European countries have been footing most of the bill for the Ukraine war and promised another $105 billion loan through 2027, but piggy banks are running low and politicians are facing struggling economies, just as Kyiv requested tens of billions of dollars in additional funding to keep up the fight for the rest of the year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), founded in 2015, has been seen inside the country as a burgeoning agency tasked with investigating top officials – some of whom have close ties with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Financial Times reported.
France announced on Saturday that it will provide Ukraine with missile interceptors after an increase in ballistic missile attacks by Russia in response to Kyiv’s decision to escalate and use drones to attack Moscow’s energy infrastructure.
Russia launched new large-scale strikes on Kyiv last week in response to Ukraine’s recent drone attacks on energy infrastructure deep inside the country in hopes of jeopardizing its wartime economy.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, warned last week of an “escalating campaign of threats” and hybrid warfare after Romania announced that it destroyed a naval drone as it approached a gas platform in the Black Sea.
The Kremlin announced that it shot down about 1,500 Ukrainian drones in an attack that started in the late-night hours on Saturday and continued into Sunday, as Kyiv continues its attempt to apply pressure on Moscow’s war economy by targeting soft targets across the country.
The Ukrainian military last week took credit for striking two Russian oil refineries deep inside the country in what President Volodymyr Zelensky has referred to as “long-range sanctions” to try and cripple Moscow’s war economy.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that he spoke to President Donald Trump about weapons production and licenses for Kyiv to begin domestic production of Patriot missiles, which has been a top agenda item for his government.
The Ukrainian military last week launched new strikes on Russia’s energy sector to cripple the country’s economy and keep Brussels and the U.S. interested in supporting the war.
Ukraine has ramped up its drone strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure and managed to knock out more than 45 percent of the country’s nominal capacity, according to a report last week in the Financial Times.