in the attack, and a gas distribution point sustained damage. Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421. © 2015-2025 Ukrinform. All rights reserved. [email protected] Khmelnytskyi media professionals had an off the record meeting with spokesperson judges The event was initiated by the Institute of Mass Information's regional journalist hub Mediabaza Khmelnytskyi with the support by the Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal The meeting discussed the following topics: The Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal hosted a meeting between media professionals and spokesperson judges Media professionals called on courts to post sample applications for attending court hearings for journalists who want to film with stationary equipment and for livestreaming hearings on their websites The participants also discussed trials in high treason cases and access to these hearings for journalists Media professionals seek to report on them in a way that jeopardizes neither the police investigation nor the prosecution The event took place with the support by the Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal the participants agreed to create a joint communication channel to improve the interaction between courts and media professionals which will contribute to high-quality and up-to-date coverage of court proceedings Journalists explained the necessity of receiving up-to-date information on court hearings in high-profile cases and of having access to them The meeting also discussed possible communication options Mediabaza Khmelnytskyi communications manager [email protected] (050) 447-70-63 Ідентифікатор медіа: R40-01250 Reprinting and disseminating our information is allowed but under strictly condition of reference to the source by ALEXX ALTMAN-DEVILBISS | The National News Desk Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks started in the evening with over two hundred strike and decoy drones hitting Odesa He reported fires broke out in a shopping mall several stores and a residential building was damaged in Odesa Russian aerial bombs injured at least six people The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 214 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks It said 114 of them were intercepted and another 81 were jammed Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 43 Ukrainian drones 34 of them over the Volgograd region and others over Rostov The authorities didn’t report any casualties or significant damage President Donald Trump spoke with the countries' leaders this week about a limited ceasefire though it remained to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack "The leaders agreed Ukraine and America will continue working together to bring about a real end to the war and that lasting peace under President Trump’s leadership can be achieved," a statement read Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized Friday that the agreement reached between Trump and Putin referred only to energy facilities adding that the Russian military is fulfilling Putin's order to halt such attacks for 30 days “The Russian military are currently refraining from strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in accordance with the agreement reached between Russia and the United States,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters _____Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article At least two people were injured due to an overnight Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv and western Khmelnytskyi regions Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram that a 56-year-old man was seriously injured as a result of the drone strike in the city of Kupiansk a major front in Moscow's offensive in eastern Ukraine one person was injured and equipment at an enterprise was damaged Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that air defenses shot down 47 of 72 drones launched overnight by Russia over Kharkiv and Khmelnytskyi Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram that debris from downed drones damaged a power line in one of the region’s districts but that power supply has since been restored Russian authorities have not yet commented on the attack by Kateryna DenisovaUkrainian law enforcement officers uncovered the two officials from western Khmelnytskyi Oblast for corruption (State Bureau of Investigation)According to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) two Ukrainian officials from western Khmelnytskyi Oblast alleged of corruption were holding at home nearly $6 million in cash The homes and workplaces of the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Center for Medical and Social Expertise and her son a senior official in the main department of Ukraine's Pension Fund in the region were searched in another case when the cash was exposed The case concerned the forging of official documents to illegaly register a disability for men attempting to evade military service. At first, the law enforcement found $100,000 and forged medical documents with the names of men with non-existent diagnoses, according to the SBI "Law enforcement officers found money in the apartment in almost every corner — in wardrobes, drawers, niches," the statement read Ukrainian law enforcement officers uncovered the two officials from western Khmelnytskyi Oblast for corruption (State Bureau of Investigation)Ukrainian law enforcement officers uncovered the two officials from western Khmelnytskyi Oblast for corruption (State Bureau of Investigation)Almost $5.2 million as well as branded jewelry and valuables were found at the officials' homes the documents with evidence of money laundering through various business projects were seized The two also reportedly own 30 