The murder of Portnov, the exchange of prisoners and Russian attacks. The main events of the week

This week, three stages of a large-scale prisoner exchange in the "1,000 for 1,000" format took place, pro-Russian politician Andriy Portnov was killed in Spain, and the Russians launched massive combined attacks on Ukraine over the weekend.

Babel has collected the main news of the week to keep you up to date.

Trump and Putin spoke on the phone

Russian and US leaders Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had a telephone conversation on May 19 that lasted more than two hours.

Following the conversation, Putin stated that Russia would propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement.

Trump, for his part, said the conversation went very well, and Russia and Ukraine "will immediately begin negotiations on a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the war."

The murder of Portnov

Former Deputy Head of Presidential Administration of Viktor Yanukovych Andriy Portnov was shot dead on the morning of May 21 near the American School in Madrid.

He was shot five times, and two or three shooters were involved in the incident. The fatal shot was to the head. Later, Spain classified information about the investigation.

Ukraine and the United States officially launch the Recovery Fund

Kyiv and Washington have completed all procedures to launch the joint Recovery Fund within the framework of the Subsoil Agreement. It has been officially launched.

The final step was a diplomatic note from the United States, which Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko personally received on the morning of May 23 from the US Chargé dʼAffaires ai to Ukraine Julie Davis.

The largest prisoner exchange "1,000 for 1,000"

Ukraine and Russia conducted three rounds of prisoner exchanges on May 23, 24, and 25. On May 23, 390 people returned to Ukraine — 270 military personnel and 120 civilians.

On May 24, 307 Ukrainians returned to their homeland, including 27 defenders of Mariupol, and on May 25, another 303.

At the same time, among the thousand Ukrainians returned as part of the exchange, there is not a single “Azov defenders”. The GUR explained: this is because this time Russia itself decided who to include in the exchange list. Ukraine did the same.

Massive Russian attacks over the weekend

On the night of May 24, the Russians launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones into Ukraine. They managed to shoot down 6 ballistic missiles and 245 enemy UAVs.

The attack affected the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia regions. Kyiv was the worst affected, with 15 people injured, including two teenagers.

On the night of May 25, Russia again launched a massive attack — launching nine Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, 55 Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles, one Kh-22 cruise missile, four Kh-59/69 guided aircraft missiles, and 298 drones.

As a result of the strikes, according to data as of the evening of May 25, at least 13 people were killed and more than 60 injured.

New sanctions on Ukraine

On May 25, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted two decisions of the National Security and Defense Council on the application of sanctions.

In particular, the owner of the Russian online casino Pin-Up, Dmitry Punin, as well as Russians associated with him, Ivan Bannikov and Alexander Matyashov, were subject to restrictions. Sanctions were also imposed against a number of organizations associated with Pin-Up.

Also under sanctions are the son of the former president of Motor Sich, Vyacheslav Boguslaev, Oleksandr, former Peopleʼs Deputy Igor Mosiychuk, and others.

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