Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
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.
The aftermath of Russia's June 6 demolition of the Kakhovka dam in occupied Kherson Oblast. (Interior Ministry/Telegram)
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported on June 11 that Russia had redeployed its elite troops from Kherson Oblast to other directions after the June 6 Kakhovka dam disaster.
Maliar said Russian marines, airborne troops, and 49th Army units had been redeployed to the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut directions.
By blowing up the Kakhovka dam, the Russian leadership aimed to prevent a Ukrainian counteroffensive in adjacent areas, Maliar said in a Telegram post.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 6 that the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam would not prevent the liberation of Russian-occupied territories.
The collapse of the Russian-occupied Kakhovka dam on June 6 sparked a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, dozens of settlements on both banks of the Dnipro River are flooded.
The Ukrainian authorities say that Russian forces intentionally destroyed the Kakhovka hydropower plant. An alleged call between Russian soldiers intercepted by Ukraine’s intelligence services on June 9 supposedly confirms Moscow's complicity.
The U.S. government has so far refused to say conclusively who is responsible for the Kakhovka disaster but asserted that Russia ultimately bears blame as it was in control of the dam.
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.
