Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 05-01-2025

Julie Davis will remain as accredited US Ambassador in Cyprus while running the Embassy in Kyiv.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have identified career diplomat Julie Davis, currently the US Ambassador to Cyprus, to lead the US Embassy in Kyiv as of next week, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce announced Thursday, May 1.

The move comes just days after the resignation of Bridget Brink, a Joe Biden appointee who had been serving as US Ambassador to Ukraine since 2022. Davis will assume the role of Chargé d’Affaires in Kyiv, ad interim, effective Monday, May 5.

Kyiv’s military has taken delivery of a Ukrainian-produced modernized version of the Soviet-era TM-62 AT landmine, which includes an updated, innovative fusing system.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) posted a video on Tuesday of a new domestically produced anti-tank landmine which they have designated as the TM-2025. 

It appears to be a modernized and updated version of the TM-62, which was available in several variants using metal, plastic, wooden and even cardboard bodies. It was the principal anti-tank landmine for the Soviet military and featured in all theaters of operations carried out by Moscow and its client states.

The EU will switch Autonomous Trade Measures to trade liberalization under Article 29 of the Association Agreement with Ukraine.

The European Commission confirmed that it will not extend the suspension of import duties on Ukrainian exports after it ends on June 5. Instead, Ukraine and the EU will update their current trade deal to set the rules for future preferential trade. 

“We intend to ensure a smooth transition to a new regime, where all trade arrangements will be set out in the [Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area] DCFTA agreement that we have with Ukraine,” EC spokesperson Olof Gill announced at a briefing on Wednesday, April 30 in Brussels, European Pravda reported.

Moscow wishes to seize the assets of the gaming company that owns “World of Tanks” due to what it deems extremist activities, such as donating to Ukraine.

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office wants to seize all assets of the company that owns the “World of Tanks” gaming franchise due to the top executives’ pro-Ukrainian stance.

World of Tanks is an online multiplayer game where players control mid-20th-century tanks in team-based battles. The game has a large player base worldwide and enjoys a particularly strong popularity in Russia.

Images have appeared on social media of preservative-wrapped Vipers being loaded onto an Antonov An-124 in Tucson, Arizona, before the aircraft was tracked flying to Poland.

Photos and video posted by the Ukrainian milbloggers “The Military Journal” and the “Eye of the Mountain” on Wednesday, April 30, showed decommissioned F-16 fighter aircraft being loaded onto a Ukrainian An-124-100M at the Tucson International Airport in Arizona.

The images show vehicles belonging to the US company HAULPRO delivering the F-16s, enveloped in shrink wrap coverings, to the cargo plane and loading them through both the front and rear access ramps.

The US national security adviser has for months been under scrutiny following the Signalgate scandal, when he accidentally leaked Yemen war plans to a journalist in a private group chat.

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is reportedly leaving his post on Thursday alongside his deputy, Alex Wong. 

Waltz has been under increasing pressure following the Signalgate incident, in which he accidentally included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in a private group chat about the US’s imminent attacks on Yemen. Ensuing reports of him using his personal email for work have also raised concerns about his and his team’s security practices. 

On May 30, Ukraine and the US signed a deal linking military aid to economic recovery and shared access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, with revenues split 50/50.

Amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion, on Wednesday, May 30, Ukraine and the US formalized a sweeping agreement over mineral resources, linking military aid to long-term economic reconstruction and investor access to dozens of critical raw materials.

On Thursday, Kyiv published the full text of the agreement. Here’s a summary of some of the key points.

France is boosting Ukraine’s defense with elite troop training, advanced weapons like CAESAR howitzers and Mirage jets, and key NATO support against Russian aggression.

In 2023, Ukraine was home to 45,000 Jews. It is home to one of Europe’s biggest Jewish communities.

Ukraine’s chief rabbi, Moshe Azman, stood in front of a microphone inside a studio and started to sing “Donald Trump, it’s time to fight in the name of light” to a catchy rock tune. 

The video of the influential rabbi singing was published on social media in recent days, edited with images of destruction in Ukraine, while the 59-year-old appeals to the US leader. 

There are multiple steps still needed to put the latest agreement into law – including changes to the country’s tax and budget codes.

Kyiv and Washington signed the long-awaited mineral deal on Wednesday, breaking a longstanding stalemate that has at times plagued relations between the two nations.

But Wednesday’s breakthrough only applies to one agreement, with two more to follow – then Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will need to vote on them, then the individual committees will have to adopt the relevant law changes to implement the agreement.

“La Royale” said the goal was to gain real-world experience of the use of unmanned surface kamikaze vessels, a type of weapon that has proven effective in the war in Ukraine.

The French Navy, colloquially “La Royale,” has tested a new sea drone, similar to Ukraine’s Magura V5, designed for kamikaze-style attacks, as part of its preparations for future naval battles.

