Mariia Makukha

American 155-mm M777 howitzers, supplied to Ukraine as part of US military aid, have a major impact on the battlefield. This was stated during a briefing by a senior Pentagon official.

Ukrainian entrepreneurs appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a request to remove the MP and head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Danylo Hetmantsev (Servant of the People party) from his posts. The public letter collected almost 7,500. Meest Group, Nova Poshta, MacPaw, Ajax Systems and many others are among the signatories.

In the last 24 hours, as of May 17, the defenders of Ukraine destroyed 7 enemy tanks, 1 artillery system, 2 attack helicopters, and 9 UAVs. This is reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine and Poland agreed to expedite checks at the Ukrainian-Polish border and simplify the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU and third countries. This is stated in a joint statement signed on Monday in Warsaw by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solsky and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland Henryk Kowalczyk, Ukrinform reports.

McDonald’s has started the process of selling its Russian business that includes 850 restaurants with 62,000 employees. The fast food giant pointed to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war. They say that keeping its business in Russia "is no longer viable and does not correspond to McDonald's values." This is reported by AP news.

Ukraine has a chance to become a NATO member without the Membership Action Plan (MAP) like Finland and Sweden, as this is not a mandatory part of the accession process. This was stated by Kristina Kvien, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States in Ukraine in an interview for European Pravda media.

There is no point in talking to Vladimir Putin if the European Union wants him to understand that he is isolated. This was stated by Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, in an interview with Euractiv.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees on the dismissal of Yuriy Halushkin, Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the appointment of Ihor Tantsiura to this post. The relevant documents are published on the President's website.

Warriors of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) of Kharkiv pushed back the Russian invaders on one of the sections of the front line and reached the state border of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region. This is reported by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The faction of the pro-Russian political party Opposition Platform — For Life officially ceased to exist in the Verkhovna Rada. MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity faction) announced this on his Telegram channel.

The Russians attacked Velyka Kostromka and Zelenodolsk in the Dnipropetrovsk region with prohibited ammunition. There is one dead and one injured. This was reported by the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration Valentyn Reznichenko on his Telegram channel.

Startup Reface establishes Reface Fund to raise funds to meet the humanitarian needs of Ukrainians. The fund will focus on supporting small volunteer units. This was announced by the Reface co-founder and CEO Dmytro Shvets, Speka reports.