Treason case
Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova has signed notices of suspicion for pro-Russian MPs Taras Kozak and Viktor Medvedchuk. They are suspected of high treason among other crimes. Their houses and offices are being searched.
Kozak is in Russia or has left it for a third country for vacation, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Ivan Bakanov has said at a briefing. Medvedchuk is expected to be in Ukraine but his exact whereabouts are being established.
They are suspected of embezzling Ukrainian natural deposits in Crimea by providing Russia with all the paperwork and support facilities for the Hlyboka oil and gas deposit off the Crimean coast; aiding and abetting the establishment of Russia's agent network out of Ukrainian labour migrants, and the transfer of confidential information about the Ukrainian Armed Forces' secret unit to Russian special services in August 2020.
Bakanov added: "The time will come, enough evidence has been collected to inform the public about the course of the case on financing of terrorism, this investigation is underway."
Security
Russia would not dare waging a full-fledged war on Ukraine "because this could mean a world war, this is very dangerous", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said at a security forum. He noted that although Russia had not withdrawn its forces from the Ukrainian border, an escalation has stalled.
Around 7,000 employees of Russian special services are involved in reconnaissance and subversive activities against Ukraine, according to SBU chief Ivan Bakanov. Russia's goals in Ukraine include the creation of an agent network, disruption of international assistance, the stirring of mass protests and active propaganda.
Bakanov noted that Russia had deployed a strike group of around 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.
NATO
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba does not expect NATO to grant Ukraine a Membership Action Plan at its June summit. Speaking on Ukrayina 24 TV, he said that had the MAP been granted to Ukraine and Georgia in 2008, they would not have suffered from wars.
Coronavirus
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expects the fight against the coronavirus to take another year. The exit from this situation is through wide-range vaccination, he added.
Ukraine logged 2,208 new Covid-19 cases and 119 related fatalities this morning.