Russian invasion

The world's response
36 countries form tribunal to prosecute Putin

36 countries have formally formed a special tribunal to put Vladimir Putin on trial for war crimes, Euronews reports.

This concerns 34 European countries, including Sweden, as well as Australia and Costa Rica. The EU also supports the initiative, but four member states – Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta and Slovakia – did not sign.

– Putin has always wanted to make history. This tribunal will help him with that. He will make history as a criminal, says Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha at the EU Council's annual foreign ministers' meeting, where the decision was signed.

However, the tribunal's practical possibilities of actually putting Putin on trial in The Hague are vanishingly small.

The fighting
Russia and Ukraine exchange 205 prisoners of war

Ukraine and Russia exchanged 205 prisoners of war on Friday, AFP reports.

“Thank you to everyone who is working to bring our people home, and thank you first and foremost to our soldiers who replenish the exchange fund,” writes Volodymyr Zelenskyj on X.

The Ukrainian president repeatedly speaks of Russian prisoners of war as an exchange fund, since they can be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners in Russia.

Today's exchange is the first step in the exchange, where 1,000 people are to be handed over by both sides as part of the three-day ceasefire that prevailed earlier in May.