properties in the western cities of Khmelnytskyi and Lviv They have almost $2.3 million held in foreign bank accounts None of this has been mentioned in their asset declarations they can face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of all of their property Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany The SBU said this in a statement seen by Ukrinform The detainee is a 26-year-old local resident who suffers from drug addiction She was recruited while seeking "easy" money through Telegram channels It was established that she was carrying out assignments from Russian military intelligence The enemy's priority targets included airfields and transit storage sites for weapons and equipment belonging to Ukraine's Defense Forces One of her tasks involved conducting reconnaissance near a military airfield in a western region of Ukraine In exchange for payment from the occupiers the woman rented an apartment near a Ukrainian Armed Forces logistics center she monitored and recorded the arrival times of military equipment and the schedule of technical maintenance at the facility She also used this same "observation post" to identify the movement routes of mobile fire units guarding the airspace over the logistics base It was revealed that the intelligence she gathered was intended to help the Russians carry out a strike on the military facility while bypassing air defense systems The attack was planned for a time when the largest number of personnel and military equipment would be present Ukrainian law enforcement disrupted the enemy's plans and detained the operative at her temporary residence A mobile phone used to communicate with Russian military intelligence was confiscated Investigators have charged her under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine -- high treason committed under martial law The suspect is currently in custody and faces a possible sentence of life imprisonment with confiscation of property While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 That's according to Novinite Zafirov confirmed during a briefing at his party's headquarters following a meeting of its executive bureau that the two reactors from Bulgaria's Belene NPP would not be sold to Ukraine He emphasized that this is a collective decision of the ruling coalition describing the reactors as "crucial to Bulgaria's energy security and economic independence." Zafirov stated that nuclear energy is a reliable He argued that Bulgaria has both the infrastructure and the expertise to develop this sector domestically and that selling the reactors would have been a grave mistake had backed the decision not to proceed with the sale He personally discussed the matter with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and expressed gratitude for the unified support Zafirov underlined the strategic nature of the decision especially amid rising global energy prices and ongoing instability in the sector the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law "On the Placement 4 of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant." To complete these units Ukraine planned to purchase Russian-made equipment from Bulgaria According to Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko around $1.5 billion has already been invested in the construction of Units 3 and 4 at Khmelnytskyi NPP the Verkhovna Rada approved the purchase of the Russian-manufactured equipment from Bulgaria for the completion of the two power units at the Khmelnytskyi NPP This was reported by the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office "Prosecutors of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor’s Office have submitted an indictment to the court against a local resident on charges of spreading information about the locations of Ukrainian Armed Forces and damaging transportation infrastructure He has been placed under custody without the right to bail," the statement reads According to the prosecutor’s office to collaborate with Russian intelligence in exchange for money He gathered and transmitted the coordinates of military facilities in Khmelnytskyi to the enemy marking them on Google Maps screenshots and photos The Russian military later used this information to launch Shahed-type drone attacks the suspect agreed to set fire to a railway relay cabinet bringing flammable liquid and a change of clothes and approaching the target location through the forest Law enforcement officers arrested him in September 2024 the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the National Police have detained five other Russian intelligence collaborators in various regions who were involved in orchestrated arson attacks Ukraine will push forward with controversial plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on aging Russian-made nuclear reactors despite growing opposition from lawmakers amid warnings of a major power crisis this winter German Galushchenko told POLITICO that the government still intends to pursue the expansion of the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station in western Ukraine buying two VVER-1000 reactors currently in storage in Bulgaria The proposal has drawn criticism from the ruling party's own MPs who say there are quicker ways to help prop up the electricity grid which has been hit hard by Russian bombing "Our energy system is withstanding this pressure first of all thanks to nuclear power," Galushchenko said even in the recovery and especially after the war We understand that any kind of nuclear project takes years especially in this situation where we have the building constructed and ready." Last week, Ukrainian MPs told POLITICO that the government had been forced to acknowledge it did not have sufficient support in the parliament to pass a draft