In the video, published on social media on Monday, April 28, the reported Seaquest S drone hits an old French Navy barge called the Chaland de Transport de Matériel (CTM). The Navy protected the barge with car tires and metal sheets to keep it from sinking.

Locals in Ukraine’s capital have been warned to avoid suspicious items after cluster munitions likely dropped by Russian drones overnight went off in the Bortnychi district after a delay.

On Thursday, May 1, explosions were reported in a district of Kyiv, likely caused by the delayed detonation of unexploded cluster munitions. A preliminary assessment suggests, these munitions may have been dropped by Russian drones during an overnight attack, Oleksandr Popovtsev, acting head of the Shevchenkivskyi District State Administration said.

“Today in the Darnytsky district, in the Bortnychi neighborhood, there were explosions caused by delayed-action cluster munitions, which may have been dispersed during the drone attack,” Popovtsev wrote on his social media page.

A huge investor demand for the new USD-denominated paper to reinvest money from this and last year’s redemptions. Bond Market Insight for April 30.

Yesterday’s UAH bonds offer was without surprises. Demand was low, but no bids required a change in interest rates. At the same time, USD-denominated paper saw 5x oversubscription with decline in interest rates.

Twenty-six bids amounting to UAH4.8bn were received for a 15-month military bill. However, despite a slightly longer maturity, all bids had the same range of interest rates as for 14-month papers sold almost four months ago: 16.3-16.35%. The MoF accepted all these bids fully.

300 Ukrainians convicted of collaborating with the enemy have asked to be exchanged for Ukrainian captives held in Russia – but the Kremlin refuses to take them off Kyiv’s hands.

On April 30, the profiles of 300 individuals convicted of collaboration with the enemy in Ukraine were published on the official website of the Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) sponsored project “I Want to Go to My Own,” (Хочу к своим). All of them have expressed a desire to be transferred to Russia in exchange for the release of Ukrainian citizens held by Moscow.

“The Russian authorities have been informed of the wish expressed by each of the 300 traitors to leave for Russia. However, Moscow has refused the offer seeming only to see their imprisoned former agents as useful propaganda tools and for spreading disinformation,” the project’s administrators say.

Yet another high-profile Ukrainian activist from Odesa has become the target of a pro-Russian campaign against volunteers in the fight against Moscow.

Serhiy Sternenko, a well-known Ukrainian activist, lawyer and humanitarian volunteer from Odesa, has been injured in an attack, less than two months after a similar attack on another well-known Odesa activist, Demyan Hanul.

Sternenko, a controversial public figure and millionaire blogger, is one of Ukraine’s most visible volunteers. In 2021, Sternenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for abducting Lyman village council deputy Serhiy Scherbych, but the sentence was later partially overturned.

Apart from Odesa, Russia launched a barrage of 170 drones targeting the cities across Ukraine, Zelensky said, adding that Moscow was “ignoring” Washington’s call for an unconditional ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called for pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table, after an overnight drone strike on the city of Odesa killed two and wounded 15.

“We need further pressure on Russia to force it to be quiet and to negotiate. The more effective the sanctions are, the more incentives Russia will have to end the war,” Zelensky said on Telegram.

Russia and North Korea broke ground on a road bridge over the Tumen River, aiming to boost transport connectivity, amid growing military cooperation in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a new road bridge over the Tumen River, which serves as a natural border between the two countries.

According to Reuters, the new bridge is being built near the existing “Friendship Bridge” — a railway crossing constructed in 1959 following the end of the Korean War.

Graham expects the bill to gain at least 67 co-sponsors by the end of the week, which would provide enough support to overcome a potential veto from President Trump.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday, April 30, that 72 US senators support a bill that would impose “bone-crushing” sanctions on Russia – and stiff tariffs on nations that buy its oil and gas – if President Vladimir Putin refuses to engage in serious peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

“The goal is to help the president,” Graham, a South Carolina Republican and a key ally of President Donald Trump, told reporters on Wednesday.

Stefan Korshak, the Senior Defense Correspondent for the Kyiv Post, talks about the current state of the war in Ukraine.

The bill to the Kremlin reaches as much as 2 billion rubles a day in incentives to recruit the 30,000 military volunteers it claims to be achieving each month.

Russia’s armed forces are recruiting approximately 30,000 new soldiers each month – an increase of 5,000 more than in the summer of 2023. According to European intelligence estimates, at certain times the monthly rate of mobilization may reach up to 40,000.

This allows Moscow not only to offset battlefield losses but also to form new units, which are currently stationed and undergoing training inside Russia, the Moscow Times reports, citing the Wall Street Journal.

Ahead of voting on May 18, Germany was accused of sending Muslim and black migrants to Poland while Ukrainian refugees have been criticised for supposedly exploiting the social benefits system.

