The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
"Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end... I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens."
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce called for "concrete proposals from both sides" in order for Washington to "move forward" in peace negotiations.
"If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they are saying," one Western official told NBC News. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called Witkoff's approach "a very bad idea."
Tougher sanctions "should be applied to (Russia's) banking and energy sectors, targeting fossil fuels, oil, and the shadow fleet," the leaders of Ukraine, the U.K., France, Germany, and Poland said in a joint statement.
"Russia is ready for negotiations without any preconditions," Putin claimed in an address marking the end of the three-day Victory Day ceasefire. He invited Ukraine to begin talks in Istanbul on May 15.
While serving as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, called the full-scale war "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."
Speaking to CNN on May 10, Peskov commented on the latest ceasefire proposal from Ukraine and Europe, responding that Russia needs to "think about" it, but is "resistant" to pressure.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on May 10, President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked the idea of a demilitarized zone in the war and emphasized the importance of first securing a ceasefire.
A Boryspil airport vehicle pulls a shipment of weapons delivered to Ukraine from the United States in January 2022. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Czechia and Denmark will cooperate on providing Ukraine with armored vehicles and other arms from Czech production lines and stocks in the coming months, the Danish Defense Ministry announced on Oct. 12.
As a first package of the newly announced aid, Ukraine will receive around 50 infantry fighting vehicles and tanks, 2,500 pistols, 7,000 rifles, 500 light machine guns, 500 sniper rifles, electronic warfare and surveillance equipment, and an unspecified amount of artillery shells.
Both countries expect that future supplies will also include 500 heavy machine guns, 280 artillery pieces, 7,000 anti-tank weapons, 10,000 hand grenades, 60 mortars, and anti-drone systems, the Czech Defense Ministry said.
"This is a substantial donation of equipment for which there is a great demand in Ukraine and which has been made possible on the basis of exemplary cooperation between Denmark and Czechia," Danish Defense Minister Lund Poulsen said.
Based on the agreed scheme, Ukraine will receive weaponry from Czech defense companies, while the Danish government will cover the costs. The Czech Defense Ministry will serve as a mediator between Copenhagen and the Czech defense industry.
Prague said that the donations will include both modern Czech equipment and refitted hardware that is already in use with Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Czech Deputy Defense Minister Daniel Blazkovec commented that the cooperation with Denmark will allow continued support for Ukraine not only in the coming months but also into 2024.
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.
Asami Terajima