law legislating for the purchase of the reactors a lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People Party MPs questioned whether the mothballed reactors would be able to be quickly brought into service and whether the funds could be better spent on renewable power and other sources of electricity would likely balloon and open the door to corruption Galushchenko vowed to win over skeptics and get the project off the ground "We are continuing work with the parliament to adopt this law because it is a very important project for us," he said "I am confident that the parliament will adopt the law." There is no suggestion that Russia will earn revenue from the sale of the two reactors which Bulgaria put aside after plans to deploy them fell through Sofia has since signed off on a plan to expand its Kozloduy nuclear power station with U.S including geothermal power plants and grid transformers has come under sustained attack by Russian missiles and drones in recent months requiring significant imports of electricity from the EU to meet the new shortfall to repair every facility which is possible to repair to add additional generation to the system,” said Galushchenko But he warned that Ukraine is now “really on the eve of probably the hardest winter in the history of the country.” equivocates and some eye a Russian fuel return “The European Union is concerned at the planned extension of the operation by Israeli forces in Gaza,” a Commission spokesperson says Hungary’s EU commissioner is hindering the plan’s quick approval on Tuesday despite obligations to act independently from Viktor Orbán’s Russia-friendly policies EU firms want to buy more American energy — but not if it becomes pricier Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations Ukraine’s parliament has given the go-ahead for the purchase of two old Russian nuclear reactors either observed and verified directly by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant may soon receive the Russian nuclear reactors it was initially built for with Kyiv pushing for the purchase of 'junk' reactors from Bulgaria [Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images]  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 6:22 am)Ukraine's drones target Moscow second night in a row, Russian official claims. Debris from one of the drones reportedly fell on the Kashirskoye Highway by Olena GoncharovaPhoto for illustrative purposes A drone approaches for an attack in Kyiv on Oct (Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP via Getty Images)Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated Several explosions were heard overnight on Jan 27 in the western Ukrainian cities of Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi as Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine Ivano-Frankivsk Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv urged residents to stay in shelters as the air raid alert had been active in the region for over two hours Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast had previously been targeted by Russia on Jan. 15 with the attack damaging "critical infrastructure facilities" in the area though no casualties were reported at that time Meanwhile, a drone attack on Jan. 27 also damaged a multi-story residential building in Dnipro The explosion and debris caused significant damage to vehicles parked nearby No immediate reports of injuries or fatalities have been confirmed Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018 Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia I want to thank all the defenders of our skies every warrior who is protecting Ukraine from Russian missiles and drones we faced another strike on our energy sector – nearly 20 Russian missiles A substantial amount of them was shot down I will particularly commend the mobile fire groups of the 302nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of Kharkiv – great work I am also grateful to all our helicopter pilots in the Defense Forces deliver results in intercepting “Shahed” drones Full text of the address: Office of the President of Ukraine [email protected] [email protected] FB: @uwcongress Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that they had a constructive call about moving toward a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow with the White House suggesting that the U.S take control of Ukrainian power plants to ensure their security Trump told Zelenskyy that the U.S could be “very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” according to a White House statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz that described the call as “fantastic.” Trump added that “American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure.” Zelenskyy requested additional Patriot defense missile systems Rubio and Waltz said Trump “agreed to work with him to find what was available The call between Trump and Zelenskyy came a day after the U.S leader held similar talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Putin made clear to Trump during that call that there must be a cessation of foreign military aide and intelligence sharing as part of any deal But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday underscored that U.S “intelligence sharing in terms of defense for Ukraine” would continue Trump’s call with Zelenskyy was about half the length of his call Tuesday during which Putin agreed not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure but refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire Trump said his call with Zelenskyy was to “align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs” as he seeks to bring a halt to fighting Zelenskyy’s call with Trump comes at a fraught moment for Ukraine as Trump has made clear that