"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.
The ruins of the destroyed Kharkiv TV tower lie in a forest park in Kharkiv on April 22, 2024. (Pavlo Pakhomenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Czechia is allocating 750,000 euros (about $809,000) to the support and improvement of Ukraine's forest monitoring systems, Viktor Smal, the head of the State Forest Resources Agency, announced on May 10.
The funds are part of a broader initiative known as "Strengthening Ukraine's Forest Monitoring Capacity to Align with EU Standards." Smal met with Czech Forestry Institute Director Marek Mlkusek to discuss the details of the project.
"The goal of this project is to support the quality and comprehensiveness of the forest monitoring system in Ukraine and thus contribute to improving the quality of data," Smal said.
One of the project's aims is to develop software for data collection during forest management using remote sensing and data processing methods, such as Copernicus and Landsat satellite data.
Other goals include providing computer equipment and training for specialists, and creating updated training modules.
According to Smal, the next step in the project is to sign a memorandum of understanding between the State Forest Resources Agency, the H.M. Vysotsky Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Agricultural Reclamation, the State Forest Management Planning Association, the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences, and the Czech Forestry Institute.
The State Forest Resources Agency estimates that almost 30% of Ukraine's forests have suffered some kind of damage due to Russia's full-scale invasion. The war has destroyed more than 60,000 hectares of forests, with the cost of damages amounting to at least Hr 14 billion ($360 million), according to an investigation by NGL Media published on April 8.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Elsa Court
