This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
Illustrative purposes only: Aftermath of the Russian attack on an apartment building in Sumy overnight on March 13, 2024. (Ukraine's State Emergency Service)
One person was killed and another injured as a result of Russian aerial bomb attacks on Velyka Pysarivka in Sumy Oblast, the local military administration said on March 17 in its evening update.
Russian forces attacked the town of Velyka Pysarivka with a barrage of mortar, artillery, rocket launcher, and guided and unguided aerial bomb attacks on Sunday.
No additional information was provided on the status of the injured victim.
As a result of the attacks, 15 homes and a multi-story residential building in the area were damaged - as were a non-residential building, shop, cultural center, library, hospital, and kindergarten.
Velyka Pysarivka, with a pre-war population of 4,000 residents, sits directly on the Russia-Ukraine border. Amid an up-tick in Russian attacks, authorities have been working to increase evacuation efforts of the town with at least 180 residents being evacuated this week.
Throughout the day, Russian forces fired upon the border communities 341 times in 60 separate attacks across Sumy Oblast.
The communities of Khotin, Myropillia, Yunakivka, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Seredyna-Buda, Shalyhyne, Novoslobidsk, Svesy, Trostyanets, Sumy, Konotop, Vorozhba, and Znob-Novhorodske were targeted.
The town of Bilopillia experienced the bulk of the attacks reported with 108 explosions recorded in the area. The community is located just eight kilometers south of the Ukraine-Russia border.
Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region's vulnerable border settlements experience multiple attacks per day.
Russian attacks on Sumy Oblast have become increasingly destructive in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, a Russian attack on Seredyna-Buda injured five people. Another attack on March 7, killed two people and injured 26, with six civilians hospitalized.
On March 17, border guards and Ukrainian troops in Sumy Oblast stopped three groups of Russian saboteurs from advancing. Sumy Oblast borders the Russian oblasts of Kursk, and Belgorod, which have recently experienced attacks from anti-Kremlin militia.
Dmytro Basmat is a senior news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He previously worked in Canadian politics as a communications lead and spokesperson for a national political party, and as a communications assistant for a Canadian Member of Parliament. Basmat has a Master's degree in Political Management from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance from Toronto Metropolitan University.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
