Shoppers pay at the cash registers in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Spanish multinational clothing company suspended its operations in Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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Zara, Bershka, Pull&Bear, and other foreign brands reopened some of their stores in Kyiv on April 3.
Shoppers wait in line for fitting rooms in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Spanish multinational clothing company suspended its operations in Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry confirmed in March that Inditex, a Spanish-owned multinational company that owns Zara and other brands, would gradually resume operations in Ukraine.
Approximately 20 physical stores will reopen in Kyiv.
Many foreign brands suspended their business in Ukraine following the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.
Yellow and blue shirts hang on hangers on a rack in a Zara store, that belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, during brand store reopening in the Respublika Park shopping mall on April 3, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Spanish multinational clothing company suspended its operations in Ukraine. (Yurii Stefanyak/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
McDonald's, H&M, the Danish jeweler Pandora, and French cosmetics company Yves Rocher are among some of the major foreign retailers that have reopened in Ukraine since then.
The foreign ministry said in a statement in March that it would continue to work on restoring international business in Ukraine, bringing in new companies in order to "deepen the country's integration into the global economy."
The U.S. president "has expressed his displeasure with comments that have been made by leaders of both sides of this conflict," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on March 31.
Foreign ministers from Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Britain, and Poland, along with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, called on Russia to agree to an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire on equal terms and with full implementation."
The Supreme Court is set to review the request on April 17 in a closed session. The Taliban remains on Russia's federal list of terrorist organizations since 2003.
Although Russian conscripts are typically not deployed in active combat, Moscow has relied on financial incentives and pardons to recruit civilians for the war in Ukraine.
The soldiers and their tracked vehicle disappeared on March 25 during an exercise at a training ground near the Lithuanian city of Pabrade, located about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border with Belarus. Pabrade hosts Camp Herkus, a U.S. military facility.
The move follows reports that Moldovan lawmaker Alexandr Nesterovschi, sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegally financing the banned pro-Russian Shor Party, escaped to Russian-controlled Transnistria with help from Russian diplomats, according to Moldovan media Newsmaker.
Alexander Vindman served as the director of European affairs for the United States National Security Council in 2018-2020, during U.S. President Donald Trump's first administration. The Kyiv Independent's Kate Tsurkan sits down with Vindman to discuss how Washington has historically misjudged Russia, "succumbing to hopes and fears," and why there is no real prospect of peace between Ukraine and Russia now.
A French court on March 31 found Marine Le Pen, one of the leaders of the far-right National Rally party (RN), guilty of embezzling EU funds and banned her from running for public office "with immediate effect."
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine's main tasks are holding defensive lines and stabilizing threats, which have been partially achieved, particularly in the Pokrovsk direction.
The Moscow metro website became unavailable on March 31, displaying only a banner with a message on the technical failure from the recently hacked Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia).
Ukrainian and U.S. government and legal teams continue discussions on the mineral deal, a source in the Presidential Office told the Kyiv Independent on March 31 as U.S. President Donald Trump is escalating his rhetoric on the agreement.
"The package includes, among other things, support for Ukraine’s air defense, artillery, satellite communications, and maritime capacity," Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson announced.
The visit comes on the third anniversary of the liberation of Bucha, a Kyiv Oblast town where Russian forces massacred hundreds of civilians during the occupation in early 2022.
"Since this is also a priority sector, the Russians are trying to use every chance to bypass Ukrainian troops," said Victor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces.
Earlier this month, Trump said his first trip during his second term would be to Saudi Arabia, as it had agreed to invest $1 trillion in the U.S. economy.
"The war in Ukraine is bigger than Democrats or Republicans, the Left or the Right. Whether you dislike President Trump or President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, real people are dying here," Pastor Mark Burns said.
The funds represent the latest tranche of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, which will provide Kyiv with $15.6 billion in budget support over four years. With the additional $400 million in funding, the program has now distributed $10.1 billion in financing to Ukraine.
The incoming German government wants the EU to adopt harsher measures to punish countries violating the bloc's core principles, an apparent reference to Hungary, Politico reported on March 31, citing an obtained coalition agreement.
Elsa Court
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