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Ukraine’s ambassador in London has caused deep consternation in Kyiv after publicly criticising Volodymyr Zelensky’s conduct in a row with British defence secretary Ben Wallace, according to diplomatic sources. Vadym Prystaiko, who has been a key point of contact for the British government during the Ukraine war, accused Mr Zelensky of “unhealthy sarcasm” in his response to Mr Wallace saying Kyiv should not view the UK and Western allies as an “Amazon” delivery service. The Independent has been told that there were subsequently “very strong” telephone conversations between Mr Prystaiko and the government in Kyiv. There are also reports his remarks have been picked up by Russian media and presented, with words twisted, to show major splits between Ukraine and its Western allies at a time Mr Zelensky’s government is carrying out a major counteroffensive to reclaim occupied territory. Speaking at the Nato summit in Vilnius, the British defence secretary had said people expected Ukraine to show more gratitude for the huge help being given by allies. In a mocking response, Mr Zelensky said: “How else can we show our gratitude? We can wake up in the morning and thank the minister. Let him write to me and tell me how to thank him.” Mr Prystaiko responded on Sky News: “President Zelensky saying ‘each and every morning we’ll wake up and call Ben Wallace to thank him’ – I don’t think that kind of sarcasm is healthy. I don’t think we need to show the Russians there is something between us. We’re working together, Ben can call me and tell me anything he wants to.” It remains unclear what disciplinary measures Mr Prystaiko would face from his government. The decision is likely to be made by foreign minister Dmitry Kuleba, who was said to be in New York meeting UN officials earlier this week. Some senior Ukrainian officials accept that the ambassador – a veteran diplomat who had served in the past as his country’s foreign minister – was trying to soothe relations with the UK, but also point out that Moscow was always going to exploit such remarks. Ukrainian officials are regularly targeted by Russian trolls, with Mr Prystaiko himself having been a victim in the past. He gave an interview to Newsweek earlier this year in which he talked about heavy civilian losses due to Russian shelling, which was turned by a Russian website into “colossal losses by the Ukrainian army” with the invented phrase “people were dying in the interest of the West”. It is not just in Ukraine that the “Amazon” controversy lingers on. Some allies of Mr Wallace, who is due to step down from his post and leave politics altogether in the next election, feel that Rishi Sunak should have stood up more for the defence secretary. Asked about Mr Wallace’s remarks, the prime minister said that President Zelensky “had expressed his gratitude for what we’ve done on a number of occasions”. He added: “People across Ukraine are also fighting for their lives and freedom every single day and they’re paying a terrible price for it so I completely understand Volodymyr’s desire to do everything he can to protect his people and to stop this war.” Mr Wallace was not, however, the only Western official to raise the issue of Ukrainian gratitude at the Nato summit. The US’s national security advisor held that “the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude” after being questioned about US resolve. Ukrainian foreign minister Mr Kuleba, in his own response to Wallace’s comments, said: “I apologise, but we are at war. “Colleagues, ministers and foreign journalists often ask me if we are getting enough weapons. I tell them that as long as we are on the way to victory, we will not have enough weapons. When we win, we will say: Thank you, we had enough weapons. But as long as the struggle continues, we will not have enough”. The UK has been involved in training the Ukrainian military since the separatist wars seven years ago. Since Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Kyiv has been supplied with NLAW, Brimstone and Starstreak missiles as well as Challenger tanks. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Varadkar pledges unwavering solidarity with Ukraine on day-long visit to Kyiv Leo Varadkar meets Ukrainian actor in Kyiv after Dublin assault Varadkar to stress morale boost EU accession could offer to Ukraine’s soldiers

The move to shift Paul Bernardo to a lower-security prison sparked outrage in Canada.

Donald Trump could be indicted by a grand jury investigating his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 Capitol riot by Friday. The Independent learned that a possible indictment could be handed down as soon as this week, charging the former president in his third criminal case. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that he had been sent a letter by special prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is the “target” of a grand jury investigation. The target letter cites three statutes under which he could be charged including conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant, multiple outlets reported. William Russell, a former White House aide who now works for the Trump presidential campaign and spent much of January 6 with the then-president, is believed to have testified before the grand jury on Thursday. The former president was given until today to report to the Washington, DC, federal courthouse but with a midnight deadline is not expected to appear. Instead, he shared a fan video on Truth Social with a threatening mob boss feel using audio featuring an expletive and lifted from comments he made in 2020 on Iran. Read More Donald Trump brands US a ‘third-world hellhole’ run by ‘perverts’ and ‘thugs’ Ron DeSantis campaign fires staff as Florida governor trails Trump in the polls Fundraising takeaways: Trump and DeSantis in their own tier as Pence and other Republicans struggle RFK Jr revives antisemitic conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jewish people

The outspoken US senator Kyrsten Sinema has, along with other American lawmakers, attempted to get in on the Barbenheimer meme craze, with mixed results. If you've spent any time on the internet in the past few months, you'll no doubt have noticed a lot of memes about the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer, which you might have heard are being released on the exact same day (July 21st). Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Inevitably, all memes end up jumping the shark and this has now happened with Barbenheimer with several politicians getting in on the trend including Sinema. The controversial figure, who was once a Democrat representing the state of Arizona before becoming an independent in December 2022. On Thursday on the eve of the release of Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig's respective films, she tweeted: "Get you a Senator who can do both. #Barbenheimer." This was accompanied by a colour picture of her wearing a bright pink dress and a black and white picture of herself, thus representing the aesthetics of the two movies. Unfortunately for the 47-year-old her attempt at the meme didn't go down too well thus reflecting Sinema's overall popularity in the United States. Sinema wasn't alone, as many other Senators attempted their own Barbenheimer memes including John Fetterman and Ben Cardin. Nice effort folks but we doubt it'll make Margot Robbie's favourite meme list. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Tucked into a narrow tree line on Ukraine's southern front, a young Ukrainian soldier wearing an American flag patch talks about how frightening it was the first time his team assaulted the densely mined Russian positions in the offensive launched a month ago.

Celebrities including a pop star and a top TV host face allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa on Thursday released an internal FBI document containing unverified allegations President Joe Biden was involved in an illegal foreign bribery scheme.

The Washington Commanders have a new ownership group.

'They kept bees for a while. They got honey for a couple of years while they were married,' said Samuel Jackson

New York City has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a class action lawsuit that accuses the city's police department of using unlawful tactics against protesters following the death of George Floyd, according to a proposed settlement filed in a Manhattan federal court Wednesday.

Need a better word to describe what ails you? Look no further than this list of old, unusual ways to describe your aches, pains, and whatever else is happening in your body.

As anticipation builds for former President Donald Trump to be indicted for the third time this year, investigators in the special counsel's election interference probe are expected to speak with additional witnesses over the next several weeks, including at least one former Trump attorney.