"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."
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
Hungary cancelled a meeting planned for May 12 with a Ukrainian delegation on the rights of national minorities, Hungary's Deputy Foreign Minister said on May 11, amid a deepening spying scandal between the two countries.
Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
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.
Vitaliy Shabunin (L) speaks at the Ukrainian school of political studies on Sept. 26, 2019. (Ukrainian school of political studies/Facebook)
Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center's executive board, said on March 9 that the State Investigation Bureau had launched criminal cases against him for alleged draft evasion and forgery.
Shabunin, who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a volunteer at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 and has served since then, denied the accusations and said the cases were fabricated. He believes the cases to be a political vendetta against him by President Volodymyr Zelensky's deputy chief of staff Oleh Tatarov.
Shabunin has regularly criticized Tatarov, who was charged with bribery in 2020. The case against Tatarov has been obstructed by law enforcement agencies and closed.
Tatarov and the State Investigation Bureau were not available for comment.
The story first broke out on March 7, when journalist Volodymyr Boiko said the State Investigation Bureau had initiated two criminal investigations against Shabunin based on allegations of document forgery and military service evasion.
Shabunin posted a photo of his military ID card, which indicates that he joined the Ukrainian army on Feb. 25, 2022.
The request for an investigation came from Rostyslav Kravets, a journalist who has regularly lambasted Shabunin and other anti-corruption activists.
“Attacks by media and law enforcement on those whom the President's Office considers its enemies will continue,” Shabunin said in a Facebook post.
He added that those who attacked the home of anti-corruption journalist Yurii Nikolov and conducted illegal surveillance of journalists of Bigus.Info media investigative outlet have not been faced any charges so far.
Yurii Nikolov, one of Ukraine's prominent investigative journalists, said on Jan. 15 that he received a visit from unidentified people threatening him.
Ukrainian investigative media outlet Bihus.Info reported on Feb. 5 that the Security Service of Ukraine was behind illegal surveillance of the outlet's team, after which a video appeared online showing some staff members allegedly using drugs during a private party.
Alexander Khrebet is a reporter with the Kyiv Independent. He covers Ukraine’s foreign policy, alleged abuse of power in the country’s military leadership, and reports on the Russian-occupied territories. Alexander is the European Press Prize 2023 winner, the #AllForJan Award 2023 winner and Ukraine's 2022 National Investigative Journalism Award finalist. His was published in the Washington Times and Atlantic Council.
Oleg Sukhov
