"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
The sanctions appear to be in response to Russia's rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that the U.K., alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, and Poland, demanded during a visit to Kyiv on May 10.
"We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. "Some of the perpetrators have already been detained, all the others are identified and searched for."
Ukrainian prisoners of war released from Russian captivity during a prisoner swap on July 6, 2023. (The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War/Telegram)
Forty-five Ukrainian prisoners of war, including two civilians, returned home from Russian captivity, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on July 6.
In cooperation with Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, the headquarters also arranged the return of two more children Russia had deported earlier. Their mother, a combat medic, was released from Russian captivity in October 2022.
According to the government’s portal Children of War, Russia has abducted or forcibly moved 19, 493 Ukrainian children since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The freed prisoners included personnel from Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, National Guard, border guards, and a navy soldier, the headquarters wrote. Most are privates and sergeants.
They had defended Mariupol, fought in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts, reads the report. Among the released POWs were two people who had been considered missing.
The returned civilians were an employee of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and an activist from Kherson, the headquarters added.
The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has organized 47 prisoner swaps with Russia since March 11, 2022. During this time, 2576 people have been released from Russian captivity.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Daria Shulzhenko
