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.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal (center) meets with Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers on Feb. 6, 2024 (Shmyhal/Telegram)
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers dismissed Svitlana Kashenets and Tetyana Tokarchuk from their positions as deputy ministers of veteran affairs, Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in parliament said on Feb. 13.
The decision follows the resignation of the former Veterans Affairs Minister, Yuliia Laputina, earlier this month.
The day before, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was planning a large-scale reset of Ukraine’s leadership.
Oleksandr Porkhun, a war veteran and Hero of Ukraine, was later appointed acting minister on Feb. 9.
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs was created in 2018, four years after Russia first invaded Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea, to implement state policy on the social protection of war veterans.
Since the beginning of the year, President Zelensky has said that Ukraine needs "fresh energy" in its leadership.
With the dismissal of Tokarchuk and Kashenets, government also announced several new senior government appointments today. Mykhailo Latynskyi will become the Deputy Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories for European Integration and Liliya Kravchuk will serve as deputy head of Ukraine's State Service for Children.
The Veterans Affairs Ministry was created in 2018, four years after Russia first invaded Donbas and illegally annexed Crimea, to implement state policy on social protections for war veterans.
Rachel Amran is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked on the Europe and Central Asia team of Human Rights Watch investigating war crimes in Ukraine. Rachel holds a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Regional Studies from Columbia University.
Dinara Khalilova
