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.
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Monday, May 12
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.
(Updated: )
"There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"We cannot allow NATO's military infrastructure to get that close to our borders," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
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.
Preliminary findings suggest that one of the men killed the other before taking his own life.
Western leaders dismissed the Kremlin's proposal for talks in Istanbul on May 15 as insufficient.
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 pope said he was praying to God to grant the world the "miracle of peace."
Ushakov’s comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's May 11 invitation for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul starting May 15.
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Defense Ministry: Russian regular army replaces Wagner units in Bakhmut outskirts
• 2 min read
Russia's regular army has replaced Wagner forces in the suburbs of Bakhmut, but mercenaries still remain in the city, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on May 25.
Earlier the same day, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said his fighters had started leaving Bakhmut for rear camps to "rest and retrain." He said they would withdraw from the city before June 1.
Prigozhin claimed full control over the embattled city of Bakhmut on May 20, which Ukraine later denied. In her May 25 Telegram post, Maliar reiterated her statement that Ukrainian forces still controlled a portion of the southwestern area of the city.
Wagner a ‘shadow of what it once was’: Russia security expert on the rage of mercenary boss Prigozhin
After seeming to have calmed down over early spring, the internal conflict between Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry has escalated dramatically. In the early morning of May 5, Prigozhin recorded a video in front of what he claimed to be the bodies of doz…
Francis Farrell
However, as reported by the Kyiv Independent on May 22, it is evident that Bakhmut had effectively been occupied by Russian troops, based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on the ground to the Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian forces are still reportedly engaged in combat around Bakhmut.
According to Maliar, Russian troops continue their attempts to strengthen their positions on the flanks of Bakhmut's suburbs, deploying additional units for reinforcement.
Over the past day, Ukraine's military has repelled Russian attacks in the Avdiivka and Marinka areas in Donetsk Oblast, said the official.
Meanwhile, in the Kupiansk area, Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces are trying to gain a foothold for further advances but are "suffering losses," she added.
This Week in Ukraine Ep. 7 – Why Russia relies on private militaries, like Wagner, for its war effort
“This Week in Ukraine” is a video podcast hosted by Kyiv Independent’s reporter Anastasiia Lapatina. Every week, Anastasiia sits down with her newsroom colleagues to discuss Ukraine’s most pressing issues. Episode #7 is dedicated to Russian private military companies, how they operate, and the role…
Anastasiia Lapatina
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