False claims about migrants have spread online in the run-up to Poland’s presidential election, with right-wing and far-right candidates attacking the ruling pro-European government’s migration policy.

Ahead of first-round voting on May 18, Germany has been accused of sending Muslim and black migrants to Poland while Ukrainian refugees have been criticised for supposedly exploiting the social benefits system.

Kyiv’s bet on drones paid off: the industry now manufactures about 4 million purpose-built drones per year.

Ukraine industries will join the EU-sponsored project in developing small drones, the Commission announced Tuesday, April 30. 

For the first time, they will participate in an EU- financially supported project under the European Defence Fund (EDF) to join a project focused on building AI-driven drones to work in air, land, and maritime environments. 

Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities have intensified in recent weeks, even as US President Trump pushes for a swift peace deal, with at least 164 civilians reported killed in March alone.

A Russian drone strike overnight killed two people and injured 15 others in the southern city of Odesa, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Thursday, May 1. The attack caused major damage to homes and buildings, and fires broke out across the city.

“The enemy attacked Odesa with drone strikes. There is massive damage to civilian infrastructure, especially residential buildings,” said Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper. “Two people died as a result of the strike, and five others were injured.” 

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said if there are no signs of a breakthrough, Washington, would “step back as mediators in this process.”

The EU’s top diplomat has said that the bloc will work towards maintaining its sanctions against Russia if the US abandons peace talks.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy, told the UK’s Financial Times that Brussels is drawing up a ‘plan B’ should the Trump administration abandon efforts to broker peace and settle on a policy of detente with Moscow.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The United States and Ukraine signed a bilateral economic partnership agreement on April 30.
• Russian officials continue to demand full Ukrainian capitulation as the sole basis on which Russia is willing to accept a future peace agreement.
• Peskov overinflated Russia’s current military strength and battlefield victories thus far in the war in an attempt to justify Russia’s continued unwillingness to make territorial concessions.
• Russian officials continue to call for the cessation of Western aid to Ukraine as part of efforts to reintensify offensive operations when Ukraine’s defense capabilities are weakened.
• Senior Russian officials continue claim that Russia is open to diplomacy to end the war while rejecting US and Ukrainian ceasefire proposals that would allow for formal peace negotiations to begin.
• Russian officials continue to falsely portray European efforts to increase their own defense capabilities – in line with US President Donald Trump’s objective to have Europe shoulder more of the burden for collective security - as a threat to Russian national security, likely to support Russian efforts to justify future Russian aggression against NATO.
• North Korea and Russia continue to enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in the military and labor spheres.
• Ukrainian sources continue to report on cases of Russian commanders ordering their subordinates to execute Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in violation of international law.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Toretsk.

Kyiv Post visited Orbita – a city meant to be like Pripyat or Enerhodar – but it was abandoned during construction, leaving behind the shattered dreams of hundreds of people who had already moved in.

Thirty-nine years ago, the largest man-made disaster in human history occurred. But few people know that Chornobyl and the town of Pripyat are not the only abandoned nuclear power cities in Ukraine. At one time, according to Soviet leaders’ plans, Ukraine was supposed to become a truly nuclear country – the center of the Soviet nuclear program.

At first glance, it might seem like we are walking through the eerie streets of Pripyat. But no – this is Orbita, a city built in the mid-1980s right in the center of Ukraine, on the banks of the Kremenchuk Reservoir. Tens of thousands of people were expected to live here, working at a nuclear power plant that, like the one in Chornobyl, was planned to have four reactors.

“I actually think the Conservative hated me much more than the so-called Liberal,” Trump said.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would visit Washington in the coming week, hailing him as “very nice” despite tensions over Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats.

“He’s a very nice gentleman and he’s going to come to the White House very shortly, within the next week or less,” Trump said after the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party secured election victory in part by vowing to stand up to the US president.

As peace talks slow, the Trump White House approved its first $50M arms exports to Ukraine through direct commercial sales to Kyiv.

WASHINGTON DC – On Wednesday, the Trump administration informed Congress of its intention to green-light the export of defense-related products to Ukraine through direct commercial sales (DCS) of $50 million or more, Kyiv Post has learned from diplomatic sources.

The permission – the first of its kind since Trump returned to the White House over 100 days ago – comes just weeks after the administration paused all Ukraine-related military aid for review, emphasizing a new priority: leveraging US influence to end the conflict through diplomacy rather than prolonged military support.

“We also discussed air defense for Ukraine, diplomacy, and communication with key partners,” said the president on his call to congratulate Mark Carney on his unexpected victory.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to congratulate him on his surprise victory, and the two discussed sanctions against Russia, air defense for Ukraine, and work at the G7 level.

Canada holds the rotating leadership of the Group of Seven highly industrialized nations that used to include Russia in the erstwhile G8.