KYIV, Ukraine - Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has called on Hong Kong to take measures against Russia and Russian businesses using the region to bypass international sanctions. During his visit to China, Kuleba met with Hong Kong leader John Lee and urged the administration to prevent Russia from exploiting Hong Kong to evade restrictions resulting from its ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement emphasizing the necessity of these sanctions to weaken Russia's capacity for warfare and violence in Ukraine. Kuleba stressed that Hong Kong's standing as a progressive and law-abiding global economy should not be tarnished by Russian machinations.

In a separate development, Romania's Defense Ministry announced that debris believed to be from a Russian drone had been found in a rural area of the country. This incident marks another instance of drone wreckage from the Ukrainian conflict falling onto Romanian soil, a NATO member. During Russian attacks on Ukraine's port infrastructure near the border, the drone fragments were discovered in an uninhabited area close to the village of Plauru in Tulcea county, across the Danube River from Ukraine's Izmail port.

The Romanian ministry condemned the Russian attacks as unjustified and a serious violation of international law. Following the assaults, Romania deployed warplanes to monitor its airspace, while emergency authorities issued text alerts to residents in Tulcea. Romanian officials kept NATO allies informed about the situation.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine revealed that an 18-year-old suspect had been apprehended in connection with the shooting death of former lawmaker Iryna Farion. Farion, an advocate for using the Ukrainian language over Russian, was killed in broad daylight in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Zelenskyy commended the joint efforts of the National Police of Ukraine, the security service (SBU), and other agencies working tirelessly to solve the murder.

Farion's assassination drew widespread shock and grief throughout Ukraine, with thousands of mourners attending her funeral in Lviv. As a former member of the Ukrainian parliament, she was renowned for her campaigns to promote the Ukrainian language among government officials, even in regions with a significant Russian-speaking population.

The situation continues to highlight the complexities and tensions in the region, as Ukraine intensifies its efforts to combat Russian influence while seeking international support for its sovereignty and territorial integrity.