President Rumen Radev is to bestow the Madara Horseman Order, first class, on Ukraine’s Ambassador to Bulgaria Vitaly Moskalenko, the presidential press service has announced. Ambassador Moskalenko is to be conferred the order at the end of his tenure in this country for his dedicated work in the harsh conditions of the war against Ukraine, as well as for his merits in deepening bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Ukraine. Vitaly Moskalenko is to be replaced as ambassador by Olesya Ilashchuk.

CIA director and former US ambassador to Russia William Burns, said, in an interview with CBS, that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “entirely too confident of his ability to wear down Ukraine,” adding that “Putin was underestimating US resolve to support Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian side has stated that to undertake a large-scale counteroffensive it needs tanks but also modern fighter jets. According to Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, control of the sky is vital for the future actions of the Ukrainian army.

Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council and ally of President Vladimir Putin Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks published on Monday that the continued arms supply to Kyiv risks a global nuclear catastrophe, reiterating his threat of nuclear war over Ukraine, Reuters reports.