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."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
Several drone types used by Russia against Ukraine, including the Orlan-10, Granat-3 , Shahed-136, and Eleron-3-SV, are seen during a media briefing of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine on Dec. 15, 2022 (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ukrainian air defense shot down 13 Shahed-type drones, one other attack drone, and a guided Kh-59 cruise missile that Russian forces launched at Ukraine overnight on Oct. 22, the Air Force reported.
The Shahed drones were launched from Chauda, in occupied Crimea, the report said, and the Kh-59 missile was fired from the air by a Russian SU-34 jet operating over the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The other attack drone appears to have entered Ukraine from the north.
The report does not say what, if any, damage was caused by the falling debris, nor where in Ukraine the drones and missiles were shot down.
Russian forces on Oct. 21 struck a mail depot with s-300 missiles in the village of Korotych in Kharkiv Oblast belonging to the privately-owned Ukrainian mail service Nova Poshta, killing six and wounding 16.
Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 22 killed two and injured three others.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Alexander Khrebet