quickly ending the war is a top priority for the start of his new administration leaders had a disastrous Oval Office meeting late last month that led to Trump temporarily pausing intelligence sharing and military aid for Ukraine Trump has repeatedly complained about the cost of the conflict — the U.S has sent Ukraine more than $180 billion in military and economic aid since the start of the war State Department confirmed in a statement Wednesday that it has cut funding for the Ukraine Conflict Observatory a Yale University spearheaded organization that has been tracking alleged Russian war crimes including the mass abduction of Ukrainian children during the conflict Zelenskyy said Putin’s limited ceasefire pledge was “very much at odds with reality” following an overnight barrage of drone strikes across the country after Putin’s conversation with … Trump when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy including on energy facilities,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Helsinki with Finnish President Alexander Stubb Russia responded by saying it had halted its targeting of Ukraine’s energy facilities and accused Kyiv of attacking equipment near one of its pipelines we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said The White House described the call between Trump and Putin as the first step in a “movement to peace” that Washington hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal said that Putin’s demands during the call with Trump would amount to “Ukrainian capitulation.” “Putin is attempting to hold the temporary ceasefire proposal hostage in order to extract preemptive concessions ahead of formal negotiations to end the war,” the ISW said in an analysis of readouts from the calls Stubb called the discussions between Putin and Trump a step in the right direction but Finland’s president said that Russia needs to end its aggression “There are only two ways to respond to the proposal of the president of the United States: it’s a yes or a no — no buts “Ukraine accepted a ceasefire without any forms of conditions we need to increase our efforts to strengthen Ukraine and ratchet up pressure on Russia to convince them to come to the negotiating table.” WATCH: Trump and Putin agree to pause strikes on energy infrastructure in Ukraine war Waltz said on social media that he and his Russian counterpart agreed Wednesday that their teams would meet soon in Riyadh “to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia.” It was not immediately clear who would be part of the delegations or if Ukrainian officials were also invited to take part in the Saudi Arabia talks Shortly after the call between Trump and Putin on Tuesday followed by explosions as residents took shelter several strikes hit civilian infrastructure The Russian Defense Ministry said its military had launched seven drones at power facilities related to the military-industrial complex in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region but that it shot them down after receiving Putin’s order to not hit energy infrastructure Moscow accused Ukraine of targeting its energy facility in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean Peninsula several hours after the Putin and Trump talks The ministry said that three drones targeted oil transfer equipment that feeds the Caspian Pipeline Consortium causing a fire and leading one oil tank to lose pressure “It is absolutely clear that we are talking about yet another provocation deliberately concocted by the Kyiv regime aimed at derailing the peace initiatives of the U.S Russia said that its air defenses intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions — the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk and the nearby regions of Oryol and Tula Zelenskyy said that “words of a ceasefire” weren’t enough we definitely won’t hit theirs,” Zelenskyy said the two combatants said Wednesday that they had each swapped 175 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the war Zelenskyy rejected Putin’s key condition that Western allies stop providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine He said that doing so would endanger lives if citizens were blind to incoming air raids “I don’t think anybody should make any concessions in terms of helping Ukraine assistance to Ukraine should be increased,” Zelenskyy said “This will be a signal that Ukraine is ready for any surprises from the Russians.” senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said that it was “completely unsurprising” that Putin rejected the ceasefire adding that it’s “imprudent for him to tell President Trump that directly since Trump has made ending the war a very is a competition or rivalry between Kyiv and Moscow to persuade Trump that it’s the other side that is responsible for preventing Trump from achieving his goal of ending the war,” Gould-Davies said Zelenskyy said that one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian,” he said Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller in Washington and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins You don't have permissions to access this page He announced this in his evening address “We are preparing to launch four new power units in Ukraine followed by a second phase – two more units We are working with our American partners to complete this plant which will become our most powerful one,” said Zelensky He noted that this major project would not only allow Ukraine to eliminate the need for electricity imports during winter but also provide cheaper electricity for Ukrainian citizens and industries President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant That’s according to the chief of the regional military administration, Serhiy Tiurin a flight of a Russian attack