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."
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.
A Sukhoi SU-27SMK flies during its flying display at the 46th International Paris Air Show 17 June 2005 at Le Bourget Airport. (Photo credit: PIERRE VERDY/AFP via Getty Images)
A Russian fighter jet pilot tried to shoot down a Royal Air Force (RAF) surveillance plane in an incident last year, believing he had been authorized to fire, the BBC reported on Sept. 14, citing three senior Western defense sources.
The news outlet said that the RAF's RC-135 Rivet Joint with a crew of up to 30 was flying a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international space on Sept. 29, 2022, when it encountered two Russian Su-27 Flanker fighters.
According to Russian communications intercepted by the Rivet Joint, one of the pilots received ambiguous orders from the ground that he mistakenly understood as permission to fire.
Subsequently, he fired an air-to-air missile against the British plane, but the projectile failed to lock on the target and missed, the BBC said.
Despite reprimands from the pilot of the second Su-27, the Russian aviator tried to launch a second missile, but it reportedly simply fell off the wing, suggesting malfunction or aborted launch.
At the time, the Russian Defense Ministry tried to explain the whole incident as a result of a "technical malfunction." Then Defense Secretary Ben Wallace called it a "potentially dangerous engagement" but accepted Moscow's explanation.
According to the so-called Pentagon Leaks published online in the spring, the U.S. intelligence described the incident as a "near shoot-down" that could have potentially amounted to an act of war.
NATO aircraft regularly patrol the Black Sea, which at times leads to incidents with the Russian Air Force. In March, a Russian Su-27 forced down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over international waters of the Black Sea.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
