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.
Russian military personnel arrive to participate in the Victory Day parade held at Moscow's Red Square on May 9, 2023. (Photo credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
Next year, Russia's defense spending will be increased to 6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) from 3.9% this year and 2.7% in 2021, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 22.
Based on the proposals discussed by the Russian government on Sept. 22, defense spending in 2024 would amount to 10.8 trillion rubles ($112 billion), compared to 6.4 trillion rubles ($67 billion) in 2023, Bloomberg said.
Based on the draft budget plans seen by Bloomberg, secret expenditure of classified or unspecified items that the Kremlin keeps from the public to avoid scrutiny of the war's impact is expected to nearly double.
According to the news outlet, classified expenditures would rise from 6.5 trillion rubles ($68 billion) this year to $11.1 trillion rubles ($116 billion) in the next, amounting to 30% of the total budget spending.
Reuters reported in August that Russia doubledits defense spending for this year to over $100 billion after it spent 5.59 trillion rubles ($59 billion) on military expenditures already in the first six months.
Although the country's January-August 2023 budget deficit amounts to $24 billion, Moscow reportedly expects the deficit to nearly halve next year, making it only 0.9% of its GDP compared to 1.8% in 2023.
Russia also expects a rise in oil and gas revenue, which makes up a significant chunk of the country's income, according to Bloomberg.
Russia has been seeking new markets for its oil products, namely in India and China, as Europe seeks to decouple itself from Russian fossil fuels due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, Global Witness reported in August that countries like Spain and Belgium import a record volume of liquified natural gas from Russia, further filling Moscow's coffers with energy export revenue.
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.
Oleg Sukhov