UAV of the Shahed type was recorded in the immediate vicinity of the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant it was shot down by Ukraine’s air defense forces," Tiurin wrote Russia deliberately draws the flights routes for missiles and attack drones so that they pass over the nuclear facilities in Ukraine air defense forces intercepted 11 Russian drones over Khmelnytskyi region by Martin FornusekKhmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant photographed on Aug (Photo credit should read Volodymyr Tarasov / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)Ukraine's parliament voted in favor of buying two Russian-made reactors from Bulgaria for the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the lawmakers last week to approve the project calling it a "key to energy independence." Bulgaria has offered to sell its unused 15-year-old VVER-1000 reactors and other equipment for units 3 and 4 of the western Ukrainian nuclear power plant as Ukraine faces regular Russian attacks against its energy grid arguing that the reactors are obsolete and expensive The parliament has long struggled to pass the law prompting Bulgaria to extend the deadline for concluding the deal until March The price of the two reactors was set at $600 million, said lawmaker Andrii Zhupanyn Nuclear power is key in sustaining Ukraine's energy grid, covering more than half of the country's electricity consumption Russian missile and drone attacks have dealt devastating damage to Ukraine's thermal and hydroelectric generating capacity one of the three remaining operational nuclear stations in Ukraine-held territories is being expanded to offset the loss of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant The news comes as Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, who has advocated for purchasing Russian-made reactors, is under mounting political pressure Opposition lawmakers accused the minister of "systemic corruption in the energy sector," "failure to protect parts of the energy infrastructure," and "lies and manipulations" and called for his dismissal Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies The president spoke in his address to the nation Ukrinform reports with reference to the Presidential website "I am grateful that the IAEA Director supported the Ukrainian strategy for completion of nuclear units at the Khmelnytskyi NPP The completion project is key to Ukraine's energy independence and energy stability in the region and it’s important that Ukrainian MPs support the project We discussed the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant in detail: it is necessary to restore legal Ukrainian control Zelensky noted that Ukraine invites partners to work jointly to this end which will make Europe much stronger and relations with America – more mutually beneficial The President added that IAEA missions are currently deployed at nuclear power plants across Ukraine and during the meeting the parties agreed that "the missions will work more actively at other critical energy facilities" the topic was Ukrainians from the ZNPP host town of Enerhodar who had been taken hostage by Russian invaders "We expect that the IAEA will be active in working toward the release of these Ukrainian citizens," the head of state said President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) The meeting’s focus was nuclear safety The VITAGRO Group of Companies is completing the construction of new grain storage facilities at its elevator in the Iziaslav district of Khmelnytskyi region This was reported by the company's press service The company is building two additional silos at the elevator with a total capacity of 11,000 tons of simultaneous storage and is preparing a site for storage in grain sleeves with a capacity of 15,000 tons The elevator’s total capacity will increase to 66,000 tons of simultaneous storage The work is expected to be completed by the beginning of summer this year "We started working on the project in the fall of 2024 we contracted the equipment and planned the construction process the first stage of the project will cost about 153 million UAH we will not only expand storage volume but also add another working tower allowing us to receive two different crops simultaneously and load grain onto both rail and road transport in parallel This will increase unloading speed from 1,400 tons per day to 2,300 tons per day," said Oleksandr Kulyhin director of grain storage at VITAGRO Group the company owns 5 elevators in Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions with a total capacity of 385,000 tons of simultaneous storage which are planned to be completed at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant will operate on fuel from the American company Westinghouse The company stated on Facebook that "Energy blocks №3 and №4 of the Khmelnytskyi NPP will exclusively operate on fuel from Westinghouse or fuel produced in Ukraine using Westinghouse technology just like all other operating nuclear blocks." Energoatom also mentioned that this provision is included in draft law №11146 which proposes allowing construction work at the Khmelnytskyi NPP nuclear energy expert Olha Kosharyna noted that for the VVER-1000/V466 reactors that Energoatom plans to buy from Bulgaria the fuel is exclusively produced by the Russian company TVEL She explained that due to the technical specifics of the reactor's fuel assembly Westinghouse will need to develop new fuel It was also reported that about $1.5 billion has already been spent on the construction of energy blocks №3 and №4 of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant the Cabinet of Ministers registered a draft law "On the location and construction of energy blocks №3 and №4 of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant" in the Ukrainian parliament equipment from Russia is planned to be purchased from Bulgaria The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has found signs of declaring false information in the declaration of the head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine in Khmelnytsky region for more than UAH 27.8 million These facts were established based on the results of a full audit of his declaration for 2023 the declarant did not indicate that his wife purchased two cars in 2023 - an AUDI Q8 (2023) and an AUDI Q5 (2023) - with a total value of over UAH 5 million The payment for the cars was made by third parties the declaration does not reflect the wife's commercial premises located in Khmelnytskyi where she carries out business activities in the field of retail trade in furniture and lighting accessories The total value of this property is over UAH 22.7 million The declarant explained that he did not know about his wife's purchase of vehicles and her ownership of real estate these statements were refuted during the audit Based on the results of the full inspection the Main Investigation Department of the State Bureau of Investigation initiated criminal proceedings on the grounds of a criminal offence under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine In accordance with part one of Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine a person shall be presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict of guilty The full list of persons in regard to whom full audits have been initiated, as well as the results of the audits, can be found here What happens to the declaration after it is submitted? Read here Entire content is available under licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed The Security Service of Ukraine has detained another agent of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) in Khmelnytskyi He was spying on the Defense Forces' airfields and planning terrorist attacks near the Military Commissariat in western Ukraine According to the military counterintelligence of the SSU the individual in question is a 30-year-old local unemployed man The Russian intelligence service recruited him through Telegram channels where he was seeking "easy earnings." the Russians tasked their agent with organizing an online broadcast of combat activity at one of the region's military airfields the traitor set up a "observation post" in his own home located near a restricted Ukrainian military facility It was documented that the individual installed a video camera on the roof of his private house which had remote access for the Russian GRU The next task assigned to the agent was to prepare the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) near the local Military Commissariat the traitor received detailed instructions from his Russian handler including how to make explosives from "available materials" and a mobile phone The Russians required their agent to install specialized remote tracking software on the mobile phone to monitor his movements to the potential target the Russian intelligence planned to remotely detonate the IED along with the agent to eliminate him as a "witness." SSU military counterintelligence detected the agent in advance and detained him The Security Service then conducted comprehensive measures to secure the locations of the Defense Forces mobile phones were seized from the detainee which he used to collect intelligence and communicate with the Russian GRU A device intended to be used for the IED was also found The criminal is being held in custody without the possibility of bail He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed its support for Ukraine's plans to expand its nuclear energy sector particularly the completion of units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant and is prepared to provide technical assistance for the project During a meeting between Ukraine's Minister of Energy they discussed the details of this project as well as the protection of key energy infrastructure in Ukraine Herman Halushchenko mentioned that Ukraine is in the final stages of negotiations with Bulgaria regarding the supply of reactors Construction can begin as soon as the Ukrainian parliament passes the relevant legislation Rafael Grossi emphasized the importance of this project and assured that the IAEA would support its implementation Grossi highlighted the significance of building new units and reiterated that the IAEA backs this initiative He suggested launching a technical support mission to ensure the safe integration of new components into the existing systems would enhance trust in the project's nuclear safety standards The Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP) is located near the city of Netishyn in the Khmelnytskyi region The plant currently has two power units equipped with VVER-1000 reactors Plans are underway to complete the construction of two additional units to increase the plant's capacity in response to challenges facing the energy system caused by the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure KhNPP provides a significant portion of electricity to western Ukraine and exports power to neighboring countries when the state of the energy system allows it was reported that one of the potential partners in completing the new units at the Khmelnytskyi NPP could be the American company Westinghouse The United States has repeatedly expressed support for this project with American companies keen to be involved in the process Westinghouse recognizes that this partnership would also increase the volume of nuclear fuel that Ukraine would purchase from them The Board of Directors of the agricultural holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, has approved the decision to begin construction of an oilseed processing plant, including soybeans and rapeseed, in the Khmelnytskyi region, with an investment of $76 million, the company’s press service reported on Facebook the planned capacity will be 400,000 tons per year The plant is expected to be operational by 2026 "Astarta continues to strengthen its position in the processing sector by investing in new production capacities The growing demand for soybean processing products in the EU opens up new opportunities The new oilseed processing plant will expand the range of ingredients for the feed base," said Vyacheslav Chuk Director of Commercial Activities and Strategic Marketing at Astarta The agricultural holding noted that the project will make effective use of the existing infrastructure contributing to the development of the agricultural industrial ecosystem in the western region of Ukraine "The Astarta team is already actively working on the project we completed the agreement process with the equipment and extraction technology manufacturer We are awaiting a decision from the Narkevytska territorial community regarding land allocation for the project this project complies with the 'State Support for Investment Projects with Significant Investments in Ukraine' law so we intend to apply for participation in the program to expedite its implementation," added Chuk Astarta is a vertically integrated agribusiness holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region) the holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million despite a 21.3% increase in revenue to EUR 618.93 million Astarta increased its net profit by 35.1% to EUR 75.6 million and revenue by 12.6% to EUR 441.46 million Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels shared the news that a soldier of the American Air Force died in that missile strike Our fact-checking department looked into this claim.  Authors supposedly found out this information from the pilot’s wife He died because of all this crap with the program for foreign instructors I don’t know why he agreed… He hasn’t been home for months And I don’t understand HOW they’re going to get my husband back from that damn Starokostiantyniv? And who will return the other dead men to their families here? Someone’s upset about these five fucking F-16s Telegram channels write that this message “confirms” the destruction of five F-16s in a Russian missile strike.  we’ve tried to find Melanie Malwin-Parke’s personal Facebook page The screenshot in the Telegram post doesn’t directly point to the post being published on Facebook but its design and geolocation mark are similar to Facebook’s We didn’t find Melanie Malwin-Parke’s page via Facebook internal search or via searching for her name in Google.  We’ve checked the rating of web visibility via a tool that helps establish whether the account on social media is fake Mentions of both Melanie Malwin-Parker and Steven Parker’s names are present only in posts and comments related to this Telegram post we analyzed the photo of the supposedly dead pilot We used a reverse search and couldn’t find photos of such a person typical for AI-generated images: the man’s left eye and right ear also lack realistic form.  We also checked the official Facebook page of Altus Air Force Base which was tagged in Melanie’s posts as a geolocation We didn’t find any mentions of Melanie Malwin-Parker or Steven Parker on their page.  We continued the search for Steven Parker. We assumed that he might have served in the 97 Aeromobile Wing based in Altus and decided to search for them on the Altus Air Force Base’s website We didn’t find any matches by this name or surname.  We also checked the official website of American Air Force and found a match there: Brig But his photo on the page of the Air Force’s website doesn’t match the photo in the Telegram post.  Twenty-Second Air Force has command supervision of the Air Force Reserve’s tactical air mobility operations and other vital mission sets to include distinguished visitor airlift flight test operations and a highly mobile civil engineering response force.” we didn’t see find any confirmation of the wife or pilot’s identities Let’s come back to the message that’s presented as evidence.  Note the time of the news shared and the time of “Melanie” writing her post Telegram channel “Military observer” (Военний обозреватель) posted about the dead pilot on 2:42 p.m the wife’s post have been published for at least four hours (Also note that the same screenshot with the “published 4 hours ago” mark is used in all the news and Telegram channels; no link to the post is provided.)  Next, let’s look at the messages from Ukraine’s officials: Ukraine’s Air Force and local authorities. Ukraine’s Air Force reported about three Russian ballistic missiles Kh-47 “Kinzhal,” being launched toward Starokostiantyniv in Khmelnytskyi Oblast from 10 to 11 a.m.  At 12 p.m., Khmelnytskyi Oblast Governor Serhii Taran reported that Russian missiles hit the infrastructure objects in the region That means that the woman was supposedly told that her pilot husband died during the same hour that the consequences of the Russian strike on Starokostiantynivska hromada have been reported The authors of the Telegram channel think the woman in Oklahoma would receive this information (about his husband’s death and other supposed casualties of the strike) that quickly after the attack the Oklahoma time zone was eight hours behind Ukraine’s time (it’s seven hours now) on September 26 so it would have been early morning for her Author: Olha Yakovleva   Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Facebook Or Register from Google Register from Facebook Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + "